The Koerner Office: How She Makes $1,200 per Blog Post in the AI Era

**Chris Koerner** (0:01)
In a world flooded with machine-generated content, there's this freelance writer who's making $900 to $1,200 per blog post. Chris Koerner had her on The Koerner Office, and her story really challenges the idea that AI has killed writing. Those are solid numbers. What's her hourly breakdown? She spends about five to six hours per article, so roughly $90 an hour. And here's what got me—she says there's nothing stopping anyone from doing this. No coding skills, no technical degree required. She's even worked with high-profile clients like the son of Biggie Smalls. That's impressive. So how did she build this career? She started back in 2016, worked her way through editing sales enablement materials at Apple, then full-time at Zapier, before going freelance. But what's fascinating is how she uses AI with real intention. She's not trying to automate everything—she uses Claude for marketing content, Gemini for video and audio, and ChatGPT for research. Each tool has its strength. So she's not anti-AI, she's just strategic about it. What does her actual process look like? It's built around capturing real experience. When she writes tutorials, she records herself narrating the workflow as she's building it. That raw material—she calls it "the gold"—gets fed into AI.
She uses Cursor with a template to create a strong first draft, then refines it with her own voice and expertise. Where does she find these clients?
Mostly Upwork, where she's been searching since 2016
Her advice is to choose projects with long-term potential, then expand the relationship by uploading content or pitching more work. Most of her best clients are B2B SaaS companies like Zapier and JotForm that need long-form SEO content that's accurate and authoritative. What about the whole AI threat to writing jobs? Is she worried? Actually, she sees a backlash forming against purely AI-generated content. Companies want speed, but they don't want bland copy. She warns about "AI brain fry" and says her final drafts are still 70 to 80 percent her own words and structure. Her edge comes from real insight and storytelling— making technical material feel alive. What's her advice for newcomers?
No writing degree required. Pick a niche, build four or five strong samples on your own site, and learn to cold pitch with brevity and specificity. Start around $30 to $40 an hour if needed, but move toward project pricing as you grow.
The bottom line?
Even in the age of AI, "Writing is thinking." Companies still pay for judgment, taste, and a human spark. That's why strong writers can still build a real business.