This post will be short and sweet –a blogger rate card for 2024 with updated sponsored blog post rates to show our readers how much bloggers make and what to charge for sponsored content on their own blog, based on my experience.
I’ll also share the email template we use to negotiate sponsored blog post rates with brands and SEO companies at the end of the article.
This article was updated on January 2, 2024.
How Much to Charge for Sponsored Content
Before getting into sponsored blog post rates, it’s important to consider whether or not working with a specific company is in your best interest –and if you’re in a niche that’s high value enough to attract sponsors that pay well.
On SEO companies;
Work directly with brands when you can, companies only interested in a backlink don’t care about your brand or your audience –they only care about helping their client rank on search engines.
In the dating world, they’d be a 3 out of 10 and they lower your real estate value.
And they talk; they often sell their influencers email list so if you make a shitty deal with one of them, all their friends will be emailing you for years to come.
Even if you just started blogging yesterday, never charge them less than $75 – $100 USD. The email back-and-forth alone is worth that. Often they only offer $35.
Read the comments after the article for more thoughts on them, and use the email template presented shortly to ensure you charge them what you’re worth.
Qualify the brand;
Is the company or organization that sent you the proposal an ethical company?
ie. Not one that could harm your readers, or make you look like a shill?
Are they “on brand“? Never shoehorn a sponsor into your content if it isn’t the right fit –your readers will smell the stink coming off it and you may lose them for good.
How about their affiliate program? Could you avoid the whole heap-on and make more money as an affiliate over the course of a year?
Qualify your blog;
The sponsored blog post rates discussed in this article are for careful brands that have wow factor and a pinch of je ne sais quoi. You probably already know what I mean; they’ve got “the look”, the metrics, and the right audience.
By “right audience” I mean a high value audience. Your blog is attractive to people who spend money and it discusses high value subjects.
In other words, you’re not a budget travel site or a cat blog.
Beyond that, how many sponsors have you already worked with in the past year?
Too many sponsors will lower your value over time, whether you’re aware of it or not. Make the ones you engage with count, right from the very beginning.
Exclusivity is worth money.
Value of an engagement;
The value of your sponsored engagement is often not cash –it’s going to be something of value to the tune of the sponsored post rates below, although it may be in product or services rendered.
That means it may cost the sponsor less (their cost) and you’ve got something with a suggested retail price that fits the value of the numbers coming up shortly.
New to blogging?
If you’re window shopping to see what’s possible and still need a little help qualifying your idea before you start a blog with WordPress, you’ve come to the right place.
We’ve got a bunch of articles in our “learn blogging” section, just for you.
How Much Do Bloggers Make?
Too few bloggers know the value of their hard work.
They settle for the first sponsors or SEO companies that come along –and worse yet, their first offer.
These sponsored blog post rates reflect what we’re charging in 2024, although we’ve been using them as a guide since Hobo with a Laptop was only 14 months old. SEO companies will tell you you’re crazy, but f*ck them. Brands get it, and that’s all that matters.
In reality, sponsored blog post profits can be a pillar of your monetisation strategy if done right, not too often, and in a trustworthy way.
Blogger Rate Card
This blogger rate card example needs little introduction, if you found us via Google, you know exactly what you’re looking for. If you still don’t know what a “Domain Authority (DA)” is, you can figure yours out here.
I know you’re likely going to average out how much to charge for sponsored content among the articles you find on the subject –but stick around for the email template further down this page to help you negotiate your sponsored blog post rates for brands and/or SEO companies.
Alright, folks. It’s full-disclosure time.
How We Got the Numbers on This Blogger Rate Sheet
These numbers are based on our own experience, and loosely translated from a similar blogger rate card on this blog post on AWin –a very respectable affiliate partner of ours, in addition to the experience of our peers who we’ve discussed sponsored content rates with on private Facebook groups.
Most bloggers likely shouldn’t get out of bed for too much less than as in the blogger rate card above. If you have a crypto blog, these rates are still a little low with ICO fever going on.
If you have any thoughts on this blogger rate card or how much bloggers make with sponsorships, please let us know in the comments at the end of the article.
