Blogging for Bucks

(Orginally posted on my old blog "Work Around Your Wallet" on 2/4/07)


I was looking through Families.com the other night and found that they will pay you to blog for them. Here is what the site says (copied and pasted directly from families.com):

Become a Blogger

A Families.com Blogger is someone who writes in a "Blog". A Blog is like a journal on a specific topic. This is sometimes personal and sometimes topical, but always informative.

A Families.com Blogger writes daily articles with a minimum of 300 words. Families.com Bloggers work one, two and sometimes three to a topic. A Families.com Blogger must be versatile, creative, experienced and well informed on their chosen topic. They must have a solid grasp of the English language and be able to edit their own work.

Families.com is growing every day and that will be reflected in the number of bloggers we employ. We will continue to take blogger applications on an ongoing basis. If you are interested in a topic already being covered by a blogger, we may just need an additional blogger on that topic or will keep your application on file in the event that blogger should resign their position or need additional assistance covering that topic. If there is a topic that you are qualified to write about, but feel isn't being covered and would add value to Families.com, then we welcome you to suggest that topic and provide us with your application to be the blogger for that topic.
Families.com is the blog network for family topics. We currently have more than 40 blogs on topics such as parenting, marriage, family fun, fugal living, and home & garden. For a full list of topics, visit http://blogs.families.com/. Incomplete applications will not be considered, so please see below for exactly what should be included in your application package.

What Do You Get by Writing for Families.com?

The opportunity to share your passion, to be published and to have your voice heard by large numbers of readers.

We take care of the technology, hosting, graphic design and marketing. There are no fees to you.
We will cross-promote your blog on Families.com.

We pay you $4 per blog entry ($3 during 90 day training period). 2-3 posts per day would be about 75 posts and $300 per month.

We will also pay our bloggers approximately 5% of profits from the blogs so that the revenue of our bloggers can grow with the site. This revenue will be divided up between the bloggers based on a formula that includes factors such as the number of page views your articles/entries receive.

What is Required of Families.com Bloggers?

The Families.com blogs will only be as good as our bloggers. We're looking for amazing bloggers who can write passionate, high-quality, interesting, thought-provoking articles.

A minimum of five blog posts per week and a maximum of three blog posts per day. Blog entries don't have to be full articles. Entries should be at least 300 words, but will often be much longer. A blog can be as simple as a website link with your comments or a photo with a description. The entries could also be full articles. They could include a tip or idea, a top 10 list, a story or quote, "how-to's", demos, photo, essays, or a product or entertainment review. The important thing is that whatever material you write is informative and/or entertaining for our readers.

Review comments to your blog entries, delete inappropriate comments and respond to comments where appropriate.

Avoid topics that are not appropriate for the Families.com family-values centric audience, such as drug and alcohol abuse, profanity, gambling, pornography, extramarital sex, and nudity, except in the context of helping families to overcome these issues. There is definitely a place in the blogs for PG-rated discussions of intimacy and sexuality in marriage, however, these blogs are not the appropriate place for sensualized sexuality. Do not use the blog to advocate for a specific political party, religion, alternative lifestyle, abortion, etc. Please see us if you feel an exception needs to be made to this rule. It is appropriate to talk about faith and spirituality without advocating for a specific religion, or to talk about advocating for families without endorsing specific political candidates and parties.

Successfully complete Families.com Blogger Training and a 90 day probationary period. Then, continue to maintain a high quality of blog posts and work well with the Families.com team.

Post regularly on the families.com forum that corresponds to your topic to build a connection between the online community and your blog. Post links in your blog to other Families.com blogs and content sections.

We're looking for bloggers who are self-motivated, who can keep a good balance between hard work and lots of fun, who have expertise in their topic, and who can add personality to their blog.

How Do I Apply to Be a Families.com Blogger?

Select a Topic - Select 1-3 topics either from our list of current topics or topics you feel would add value to our community for which you would like to write.

Outline - Please provide an outline of the sub-topics that you would like to cover in your blog. (i.e. Food would include subtopics such as Menus, Recipes, Restaurants, Preparation Tips, etc.)
Samples - Please send three sample blog entries or articles with varying styles related to each of the proposed topics you are applying for.

About You - Please provide us with a short bio about you and your family, including your name and city or location. Please also send your resume, your qualifications and your experience in the topic area(s) you are applying for.

Email Us - To apply, send your completed application with all of the information described above to blogs@families.com with the topic(s) you intend to apply for as the subject line.

Other Issues

Because of the cultural writing issues surrounding our target audience, the writer must have been raised and educated in the US (including military bases abroad), Canada, Australia or UK.

Once you are accepted, our lawyer will provide you with the full legal agreement with all of the terms and conditions.

We reserve the right to have more than one blogger on a topic, to sub-divide topics into more than one blog, or to change the terms of the agreement.

All content is owned by Families.com.

We will receive many more applications than we could possibly accept. If you are not accepted immediately, we will keep your information for consideration at a later date.For additional comments and questions, please email blogs@families.com. We look forward to having the opportunity to work with you.


To view the list of topics, go to http://blogs.families.com/# and look on the top right. This is a great way to earn extra money! Let me know if you apply and get accepted so I, and other's that read this, can check out your work.