I have big plans this year for some new web sites, and one way I intend to advertise them is through sponsored blog posts, also known as blog advertising. You're probably a little bit familiar with this form of advertising, as I have sold sponsored posts here on confoozled.com for quite a while, and it has in fact been my most profitable method of earning money online. Based on the response I've seen to those posts I've done myself, I definitely think it can be an effective way to advertise.
As a blogger I've been disappointed in the last couple of months to see a lot fewer advertisers taking advantage of paid blogging as a way to advertise. You've probably noticed that the number of paid posts I've made has dramatically decreased. The requests from advertisers just aren't out there, especially for blogs like mine which may rank lower with the search engines but are not necessarily unpopular. The offers that are out there are priced so low it's an insult. I make $14 an hour at my day job, so why would I spend an hour of my time researching and writing up a 500 word post and making sure I have just the right links and just the right title to make the advertiser happy, for a measly $3? Some advertisers have even demanded that bloggers accept less than the minimum amount set by the advertising network!
I recently joined a new paid blogging network, PayingPost, in the hopes that it will bring more sponsored post opportunities my way. They are just starting out, but I'm hoping with time they will attract some high quality advertisers who recognize the true value of blog advertising, and maybe even create some healthy competition to give the paid blogging industry the boost it needs.
If you have an online business, or even just a web site you're looking to promote, I would really encourage you to give blog advertising a try. Just remember to be respectful of your bloggers' time. Three to five dollars is a fair offer for a quick 100 word post with one or two required links, but the more you ask for and the pickier you are, the more compensation a blogger is going to expect. Remember that disallowing in-post disclosure (i.e. asking the blogger not to disclose that the post is sponsored) is worth a slight price hike as well.
(Disclosure: This post sponsored by PayingPost.)
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