Negotiating Sponsored Blog Post Rates
I’ve got a bonus for this article I didn’t mention in the title; below you will find our email template for how we respond to emails from brands and SEO companies to negotiate our sponsored blog post rates for a number of our websites.
The template also includes our own current sponsored blog post rates for Hobo with a Laptop after 14 months of semi-consistantly blogging.
Hello, Jane Smith!
Thanks for reaching out to Hobo with a Laptop.
We do work with commercial brands. You’ve got two options:
Get a brand mention on existing (already indexed into Google!) content for administration cost of $300 USD.
Get a 900 – 1,000-word article written for you, for an administration cost of $500 USD.
Pricing is a little above market rates to ensure mentions from our website remain quality, long-term. This is why businesses prefer working with us over other blogs.
We will not take every client that emails us looking for a brand mention or sponsored post.
At this time we only post sponsored content we’ve created ourselves in order to ensure Hobo with a Laptop retains a consistent voice. (Link to sponsored post examples here).
Let me know what you think.
Mike & Oshin
Social Media Contract
I’ve never gone into a social media engagement without a contract.
The world is full of shills, and as a blogger, you’re a mark. People might think “oh, a mommy blogger –she’s probably just a soccer mom, what does she know?”.
Well, put that thought to rest and come at them loud and clear with this social media contract template by HelloBonsai; you can grab it with a free account. Although I highly recommend them for all of their services, once you have them for CRM, scheduling, bill payment, proposals, et al you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them.
Pick up your free social media contract here.
You can find all of their templates here.
Some Points of Interest
There are a few additional points I’d like to pass on before you move on to another blogger rate card post on some other website to find out what to charge for sponsored posts:
- You will have to turn down sponsored post opportunities often if you stick to your guns –and that’s a good thing. It prevents you from becoming a sponsored post pin cushion!For every 5 to 10 “no thank you’s” you give, there’s going to be a sponsor who values your quality and discretion –and will appreciate that you’re not allowing your website or blog to become a low value SEO link farm or inauthentic brand-backing catalog of shillery.High quality sponsors are looking for high quality readership, and that’s hard to find when audiences feel they’re being bombarded with too many sponsored messages.Bloggers like you are the sweet spot for brands –you’re a micro-influencer, and chances are your audience is much more invested in you than say, Goop (and you’re cheaper, too).
- It’s your business, but we usually won’t let a sponsor write a post for us in full –especially not for blogs we put our actual names on. We write it for them, and it’s part of the fee.
- If a “fellow blogger” writes to you, shares a few links as writing samples on a range of unrelated sites they’ve written but shares with you no blog of their own and they’re “just starting out with their writing career” –they’re likely an SEO company posing as a blogger. Shady af, yet happens all the time.Hit them with the template above and you’ll likely weed them out and scare them off. If they stick around, maybe it’s meant to be.
- When a brand or SEO company counters your offer with a number much lower than you’ve proposed, let them know you mean business.In some instances we’ve reduced our cost, but still got $400 USD for a sponsored post rate when their original counter offer was only $35. It depends on the SEO’s client, and the person you’re communicating with may pass it forward to them.
- If anyone says “I can’t afford that rate, but I’ve got a lot of posts for you in the future”, tell them that’s exactly what you’re trying to avoid. (See “pin cushion” point above).
- Don’t fall for flattering messages from successful brands you recognize, like one we recently got asking for a brand mention for nothing.
For sponsors, a brand mention has a higher return on investment than an ad because it stays online longer, appears on a website that has already cultivated a following that’s relevant to them, they don’t have to transact with you ever again, it helps normalise their brand presence in your niche, and it has potent SEO value (if they’ve done their research). An endorsement is worth even more.
Even bartering is better than nothing.
A low-ball offer like $35 wrapped up in compliments is the equivalent of going into a grocery store and saying “hey, nice selection of apples, can I have free groceries for the next three years if I buy one apple?”.
Understand your value, and leave awful sponsors to your noob competitors. Rejecting low quality sponsorships keeps your quality high, while being bait for competitors who don’t know any better. It’s an edge, a blogging secret most bloggers don’t start with.
Do You Think These Sponsored Blog Post Rates are Fair?
How much to charge for sponsored content is a controversial subject for some; what did you think about this article? Let the world know in the comments and thanks for stopping by!
