What I Learned in Sponsorship 101!

If you read my blog regularly you know that I blogged last week about my thoughts and questions on blog Sponsorships here. I got some great feedback from y'all and I am glad to know I am not the only one who has the same feelings about it. Many of y'all wanted me to do a recap on what I learned and my thoughts on folks opinions, so here I am! Giving my two cents!

Keep in mind, these are my opinions, and in no way shape or form am I criticizing anyone for wanting to advance their blog. I'm just viewing it from a little person's point of view! You do you! I am everyone's cheerleader, supporter, and friend and want everyone to enjoy the blogging experience as much as I do! 


I still don't get the point in charging outrageous amounts but I do see where it may be necessary if they use that money towards give-aways and sponsoring other blogs! If they aren't using the money for those reasons, quite frankly and bluntly, it's bullshit. I mean yes, you have the big time bloggers that can make up to 6 figures {according to Kelly at  Mrs. In Training} and make it their full time job, but I don't agree with mediocre blogs charging crazy amounts of money when they aren't reaching a HUGE audience. My thoughts? Start small, super small, and when you are in the big leagues than you can charge crazy amounts.


I like the idea of doing free sponsorships, at least for a blog of my size. Tiff at The Coffeehouse made a good point that it could get overwhelming remembering to swap and rotate them. That's totally understandable but maybe we {I} should limit it as Lori at A Crazy Walk on the Safe Side does. She only swaps buttons with a few people every month. I think for a newbie as myself, starting out with maybe 5 sponsors {free} a month and switching them each month. That way no one gets lost or forgotten. I believe this would be a good start for someone new to the blogging world, like myself.

I am going to have to agree with Shannon at Anchors Aweigh on her opinion of bigger bloggers being clique-y! I actually find small bloggers are this way as well, BUT it's easy to be that way. You read blogs you like, you make friends with those bloggers, you follow people that follow them, they follow people that follow you. This causes it to end up being a large circle of the same people. Are y'all still with me or did I just confuse the hell out of y'all? I've seen it with the blogs I follow. Many of my bloggy friends are all correlated with one another. It's just the name of the game, however I think we could all try harder at breaking outside of that circle and reaching out to new people! As far as features and guests posts, I've had 3 so far on my blog and I tried to keep them as different and separated as possible! Speaking of guests posts I need someone soon, who's up for the challenge? And seriously if you ever want to guest post just ASK! I'm all about volunteers and won't say no!

I enjoyed reading all of your thoughts and many of y'all feel the same way!!! Who knew?!

So what am I going to do now??

First, I'm redesigning the blog. It needs a more professional mature look. I mean HELLO?! It looks so amateurish. It's obvious if you visit my page, you know I haven't been doing this long! Hopefully this will be happening sooner than later as I've finally started the process with Ashlyn at Let it be Beautiful! I've been stalling big time, for reasons I don't even know, but look forward to the end result!

Second, I am not planning on charging for sponsorships now or anytime in the near future. I do like the idea of doing swaps with about 5 bloggers a month! That way I can keep my page clutter free and organized and the sponsors won't get lost in all the mumbo jumbo! This will all take place once I reveal the new design.

Lastly, I know I won't be paying to sponsor anyone, for now. Never say never! I don't think my blog is ready for that! Maybe once I reach a certain number of followers I'll change my mind. I gain at least one follower everyday at the current moment. Yes, it could probably be more, but when I think about it, I'm not here just to get followers. I do like getting new readers, but that's not WHY I blog and I want to keep my focus on my posts. Point being, I'm still small and new and I want to build what I can myself without feeling I have to spend money to get views, friends, and readers! That's me for ya, I like doing things on my own. Just call me Mrs. Independent!

Anywho, I'll finish with this, ALL OF YOU ROCK, whether you pay for sponsorships, charge for sponsorships, are totally against paying for sponsorships, do swaps with 50 people or don't do swaps at all! We are all our own person and are allowed to do with our blogs, what we want. I really appreciate all of the feedback, thoughts, and opinions!!!

This concludes Sponsorship 101... y'all passed with all A+!!

XoXo,