How To Make Money With Sponsored Posts On Your Blog
I love making money with sponsored posts! It is probably one of my favorite monetization strategies. These paid advertising campaigns are often much more researched and reviewed than affiliate marketing.
It’s easy to make money online with your blog when you are a content creator. It doesn’t matter if the blog is one of your side hustles, like freelance writing or a full-time job.
Sponsored blog posts have so many beautiful benefits that you can almost see them in real-time. They are the epitome of the blog meets brand.
Sponsored posts help you connect with your readers, offering your subscribers great deals that will save them money and educate your followers about great new products (that they will want to buy). Best of all, it’s not hard to get started. Learning how to start making money with sponsored posts is a simple process.
How much money can you make with sponsored posts? In my best month, I made over $10,000 with sponsored opportunities due to good campaign management.
Writing sponsored content is an excellent way to get a bunch of free stuff, get paid, and offer value to your readers. It is a profitable niche, if I do say so myself.
Provide your readers with quality sponsored reviews of products or services they love! And the best part about it is that you don’t need a ton of blog traffic to begin monetizing this way.
Claim your free list of 150 Sponsored Post networks
Downloading this list is a great way to get started with sponsored posts and affiliate links in your content.
So, if writing sponsored posts is so great, why isn’t everyone doing it? Well, the problem is many bloggers don’t know where to get started, what to charge for sponsored content, have poor ad management, or how to keep those opportunities strategically coming in!
This post will show you how to implement a sponsored posts strategy on your blog. So, read on to learn how to make money with sponsored content.
Sign Up to Make Money with Sponsored Posts
An influencer network is a marketplace where you sign up to partner with companies looking to tap into your power with your audience. At first, you may worry joining an influencer network will dilute your posts or overwhelm your audience, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
Writing paid posts is part of running a successful blog business. Your readers want to know where you purchased your favorite products and services. Plus, this content is healthy for the growth and success of your blog. Sponsored blog posts add to your domain authority and give you more specific content to share.
Readers will love your recommendations and product reviews. They follow you because they trust you and like your style. Companies realize your power and are willing to pay you for your influence.
They understand your sponsor is excellent advertising for them, but only if you share a target audience. Typically, companies want to pair with influencers who hold clout with their market, so they’re careful to ensure your brands align. This is often also called having brand awareness.
If you want to know how to make money with sponsored posts, signing up for influencer networks is the best way to begin. The more networks you are a part of, the more opportunities you’ll see (and the easier it will be for you to find a match).
Don’t know where to start? Jas has got you covered. I spent weeks putting together a list of the top-paying influencer networks.
Downloading this list is a great way to get started with sponsored posts and affiliate links in your content. Oh, I forgot to mention…I now give it away for free. It’s all yours when you click the link below.
Claim your free list of 150 Sponsored Post networks
Downloading this list is a great way to get started with sponsored posts and affiliate links in your content.
Complete Your Profiles on Influencer Networks
Once you find several networks you want to join, fill out the influencer profiles. These will consist of background questions like who you are, how many followers you have, and information about your blog or website traffic and audience. The most important rule is to always complete the profile 100%!
Some channels won’t let you proceed until you fill in every question on the profile form. Others will only offer sponsored opportunities based on what you fill out (and if you leave questions blank, they won’t send anything).
How to Get Paid for Blogging
One network I work with, IZEA, offers more influencer opportunities based on the information you share. The more details you provide, the more options you have to make money with sponsored posts you’ll see.
A few other networks that give you more influencer marketing campaigns based on you filling out your profile include:
- Real Clever
- Influence Central
- Activate
- Quotient Social
Another benefit to completing the profiles is the potential search engine traffic you can get from being on these networks. This is another way for people to find your blog. So why not make it easy to find?
Create a Media Kit
Create a media kit so that your application will stand out from the crowd. Because ALL successful bloggers have a media kit. Think of it as a resume or advertising page for digital marketing on your blog. Brands use media kits to determine the most relevant influencers for each campaign, where they are looking for alternative advertising strategies to the traditional marketing avenues they typically use.