If reading this article felt a little sanity-redeeming, please share the Blogger Rate Card image above on Pinterest and let’s raise the bar for the everyday blogger, together.
Sharing and/or linking to this post will help unify bloggers on average sponsored blog post rates and be beneficial to the community as a whole. The comments below are just as valuable as this post itself!
Know what you’re worth, charge what you’re worth!
Still interested in selling merch on your blog? We wrote a massive guide that explains how we got started selling merch on Hobo with a Laptop and other websites with Printful. Check it out!
Our Best-Performing Affiliate Programs
A majority of our blogging income comes from affiliate programs hosted by SafetyWing, Awin and FlexOffers.
Each of these websites are reliable revenue sources for bloggers in travel, fashion, health, fitness, beauty, software, technology, finance, and other markets.
Affiliate program diversity will ensure your blog income is futureproof, and you can pay your rent during a pandemic.
How to Profit From Blogging
102 comments
Hey Michael, thanks for this amazing article. Really helpful! Btw, I have a new blog in the Finance and stock Market niche, which is relatively new and has little to no traffic. My Moz DA is around 12, I have a few backlinks, But an Advertising agency reached out to me asking if I’d be interested in accepting sponsored posts on my site. They’re offering only $30 per post. How much should I charge them? And should I even accept sponsored posts at the starting of building my blog? Thanks again!
Hey Karan, I’d take your sponsored post inquiries as an indication you’re on the right track –and my personal opinion is that I’d turn them down this early in the game (unless they perfectly align with your values and brand). But you may have other thoughts, and that’s fine too.
$30 for a post with a life-long permanent link is taking advantage. At the lowest end of the spectrum possible, it’s $75 (and I wrote this before inflation ravaged the planet). They’ll be laughing all the way to the bank as you grow and flourish, and the link from your site to theirs gains strength.
Hold out a bit longer. You’re on the right track! And thanks for stopping by.
Mike
I am so happy to have found your blog. I’ve enjoyed reading through the comments too. There’s a lot of helpful information for a blogger.
Please could you look at my blog and suggest how I might improve? Thanks
The website years reads 5 6. Started blogging in 2020. Perhaps, I’m missing something?
Nice post, very helpful! Thanks
One question, if they have an affiliate program. Should you not charge for writing a review about their product? You never know exact whether or not the product will sell (good). Writing a review and testing a product is pretty time consuming as well…
What’s your view on this?
Thanks
I’d often charge for the post and only join the affiliate program if the post does well in the first month or so.
I must have missed this one! Yes, charge whether you join the program or not, work is work!
My friends and I will also wait to see if the article takes off. If it doesn’t, I often won’t bother with their affiliate program.
Nice post, very helpful! Thanks
One question… If they have an affiliate program, should you not charge for writing a review about their product? Testing and writing a review is quite time consuming… and you can’t predict whether or not the product will sell (good)…
What’s your view on this?
Thanks
Thanks so much for writing this! My DA is 17 and I am starting to get more and more emails asking if I am interested in partnerships, sponsored posts etc. I am naturally suspicious and tend to think everyone is shady lol, so it’s a bit hard for me to navigate. It’s not the brands themselves reaching out but a middle man a believe. A company called Fat Joe I think??
I recently got another email from a company called Logical Positions which wants to write content for me and link to their clients’ sites. Have you heard of that company? This would help me increase my amount of content but I write everything in my own genuine voice so I’m leery.
I tend to want to say no to everything because I won’t link to low-quality sites and don’t want to be penalized by Google but I might be missing out on money. Sorry for the ramble, thanks again for the rate card, it will come in handy if I ever decide to say yes!
Hahahaha Fat Joe. I believe I got my start in copywriting working for them, or one of their subsidiaries. They’re an SEO company working with every brand you can imagine. If one article isn’t the right fit, ask them if they have any clients in XYZ niche, or clients that can accept paying what you want for their brand mention on your site. They’ll likely have it.
Never heard of Logical Positions, but I wouldn’t accept an offer unless you’re paid properly and they don’t expect too many inclusions on your site. They pay per brand/client inclusion (link), not per article. $185 – $200 a pop maybe. And of course you can edit it to make it sound like you. I always let them know I reserve that right and sometimes I kill whole paragraphs. I’ve also rejected offers after reading what they expected to put on MY site. Some of it can be very low quality.
