I'm not completely sure where this craze started, but after a little research it seems to have steamed from the blog Decor8. They actually offer a blogging class that you can pay for to teach you to become a better blogger. And one piece of advice they offer is to open up your blog for sponsorship.
The reason they give this advice is based on the thought that it makes a blog look more legitimate. And as silly as it seems, I agree with that logic. I know I've been to blogs and seen a large number of sponsors and thought, "Wow, they must really successful," except that once I look at the numbers of followers I see it's almost half of my own.
Now in my opinion, sponsors and a large number of followers don't make a popular blog. Instead what I'd rather have is a blog where everyone is interacting. One blog that I think has this, that I'm always a little jealous of, is Lisa's Yarns. No she may not have the flashiest blog full of sponsors, and say may not have thousands of followers, but the followers she does have interact. I think the number of comments she gets on a single post is about what I average in a week. And I realize that so much of this is because of who Lisa is, that she seems to be such great friends with so many people, but I'd love to foster that same friendship and community here.
Unfortunately, while it may be easy to gain followers by having giveaways or sponsorships, they can't necessarily create that community. Instead what they can do is help people find your blog, and hopefully what you're writing is so awesome that once someone stumbles upon it they want to stay and join the discussion.
With that said I'm looking to open the blog for sponsors. And thought it be fun to help out Dara of Not in Jersey, but putting it up as a prize in her 300 followers giveaway. Since I'm still not completely sold on sponsorship as a prize, I'm also giving away a $5 Starbucks card to help anyone's coffee addiction. With that said, I'm turning the rest of this post over to Dara to introduce all the other bloggers participating and all the prizes you could possibly win!
I told myself that when my blog reached 300 followers via GFC I would hold a giveaway. That was obviously before everyone started witching over to following on bloglovin! However, I’ve declared it close enough. Today 14 of my closest blogger friends and helping me celebrate. First, check out what we’re giving away. Then, use the form below to enter!
Good luck to everyone!
Avery / Hot Pink Satchel (Purse) with Gold and Rhinestone Accents from her store, Bloom
Annie / Cookbook: “101 Things to do with Canned Biscuits”
Breanna / 1 month VIP ad space and $5 Starbucks Gift Card
Breenah / Blog header and three blog buttons
Dara / $10 gift card to store of your choice or handknit item
I completely agree with you about Lisa! She does such a good job of interacting with her readers and is so real with everyone. She is definitely what I strive to be in a blogger! I think you do a great job as well though!!! I cannot wait to see where your blog goes this year. I'm sure you'll hit 300 with this new endeavor!
ReplyDeleteAw, thank you for the shout out!! I also think that you are a very authentic blogger! And I hope that eventually we can meet in person. I saw Amber in March and she might come visit me, along with another blogger we are friends with in Minneapolis. When/if we start planning it, I will let you know in the event you would be able to come! We are talking about going somewhere like Charleston or Savannah. I am not sure how close they are to you, but if you could join us, that would be awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteI have not done sponsorships yet, but I agree that when i see a blog with them I think of them as being a legit blogger that has support in the community! I bet you'll hit 300 with this!
I've always wondered how blogs with fewer followers than me get so many sponsors. Maybe I just haven't been aggressive enough.
ReplyDeletethank you for participating!
ReplyDeleteI started to delve into sponsorships a little bit when I was really into blogging in 2011 but my blog has kind of fallen off my priority radar the last year so that hasn't helped much...
ReplyDeleteI think that interacting with readers through commenting on their blog and responding to comments is so important for authentic interaction. I think you do a great job of both of those things!
I still haven't added sponsorships on any of my sites, but I'm thinking about it. Good luck on reaching 300 followers--I'm impressed :)
ReplyDelete