On Blog Consulting

On Blog Consulting

Someone asked me a while back what I offer as a blog consultant or how I charge for it. I had a bit of a struggle defining that role but basically I told him that I provide technical assistance to those who want to have their own blog and that includes (but is not limited) to domain registration, hosting, setting up the blog, theming/customization, optimization, and even marketing.

Fees vary from one-time payments to fixed monthly/yearly or on special cases on an hourly basis (especially when my physical presence is required).

With blog monetization however, it’s a little bit different. It’s more like SEO — performance based. When I broker for bloggers in finding direct advertisers for them, I get a cut or a percentage. This is usually in the range of 10 to 30% depending on the blog’s profile/traffic. Hence, I only get paid if they get paid. If I couldn’t find them advertisers, then it’s sorry for the both of us.

The same is true in the area of blog monetization by way of optimizing Adsense on their blogs. Say for example, an existing blog only earns an average of $50 per month. I implement the optimization and a month later, if the revenue shoots up to $100, I get a percentage of the increase (i.e. 30% of $100 – $50). If after the optimization, the blog earns almost the same amount as the previous month, then I don’t get my cut. Sounds simple and fair. It’s actually in the blogger’s advantage as there’s no upfront cost to talk about. (Of course, my percentage ends on either the 6th month or sometime later, depending on the additional services that were delivered. I have asked people around and this seems to be the standard.)

This scheme is not exactly unique as some people in the legal practice also do the same (i.e. they only get legal fees if they win a case). With the performance-based scheme, both parties agree on a fair and equitable arrangement.

Abe Olandres

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines. He is also a technology consultant, a tech columnist with several national publications, resource speaker and mentor/advisor to several start-up companies.

https://www.yugatech.com

2 Comments

Andrea >> Become a Consultant Blog says:

18 years ago

Hi,
You’ve got some interesting thoughts there, especially your points about performance-based fees. I have actually put together a fairly lengthy article about consulting fee rates. But I should note that the article simply goes over some models. It’s important to be careful not to say “this is what you charge” or “this is the going rate” because you could end up in hot water over price fixing.
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kates says:

19 years ago

So, business is good in blog consultancy. Yeah, some people really need a consultant to do their blog or else they’ll take 6 months to one year before they’ll find a suitable niche and a good revenue stream for their blog. Learned it the hard way.
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