Yesterday on Facebook, I asked a few of my fellow bloggers a simple question to find out how long a sponsored post should remain live on your blog (i.e. a month/3 months/a lifetime). It raised a lot of interesting, passionate answers and while at first, I felt like I had opened a can of worms, one thing that stroke a chord was the notion of integrity and trust.
{So…Should you get paid for your work?}
Well why not!? Not everyone who writes a blog wants to be a professional blogger but if you do, if you love blogging, if you love sharing and you want to make a new career out of it, then getting into the right frame of mind and having the confidence to get paid for your work is important.
However, let’s be realistic there…Blogging is a game of patience. Even the most successful blogs have not become a success overnight. There is a lot of hours put into generating unique, interesting content . You also need to be consistent and most importantly BE YOURSELF.
I have seen this worked powerfully with my shop which is now an Award-winning concept store and is regularly featured in top UK & International magazines. I’ve never really followed trends and never listened to friends & family who told me it wouldn’t work. I had faith in my vision. It took years for other people to see it but now we’re there to stay.
{Would sponsored posts on your blog undermine the trust you readers have?}
For me the answer is no…as long as you’re being honest and upfront.
I think we all know that rich, handsome millionaires are a pretty rare affair these days and I’m pretty sure, like me, you want to be financially independent. I couldn’t stomach having to ask Steve for money every time I want to buy something but it is important you make everything clear to your readers.
It’s also important to maintain your passion but passion should not be incompatible with drive. I started my blog out of passion 8 years ago and it’s only since last year that it started generating some income and hallellulia to that!
{What is a sponsored post?}
A sponsored post will be very different from one blog to another. On some blogs, it is an article written by a PR agency or SEO* agency, anyone but the author of the blog and is meant to push a specific brand by the means of an advertorial with hidden links to the brand. Personally, I’m not a big fan of those and I have turned down a lot of brands and income because I simply refuse to have a brand on my site I don’t like.
However, I set up my own rules and made this work for me in a way that enables me to maintain my integrity and editorial style and on this page, I have explained how I do it.
If you are blogger and have been struggling about what to do with these numerous sponsored requests you get, you may find this interesting.
If you are not a blogger but have a shop or just want to understand the difference between a sponsored post and a normal post, then it will explain everything.
*Search Engine Optimization
{Useful links about the business of blogging}
As blogging is a fairly new industry and yet, already a force to reckon with, it is not always easy to know what to do or how to do it. I wish someone had told me what I’m sharing with you today about sponsored post 8 years ago because I could have made this work for myself a long time ago but here a few things worth reading…
{Sharing is caring}
Once thing I noticed over the years as a blogger is how rewarding it is to get some feedback and comments and while I can see from Google Analytics that you keep coming back for more, GA are fairly boring and it’s a lot more fun to get a comment and some interaction with a real-human being than stats & figures.
So I know, we are all busy with our lives, work, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram but I’ve introduced a little feature at the bottom of each post that allows you to rate my forthcoming posts if you don’t have time to leave a comment. You have the choice between Inspiring | Interesting | Could be better that way, if you really don’t have the time to comment, at least I get an idea of what you enjoyed reading or what sucked. That was my bracket on the business of blogging ;-) Will revert to posts about inspiring interiors from tomorrow. Have a great Sunday xoxo
http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/UxVs
*Inspiring* x
I always have trouble with the should I shouldn’t I take paid posts, i don’t consider myself a pro blogger, but i do put alot of work into it. and yes i prefer people to numbers too, but its really hard to engage people, I know myself I follow alot of blogs and I scan my way through them, without comments (i’d be there all day) so the reaction thing is worth considering.
very interesting post. thank you for the time to explain.
Thanks Asa-Marie, glad you found it useful
Hi Samantha
Yes it is hard to engage with people and it takes time so it’s also about balancing out if it’s all worth it and what your plans are but it’s not all about the money. The point I’m trying to make is that if some of us wnat to choose blogging as a career path then, part of their business plan would be to start getting paid for it but if blogging is just a hobbie then let’s keep it that way and enjoy it. Nobody needs the added pressure
very interesting read. thanks. i’ve been thinking about this lately. i’ve never been keen on monetising my blog mainly because it heavily features our family. lately, i’ve been approached alot more and what i’ve found tricky is turning down smaller companies who are looking for support. anyway, i think the future of blogging as a career path will be very interesting.
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Hi there – I only decided yesterday that the idea of starting a blog would be a great thing to do, mainly as a means of sharing all the crazy furniture, furnishings and crafts I’ve created over the years. If I had a penny for every time someone, upon seeing one of my creations, said “you should do this as a business” I would have a lot of pennies and probably wouldn’t have to do it as a business! Anyway, daunted about how to go about setting up a blog, I found your comments extremely informative. I’m not really looking to make any money from it at this at this stage as I like the idea of it being a little ongoing project for now. After all I spend hours looking at other people’s blogs so why not do my own…? I’m currently on a work sabbatical to be able to spend more time with the children, so the timings perfect!
Thankyou
CleverDoris
@Dee Yes it’s a bit tricky but then maybe your blog can evolve to something else towards family things or you could have one which would allow you to accept commercial links. I would find it tricky myself if my blog had a lot of photos of Mila.mIn fact Steve doesnt alow me to blog about her anymore
@CleverDoris
Don’t be scared about setting up a blog, it is VERY easy on blogger so don’t worry about that. I think in general blogs take a few years to make any money but I didnt start mine to make money. I started mine to share my passion for design and keep all the things that inspired me in one place. The fact that people like it too was a plus. I’ve also used the blog a lot as a PR tool for my shop so I think its a good idea to set one up for yourself if you design furniture Its a great way to let people get into your world as long as it doesnt suck all your time