100,000 dollars per year to blog?
According to CNN Money in “‘Dukes of Hazzard Institute’ VP hired,” this is the yearly salary that Christopher Nelson, a young New Yorker, will pocket to write a blog. But not an ordinary blog. He has been hired by the Country Music Television cable channel to watch reruns of an old show aired between 1979 and 1985, “The Dukes of Hazzard,” and post daily notes about them for the TV station. How many of you would be ready to watch silly old TV shows to get such a salary? Probably a bunch, but I doubt that a European TV station is ready to make such an offer.
Here are some short excerpts of the CNN Money article.
Yes, Christopher Nelson’s new job, which comes with a $100,000 salary and a one-year contract, will be to watch reruns of “The Dukes of Hazzard” weeknights on the Country Music Television (CMT) cable channel and write blog postings for the network’s Web site.
The contract does not include vacation time. “For $100,000 he’d better watch that show every night,” said James Hitchcock, CMT’s vice president for marketing.
The TV channel posted an ad for the job in February 2005 in several industry publications and on its website. It received more than 2,000 applications before selecting Nelson.
Getting $100,000 a year to write a blog appears a little bit high today, but other companies are hiring full-time bloggers.
For example, in “Blogging becomes a corporate job,” the Wall Street Journal writes that hiring bloggers is a rising phenomenon.
A small but growing number of businesses are hiring people to write blogs, otherwise known as Web logs, or frequently updated online journals. Companies are looking for candidates who can write in a conversational style about timely topics that would appeal to customers, clients and potential recruits.
Currently, only 4 percent of major U.S. corporations have blogs available to the public, according to a recent survey by eMarketer, a New York research company. But ads for blogging jobs are popping up on online job boards in recent months.
And even if these companies don’t propose six-figure salaries, they still offer decent money. Check for instance Flycell Inc., a small company with 15 employees which delivers contents for cell phones, such as games or ring tones, and which is actively seeking a “blogger/copywriter/editorial-content producer.”
The annual salary ranges from $50,000 and $70,000. The job also includes duties, such as writing marketing copy and content for the Web site of the company.
If you know about similar offers in France or elsewhere in Europe, please let me know below.
