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Thursday, August 2, 2012

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,

11 comments:

  1. thank you for posting this, lauran! the whole "sponsorship" thing has kind of confused me for awhile, and you cleared the waters a little bit :)

    i'd be happy to guest blog for you sometime! just give me plenty of time to get it together since life is a little crazy right now!

    oh, and i'm posting my own "mini goals" for august tomorrow...you've rubbed off on me!

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  2. Sponsorship, hm, you got some great feedback! I'm of the mindset do what works for you. The clique-y thing is interesting though--I never liked clique's in high school and that's still kind of what I think of it--just not a fan because I don't like excluding others, you know? I like new friends!! And I love your honesty Lauran, it's why I read your blog--no bullcrap:) Have a great weekend friend:)

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  3. I am too brand new to think about sponsorships, but it's hard not to think about them because there's so many invites/ requests for them. Maybe in a year. I think it's hard to not be cliquey (?) there are soo many blogs out there, and i do take recommendations from those friends. I also venture out and read from link ups. Probably why link ups are so fun. I think that's how I found you :)

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  4. eat feedback and I pretty much agree with you on all points. I did pay to sponsor a few blogs and to be honest it really didn't generate much for me and they got decent traffic. I won't be doing it again (at least for a little while). I swap buttons here and there and keep up some of my "blog besties" buttons all the time. I'm totally up for swapping if you decide to do it!

    I also like guest posting. It's a great way to reach out to other blog's audiences! I'm looking to get some on my blog as well.

    http://www.recipeforabeautifullife.com

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  5. love the feedback, really thanks for sharing. and I am up for the swapping of buttons, never really thought about it before, the smaller amount of people write now sound more appealing to me right now. i am still a newbie myself!

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  6. I really love this! I started offering sponsorships in mid July and I can honestly say, I wish I wouldn't have. I may keep it around a little bit longer and see what happens, but I have taken the money I have made and invested it into adverting on other blogs, which helps get my sponsors more exposure too. I am still pretty new at all this myself. (I have only been blogging 7 months). It is soooo crazy how much there is to learn and do. You are doing a fabulous job!
    Shanna

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  7. I will sponsor you! Only if you dont mind that my negative 17 followers are pretty much just my dad.. haha so i can guarantee you will get no traffic with your button on my page.. hahahah

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  8. I will sponsor you! Only if you dont mind that my negative 17 followers are pretty much just my dad.. haha so i can guarantee you will get no traffic with your button on my page.. hahahah

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  9. I will sponsor you! Only if you dont mind that my negative 17 followers are pretty much just my dad.. haha so i can guarantee you will get no traffic with your button on my page.. hahahah

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  10. I will sponsor you! Only if you dont mind that my negative 17 followers are pretty much just my dad.. haha so i can guarantee you will get no traffic with your button on my page.. hahahah

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  11. Great post update!! My biggest thing is that I want readers who interact with me (if that's 10 people or 200 ppl or whatever the number)...I think that's where some of the clique-iness comes from (the people that continually comment/interact...then I'll comment/interact back etc)...I try my hardest to reply back to every single comment I receive. I want people to know that I appreciate them reading the randomness that comes out of my head. ;)
    I want to continue to have sponsor swaps (8 max). And try and help cheer others on. I'll probably continue to sponsor a bigger blog each month just help push traffic through, but it's only because I want to help others out. I blog for me. And I think sometimes the bigger bloggers forget that people want content and less giveaway/sponsor shoutouts...those are fun and all, but create something that is meaningful (to you). ;)
    Okay, there I go being long winded again. ;) LOL

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