Last Updated on by Michael Brockbank
One of the ways bloggers make money is through the use of sponsored posts. In many instances, these make more money than affiliate links and AdSense combined. So, how do you get these sponsored posts and how do you deal with them?
That depends on what you offer and how committed you are to the process.
What Are Sponsored Posts?
A sponsored post is when a website owner agrees to publish brand-specific content for a pre-defined dollar amount. The trade-off is the brand in question gets a link back to its website while having access to the site owner’s audience.
Think of how YouTubers and Vloggers have sponsors in their content. It works in a similar fashion, only in this case, the content is a blog post.
This type of content is often created in one of two ways. It can either be a post the brand creates itself that you add to your site. Or, some brands will pay you for the time to write up the content yourself.
What Kind of Sponsored Posts Should You Provide?
There are a few ways you can offer sponsored posts to brands. The method that works best for you will be based on your overall success and what platforms are the most active.
Every site owner is different with varying requirements for guest posts. But, there are a few that are pretty much universal when it comes to third-party content.
For instance, you can offer:
Entire Articles
As a website owner, this is perhaps the most prominent type of sponsored content you’ll produce. That is unless you also have a YouTube channel with an interactive audience.
In this method, brands will pay you for posting entire articles about themselves, products, or services to share with your audience.
There really is no set length for the content. Brands may want you to post content ranging from 500 words up to several thousand. However, most will pay you much more for longer pieces.
Sponsored Photos in Articles
It doesn’t happen very often, but I’ve seen brands pay website owners for simply using a specific photo with a link back within an article. It works much like an affiliate banner, only the image is used to accentuate the content, not act as an advertisement.
This can be within a piece of content you already have or one written specifically to use the image.
Usually, visual elements like this are reserved for social sharing, which I’ll touch on in a moment.
However, there is a chance that a brand will pay for showing their imagery on your website. Think of sponsorships you see on the side of racecars. Sometimes, it’s a similar marketing method for a blog.
Blurbs within Video Blogs
A very popular kind of sponsored posts nowadays comes in the form of blurbs within video content. In fact, this is how most successful YouTubers make their money.
It can be a quick shoutout with a link in the video description, or an entire video dedicated to a product or service. How much you earn from these sponsored posts depends on the brand, affiliate status, or even the length of the video and how many subscribers you have.
However, this type of sponsorship is usually reserved for influencers who have a large following ranging in the tens of thousands.
Images, Shoutouts, or Otherwise Sharing on Social Media
And lastly, you have one of the biggest marketing industries in the world: social media. Celebrities can make some serious income with sponsored posts, especially if the followers reach in the hundreds of thousands mark.
On the upside, I have seen people with less than 100 followers getting endorsement deals. This mostly depends on the niche and overall engagement of the follower base.
Even I was offered a watch sponsorship with less than 50 followers on Instagram. But alas, I turned it down.
Do I look like I wear expensive watches?
Another side of this coin, though, also comes in the form of sharing sponsored posts from your website onto social media. Brands may pay you something extra for sponsoring a blog post and then sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, or even LinkedIn.
How Much Should You Charge to Use Your Website?
Perhaps one of the most important questions you have at this point is, “how much should I charge?” After all, you don’t want to give away space on your website for nothing, but you don’t want to charge so much that brands laugh at you.
You have to gauge how much traffic your website generates, the amount of time you’ll spend working on the project, and if your social media audience will embrace the content.
Pay Per Article
In this instance, you’re accepting money for the entire article. It’s often a flat fee depending on the marketing agency or brand. The fee can vary widely depending on the site, and I’ve seen offers from $40 per post up to more than $100.
If you have an exceptionally popular website, you could charge in the thousands depending on the size of your audience.
And that’s just for a single piece of content.
On some blogs, I’ll charge the number of average visitors I get per day times $1. So, if my gaming blog gets 250 visitors per day, I’ll charge a flat rate of $250. That’s actually a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things.
Not only is post published on my website, it’s shared with all my social media accounts, updated as needed, and live on the site forever.
Pay Per Word
Another way you can offer sponsored posts is by charging per word. Normally, I only use this method if the brand is asking me to write the piece up myself.
Most of the time, I’ll charge around $0.25 per word. But, that’s also considerably less than what many others will charge.
For me, that’s what my time is worth at this moment. I have plenty of other things that I need to take care of during the day. So for me to work on a third-party project, that is how much I’ll need to get started.
If you’re new, you can charge less to encourage sponsored posts. Just make sure you’re justifying your time. Don’t let brands take advantage of you, because many of them will in order to save a buck.
Concurrent Fee
A great way to make money with sponsored posts is to charge a concurrent fee. This is when the brand pays you every month the post is live on your website.
Unfortunately, these are far less common than the other methods above. But if you can convince a brand to pay you monthly stipend for the content, it’s an incredible boon.
For this to happen, though, you need to demonstrate that the fee is worth the exposure. In other words, your website needs to have a ton of traffic while sending a large chunk to the brand from that particular post.
How to Get Sponsored Posts from Trusted Brands
A sponsorship depends on several factors. Things like the popularity of the website, domain authority, estimated monthly traffic, and more all play into whether a brand decides to contact you.
However, there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of attracting these brands. The end result may be a long-term relationship that proves to be quite lucrative.
How do you get sponsored posts for your website?
1. Have an Informative and Well-Established Website
First off, having a well-established website is key. This means being an expert in your niche, having enough content to demonstrate that expertise, and being able to attract and keep an audience on your pages.
It’s exceptionally rare for a new website to attract sponsored posts. But as long as you keep creating quality content and engaging an audience, it’s only a matter of time.
2. Use a Professional Email Account
As a professional, I hold very little stock in email addresses from Gmail, Yahoo, and other free online platforms. This is because they are often used for scams. And most of those emails wind up in the trash.
Use a professional email account for correspondence from your domain. For instance, my contacts go through the WriterSanctuary.com domain. In fact, I don’t even have a Gmail account.
3. Add a Contact Form to Your Website
One of the most important steps of attracting brands for a sponsored post is making sure you add a contact form to your website. You want to give marketers an easy way to contact you directly.
It’s always a good practice to have a contact form even if you don’t support sponsored posts. You never know who needs to get in touch with you without having to share your personal address.
4. Try Cold Emails to Relevant Brands or Marketing Agencies
You could always try to use cold email pitches to relevant brands. This is when you send a message breaking down what you can do for the brand with content on your website.
Just make sure it’s relevant to the content on your website. You wouldn’t try to strike up a deal for sponsored posts from a dog food manufacturer if your blog is about cars.
Now, the thing to keep in mind about cold emails is that most will go unanswered. It may take hundreds of emails to land a single client. But on the other hand, it may be worth the time as that one client could offer you a $100 for a simple blog post.
5. Always Research the Brand in Question
And lastly, always research the brand that contacts you for sponsored posts. There are a lot of scams online, and you don’t want to be a victim.
Research the brand’s name, domain, website, any complaints, and legitimate reviews. I usually start with a simple Google search.
You’d be surprised by how much information you can get spending a few seconds on Google.
In the end, it’ll be up to you to trust the brand and whether you’re getting paid for the content. But think of it this way, if the brand doesn’t pay, then at least you have content on your site.
Just remove their links and call it good.
Get Yourself Set Up for Sponsored Posts
AdSense and affiliate marketing are two ways you can make passive income from a website. But, you may make even more by setting yourself up for sponsored posts.
Just remember that your website needs to catch the eye of the marketer. So, make sure you spend ample time creating a hub that visitors and clients want to explore.
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