As a blogger, you have numerous ways to make money right at your fingertips. From affiliate marketing to displaying ads on your page, you can earn anywhere from extra pocket money to a full-time income. However, paid sponsored posts tend to be some of the most significant money generators for bloggers.
Want to cash in? Here’s what you need to know to succeed.
What Are Paid Sponsored Blog Posts?
Paid sponsored blog posts are posts that you write for your blog that a company pays you for. In other words, it’s a form of advertising for a company, but it’s not as in-your-face as other forms of marketing. In fact, many sponsored posts don’t make a reader feel like you’re selling to them at all. Instead, you use your influence and authority to talk about a relevant product or service with your audience, allowing that product or service to get on their radar.
A sponsored post payment can vary significantly depending on the brands you work with and how much work is involved. It’s not uncommon to get paid sponsored posts for as little as $100 all the way up to $1,000 or more.
Tips for Getting Approved for Sponsored Posts
How do you bring in the big money from sponsored posts? Follow these tips:
Build Your Audience First
Get your audience established before applying for sponsored post opportunities to win over the brands you want to work with. Today’s companies want to work with true influencers who have engaged audiences on their blog, email list, and social media channels. Influencer networks that match you with brands for sponsored posts have different audience requirements, but many want to see at least 20,000 pageviews per month and a solid network of at least 10,000 social media followers.
Create an Attention-Grabbing Media Kit
A media kit is a summary of you, your brand, and your audience that you can quickly pass on to the brands you want to work with. Your media kit details your blog traffic metrics, audience demographics, and social media stats. You can also include your sponsored post rate and anything that makes you stand out, like photography skills or press mentions.
Apply for Relevant Opportunities Only
When you’re ready to search for paid post opportunities, look for those that target your primary blog niche. It can be tempting to follow the money and apply for high-paying sponsored posts outside of your usual niche, but you risk losing your authenticity with your audience if you do. Brands are much more likely to work with you when your content aligns with their industries.
Focus on Photography
Brands usually expect bloggers to have at least some photography skills so that they can add eye-catching pictures to their sponsored posts that bring their products to life. You don’t need to become a photography expert, but learning the basics of angles, lighting, and photo editing can help you win over brands. There are plenty of free image creators that can help you edit and fine-tune your photos and create other graphics, even if you’re not Photoshop-savvy.
Always Overdeliver
Sponsored post opportunities come with a list of requirements that brands expect from you. These requirements might include a minimum blog post length or a specific number of social shares. Whatever the brand asks of you, try to over-deliver. Add an extra social share or two or take more original photos than the brand asked for. You’ll leave a lasting impression that could turn into more paid opportunities with that brand and others.
Where to Find Paid Sponsored Post Opportunities
Screenshot via Tapinfluence
Pitching the brands you want to work with is one way you can create sponsored post opportunities for yourself. However, many brands work with paid blog post networks that help them find the ideal bloggers to work with. These networks can also cut down on the time you spend looking for brands that are interested in working with you. Here are a few options to get started with paid sponsored posts:
Tapinfluence
Bloggers who cover food, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle topics can try Tapinfluence to find paid opportunities. You’ll create your profile and then bid on the opportunities you think will be the perfect fit for your audience.
Clever
Clever features sponsored blog and social media opportunities in a range of industries, including beauty, technology, personal finance, and general lifestyle.
Social Fabric
Food bloggers can certainly find worthy sponsored opportunities at Social Fabric. This network offers “shoppertunities” where you’ll shop for specific products and weave them into your posts, recipes, etc. There are also other opportunities for influencers in beauty, health, and other niches.
Markerly
Markerly is another network that helps you find relevant brands to work with based on the topics you cover and what your audience looks for from you.
Activate
Activate is an extremely active sponsored post network with new opportunities added almost daily. With many sponsored posts, you can name your price for brands to consider.
Get More Sponsored Posts by Growing Your Social Media Presence
Making money with sponsored posts is doable if you put in the work to grow your blog and social media traffic and engagement. Install the POWR Social Feed to posts from Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, and more on your website to boost engagement and build your audience by attracting more followers, likes, comments, and shares.
