One of the things you might have noticed I changed this year are my sponsor options. I see others going through similar changes as they grow - reevaluating and trying to decide on options that better suit themselves and their blogs. I decided to make my own rules, and wanted to share a bit of insight behind my decision...
1 >> No More Group Giveaways
As much as I love giveaways, the group ones felt repetitive in a way, and I didn't feel the givers were being showcased as much as they deserved. Plus the time it takes putting those together can be daunting. The more design jobs I accept the more precious my time becomes, so I really needed to decide on what I was going to offer to replace the giveway perks.2 >> Minimizing Sponsor Options
I didn't want to axe sponsors all together because I like offering an option for others wanting to grow their brands, I enjoy the partnership, and believe they make my sidebar engaging. But, I realized adding more sponsor options comes with more emails, communication, organization, tracking, shout outs, etc. It can get super overwhelming! I felt the best way for me was to reduce ads to 15 spots, one price, sidebar placement, and discount code promotion. It's simplified things a lot for me and has allowed me to welcome other partners looking for more than ad space.3 >> More Product Reviews/Giveaways
While I don't plan on doing one every day of the week, if I was going to host giveaways I wanted to focus more on spotlighting the shop owner and sharing products I love with my readers. This allows me to keep everything in-line with my taste, the time I spend on giveaways to a minimum, promote growth of myself and the shop owner, and most importantly allows it to be from my own voice.4 >> Reducing Active Ads
I might change my mind about this later, but for now reducing the amount of active ads I have in the blogosphere reduces my work load a ton without having so much information to submit every month. You would think without as many blogs to sponsor I wouldn't have opportunities for much growth, but I'm surprised with the amount of requests I get to contribute to friend's giveaways and guest posts. In a way, I'm more appreciative about these opportunities because I'm genuinely being thought of, and not paying for it.5 >> Genuine Promotion
I've done this in two ways: I've gone back to adding a blogroll of my favorite reads and I'm sharing my favorite links and finds every month from all over - not for money, but because I genuinely want to share the content and blogs I'm inspired by. I wonder.. what if all of our shout outs were "just because"? I think the blogging world would be a more honest place and not just favored towards the ones who have extra cash to spare.The bottom line is... I wanted to stop making blogging feel like a job! When you have sponsors counting on you, it can feel just like the pressure you get at work. Weekends can get sacrificed because you feel you "should" be spending time blogging or putting together that giveaway...
But the thing is, even when you're working hard for your sponsors, your voice can easily get lost in between the link-ups, guest posts, spotlights, etc. Suddenly your blog can turn into one big advertisement - and I personally wanted to stray as far away from that as possible.
This is not a "bash on sponsors" post - I agree it's a great way to make a nice income from your blog and have funds to put towards ongoing promotion while making friends - we shouldn't be ashamed of making a little extra on the side or enjoying some free perks from practicing our passion!
For me, though, I wanted to focus more on income through design as opposed to ads and perks. I needed to keep blogging fun and designing work - not the other way around. Now if I don't have time to cram posts in because I have other things to do, or I simply just didn't feel like it, I don't feel as guilty.
The point I'm trying to make is that we should all be OK with going our own directions and deciding for ourselves where to draw the line when it comes to sponsors. Our success shouldn't be measured by numbers, but rather by integrity, content, and our ability to inspire. If we're doing it for other reasons, what's the point? After all, blogging shouldn't be a race to the top - it should be about enjoying the journey!
It's great that you care about your sponsors and I know your readers think the same. As a blogger and shop owner, I would rather purchase an ad that features my shop with maximum exposure.
ReplyDeleteI hope these changes you listed above will work out for you :) Keep us updated within a few months time about the results! Good luck :)
Gia @ Lovely Serendipity
This was perfect timing for me to read...I actually started revamping my ad options last night! I'm really excited about it, because when I do sponsor posts, I just feel like they're so generic...and honestly, I don't read them when others post them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your insight, giiiirl :)
I added a blogroll at the beginning of the month, and more people are clicking on them than the ad swaps I used to have up. I find that interesting.
ReplyDeleteI think people see what other people are doing and jump on board, when really everyone needs to evaluate their needs and what works best for them!
say it sister! i love this, and am totally on the shout out just because train. why not? i found that it actually brings it more traffic than an ad. loves. xx fel
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with genuine promotion and for some of the reasons you listed I do not have ads on my blog!
ReplyDeletexx
Kelly
Sparkles and Shoes
I loved this post. I don't have the "extra cash" to put towards blogging, really in any way. So I've made the decision (for at least where i am in life now) to make all my sponsoring free. For now, blogging is just an outlet for me, a hobby I guess. It's okay to just do it my way for now. :)
ReplyDeleteI like your thoughts on the group give-aways too. I think that's a good take. I get overwhelmed myself with them.
All of that stuff is too much for me to keep up with. I just offer ad space and that's it. And super cheap at that so I'm always baffled why people don't take that shiz up. I only allow 10-12 ads so the likelihood of clicks are more. I think I don't have time for anything else. ;) haha
ReplyDeleteI completely understand why you've changed your "rules". Mine would be exactly the same if I ever opened my blog up to sponsors.
