As the year is coming to a close, many of us are looking to the next year and thinking about how we can expand our reach. I know that advertising is a hot button topic for bloggers because we all want to make money. But I think that the other side of the coin isn’t discussed as much: what is it like to sponsor other blogs?
As a designer and small business owner, I’ve dabbled in sponsorship a little bit. I’ve had some great experiences, and some not so great ones. Here’s what I’ve learned from my experiences.
Be strategic. The best partnerships are ones where you can identify a need and fill it. For example, my most profitable sponsorship so far was sponsoring Melissa of I Still Love You. I had asked her a question about her calligraphy, and she actually let me know that she was looking for designers to refer people to if I was interested in sponsoring. She’s how I got Ashlee as a client, and we’ve wound up doing some collaborating beyond her own website.
However, if you’re looking to promote a blog rather than a business, think about what audience you’d like access to. A lot of times it’s blogs like ours that we aspire to be like who have larger audiences. If you see commonalities in a larger blog, and think that their readers might be interested in your blog, consider sponsoring them!
Make friends first. My best experiences with sponsoring other blogs is when I’ve had an exisiting relationship with the blogger. In addition to Melissa, I’ve also had good experiences sponsoring Joelle of Something Charming and Megan of Freckled Italian. I chat with Joelle on Twitter all the time and I’ve actually gotten to meet Megan in person. I read both of their blogs, and when they each put out calls for sponsors at the end of the summer, I decided to go for it. Both times I felt like reading their blogs and chatting with them before sponsoring enhanced my experience.
Part of that was on my end- in blog world, sponsoring someone is kind of like a vote of confidence. You want to make sure that you have a good idea of the character of a blog before you throw some money at it. The other part is that having an existing relationship helps them to promote you because they have an idea about what your blog is about.
I want to talk about Passionfruit Ads here: I think it’s a great idea. It helps make things easier for both parties. HOWEVER, it also promotes a little bit of laziness on both ends of the deal. The one time I had a not-so-great experience with a sponsorship, I purchased the ad on Passionfruit Ads without contacting the blogger at all. I would not recommend doing this. I just think that blindly paying for an ad is not where the real opportunity lies in blog sponsorship. The best sponsorships happen when you’re working together in some way.
Be clear about what you’re getting. There are a million and one ways to set up a blog sponsorship, and often it’s at the discretion of the blogger offering them. Are you just purchasing sidebar space, or will the blogger be featuring you in some other way? Asking for a media kit is always a good idea to get an idea of the stats and packages that a blogger offers.
Start small. The biggest question that most of us have when purchasing ad space is how much money is appropriate to pay for a blog of a certain size. This is really the million dollar question, and unfortunately I don’t have an answer for you. My best advice would be to start small with an amount that you’re comfortable with, and then go from there. It also doesn’t hurt to shop around to see what rates different bloggers charge. Keep in mind that a lot of times you do get what you pay for in terms of traffic, so if you start off with a $15-$20 sponsorship (which is totally fine!) don’t be discouraged if your audience doesn’t double overnight.
On the other hand, if you find a fit that you can tell is right (like what I described with Melissa where there’s a definite need that you could fill for a readership) then I would encourage you to go for it- those opportunities aren’t always easy to find.
What has your experience been with sponsoring other blogs? Overall, I’d say that I’ve had good experiences, but it’s not something that I do a ton of, and I haven’t always gotten direct business from advertising. But I do feel like in general it helps get your name out there. I’m not sponsoring anyone right now, but I’m thinking I’ll sponsor a few sites in January.
I’ve paid for sponsorship on two blogs so far- one being Megan of Freckled Italian which you mentioned earlier! I found both to help my traffic a tiny bit, but nothing TOO crazy. I also tend to pay for the smaller packages, since I can’t justify spending 25-40 dollars for a larger ad. I use Passionfruit ads and love the easiness of it. Everyone I’ve sponsored or has sponsored me through there has contacted me through e-mail, so there’s still a connection. Great post!
Yeah, I think that it really just depends on what you’re looking for in terms of how much money you’re willing to shell out. But I can totally relate to feeling gun shy about larger ads!
Great tips! I’ve sponsored a couple of blogs in the past, but I didn’t really like the results I was getting. Of course, it was probably my fault since I sponsored smaller, more affordable blogs. I’m at the point where I want to sponsor again, but I’m holding back because I don’t know if it’s fully worth it. I feel like there are more organic ways to get readers, but mastering them is the hard part!