Your media kit gives you a way, to sum up your expertise, audience, and traffic in an easily digestible format. Your media kit showcases you as the content marketing specialist. It includes all your channels, including your blog, YouTube channel, and various digital channels for social media marketing.
All the stats should be in the kit, along with your name, URL, relevant social media sites, engagement rates, available ad space, and other essential details. It’s like an online store of who you are and what you offer.
Use eye-catching designs and graphics in your media kit. Your kit should showcase your professionalism (especially if you’re a pro-blogger with excellent digital marketing strategy experience) and make advertisers want to partner with you.
And while this is great for getting more sponsored post opportunities, it is also a way to get more paid ads in the form of display ads, social media ads, and even long-term campaign deals.
Are you stumped on what to create? The good news is that you do not need to hire a graphic designer to get a beautiful media kit completed. Canva makes it really easy!
Check out the massive selection of awesome media kit templates to help you begin the process. You can riff on one of the ideas shown on the website or use it for inspiration to create your own professional marketing piece.
Create your free account with Canva here!
Know Your Audience
When you start to write a post, whether it’s on beauty, personal finance, decorating, or something else, the number one priority should be to know and connect to your audience. You should always have exactly who you’re writing to in mind. So, first, get to know your readers, their habits, problems, and how to help solve those problems. Then, write a post to speak to them.
On the technical side, it’s also essential you thoroughly know your own blog and website stats, such as page views, unique views, organic traffic reach, and social media followers. These crucial bits of info will help you accurately picture of your readership.
I recently had a great question on this topic from a reader of my wordpress blog:
Hi, I have one question: How could you land sponsored work as a brand-new blogger? Every affiliate and sponsored blog post opportunity I come across requires x number of followers–followers I don’t have yet. But the problem is, I need to monetize immediately! So what did you do to earn money in your first few months?
Answer: Excellent question! Many bloggers worry about this when they start a blog. They think they need to look for other side hustles to supplement their blogging income, but it’s easy to make money with sponsored posts.
So, there are two parts to your question. First, I want to make sure I answer the following:
- How did I make money in the beginning?
- How did I get my first sponsored post-gig?
Let’s start with the first question. How did I make money with sponsored blog posts when creating them? The truth is I didn’t. Of course, I did, but not enough to even call it income.
I was running ads with Google AdSense from day one, though. Although the income is small to start out, it’s still something. As your audience grows, so will your income and your opportunity to apply for higher-paying ad networks.
As for the second question, I landed my first gig by knowing my audience. Sure, it was a small audience – less than 2,000 visitors a month. But I still managed to land my first gig.
I analyzed my audience in-depth on Google Analytics, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Depending on the channel, you will learn their genders, ages, and what they like to do.
Once I learned this, I applied it to every gig where the target audience matched up with my data. I told them my audience majority were millennial women interested in learning more about bettering themselves. They were comfortable buying online and loved products that could improve them, from makeup to diets or financial advice.
And I got my first gig! (With hardly any followers.) It isn’t to say you don’t need the numbers, but you certainly do. So I dedicate a few months to learning about a particular social media until I master it.
One year, I focused on Instagram influencer marketing as well as growth. Another year, I focused solely on Pinterest. Keep building those numbers since you will see more money as your traffic grows!
Give Complete Responses on Each Sponsored Post Application
Once you’ve found a promising opportunity, it’s time to apply. Like filling out your profile, it’s vital to remember you should NEVER leave part of the application blank, even if the answer is optional.
Offer a thoughtful and thorough response, and don’t rush. Instead, take your time and carefully read the questions to leave clear, well-written, in-depth answers to each question.
Read and re-read your post-application before you click send. Make sure you didn’t forget to answer any of the critical questions and remember to give thoughtful, thorough answers.
Claim your free list of 150 Sponsored Post networks
Downloading this list is a great way to get started with sponsored posts and affiliate links in your content.
Only Apply for The Best Opportunities
I know this tip is a little like, duh, but it happens all the time. Bloggers and influencers get so excited to see the opportunities that come up that they apply for EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, this wastes your time and the audience’s time and can hurt your brand.
