There seems to have been an increase in people who advertise in blogging forums for people to write for “wine money”. Frankly it’s something I am sick of seeing this all the time and I know I’m not the only one.
Stop Writing For “Wine Money”
What exactly is “wine money”?
I went to the Dan Murphy’s website & looked up wine, firstly by cheapest and then by most expensive. The cheapest standard size bottle is $2.99 and the most expensive is a vintage bottle for $65,000. Now I’m going to take a wild leap here and guess that we’re talking the lower end of the scale here.
My personal philosophy is that you donate to charity, NOT to business. If a business wants to pay you then it’s THEIR responsibility to have a business plan in place that allows them to pay the appropriate award and/or market rate for writers. This goes for ANY business that exists.
Why you might be tempted to write for “wine money”:
- Backlinks: There are plenty of places that let you guest post (like me). The large majority of blogs still have comments enabled and will let you leave your URL.
- To get your name out there: see above for written ways, and then there is also interacting with people using social media, emailing people, attending conferences, and in general being involved in the blogging community. People remember names and how nice and helpful you are. Getting your name out there will happen – like many things, it will happen with time.
- So you can say you are a paid writer: if your desire is to be a paid writer then put the desire to have it now aside and talk to proper freelance writers and start building your career in the part of the writing industry where you can work towards as living wage.
- To earn money: These “wine money” jobs are being advertised in Australia. We are an expensive country to live in. If you need money so badly that “wine money” looks good, then I would seriously be looking at talking to Centrelink to ensure you are receiving any and all payments you are entitled to, and then I would be spending my days trawling job websites for something with a regulated and stable income. Even if a day job isn’t your end goal, a stable income to pay for expenses while you work towards a sustainable freelance income is smart. If you need help job hunting, I generally work on contract and therefore am usually looking for a job every 6-12 months – email me if you need tips and I will gladly help you.
Reasons NOT to write for “wine money”:
- Lack of reward: Money serves a lot of purposes. When you work for “wine money” then the reward is out of line with your experience, effort & time investment in writing. If you’ve been blogging for pretty much anything over six months then it’s likely that you have taught yourself a fair amount of skill in writing and editing for the web.
- Time better spent elsewhere: that time is better spent making your blog a great place so that you can earn money directly. Look at all the ways you can make money as a blogger.
- Personal ethics: basically, see above, business vs charity. Those are my ethics and may not be yours, but I believe they are solid, fair and hard to argue against.
“But wait,” I hear you say. “You used to write for Kiki & Tea! Doesn’t this make you a hypocrite?” Well no, it doesn’t. I wrote for Kiki & Tea as a matter of personal choice. No one was paid to write there. It was made clear to writers that there is no payment. It is a decision that you can make as a fully informed person.
“Isn’t writing for wine money a matter of personal choice then too?” Well, yes, to some degree it is. Everything is a choice. But in my opinion, writing for wine money doesn’t give the rewards that make it worthwhile when your efforts could be concentrated on other activities that have a much better payoff.
Further Reading:
- Google “list of sites paying bloggers” for a TON of resources
- Just Say No to Content Farms
- Should you write for free?
- On writing for peanuts
Where do you stand on blogging for “wine money”?