If you can afford to, say no for as long as you can. And then stop before your site becomes all used up. If you’re a good affiliate marketer, you don’t need sponsors unless you’re in travel because it helps make content and it’s a tough racket. But real sponsors, not SEOs.
Thanks for the advice Michael! I’m holding off for now, my affiliate links are picking up somewhat. I may dabble in sponsored content at some point but will definitely be particular about keeping my voice consistent on MY site. 😊
That’s the route I took as well. I rarely do sponsored engagements, last one long predates the pandemic.
You are so right about sticking to your affiliate income. That’s the real money. You can plan for it, easier to manage than sponsors on eggshells. And you get to maintain quality and consistency on your own terms, all the time.
Keep on keepin’ on Kelly and thanks for dropping a comment.
Great post Michael, very helpful. Determining your rates is a very tricky thing, especially when you do;t have anything to benchmark it against initially.
Agreed Raj. Thanks for stopping by!
Just FYI, the recent Google E-A-T stated that never sell links for money. In other words, actually it’s okay set it as standard (Do-follow), but mark them as sponsored. Hope this share helps 🙏
YES! Good call, Nell. I’ve been meaning to add that to this article.
Link attributes have been diversified, as per a push from Google (link). Now content makers can add “sponsored” and/or “ugc” attributes to their links in addition to the one-size-fits-all “nofollow” attribute.
Adding the “sponsored” attribute is now an option for sponsored URLs. If already using the nofollow attribute on ads or sponsored links, no markup changes are required, although Google recommends switching future link elements when convenient to do so.
Would I go back and update all my content? Not likely. Would I use these new attributes going forward, probably –if I still bothered with sponsors. I still use the old WordPress text editor when I write posts! lol. I’m an old man yelling at clouds in blogger years.
At the end of the day, it’s currently a Google preference and not a W3C standard as I understand it. Yet.
I think it prudent for beginners to jump in using these soon-to-be standards, any edge is good. Really happy you brought this up Nell! Have a great week.
Mike
Hey Michael,
I am totally new to this sponsorship blog stuff.
My question is real simple.
I have a website which is now 2 years old and I got a email from some third party person saying that they get clients to get Sponsored blog and need my website to pitch some. And he asked me how much I would charge to publish it in my domain.
Though I don’t have any blog tab as of now it’s simple yet creative revolution theme consulting website.
I find this as a great opportunity and I have no idea about it as of now, what should I say? What money should I ask for?
Compare your metrics to the card above; the article above is hopefully broad enough to help you choose your fate. Feel free to let us know how you proceed and thanks for stopping by!
Awesome guide Michael! Thanks for the colorful breakdown of the rates!
I received an email asking me about my rate for a sponsored blog post for one of my websites and your detailed write-up gave me a better idea of how to respond.
Glad to hear it!
Thanks for sharing this really Insightful blog post. I’m a beginner in book blogging. I was looking for – how to monetize a blog properly, & how to fix charges for Sponsored post in the near future. But, thanks for ideas & hope!
Happy you found something in this post, thanks for stopping by Monika.
This post is a gold mine! Thank you so much for writing it and for giving such concrete specific examples. The DA spreadsheet and the example email were especially helpful. Thank you, thank you!
Anytime, Brittney. Happy to help another blogger know their worth in marketing dollars.
Excellent information providing by your post, thank you for taking the time to share with us such nice.
Alright, perhaps I’m undercharging. My DA is 40 and I’m currently sitting at around 37K pageviews and I definitely take under $1K for a sponsored post + social promotion.
I get flooded with “guest post” emails, but 99% of the time it’s a “fellow blogger” who I know is looking for a link or an SEO company offering me $35 for placement. I feel like I’m leaving money on the table by not replying to all of these but am very careful about not offering link insertion as I don’t want to get penalized by Google.
Is there a way around this or do I just continue ignoring all of these emails which tend to be a waste of time? What about people who reach out with infographics, do you accept those?
At the moment, I really only apply to campaigns or answer emails from actual brands that want to partner.
