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Write an Online Quiz for BuzzFeed and Earn $1,500 If It Goes Viral

Mike Brassfield

by Mike Brassfield

Senior Writer

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You’re probably familiar with BuzzFeed’s infamous quizzes and lists, or “listicles.”

Ah, the quizzes. You’ve got your personality quizzes (Are You a Better Dog or Cat Owner?), your pop culture quizzes (Which Kanye Quote Drives You Crazy?), your movie quizzes (Which Mad Max Character Tugs on Your Heartstrings?) and your science quizzes (What Do You Know About Neutrinos?).

Maybe you’ve thought to yourself, “I could do that. I could come up with one of those.”

Well, now’s your chance — and you can get paid for it, too. BuzzFeed just kicked off its Winter 2023 Writers’ Challenge, in which you can earn payouts of up to $1,500 by contributing quizzes and lists to BuzzFeed.

The more pageviews your quiz gets, the more money you win. The contest started Jan. 1 and runs through Feb. 28.

To get pageviews (also known as readers), your post will need to be chosen by BuzzFeed’s editors for promotion on the site and on social media. To be chosen, it’ll need to fit BuzzFeed’s “editorial voice” — in other words, your work needs to look and sound like it would appear on BuzzFeed.

For example, here are some quizzes and listicles written by members of BuzzFeed’s online community that recently got promoted on the site:

  • Which Teen Titans Character Are You?
  • Let’s See Which Fast Food Restaurant Matches Your Personality
  • This Breakfast Sandwich Quiz Will Totally Reveal Which National Park You Should Visit Next
  • These Are Some of the Least Recognizable World Flags — Can You Match Them to Their Home Countries?

You get the idea.

If your quiz or list draws 150,000 pageviews, you earn $100. If it gets 250,000 clicks, you earn $300. For 500,000 clicks, you earn $500. And if your post really goes viral and attracts a million readers, you earn $1,500. (Take it from us, getting a million pageviews is tough.)

But if your quiz tanks, you don’t get anything. Them’s the breaks in this harsh online world.

BuzzFeed has guides for making quizzes and lists. Oh, and you have to sign up for a BuzzFeed Community account to submit a post.

So if you’ve ever wanted to be the brains behind a BuzzFeed quiz like “Let’s See How Well You Know These Disney Dogs,” now’s your chance to shine.

Have a way with words? Check out our article on places where you can get paid to write now.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can I Keep Track of My Pageviews?

Yes. You can track your stats on a dashboard that you can view when logged in. 

How Will I Know If I’ve Earned Anything?

BuzzFeed will contact you at the email address you gave when you signed up for a community account. Pageviews will be counted until March 14. Winners will get their payouts by March 20.

Can I Submit More Than One Quiz?

Yes. Any post that doesn’t violate the site’s community rules will be considered.

What Criteria Is the Website Using to Judge Entries?

The site typically chooses entries to promote if they check at least one of these boxes:

  • Fits in with trends of what’s performing well on the site 
  • Features originality and cleverness in voice, frame or topic
  • Fills a content gap that the website’s staff isn’t already writing about

Mike Brassfield ([email protected]) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.