It happens.
Its happened to me, it may have even happened to you. And chances are, you know at least one other blogger that it has happened to.
You fork out some cold hard cash, for what is supposed to be a kick ass blog ad space, and 2 weeks later you’re pulling out your hair in frustration! Your emails don’t get answered, there are no tweets or mentions, the date for your guest post comes and goes, and worst of all… NO TRAFFIC!
Every bloggers worst nightmare!
It seems simple right? Just do what you say you’re going do. And yet, more and more, I am hearing “horror stories” from fellow bloggers! How awful is that? I have my own horror story. And it makes me sad. I work hard for every penny that I put into building up my blog. If I sponsor another blog it’s because I believe that there will be some benefit in it to me. And I imagine it’s the same for you!
Sites like Passionfruit Ads and Adproval have made posting buttons and promoting other blogs easier than ever! And BONUS! You can make money doing it! But here is the thing, the moment you accept any form of payment for a service offered (aka. Ad Space), you’re in BUSINESS! That means that you are responsible and accountable to the people you accept money from. You MUST follow through on the things you promise.
If you’re currently selling ad space, you’re obligated to do some very basic things…
Answer Emails!
Life gets in the way at times, but follow up as quickly as possible. I am far from perfect in this area, but 2 days a week, I sit down and go through my entire inbox to make sure I haven’t missed anything.
Write it Down!
If someone purchase a spot that comes with a guest post, offer them dates that work for you right away, and then WRITE IT DOWN! More and more bloggers are working with editorial calendars. Get that guest post on the calendar! And then, for the love of Pete, POST it on the day you told them! Take notes… find out what they are hoping to accomplish by sponsoring your blog and help them achieve it!
Stay Connected!
Ok… so your email gets hacked (or some such nonsense) and you change your primary email. TELL YOUR SPONSORS! It’s not their job to hunt you down so that you can answer their questions. Touch base occasionally… and not just cause you want something. Turn that sponsor into a friend 🙂
Follow Through!
Lots of blogs offer Facebook Mentions and Tweets as one of the perks of sponsorship. Sometimes you’re offered a G+ chat or a mentorship session… All awesome things! But if the price of the sponsorship goes up with those perks, and you don’t actually follow through… whats the point?
I am by no means an expert on the business of blogging, but I do know this… People talk. If you fail to follow through on the things you’ve promised, it will haunt you.
On the flip side… you want to start offering paid sponsorships. Cool! Ask yourselves these questions first…
Do I have the time?
– Can I commit an hour, if not more, a week to answer emails, tweet, connect and do all the other things I’ll need to do?
Can I be organized and follow through?
– Feel free to use this printable (provided by Jac from babeblessings) to get and stay organized!
Download the Sponsorship Printable
Do I have the traffic to support/give results to others?
-This is a BIG one. There is no set number of sponsors you should/must have… but if you want to charge the big bucks, you need to have the Big numbers. I’d personally say, that if you have less than 300 followers you should stick to swaps. If you’re in the 300 to 500 range, no more than $5. 500 to 1000 Max $15. Those are just suggested numbers, but that is what I would be willing to pay (max) for a spot with people that have those numbers. If you’re not sure what to charge, ask? There are TONS of bloggers that love helping out with these kinda questions, including me! 🙂
If you answer “yes” to all 3 of those questions… then go for it! You’re ready to get started with ad space. Keep it simple when you start out, build a great reputation, and be prepared to make new friends!
So what is your sponsorship story? Good, bad, ugly? What did you learn from it?
Brin says
Took the words right out of my mouth!
Stephanie @ The Vint says
yep i just paid for ad space for this past month and got NOTHING. not even a twitter shout out. i'm pretty upset about it and i seriously got NO followers from her blog. annoying.
JenniferJayne says
Its pretty frustrating! The worst part is that there is little that you can do, except learn from it 🙁
Kelley says
La-La-La-LOVE IT! SO glad you said what others wont. THANK YOU 😀
JenniferJayne says
you're welcome 🙂
Sarah says
Hi Jennifer! I have not done any sponsorship yet, but this is good information to know in the future! I'm so sorry about what happened to you. In the end, business is business and you gotta deliver, right? It makes me mad when people don't deliver! Hope all things work out!