Hey Marlene,
First off, your website and social proof (ie. all the publications where you’re mentioned or featured) are very cohesive and professional; it’s evident you’re putting in the work thoughtfully.
With your niche, I think taking on silly infographics or $35 sponsored post offers from “fellow bloggers” would hurt you more than help. Those kind of offers could potentially hurt your brand integrity. Personally, I’m still rejecting 99.8% of all sponsorship offers I recieve. Kind of like my liklihood of not dying of COVID lol.
The lowest we accept on scandalous SEO sponsorships is $200 USD and their content better be damn good, and they better allow us to make changes.
In a perfect world, we’d only take on 1-2 really strong sponsorships per year. That way our website doesn’t look like a NASCAR race car, and we’d get an opportunity to create quality content out of it. We had a few luxury resorts lined up before the pandemic, and they would have been ideal.
Changing gears; I humbly suggest you seek out and experiment with better, more lucrative affiliate partnerships. Fashion-related subscription services (recurring affiliate income), luxury services or goods. Maybe organize your content by budget tier so you can cast a wide net and make your content easily navigable.
Once you find a real winner of an affiliate partnership that’s mutually beneficial, ask if they want to go deeper and partner with you in a way described throughout the article above and the comments below.
We’ve been sponsored by companies we were already having strong success with from an affiliate commission stand point. A good affiliate partner is a gift that keeps giving, and they don’t turn your website into a crappy SEO pin cushion (they often don’t even require dofollow links).
Hope that helps and thanks for stopping by,
Mike
Second quick reply: You have “Fashion, Home Decor, Best Amazon Finds”. Once clicked, I see general content for each category.
Instead, each of those options could lead to a more granular intermediary landing page that has three budget sub-categories like “Best Bang for the Buck”, “Guilty Pleasures”, “Money is No Object”.
Then once they choose a budget (sub-category) they only see content that fits into that budget for the parent category they’re interested in.
This would empower you to go after the luxury market where affiliate commission percentages rake in larger pay days. Amazon is so-so, going direct to companies through Awin could get you better/more commissions.
Please accept my heartfelt thanks for this wonderful guide. Before I arrived here, I had no idea what to say if someone asked me about my rates for sponsored posts or inserted a link into an existing post on my blog. It really was an extremely helpful post.
Glad it helped! Worth note, these sponsored blog post rates were the norm before governments starting printing insane amounts of money, thus devaluing currencies through historical levels of inflation. We may adjust rates in 2022.
Thanks Michael for reminding us what we’re worth 🙂 Time to up my rate, for sure. A couple of questions/comments for you. Would it be fair to say that an email request for a sponsored blog post that comes from someone’s Gmail account screams ‘risk’? Also, when I sell a sponsored blog post, one of the terms I have is “it’s guaranteed to appear on the site for at least two years”. How do you feel about that? The reason I say that to companies is so that I can take it down after two years, then reach out to them again for another paid post. Cheeky or okay? Thanks 🙂
Hi Mike, my apologies I thought I replied to this already –but I didn’t!
It is common for SEO companies to use burner accounts to do email outreach, or it’s a genuine sponsor opportunity reaching out from their personal account. Be wary, but if they mention you and your website by name, you could reply with your rates. Just never click a link in an email unless you know them personally, and don’t bother with any correspondence that doesn’t mention you by name.
As for the “two years” thing, that’s intelligent foresight. It’s common to remove underperforming content every once in awhile. By the time that two years is up, you’d hopefully have grown enough to be out of their league!
Personally, I only mention it if asked. I don’t promise a time frame, as it just slows down the back and forth communication process. I think I’ve got a statement in our site TOS that mentions I reserve the right to remove any content at any time, and that includes sponsored posts.
Hope that helps, and thanks for thinking of us for your question.
Thanks, appreciate your help 🙂
amazing alex, just agree with your opinion
Thank you so much for such a wonderful guide, I was wondering what to say to clients asking for my rates to sponsored posts or have a link inserted in an already existing post on my blog before I landed here and it was helpful.
Hello Michael, I am so grateful to have found your article and your site.