Remember, your audience depends on you to share honest details and advice, resulting in boosted posts. In addition, they want to hear about the brands you genuinely like and care about. Otherwise, you risk becoming another spammer.
It’s also important not to sell yourself short just because there is an opportunity to have a promoted post. Don’t bother to apply for campaigns offering less than $200 per post or less than $50 for social media. Wondering what amount of money you should charge? Use a tool like my Sponsored Price Calculator to know what’s appropriate.
To make money with sponsored posts, remember it’s essential to spend more time applying than sifting through opportunities. Don’t get too bogged down looking for the perfect fit. (Easier said than done, especially if you’re following the advice above, I know.)
The best way to use your time wisely is to use Blogging Money Update!
The Blogging Money Update
What is Blogging Money Update, you ask? It’s a fabulous tool to get the best-paying opportunities, ranging from $65-$5000, right in your inbox! There’s no need to log in to 100+ accounts daily to find one paid post that works for you. Instead, open this email three times a week and prepare to make money!
You’ll receive three weekly emails—on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. There are also bonus emails and helpful content from time to time. In addition, you’ll receive anywhere from 10-15 sponsored opportunities in each email.
So, if you’re ready to say goodbye to logging into sponsored blog post websites daily, sign up for the Blogging Money Update! From here on out, you only need to log in when you know the perfect sponsored opportunity is waiting for you on the other side!
Click Here To Learn More About The Blogging Money Update
Blogging Money Formula
Getting the opportunities sent straight to you is the first step, but that’s not all you need. You also need to know how to write a sponsored blog post, what to charge for paid advertisements, and how to form long-term brand partnerships. That’s how you can make some serious dough with sponsored content.
Interested? You should join my online course called Blogging Money Formula!
In Blogging Money Formula, I show bloggers how to start making real money with their blogs with step-by-step guidance.
Here are some of the things I cover in the program:
- First, properly apply for sponsored posts to get selected for more opportunities.
- Set up your blog so brands can reach out to you about partnerships.
- Properly apply for sponsored posts so you get selected for more opportunities: I will show you how to use them so that brands choose you more often!
- Build long-term relationships with brands: This way, you can get recurring business with brands instead of always pitching new ones.
- Drive Traffic to your blog posts: Great results produce repeat customers, and I will show you how to make that happen.
- Access my Sponsored post-pricing tool to know what you should charge for your sponsored opportunities.
- Access to my Canva Proposal template so you look professional to brands.
- My “Best Possible Blogger Method” to get selected more sponsored opportunities you apply to on influencer networks.
- Legal guidelines for writing sponsored content on your blog so you don’t get in trouble.
- Writing SEO-quality content that gets more traffic organically.
- Access my email marketing templates to reply to brands contacting you for partnerships.
- Managing multiple sponsored opportunities and developing a long-term money-making strategy for sponsored options.
- Accelerating your growth with sponsored opportunities so you can make more money in the long run.
I also include bonus content! The bonus content includes:
- Monthly LIVE Q&As with me, where you will get monthly guidance from me, and I will answer all your questions. Along with consistent monitoring of the FB group for inquiries.
- My Rapid Instagram Growth Strategy ($75 value) gives you my best tips for going from 0 to 10,000+ Instagram followers in a hurry.
- The Efficient Blog Schedule Workbook ($65 value) shows you how to dedicate a little time each day to your blog and what to work on for which days.
- My Social Media Traffic Blast mini-course ($139 value) shows you how to drive consistent traffic to your blog without spending a dime.
Click here to learn more about the Blogging Money Formula Program!
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Great update!
What a informative post!!
I think this is the best info about sponsored posts.
This is another smart way to make money as a blogger.
Just work on your blog by publishing high quality contents regularly, improving your blog’s DA and PA.
Thanks for this.
Nice post. I got a few offers, but after negotiation, they didn’t turn up.
Thank you for this helpful post! We’ll try izea 🙂
Great resource for those lost on where to start.