JenniferJayne says
Exactly! And your reputation among other bloggers is pretty critical… lets face it, we're mostly women and we WILL talk about something when we're not happy about it!
Kristen @ KV Confess says
From the moment I started accepting sponsors I felt an obligation to take the role seriously. I feel I did well upholding the end of my deal (and was surprised with the amount of blogs that sponsored that didn't participate in their perks?) BUT – I did not expect such a large amount of time to be consumed with having sponsors – giveaways, guest posts, sponsor shout outs, social media mentions, organizing the entire thing – it takes WAY more time than you would think, especially when you have a giant sidebar of 20+ sponsors to please. I decided to really cut back with the spots I offer as well as the perks – I organized it in a way that's probably different from others but works for me and my sanity. I have been in that spot before where you pay a ridiculous amount of money for little to zero traffic – it's so discouraging. I stopped sponsoring other blogs all together and I'm just focusing on collaborations, trade, and quality content.
JenniferJayne says
It is a HUGE time commitment! I'm not currently offering sponsorships on this blog for that very reason. Until I can offer a 100% commitment to a sponsor I'm not going to waste their time or money. I think that swaps and collaborations can be more effective at times and CONTENT is Key!
Lindsay says
LOVE THIS! I have had my share of bloggers who have promised such and such and never delivered. Its a shame. I'm not about calling people out publicly – but I'd hate for someone else to get scammed like I did.
Lacey says
Hey Jennifer! I'm sorry you had a bad experience with your sponsor! I haven't sponsored another blog yet because I"m super nervous about it!
I really like that worksheet – thank you!
Sara Ivy says
I've actually had the opposite problem. I did a giveaway for ad space and I had a hard time getting the people to upload their ad's and the largest space on my blog comes with the option of a guest post or giveaway and the person who won it isn't interested in doing either one! I only put the option of ad space on my blog because I had people ask me about them and then zero response.
I'm not too concerned about the tweeting and being promoted on facebook as part of buying the ad space. With passion fruit most people put specifically what is included when you purchase the ad. So if it doesn't say guest post, weekly tweet, weekly fb shout out then you can't really be on someone for not doing it. If they did promise those things then I totally say to get on them.
As for the zero traffic being directed to your blog I can only say this – when I click on a banner from someone's website it is because I was attracted in some way to that banner. Whether I liked the design, if there is a person on it then maybe I liked their clothing, their hair, their make up. Sometimes I just like the name of the website. If I don't click on it, then it means that the banner is not aesthetically pleasing to me.
I've had my ad on several blogs. I've paid for some, got freebie's on a few others. My paid experience has been the best. I haven't received any response from the freebie ones. But I paid for the smallest ad on one site and received over 100 page views in the first week. Next month I scheduled for the next ad space up. If that has a decent return I'll continue until I'm ready to go top-shelf. But I would never shell out for the largest ad space first. That's just asking for trouble. I don't care what it offers don't do it until you know that it will do well and that you have G.A to back you up.
JenniferJayne says
I'm glad you've had such success with your ad spaces. Sometimes people don't have the time to do the "extras" that they win or pay for… and thats totally fine! I've had people pay to sponsor me in the past, and even though a guest post was offered, they didn't have the time/interest to do it. I agree that buttons need to be appealing… you know what they say about first impressions 🙂 Hopefully you continue to have awesome results with your ad spaces 🙂
A Dash of Sarah says
SO true! This hasn't happened to me, personally, but at the DFW Bloggers meet up we discussed this happening to a fellow Texan blogger, and what a terrible experience she had. It steered me away from wanting to sponsor anyone and get my ad on their site, because I've been worried now of the money and whether or not it will just be wasted.
Thanks for telling it like it is! Maybe us bloggers can do others a favor and give "shout out" posts to awesome bloggers we sponsor who go above and beyond?
Kait says
I have sponsored one blog, it was a terrible experience. For the whole month I got maybe 10 views from her site. She is a "bigger blogger" too. For a long time I wondered if it was because my blog sucked, now I realize it was because she didn't put the effort in.
I have been toying with the idea of doing a mentorship sponsorships, but I am so very from being burned.
