How Forbes maintains its massive contributor network

Simon Owens writes about how Forbes recruits the thousands of contributors it has on its website.

Owens writes, “Of course the pay was also an incentive as well. In Flam’s case, she said that her contract stipulated that she write a minimum of five posts a month. For that, she would get a flat fee of $200, and then half a cent per unique view of her posts and five cents for repeat visitors. I asked DVorkin what Forbes considers a ‘repeat visitor.’ ‘If you came and read a post of mine in September, you’d be a first-time visitor,’ he explained. ‘If you came to a second post I did in September, you’d be a repeat visitor.’

“So what does all this mean if you’re a writer? Well, assuming that Flam’s pay rates are consistent across the board, if your five posts receive 100,000 unique views in a given month, then that comes out to $500. And if 10,000 of those people viewed a second article, there’s another $500. Add in the $200 flat monthly fee, then that’s $1,200, or $240 per post. ‘I think that the time spent versus the compensation is reasonable,’ said Mark Rogowsky. ‘Let’s be clear: nobody is getting wealthy off of this. It’s a one piece of making a decent living.’ In a blog post published earlier this year, DVorkin revealed that, of those who were paid, ’60 made as much or more in 2013 than the $45,250 a year the Bureau of Labor Statistics says is the nationwide average for a professional reporter or correspondent. Five or so have built big enough loyal audiences … to top $100,000. Many dozens more make between $10,000 and $25,000.’

“As for the rest of the writers, their incentives can be boiled down to a word that has been much-maligned in the journalism industry: ‘exposure.’ When the Huffington Post used the word to justify not paying its army of bloggers, many critics labeled it as exploitative. But I think the word has always been given a bum rap. While there are a subset of professionals who make their livings as writers, there are others who make their money other ways and who would benefit from having an outlet for thought leadership and content marketing.”