I have a travel blog http://www.boundlessroads.com and I am receiving requests for sponsored links. In this case it is an SEO company. I told them the link will be NO FOLLOW and my rates are high but they still want the link. Is that ok if I insert the link in a phrase such as “this post is sponsored by …..”? obviously I will ultimately decide if the company linked is respectable and travel related. Also, I would normally offer a 1-year plan and 5 years plan packages that they can choose. Thanks a lot for your kind reply.
Hi Isabella, disclosing sponsorship is a smart move and a legal requirement in many countries. You can learn more about US FTC rules here (PDF).
Holy cow, this is a fantastic article. I had no idea about sponsored posts. My DA is “only” a 25 so it never occurred to me anyone might pay good money for it. Thank you so much!
Glad this article got you thinking about your true potential, Randy!
In addition to the other advice in this comment section, I strongly advise you to build your email list. It’s an easier sell than traffic metrics and DA.
A DA 25 with 5,000+ verified subscribers is more valuable than a DA 25 on its own. Entice your visitors with a PDF download or free online course about something they’ll value, or consider starting your own community with BuddyBoss like we’re doing. It’s money well spent!
And of course, guest post, guest post, guest post on other people’s blogs. It’s an easy leap from 25 to 35.
Should this apply globally? For all countries? We live in the Philippines and this could be way too much for our local brands and companies here.
Ross, I am so glad you’re here –I’ve been living in your country for years and I hope what I say now helps you in some way. Most companies that will approach you think in US dollars, no matter where they come from. Unless they’re from the Philippines, looking for a deal because you’re a local.
My best advice is to know your worth through the lens of an American company. Not every deal for you will be as profitable as it will be for an American, I won’t sell bullshit to you for the sake of a blog post. But I will say that if you have a large following in America, you’re just as monetarily valuable as an American –or close to it.
It boils down to your blog metrics.
Where is your audience from? Metrics can be a great equalizer and bridge gaps in economies and finances. It doesn’t matter if you’re from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, or India, to name a few. If your audience is American, you should be paid the same as, or close to, what an American would be paid. Just make sure you make that part easy by using PayPal.
However –most companies will expect a “deal” by working with bloggers in the developing world. I don’t blame them much for that, it’s business. And as such, be flexible with your pricing. Just remember that these are “real” sponsorships I speak of in this article. Like Red Bull sponsoring an athlete.
SEO sponsored posts are different, dramatically less-paying, and more common.
Let’s talk about those SEO sponsorships for a second:
I’d never charge less than 7,000 pesos for an SEO sponsored post if I were you, you have a strong Domain Authority. They always try to get you to agree to $35 or $50 USD but if you take too many of those it hurts your site and devalues it over time. At the very least, never go lower than 5,000 pesos on one of these kind of sponsorships.
Above all, always remember the American reader when you write a post.
Will they find it valuable? If you *only* write for Filipinos you will only get Filipino sponsorship rates, and that’s usually a free night at a restaurant and that’s it. I see it all the time.
American readers are high money value, never forget about them. You can write about your country to make it appeal to US tourists, sell US travel insurance, sell US international WiFi hotspots, etc. Just tuck in an offer inside of a regular blog post. Americans spend a lot of money in the Philippines. They’re an ideal audience.
Bridge the gap between the Philippines and America, and you’ll make more money with your sponsored post rates. And check out the rest of the comments on this page, lots of advice here that may help.
Consider making a new page on your website with the keywords “Philippines sponsored post”, “travel sponsored post” or “Philippines guest post”. It may attract companies searching for your flavor of blog, and create more opportunities. I’m just thinking out loud, so be sure to do some keyword research.
Hope that helps, sincere best of luck to you Ross.
Mike
Thank you Michael for this eye opener. My question is – are these charge per month or yearly
For the most part they’re per engagement and an engagement could be a one-off, or an ongoing retainer. Listen to your sponsor as they usually come to the table with a plan in mind.
Hi Michael,
This article was incredibly helpful (including your detailed replies in the comments!). I’m being found by what I think are the SEO groups, but have also been asked for my press kit from reputable sponsors. The problem is, I don’t have any good metrics yet (and I’m not sure why). If you would kindly look at my site, you might see what I’m talking about. I’ve only recently started working on it full time and hope to up my numbers quickly (I have great reach on Pinterest – 70-90K, but not # of followers). Therefore, I’m not sure what metrics to put in my press kit. I don’t want to scare off the sponsors, but I assume I don’t have the numbers or followers they think I have – yet. Is it too soon for me to accept any sponsorship? I’m worried they won’t see enough return on their investment and that will harm my future prospects.