JenniferJayne says
Mentorship programs are AWESOME! I'm doing one right now and I am loving every second 🙂 Don't give up on sponsorships… There are bloggers out there that do a great job! If you are looking for people to work with, just tweet or ask for people's opinions 🙂
JenniferJayne says
Thats the saddest part about this for me… the smaller bloggers who get scared off what should be an awesome experience/opportunity for growth! I'll happily recommend the bloggers I've had success with. And I agree! If you've had a great experience Tell others about it!
Kendra @ A Proverbs says
I have had really good results on blogs I sponsor. But I have a little system for avoiding being burnt.
Scope out the site really well.
Don't look at followers, look at page views, look in twitter and see what they are tweeting, do the same on Facebook and Pinterest.
Another thing to consider, if you find a blog that you really like to sponsor and get a lot of traffic from it, great! But don't sponsor it the next month (unless they offer a killer deal). Wait one to two months to when the blog should have a lot more of new people visiting and when you pay for the ad again it's like you are a brand new button. People want to see new stuff.
I do like your sponsorship checklist as well, it looks awesome!
JenniferJayne says
I've decided to do a "Part B" to this post and talk about what to look for! I'm so glad you've had success with your sponsors!
Kimberly Montgomery says
The post is really a good one. Both for deciding whether to offer sponsorship AND in deciding who to sponsor. 🙂
All of the comments are also very good. Lots to think about.
Sarah {the fontenot says
Great post! Gives a lot to think about both as a blogger offering sponsorships and as a blogger wanting to sponsor other blogs. There are one or two blogs I might consider paying a high price for a spot, but I'm terrified of having no return from it. It's a lot to invest. Personally, I like to offer lower prices but still try to do my best for people who have decided to sponsor me. I have had giveaway winners on other blogs not contact me to put their ad up after they won. I've had giveaway winners do nothing more than put their button up on my blog and not take any interest in the guest post or feature post options. All I can do is try. If they don't respond after I've tried (more than once I will add!), then I know I've done my part. I still wish I'd get the response because I'd love to help promote them better! Looking forward to having you on my blog soon!
Siubhan says
What a well written and thoughtful post Jennifer, thank you. I'm a long way from having sponsors or even investing in advertising but this is all very useful information to know. I'm just wondering why you choose not to mention the name of the blog that 'burned' you ?
Siubhan
JenniferJayne says
Thanks for your comment! I didn't share the name of that blog because I'm not out to "bash" anyone. If someone genuinely wants to know because they are considering sponsoring and would like to avoid frustration, I'm willing to share privately. I got burned almost 5 months ago and I'm pretty much over it. I chose to write this post because it was happening to so many other bloggers and, well, someone needed to say what others were thinking. lol
Vera Godley says
Reality, folks, simple reality. Pay per click and ads on blogs don't really bring in anything for the average blogger and definitely not for the non-savvy-business-mgr blogger. Maybe I'm just sticking my head in the sand, but I tried Adsense for awhile and after a year (with a wee little boost from a shopping forum that linked up) I finally got to the magical $100. But 2 years later (and no magical boost) – nadda. Nothing. So…… I concluded that my blog is for fun. For mental stimulation. To enhance my computer skills. And……. to review books and products (when I can find them without going to "Blogher"). I get the books free and the products free. I spend a little time writing and posting. I give books to the library to help the school. I get more laundry detergent, cookies, coffee, and other things (hopefully). So it "pays" in helping me stay current and grow and be mentally active. It "pays" with good reading and some donations. Etc. Are we having fun, folks? I think I am.
Also, REMEMBER – Dear old Uncle Sam and the IRS want their share of the cash flow, too. So if you earn it, you pay it.
Karyn - Pint Sized B says
So happy I found your two posts on Sponsorship. I've read both of them and am really excited to start hosting and sponsoring other blogs. I've swapped buttons with two blogs and have one great and one not-so-great experience. I'm still not sure what to expect sometimes, but it's really cool to wake up and see a nice tweet about me or a FB share. It makes me feel good, so that is what I am trying to return. I've gotten a few great ideas on how to proceed. Thanks so much!
Charlene@A Pinch of says
A very thoughtful and informative post! Thanks so much for linking on Busy Monday!