If you read this blog, or any of my blogs, you know that I've long been a blogging enthusiast. The primary reason? Your blog makes you a better writer — anything which does that, gets my vote. 🙂 Several readers have asked about making money with their blogs, specifically about blog sponsorships, so let's look at that.
What's "blog sponsorship?" Essentially, you're paid to write a blog post advertising a sponsor's product. Mommy bloggers thrive on blog sponsorships, and bloggers create blogs specifically to attract sponsors.
Sounds good, right? Getting paid to blog is an ideal for many writers. At least once a week, a writer contacts me to say that someone has asked them to write a blog post to promote a product, and they don't know how much to charge. We'll look at that in a moment.
Alternatively, someone writes and plaintively asks: "How do I get a blog sponsor?"
The holy grail of blogging: getting paidClick To Tweet
Let's deal with how to get blog sponsors first.
How to get blog sponsors
Here's how:
Get blog traffic in an area in which people spend money, such as: food and cooking, hobbies, parenting, kids, gadgets, fitness, exercise equipment, photography… I could go on, and on. Suffice to say that if people are spending money in an area, and you've got a relevant blog, AND get traffic, you can get sponsors. Make your blog attractive. Look for high-traffic blogs in your niche. They're your competition. Strive to make your blog as useful, as welcoming, and as targeted as your competitors'. Watch your traffic. Keep a chart, so that your know how much traffic you get, and when. Attention is everything to a sponsor. They're paying for eyeballs on your blog. Create an "Advertisers" page on your blog, and decide how much you'll charge per blog post. Don't put your rates on your page, unless you have a clear reason for it. You can get sponsorships even if you have little traffic, and you can charge for it. But you can't charge more than your rates if you make them public. What happens if, six months from now, your traffic has vastly increased, and you've posted your rates as $50 per post? Don't do it. 🙂 Sponsors may approach you
If you've got a great blog which gets traffic, you'll get messages asking you to:
Write a sponsored post; Write a paid review; or Add text links a post you've already written. At one stage, when I had a couple of fitness and beauty blogs, I got dozens of requests a week. That was a few years ago, when there were fewer blogs chasing sponsorship money. Today, the competition's tougher, but if you have a good blog, you will get offers of sponsorship.
Of course, you can also approach sponsors.
Where to find blog sponsors
Here are some ideas on how to find blog sponsors, from 15 Places to Find Blog Sponsors :
"Whether you offer ad space, sponsored posts or reviews, knowing where to find blog sponsors can greatly increase your earning potential. Especially as a new blog, these potential advertisers may not be knocking down your door. That doesn't mean they aren't interested! They just haven't been introduced to your online space yet."
How much to charge for a sponsored blog post
A vexing question. 🙂 Here's what I do. I have simple formula. I charge $250 to $350 an hour for writing blog posts (anything less wouldn't make sense to me financially.) So I decide how many hours the post will take me to research, write, format and post, and hey presto, that's the fee.
Tips:
Make sure the sponsored post is relevant to your readers. In other words, if you have a beauty blog, don't accept a sponsored post for online casinos, or whatever. Your readers come first. Are you serving your readers with the post? Is the post something they'd expect to see on your blog? Does the post add value to the reader? Do you use the product, or if it isn't something you'd use (like diapers if you don't have children), would you recommend the product to a friend? Add a "sponsored" or "advertising" tag to the post. Legally you're obligated to do it, so make it plain to readers that you're being paid to promote the product. Get paid up front. Yep, the complete fee up front. Since the blog post is customized to the client, it's useless to you. To repeat: do not write the blog post if the sponsor doesn't want to pay up front. Now I've warned you twice, and I know whereof I speak. 🙂 Heed the warning. Allison Boyer has a good information on sponsored blog post rates, with great advice:
"Stay true to yourself. Do not take on sponsors if you feel like they aren't a good fit for your blog style or niche. Do your research on the brand before you say yes or no. Sometimes, even if you love the product, it is not a good fit because the way they market the product doesn't match what you do on your blog."
So, there you have it. Blog sponsorship in a nutshell. How do you feel about blog sponsorships? Have you been approached to place advertising on your blog?
Happy blogging. 🙂
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The following two tabs change content below. Angela Booth is a copywriter, author published by major publishers, and writing teacher. She offers many guides, courses and classes to help writers to enhance their skills at her online store. She also provides inspiration and motivation for writers on her writing blogs. Angela has been writing successfully since the late 1970s, and was online in the 1980s, long before the birth of the Web. Her novels and business books have been widely published. Latest posts by Angela Booth (see all)
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Blog Sponsorships: Get Paid To Blog