ReplyDeleteYour blog should be fun for you and I imagine with countless emails and communications to keep up with it can become a chore, and no one wants that!
xxx
I for one love your blog and your YOUness, for lack of better words HA! I sort of like that my blog has like 3 readers, because I don't feel pressured to post other than when I feel like it. :)
ReplyDeleteChange is good!
ReplyDeleteI totally understand why you did that. I'm considering completely cutting out sponsoring for a long time until I make some good, solid changes to my blog.
ReplyDeleteSponsoring is so much of a "job" in itself, and it sucks when it doesn't pay off.
I really love this post! I'm trying to rethink my blog for February, and it took a lot for me to cut out my sponsors completely. Honestly, though, I felt like I had gotten to the point where I was constantly concerned with the money, and I felt like I HAD to blog every day or my sponsors would be wasting their money. I started questioning blogging altogether because so many of the blogs I follow had turned into being completely about sponsors, giveaways, and product reviews. It was getting old!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, good to see someone else in the blogging world drawing some lines! Love this post :)
xo
GURL, i thought about doing this over the weekend too!!! I was thinking about 1 size and 1 price. And thanks to your post, I'm going to revamp my own sponsorship options. I was pretty much was almost overwhelmed prepping for this shout out and that giveaway etc etc to the point i decided i didn't feel like doing it, which is not fair to my sponsors.
ReplyDeletei think simplifying it would make it easier for me. Also, I never thought of making $$ when I started my blog, but I guess it was exciting at first... but then I just got tired focusing on how to payback my sponsors.
thanks for this post!
I have slowly started to get into the sponsorship game. I am offering a few options and I'm really testing the waters on how that goes. I do admit it is a bit hard to blog and keep with other blogs while at home. Luckily I have a job that has a lot of down time so I usually write posts and catch up on reading while at work. I definitely feel it is important to keep a balance otherwise you are just a blog for ads and not really contributing.
ReplyDeleteThis is really refreshing to read. I unfollowed quite a few bloggers on Twitter recently who I initially thought seemed interesting, but all it did was cram my timeline with "follow this person!" and "check out this giveaway for a starbucks card!" and "like my 'friend' on Facebook!" and none of that is worth having around, to me. I like people who write content and make cool things. I agree that sponsors totally have their place - I have them on my blog as well - but there is a fine line where it goes from promotion and making a little extra cash to taking over the blog, then before you know it all you're reading about is 50 people involved in a group giveaway.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed a lot of bloggers changing up their ad offerings lately. I'm sure it's immensely time consuming. And I can understand the pressure when you have those people counting on you. Sometimes I can get overwhelmed just promoting myself.. sad.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ginger though, it's hard to follow people on Twitter sometimes when there's no content. I don't want a feed full of 'follow this person' 'enter this giveaway' tweets.
I can not even tell you how much I love this post.
ReplyDeleteI'm working on every one of these myself! It's too easy to get caught up in blogging that you just forget why you started.
Way to go! Boundaries are so good for you: to keep you sane and to make sure you are blogging for the right reasons. I keep pushing the line out and drawing it back in: I have such a hard time figuring out where the line needs to be for (my) optimum peace of mind. I want to have sponsors, but I don't want blogging to feel like a job. I want to have readers, but I want to be able to continue genuine interactions and not be overwhelmed to a point I can no longer respond at all. I have currently removed my sponsor option altogether- and I haven't been visiting blogs as much lately (if you didn't already know... haha) but I'm going to slowly slowly slowly get back into the swing of things and try a more organic approach to figuring out where to draw my boundary.
ReplyDeleteYeah a hear you. I go back and foth on the whole sponsorship thing. I have done swaps for quite a while off and on (and am currently phasing those out), and occasionally done paid spots. But… yeah it's always such work and seems more hassle than it's worth. I have actually been toying with that idea myself of doing a shout-out blogroll type thing again. That's what we all used to do before sponsoring became so popular, and I kind of miss that simple time of just showcasing the blogs you love!
ReplyDeleteI am by no means a veteran blogger, but I've noticed a correlation between an increase in followers and a decrease in original content. Some of the blogs I admired so much have nothing but giveaways, guest posts, raffles, and product reviews anymore. There is nothing wrong with these things, as you said, but I started following them because I love their voice...and I no longer get to hear it. Our purpose for starting this journey can easily get lost in the all the extras that come with blogging. I love this post. You seem to have struck a balance between preserving your voice and being a successful blogger. Kudos.
ReplyDeleteI feel like most bloggers are just now starting to realize this! It's about enjoying the journey! I don't get why so many people assume that it's a race to the top and who has more followers/subscribers. Group giveaways are fun, but I never really get to learn anything about the actual sponsors even if I follow them for an entry.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a post not too long ago about staying true to myself. I sponsored and followed a blog and stopped because I felt like I got lost in the shuffle and all that that blogger cared about was growing their brand - not necessarily helping to grow mine. And I understand you have to publicize yourself but as a sponsor it is hard when you feel like you, as a blogger and person, don't truly matter to the person you are sponsoring. And it hit me how much I want my blog to be about writing and blogging - not about page views necessarily. Yes I want to grow but not at the expense of losing myself.
ReplyDeleteSo glad to know I am not alone in this feeling and that other more successful bloggers feel similar.