9.12.2013

On Sponsorship: Do's & Do Not's

Ever since reading this post and writing this one, blog sponsorship has been on my mind and heart. I'm far from a professional on the topic, but the experience I have with it makes me want to advocate for it and share the knowledge I have accumulated. That means today, we're talking about nothing other than the...


one || DO try sponsoring new blogs. It allows you to form new relationships and gain authentic readers. Sometimes, things won't work out exactly as you wanted them to. Maybe the new blog you chose didn't reach your level of expectation or maybe you didn't see any growth... Whatever the reason, don't let it hinder you from sponsoring new blogs in the future. The only thing worse than failure is never trying! Knowing is always better than wondering.

two || DO rotate the blogs you sponsor. If you consecutively sponsor the same blogs over and over again you're going to be reaching the same audience over and over again... Which only makes sense. One of my favorite things to do is to rotate my favorites. One month, I might sponsor Sunny With A Chance of Sprinkles and the next I might sponsor My Three Bittles. The next, I might sponsor Venus Trapped In Mars, and the following I might sponsor A Sorta Fairytale. It works very well because it allows me to spend time on my favorite sidebars, stays within my budget, and gets me NEW exposure.

three || DO contact the blogger you're sponsoring if you need anything during your stay on their sidebar. I have never worked with a sponsor who didn't do absolutely everything they could to make their sponsors' time enjoyable and productive. The blogger you're sponsoring should check in and ask if you need anything, but between the volume of e-mails and real life, that's not always feasible. Be an initiator and make sure you get the most bang for your buck!

four || DO tell your friends about the experience you've had with blogs/bloggers. It's awesome when sponsor's have wonderful time on someone's sidebar and share that with their readers/friends and it's helpful when sponsor's share their less than awesome time on someone's sidebar, too! 

five || DO connect with the bloggers you're sponsoring. Follow them on Twitter, like their blog's page on Facebook. Interact with them and build that relationship back. For example, if you sponsor me, I'm going to be tweeting about you 1-4 times a week. Mentioning you. Sharing you. Reach out and say something or retweet it so I can see that you're being and feeling promoted!

six || DO use Passionfruit to keep your ads organized. While this one is an opinion, I highly, highly recommend it. This site and the hard worker behind it does all the dirty work a blogger could ask for! Things stay organized and blog sponsorship becomes a lot simpler once you take advantage of the awesomeness that is Passionfruit.

seven || DO NOT forget to respond to e-mails from the bloggers you're sponsoring. Get them the information/details they need from you so that they can do their very best to promote you, your posts, and your blog in general. No material to work with = no promotion... Remember that!

eight |DO NOT forget to look for discount codes when purchasing an ad. If you can't find it anywhere on the advertising page, tweet the blogger! There are discount codes to take advantage of often and I don't know anyone who doesn't like to save a few dollars!

nine || DO NOT forget to post regularly. This post explains that point more clearly, but I just wanted to restate that here. The blogs you sponsor cannot promote anything if you don't come up with fresh content. This doesn't mean you have to blog every.single.day. or make your life revolve around giving them fresh things to work with, but remember that it's your responsibility to be putting content out there and when you do, you tend to get the most for your time and money!

ten |DO NOT forget to set a budget for yourself/your blog... And stick to it. Blog sponsorship gets stressful when you forget to be realistic about it. I tend to spend around $30-$50 a month on sponsorship and don't like it to go above that. Giving myself a budget makes my decision to sponsor blogs much, much more meaningful because I can only choose so many. It can be hard to stick to it, but in the long run, it's for the very best!

Click on over to my advertising page HERE and use the code BDAYCOUNTDOWN for 50% off your space!

What "Do's" and "Do Not's" do you follow when it comes to blog sponsorship?

15 comments:

said...

Great post! I completely agree with everything here.

said...

This is great!!! I don't feel like the Lord is leading me to have my own sponsorship anytime soon, but every month or every other month I sponsor another blog. These tips are helpful to me as a sponsor.

said...

Thanks for this! I just started sponsoring other blogs this month and this was great info to have! :)

said...

Great post! I'm thinking about sponsoring once I have my blog designed so thank you for giving me some pointers!

said...

Great post! I have been burned with sponsoring in the past and I haven't sponsored anyone in a while. I'm thinking next month I am going to start again but I will be more picky about who I choose!!

Holly :)

said...

This is an awesome post! I've been trying to expand my blog lately, so all this was good to know. :)

Also. I don't follow very many blogs, 23 to be exact, and I'm going to be hosting a giveaway sometime next week once my FB page hits 150 likes (it's got 9 to go!), so I wanted to let you know so you could participate since you're one of those. :)

Hope your day is wonderful!

said...

SUCH A GREAT POST!!! And not just because you mentioned me, but because this is truly great sponsorship advice! Preach girly!

said...

I LOVE this. A perfect list of Do's and Don'ts. I will be sharing fo sho. :)

said...

P.S. I love seeing your cute face all over my sidebar!

said...

Really great post, going to have a good read again later, I think it's important to rotate and sponsor new blogs, it's a great way to make new friends and network.

Laura x
www.sidestreetstyle.com

said...

I totally love this post . I dropped by Sarah's blog and now I am staying around . I sponsored a few blogs that weren't even my type so obviously it didn't work . I must add that sponsoring someone like you is a good benefit . It works when nothing else does ;)

said...

I can't wait for my sponsorship to start on your blog! I bet it'll be a fun experience for the both of us. It sounds like you really do a lot to help promote your sponsors and I'd really appreciate all the help I can get!
Lauren
Exploring My Style

said...

These are definitely great things to think about! I'm just beginning to delve into the world of blog sponsoring--it will definitely be important to sit down and think about how much I want to spend!

said...

Such good advice, I need to remember the one about rotating the blogs I sponsor!

said...

This is so well thought out.... #4 is my life saver. I feel like I'm spinning in circles sponsoring the same people over and over... I love asking people on twitter/ emailing other bloggers who they love to sponsor.


Oh and of course thanks for the link love in #2 xoxoxo!!