Yeah, I know what you mean- it can be kind of hit or miss. I love what Lisa said in her comment below yours in terms of supporting others and really finding someone who is willing to refer readers to you.
Thanks so much for mentioning me! I’m so glad you had a good experience sponsoring Freckled Italian.
Anytime! :)
Being strategic is definitely key! I think it’s really less about the clicks you get from an ad and more about supporting the people you know will support you in return. Honestly, you probably aren’t going to get a lot of business/clicks from a sidebar ad, so I would say that it’s important to pay extra for those sponsored post opportunities (most bloggers won’t do posts unless you place a sidebar ad) and make sure you’re working with people who are happy (and in the position) to refer you to others.
My first paid ad didn’t generate any business for me until my sponsored post went live, and because my services were brought to the attention of the readers (who were exactly the kind of audience who would need them), I started getting lots of inquiries after that. Also, I still get a number of referrals from that blogger and have even worked with her on a couple of projects. I’ve also paid for ads with bloggers as a way of thanking them for sending referrals my way — I think it’s definitely important to make sure you are supporting the people who are supporting you.
It can be scary to put money into advertising, but I think it’s worth making a larger investment if it’s the right opportunity. You’ll get more out of spending $100 in one place if that blogger is connecting you with the right people than you will spending it in 10 different places. (Though, as I mentioned, it’s important to support the people who support you, even if that means placing a $10-$15 ad that isn’t going to get you as many clicks.)
Great topic!
I love how you put that! I hadn’t thought about using ads as a way to thank people before- I’m gonna think about how to start doing that in the future!
I totally agree with your last paragraph too- this is giving me a lot to think about for my sponsorships in 2013!
I’m sponsoring 1 blog right now for the first time. I paid $10, and I’ve gotten a pretty good increase in followers, especially considering how little I paid. I had a relationship with the blogger beforehand, and I definitely wouldn’t want to randomly sponsor someone I didn’t know, so I agree with you there. I probably won’t do it a lot, but overall I don’t think sponsoring is a bad idea. Good post!
I love this topic! I find that blogs rarely talk about sponsoring other blogs as a way to get traffic/customers/readers. I’m just starting to experiment with this, so I don’t have too many results to report yet. I sponsored one blog for about $15 for about 10 days (gets nearly a million pageviews/month) and feel like I’ve gotten some value. I’ve been getting on average 5 clicks a day, but almost all of those really stick around and click around my blog. Also, close to half of those subscribe to my e-mail list, so it’s high quality visitors. I’m thinking of seeing if she’ll host a giveaway for me, although I’m sure it wouldn’t be cheap. I also just started sponsoring another blogger that I know, and along with a sidebar ad and social media mentions, she’s going to host a giveaway for me in a couple weeks. I’m anxious to see how that goes. I’m really seriously contemplating contacting a really big blog in my niche about doing a giveaway for me. I think it would cost $75 for the giveaway plus I would giveaway $75 worth of product (which costs me less than $75, but not nothing).
Great post, Katelyn! It’s nice to read other bloggers opinions on paid advertising/sponsorship. I haven’t done any paid advertising, but it’s something I’ve thought about so you post was really helpful.
Love your thoughts on this topic, Kate! I go back and forth with the pros/cons of advertising/having a sponsor program. I decided to discontinue ads come january just because it’s not the direction i want my blog to go. I’ve had good and bad experiences sponsoring other blogs, they help a little I guess, but I really favor the traditional swap or trade. I’ve been trading spots with several bloggers that have similar following as me for months now, and it’s really helped readership as well as form relationships with my favorite blogs. What helps bring traffic most i think is collaborating with other bloggers and participating in opportunities like guest posting/giveaways/co-hosting link ups. I’ve met so many people that way!
This is a really great post Kate! And obviously, I’m behind on my reader since I’m just now getting to commenting…
I’m glad you had a good experience working with me, and I also love working with bloggers that I actually “know” as well. I’ve definitely had my fair share of bad experiences with advertising (advertising on other blogs, I mean), and I think you’re right about the Passionfruit thing. It’s a great service, but I do get that lazy feeling from bloggers when I purchase an ad and they don’t even send me an email to say thanks :(
This is definitely a topic that needs to be talked about more, in my opinion. I think everyone has a right to open up their blogs for sponsorships, but it’s so important that you do it the right way. Seeing a blog that doesn’t have any stats up or have a media kit available, but expects people to pay $50 a month for a sidebar ad really puts a bad taste in my mouth, you know?