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The Kirkpatrick Blogger Pay Survey Debunked
Yesterday ReadWriteWeb Content VP Marshall Kirkpatrick posted the results of a survey that apparently looked at "Top Tier Bloggers and Social Media Consultants" and the current pay they receive. The title doesn’t mention tech bloggers but Marshall notes that the survey only went to "20 top-tier tech bloggers and social media consultants". I wonder what makes someone a top social media consultant. More importantly only 10 people participated in the survey. That in itself makes the survey unreliable and probably should not have been posted without more responses. But hey, it hit Digg, apparently that instantly makes it reliable and accurate.
So what do we know about, and from, this survey?
- The survey went to 20 people (including me, I didn’t reply) and only 10 apparently replied
- The 10 participants posted on a wiki page and we have no idea if it was actually 10 unique individuals
- Site founders weren’t included
- We have no way to tell what makes someone a "top-tier tech blogger or social media consultant" – i.e. there’s no benchmark
- RWW was able to grab data for use with their own bloggers in future negotiation
- Apparently RWW bloggers weren’t included in said survey unless Marshall makes a max of $90k
- Less than 24 hours were offered to participate
- There are numerous disclaimers within the survey findings
- Apparently the survey was sent to only Web 2.0 bloggers, not tech bloggers in general
- No mention on U.S or International
One apparent respondent says they make $15/post but $300/hr consulting. That’s hilarious. The real issue is that without knowing A LOT more about the responses and detailed information about the overall situation, it makes it near impossible to take this data for anything. What scares me is that Jeremiah Owyang calls this a "great post" – isn’t he supposed to be an analyst?
Would a blogger pay survey be a good idea? Absolutely! But it needs to be well thoughtout, have appropriate questions and answers, be statistically relevant, and get a diverse range of responses.
Damn dude, who peed in your oatmeal? As I said in the post, it was an anecdotal look at one part of the field. It’s like I got 10 people in a room, we had a noisy conversation and I wrote it up. That’s a hell of a lot better than nothing, which is what we all had available before. People keep asking me what they should charge for blogging or consulting, that’s why I did the survey and wrote the post. Now I can point to it when people ask. And obviously a lot of people wanted to know. You know as well as anybody how little time we have to put into posts, that one took me probably 3 or 4 hours from idea to proofreading and post. That’s all the science you get in these parts, bud. Maybe you’re just grouchy cause you’ve been charging too little for consulting work? If so, take note readers, Allen Stern’s consulting is a steal at the price apparently so contact him now before he gets his panties unbunched and raises his rate. Take care of yourself, ping me on Skype some time.
I am more of a rice chex guy. I don’t get it honestly – the old RWW wouldn’t have put out this sort of piece.
So let me get this straight – people are asking you for advice on how much to charge for blogging or consulting. You ask your "top tier tech friends" how much they are making and then provide that as an amount that someone else who may or may not have the same skills as said "top tier tech" bloggers or consultants make? That’s the real issue here Marshall. Your survey provided absolutely no guidance or insight. We know nothing more than we knew 72 hours ago.
As for my price – it varies depending on the type of work, the duration of work, etc. Any good consultant knows that. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t reply.
Good post Allen. Whether the survey was intended to be anecdotal or not, the points you highlighted were fair and legitimate questions/concerns with the methodology.
Marshall what’s up with your response though? Allen laid out some constructive criticism. The professional way to respond would’ve been to say, “Allen, you’re right. it’s not perfect, but at least it’s a start.” But instead you ridiculed the criticisms, highlighted the lack of time you put into posts and took personal shots. I didn’t realize the definition of “Top Tier Bloggers and Social Media Consultants” included thin-skinned pettiness. That’s embarrassing dude.
Brian, fair enough. Allen, your points are all fair – I just reacted based on the feeling that they didn’t add up to invalidating the goals I set out for on a post I was proud of. I certainly didn’t mean to take any personal shots, the stuff about your consulting rates was meant as a humorous retort like: “if this doesn’t sound right then maybe you should charge more because, my friend, you’re worth it.” Humor often doesn’t work out so well in text, I know, so if that’s the case then I apologize.
And Brian, thin-skinned pettiness is *almost* a part of the job description for top tier bloggers. I consider it more of a gift I give my employer and the world, though, than a requirement! <—that was intended as a self-effacing joke.
For me, it’s good to know WHY I’m not a “top-tier” blogger. Apparently, I spend too much time on my posts, do too much research, and get paid too little. I need to figure out how to do about doing less work for more money.
Having once earned money writing “plain English” summaries of survey findings*, I am instinctively sceptical about surveys and reports thereof.
That said, I found the post interesting and helpful. I thought – and still do – that Marshall was very clear about the limitations of the “sample” and built in so many caveats he’s probably a lawyer when he’s not blogging.
For a thirsty person in a desert, a few drops of possibly imperfect water are better than waiting for a deluge of perfection.
* Survey reports which draw on findings from 1,000 people out of say 20 million and which are summarized (processed) as ” more than half of all (the class to which the 20 million belong) believe…” when it is really 51% of 1,000, i.e. 510 out of 20 million who believe whatever it is (I was assured in such cases that the results were “statistically sound” and that it was perfectly acceptable to summarize them in the “don’t ask me to stretch my brain” populist mode.
PS: just so you know, your CAPTCHA is a royal pain – I hope 3rd go is successful