So 451 Press, the self-proclaimed largest blog network, has put up its new payment model, and I can’t say that I am impressed with it. I tried to comment yesterday on their recent post, but my comment is still being held for moderation.

Not only does the post lack information, but when I add up the numbers, compared to the work that you would have to put in, it looks like writers would receive less than minimum wage. This of course is once the whole system is broken down to dollars per hour.

Here is their new payment model:

0 – 2 Month Bloggers

$0.50 Per Post & $1.50 CPM 3 – 5 Month Bloggers

$1.00 Per Post & $1.50 CPM 6 – 11 Month Bloggers

$1.50 Per Post & $1.50 CPM 12 – 17 Month Bloggers

$2.00 Per Post & $1.50 CPM

Raises, Good, Lack of Detail, Bad

The first thing I noticed was missing was an explanation of the time element. If I have blogged for two years with another network, and then came over to 451 Press, would I start at the 0-2 month mark, or at the 12-17 month mark? There is a huge difference in the payment amount, and so this should be described better.

Smart CPM Idea, But Bad Deal

Today, I also talked about what CPM is and how it relates to advertising. 451 Press is using CPM as part of their payment model, which will reward writers for traffic. This is pretty much the only part of their deal that makes sense to me. If 451 Press makes $3 CPM from an advertising position, then they are paying one half of their advertising revenue to their writers. This is great if the blog is getting hundreds of thousands of visitors each day.

The biggest issue I have with this is that I know 451 Press is making more than $3 CPM as they are probably making that from each advertising position, so really the writer is getting one half of the revenue from one advertisement. This is not a good deal for the writer. The rate should be $1.50 CPM per advertisement on the site rather than $1.50 CPM for the site.

Calculating It All Out

So, let’s say 451 Press puts me at their highest rate of $2 per post and $1.50 CPM.

I work really hard and produce 40 posts over the course of a month. That instantly earns me $80 for my efforts.

The site gets 20,000 page views, which earns me another $30.

So for a month of work, I have earned $110. Sounds pretty good for blogging right? What if I told you that it took me on average an hour to research, write and promote every two posts?

I know that is pushing it to the long side of things, but there are very few blogs that easily get 20,000 page views in the first few months, so we have to suspend our disbelief a bit, and this is just to experiment.

So it took me nearly 20 hours to write my 40 posts during the month. With a pay check of $110 from my work, that means I made $5.50 an hour from my work.

While that isn’t lower than the minimum wage in some states, it is much lower than the minimum wage here in Ontario, Canada.

Remember, this is the higher end of the spectrum for 451 Press, and newer bloggers will get paid far less for their efforts.

Does this seem fair?