This is an October 2018 update of a post published on January 2015.
There are different ways you can monetize your website, like selling or placing ads and offering your products or services.
One of the most lucrative ways to make money with your blog is definitely with sponsored posts.
In this post, I am going to give you some tips to generate income with sponsored reviews and I’ll present you four interesting resources I use with success.
What is a Sponsored Post?
Sponsored posts (or sponsored reviews) are articles commissioned by third parties (typically advertisers, or agencies), where you usually write your point of view and experience about specific products or services.
Normally, you get in touch with the potential advertisers offering to write the review or, you can also be contacted directly by them.
There are pros and cons of sponsored posts, but if you put yourself in the shoes of your readers, you will end up having just advantages.
Like everything in life, just use a little of common sense.
General Tips to Make Money with Sponsored Posts
First, you want to have a nice layout and professional design (I use Genesis Framework personalized theme here).
Make sure to have an original and unique logo and your blog sidebar filled with important things like subscription box or social accounts.
After this, you want to set up an advertising page (with your media kit), where you explain to potential advertisers your blog statistics. You want to showcase the best of your website, so be sure to write your strong points, like for example monthly impressions and visits, social numbers or the stats of your newsletter.
Now, there are different networks where you can create a profile to be found by advertisers (and below in this post, I am going to suggest you some websites I use to make money with sponsored posts). Or, if you want to try finding advertisers yourself, you may want to read this guide:
How to Find Advertisers for Your Blog – 7 Tips to Make Money Online
But, how much should you charge for a sponsored post?
It really depends on metrics like your blog traffic or SEO rankings. I’ve been paid anything between $150 and $500, depending on the project.
To set your rate, consider the following:
- How many sponsored posts are you going to publish each month?
- Can you offer something extra, like social promotion, for example?
- How much time are you going to spend reviewing the product or the service?
- How much readers do you have?
Also, it’s important you consider Google guidelines:
Not all paid links violate our guidelines. Buying and selling links is a normal part of the economy of the web when done for advertising purposes, and not for manipulation of search results. Links purchased for advertising should be designated as such. This can be done in several ways, such as:
- Adding a rel=”nofollow” attribute to the <a> tag
- Redirecting the links to an intermediate page that is blocked from search engines with a robots.txt file
Remember, be sure to accept advertisers related to your niche. When you get new requests, always ask yourself:
- Will this sponsored post help my audience?
- Will this product or service be useful to my blog readers?
If the answer is yes, then go ahead.
As promised, keep reading to discover some websites I use to make money with sponsored posts on my blog.
ValuedVoice.com
They used to be LinkVehicle, and they recently rebranded to ValuedVoice.
Once you register, you can submit your blog. Be sure to add your website title, description, category and rate:
Remember to fill up your profile, with your information and, most important, your PayPal address.
Now, you just need to wait for sponsored post opportunities.
I get work from them each month. I submitted almost all my niche sites (related to business, finance, social media, etc).
Here’s a screenshot, as an example, of my most recent earnings :
Payments are made via PayPal, with free cashouts the first day of each month.
You will start with a free account. However, you may decide to upgrade to a Premium or Professional Influencer Account.
I have a premium account (just $3 each month) and I can request a cashout 72 hours after completion of the assignments.
I also noticed I get more work, compared to a free account:
To start making money with ValuedVoice, be sure to sign up here.
SeedingUP
This is another platform where I get work each month.
You can register here and submit your blogs.
Start with creating an offer:
Type your URL, then add language, category and description of your site. Now, you can click “Continue“.
In the next page, determine the amount you want to charge. The price of the offer is based on the average price on the market for offers with similar characteristics. If major changes occur, the price will adjust accordingly.
The return of your earnings should be based on the general quality of your website. SeedingUp is a marketplace, in which basic rules such as supply and demand of offers apply. The price of the offer can be adjusted at any time.
You can decide within a range of prices for each blog booking, but you may want to set the lower rate, to be competitive on the marketplace.
Once you are happy with all the settings, go ahead and click on “Create Offer“.
Seeding Up will check your offer and will get in touch with you once it is reviewed (calculate 1 – 2 working days for a new offer to be activated. In individual cases it may also take a bit longer).
I usually request the payout via PayPal.
Register here and start earning with SeedingUp.
GetReviewed
Another platform that works and where I get assignments, from time to time.
Sign up here and submit your website.
Here are some of my blogs, listed in their marketplace:
Here’s a screenshot of my most recent paid jobs at GetReviewed:
Check their guide if you need specific information, but it’s all pretty straightforward.
/syndicate.net
No, it’s not a typing mistake, that’s the title of the site.
A couple of years ago, BuySellAds announced the creation of their new platform : /syndicate.net
You can use it to monetize your newsletter or to find opportunities for sponsored posts.
Here’s my profile:
If you want to be part of this awesome paltform, you can apply here.
I have already worked with /syndicate and it has been a great pleasure.
The selection can be pretty hard (like to be listed at BuySellAds), but if they accept you, you will be assigned a personal assistant which is going to guide through the completion of your blog listing.
Conclusion
I’m sure you are already making money with sponsored posts at your blog. If not, I hope this small guide will help you start with this monetization method.
I’ll be updating this post, from time to time, with new platforms and resources to help you generate revenue with blogging.
And remember. Be sure to consider your readers as the top priority and do not oversell your blog. Good luck!
What do you think?
Do you have some other resources to add?
Are you going to sign up to the platforms mentioned?
Please share your knowledge and experience in the comments below, thanks!
Read More How to REALLY Make Money with Sponsored Posts (2018 Update with Resources)