I’ve tried to monetize this site to make it self sustaining. One of the ways I’ve been experimenting with is sponsored posts. I’ve tried to make sure that the sponsored posts are on topic, or at the very least make them fun. I think I’ve done pretty well. I’ve controlled myself when looking for sponsored content. Sorry, I’m afraid you’re not likely to see a post about vaginal reconstruction on this blog.
Goin’ Postal.
I’ve been signed up to Pay Per Post since the tail end of July. It’s been pretty good to me. I’ve managed to make about 50 bucks with Pay Per Post. That will go a long way to paying hosting fees next year. One good thing about Pay Per Post, they seem to like openness. I’m updating you on how this part of my blog is going, and they’re paying me to do it. As long as they run things that way, I’ll probably stick around.
What are your thoughts?
What do you think about sponsored posts? Are they a good way for a blog to earn it’s keep? Are they a necessary evil of blogging? Are they a festering boil that should be cut out of any blog they’ve tainted?
Yeah, sounds kinda weird huh? I think it’s a great idea though. Pick your fandom, anime, comics, games or books. They’re all expensive. Any way you can save a little bit of money, so you can buy more stuff, is always cool.
Coupon Chief can help you save that money. I was looking around over there. They’ve got coupons for a tons of stores. The page listing the stores is huge. I’ve bookmarked it. I’m gonna have to spend some time looking through there. I already found a couple places I know I’ll be spending money at. Amazon coupons are great of course, who doesn’t shop there? Zappos is another one I’ll probably be using. That’s where my gf gets her shoes. Yeah, a woman that doesn’t like to spend all day shopping for shoes, I’m so lucky. 
Check it out. With all the online shopping coupons they have, you’ll definitely find some you can use.
Shoot, here’s a few ideas for ya. Cosplayers could save money at Joann.com, that is an expensive fandom. Computer geeks, like myself, can get some deals at mwave. They’ve got good prices already, this makes ‘em better. Even the trendy kids can find something, they’ve got Hot Topic coupon codes. It’s hard enough being emo. If your friends saw you using a coupon in the store, LiveJournal would probably crash. Better play it safe and shop online.
Seriously, if I can save money on that kind of stuff I’m going to do it. Manga alone puts a hurtin’ on my wallet. I need all the help I can get.
A disturbance in the Force.
After signing up with other post sponsors, I figured I’d give PayPerPost a shot. I did some reading about it first. Wow. A lot of people really went spazzo when it launched. Completely ignoring the fact that people can choose what to write on their own darn blogs, there were cries of outrage. Why all the fuss? I have no idea. PayPerPost is pretty upfront about their word of mouth ethics.
I guess there are people who think blogs have some sort of divine purity and that ads on blogs are some sort of desecration. Those people were mostly bloggers. Funny coincidence huh? Well, if they can afford hosting without ads, good for them. Though, come to think of it, quite a few of them did have ads. Ah well, their blog, their choice.
I figured if they tried to tell me what to write, I’d just quit. It’s not like I really have anything to lose. If I can’t find opportunities I’d write about anyway, I’m no worse off than I was before. Right?
I doubt that will be a problem. Much like the others I signed up for, I can choose what I want to write about. That even applies to the buttons on the sidebar. If someone wants to hire me specifically, that’s great. If it’s something that doesn’t belong on here, I’d just have to reject it. Though, I can’t see that being a problem just yet.
How PayPerPost works.
- Sign up and look around.
After you sign up you can browse the opportunities. Make sure to check and see what the sponsor is looking for. Sometimes they might want something you don’t want to write. If so, skip it.
- Start writing.
If you see something you want to write about, and if you qualify for it, you write up your post. PayPerPost checks to make sure it fits what the ad is looking for, and approves it or not.
- Get Paid, hopefully.
Once it’s approved, you wait 30 days for payment. Sounds like a long time right? It’s not really. It’s just a precaution to make sure everyone is happy with it. If there are any disputes over the post it can be taken care of in that time.
Things to remember.
PayPerPost wants honest bloggers. You have to disclose sponsored posts. If anyone tries to hide that, they can get kicked out. That goes for sponsors too. Sponsors trying to get bloggers to hide disclosure can be banned. I was very happy to hear that.
Read the guidelines.
PayPerPost can be a bit picky. You can’t write just sponsored posts. That’ll get you kicked out too.
That’s a question I’m wondering. If you’ve read my posts for the last few days you know I’m trying to make this blog self sustaining by placing ads and signing up for sponsors. Well this is another post in that vein.
I’ve signed up with Bloggerwave. Much like Blogsvertize I can accept or reject any offers. So Bloggerwave shouldn’t disrupt the blog. One difference between Bloggerwave and Blogsvertise is that Bloggerwave has already accepted me. So I’ll hopefully offset the expenses the site generates.
Pros
- I can accept or reject offers.
This keeps the posts on topic.
- I write the posts.
You won’t see me accepting sponsors on this site that want to write the posts themselves. Ain’t gonna happen.
Cons
- Fear of losing readers.
Yeah, I’m afraid it’s gonna scare people off. This isn’t a big site, not enough readers to begin with.
- Fear that it won’t work.
Yeah, web hosting costs money. If I can’t get this site to come close to breaking even I won’t be able to keep it online.
I’ve already started. This post was offered by Bloggerwave, and it’s something I’d write about anyway. If I sign up for something, I’m going to post about it. I don’t want anyone to think I’m trying to trick them so I can make a couple of bucks. I was accepted pretty quickly this time, so I didn’t get a chance to post a heads up.
So, as long as I can get offers that fit the site, I’ll be posting articles sponsored by Bloggerwave from time to time. If I can’t get relevant offers, you won’t see those posts here.
I guess we’ll see.
