Blogging has become a powerful money making tool and most bloggers go one of two routes. The first route is creating a large network of “Made for Adsense” sites which rely on Google Adsense to make money. The other option is to create one main blog that you put all of your energy into.

The great part of this second option is the ability to attract large sponsors who will pay you a monthly fee to showcase their banner on your site.

How to Make Money Blogging With Sponsors

1. Sponsor Research

Before you even create a site you should research your competition to see if there are sponsors advertising on other blogs in your niche. Some niches are going to have many more sponsors than others advertising on blogs.

Make a list of all the other blogs in your niche and then scan each site recording the URL of every sponsor in a spreadsheet or text document. Once you have your initial list of sponsors you can add on to it by researching other companies who would be potential sponsors.

2. Kill the Ad Clutter

When you first create your site you should keep the site free of Adsense ads and any other types of non banner advertising. If you are going to have sponsors you want to keep your site clean and give the sponsors as much attention as possible.

3. Keep Banners to a Minimum

Do not have more than (6) or so 125×125 banners on your site. If your site is brand new I recommend not showing more than 4 ads and always keep one blank banner spot which says “Advertise Here” and links to your advertise page. This way potential sponsors can clearly see you have a spot available and will follow the banner to your advertise page.

It is also important to have standard size web banners on your blog if you want to make the most money blogging. Many blogs have banner spots in the side bar, which are 125×125 or 150×150 pixels in size. Check around to see what size banners other blogs in your niche are using. Straying from traditional sizes can annoy sponsors because they need to create custom banners just for you.

4. Add Temp Banners

If your blog is brand new you can do two things to make your site look more attractive to sponsors. First you can add a few banners that link to affiliate programs, which can make it look like you have paid monthly sponsors and make you some money. The other thing you can do is simply place free banners for a few sponsors to make it look like you have paid sponsors.

This will help build trust with other sponsors and your site will look more respectable in general, because often people associate having sponsors with a quality site.

5. Let Them Know They Can Advertise!

A big mistake many bloggers make wen trying to make money online is not having clear links to an advertise page. In addition to an advertise here banner you should have a link some where in the header and one in the footer in addition to a contact page.

6. An Informative Advertise Here Page

You also need a great advertise here page. This page should include your recent traffic statistics such as monthly unique visitors and page views. It should also have the pricing of your banners, because this helps weed out sponsors who are not willing to pay and will save you time emailing back on forth.

7. New Sponsor Discounts

When you email sponsors try offering them a discount off of their first month of advertising. Many times this is just the trick needed to convince a a sponsor to jump on board!

8. Multi-Month Discounts

If you are interested in stable money and this is what the site is all about, you should consider trying to lock sponsors up for multiple months. This way you make more money and have to worry less about getting sponsors to renew every singe month. Offering a slight discount for multiple month advertising can seal the deal. I would not recommend locking sponsors up for much more than 3 months, because if your blog grows you may want to raise your prices every few months!

9. Sweeten the Deal

One thing you can mention on your advertise page to sweeten the deal is to offer sponsors a monthly sponsor round up post. This will help the sponsors get some free additional exposure by being included in a post on your blog dedicated to thanking sponsors for supporting the blog each month.

10. Document Sponsor Deals Clearly

When you get a new sponsor the most important thing to do is document all the details of the transaction. This should include the sponsors website URL, your contact’s name, email, banner size, price per month, start date, end date and any other discounts or promised items. This way you know exactly when its time for sponsors to renew and have all the important details!

P.S. Once you have at least 1-2k visitors a day, don’t wait for sponsors to come to you. They will, but you will make much more money if you aggressively seek out sponsors yourself. That’s why you made the list of sponsors in the first place, so start emailing!

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