I did something scary today. Something that may ultimately lead to rejection – likely in the form of silence. As some of you may know, my home blog is a staunchly conservative political site. I go on television to opine about the evils of such and such a policy. I am not warm and fuzzy in my views.

Today I applied for a job with a Kennedy. Yes, those Kennedys.

Am I selling out? No. The Kennedy in question isn’t political. He doesn’t show up on the floor of the House to spew policy ideas to the powers that be. He has other projects, and doesn’t resign himself to just being part of the clan. Sure, he’s probably a Democrat, but Democrats are people, too! I likely wouldn’t ever get into a car near a lake with him, for good reason. Then again, he probably wouldn’t be asking me what I think about immigration amnesty, either.

This is a straightforward writing gig, for which I feel I am uniquely qualified. And if the employer were Joe Shmo, I wouldn’t have the slightest hesitation in applying. However, since it’s one of them, I freaked out. I spent hours deliberating over whether or not I should even try. I convinced myself it was a lost cause. Then it took me two hours to write the damn cover email! All because of a stupid surname.

I’ve worked with famous and iconic people before. I regularly get emails or texts from people that many are envious of my knowing. That’s not the part that scared me. I was scared by ideological differences that don’t even have anything to do with the job at hand!

So I sucked it up and hit send. Even if I don’t get the gig, at least I can look at myself in the mirror without shame for being a coward.

Geek Girl on the Street (http://geekgirlonthestreet.com) is a new web publication focusing on geeky adventure and storytelling. Launched in January 2010, we are thriving and growing, attracting +1,000 weekly visitors (we anticipate hitting our goal of 50,000 monthly visitors by December 2010). We are in search of writers who are interested in submitting geeky rants/opinions, vlog posts, interviews, product/event reviews, fan-fiction, original artwork and photography for publication. We also secure interviews/press passes to some of the country’s geekiest events for our writers – including SD Comic Con, C2E2, MacWorld, GDC, BlogHer, Maker Faire, APE and others… GGotS is a great indie publication to showcase your writing on!

Sounds pretty hip, and like it would have an easy, laid-back tone. Just my kind of thing.

But… Then it came to the compensation.

Here’s the OMG: We PAY FOR SUBMISSIONS.

(Granted it’s not a ton o’ $$ – but, in this economy something is better than nothing!)

Um, actually, no. What this ad says to me is that GGotS is going to vastly underpay any writer that is hired, and make that writer feel lucky for getting anything at all.

Now, in their defense, they haven’t actually mentioned a price, so it might be in line with other blogging gigs ($25-50 per post, depending on how much research and social media pimping is required). But it sounds more like the kind of place you should be grateful you’re hired at. Almost like an internship with a prestigious magazine.

If you are new to the blogging-as-business scene, perhaps this gig might suit you, if only to pad your collection of clips. But for me, and for other professional bloggers, it looks like too much effort for too little pay.

Sounded good to me!

Seriously? Giving accessory and blowjob advice? And getting paid three large evey month for it? Sweet!

No, I didn’t get it. There’s was tons of great competition for it.

Elle online apparently had another job opening recently. This more recent gig was for a homeless blogger to write about life on the street. It would be one post a day (approximately an hour of writing time) and for this she would be paid…

$150 a month

From Read, Write, Web:

For a huge media brand that traffics in the culture of the wealthy and beautiful to win “compassion points” so cheaply seems ethically questionable. Ad sales for any pages Karp’s writing appears on would likely be very profitable. She’s put in front of the New York media circus as a poor unfortunate, in exchange for a famous magazine buying her breakfast each morning. Depending on her local laws, that rate of pay may not even be legal. The AP reports that Karp is being paid $150 per month and Karp links to the story without refutation of that key detail.

Brianna Karp could make more money working for a content mill than she will working for Elle. Admittedly, it’s a great launch pad, but as someone who was also homeless when I began my freelance writing business, even I know she’s being ripped off.

When I first began last year, I was charging about $12 for a blog post. I now charge no less than $20. A content mill will pay about $6. Elle is paying about $7, but the work is limited to one a day.

I have sent Brianna a copy of Ali Hale’s Staff Blogging Course. It’s a valuable resource for how to look for blogging gigs, and what to charge for them. Ms. Karp is being underpaid, and she’s letting it happen. I hope she learns to charge what she’s worth.

Now the ProBlogger himself, Darren Rowse, is offering 5 Tips to Help You Get a Blogging Job. It’s a video, and it won’t take long to watch. Anything Darren says is worth your time, trust me. He’s not called ProBlogger for nothing.

I recently took part in Darren’s 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge. I admit, I didn’t use every trick each day. But I did improve my traffic by implementing many of the small changes he recommended. And now he has taken the course and turned it into a workbook. Click here to view more details about the workbook. I’ve ordered one, just as a reference. I know there’s tons of stuff I missed during the challenge that I’m going to want to try in the future.

SwamiSEO is part of London based A K Singh Limited. We specialize in providing Guaranteed Google Top 10 Ranking and SEO consultancy.

No. of Positions Available – 5

Job Type – Freelance jobs

Job Location & Timings – Flexible timing, remote job.

Applicant profile

Applicant must have experience in followings

* Writing on various topics
* Familiarity with Wordpress, Blogspot and Livejournal Blogging platforms
* Some familiarity with SEO
* Some knowledge of HTML is also required

Good luck!