I appreciate it Erin, truly.
Your metrics should include your email subscribers, course students, Google Analytics data, visitor demographics (gender, age, country of origin), most viral posts, and you can include your reach on Pinterest (or any social media channel) if your follower count isn’t the best.
And if you’re tracking the value of a visitor in any way within Google Analytics, that’s really good information to have. Alexa can estimate this for you, and tell you who your audience overlaps with which may also be worth including.
You could also throw in your month over month growth in a percent point, ie: “We’re at the beginning of our blogging journey, but we’re seeing 400% subscriber growth month after month! Our courses see 389% monthly growth, and our traffic is growing by 600% every month!”.
It’s never too soon to accept sponsors, they usually do their homework and like what you’re already doing when they contact you. Just don’t promise the moon, and if it doesn’t work out today, ask them if you might approach them next year when your metrics improve. Grow your address book with sponsor decision makers while you work at it.
Improving your domain authority is also easy when you’re starting out, it climbs fast at first and then slows down when you reach 35 – 40. We’ve been floating around in the 40’s for a year or so, but when we started blogging full time in 2017 we went from 10 to 35 relatively quickly. Right now you’re at a 10 so there’s some quick wins right around the corner (Moz.com).
In terms of Google search traffic; if you’re using a keyword tool like Keysearch and optimizing your content for keywords, phrases, questions, and relevant vocabulary range, with a focus on keyword competition –consider taking the next step and getting guest posts published on other people’s blogs to boost your backlink profile. Aim for at least one guest post with an inbound link to your blog every month.
That will signal to Google you’re “all that” and they’ll start to send more traffic your way –boosting those metrics all the more.
And finally, check out our friend Sabrina’s Work With Me page, it’s pretty decent. She’s also got a PDF downloadable version I believe. Or at least she did, I haven’t looked at it in a while.
If you’re interested in investing in yourself and your blog this year, our friends at Create and Go have a brilliant Blogging Business course, I highly recommend it. You can find that course here.
All in all, I think you’re well on your way. Your blog has all the hallmarks of a successful blog, it’s just going to take a few more months of solid work to improve those metrics. Viva la 2021!
Hi Michael – I really love this article and thanks for writing this up. Just wanted a bit of clarification.
You said in the sample letter, “Get a brand mention on existing (already indexed into Google!) content for administration cost of $300 USD.”
And here is where I am confused, might I also mention, this is where I am stomped whenever someone approaches me on matters related to them getting mentioned and linked.
You, also said, “You’re not charging for links themselves, because that’s against Google’s rules and no publisher wants to tango with Google if they want to grow.”
Isn’t the first one in conflict with the second one? For sure, I don’t want to “tango with Google.”
Thanks much for any light you’d shed on this.
Hi Rush, thanks for your comment.
I see nuance, not conflict. If you’re in doubt, Google introduced a new link attribute earlier this year that I recommend you use. For best practices, add rel=“sponsored” to any link included in a sponsored post going forward and you’re in the clear. They also mentioned that this attribute doesn’t need to be added retroactively. In the past, people would add “nofollow” to these sort of links.
To figure it out, ask yourself:
What did the sponsor specifically request and what are you selling them? The best blog sponsors are interested in your influence, content creation abilities, and maybe even an endorsement to drive sales –not a hyperlink. If you’re selling the latter, wrap it in the attribute above.
Is every outbound link on your website relevant to the page it’s on, or are you trying to shoehorn in some blog sponsor for a quick buck? Including a pile of unrelated outbound links within your content may raise an algorithmic eyebrow. Search engines will penalize when they believe that you’re trying to manipulate them for profit.
If you buy a basket of peaches at the farmer’s market, there’s no charge for the basket that they’re carried in.
Either you’re charging for your time, or you’re getting a free product or service to review, and that’s all you’re selling. Just as you aren’t charged an additional fee for a peach basket, you should never charge for a link –but it doesn’t mean you can’t include one.
Whatever you do, make sure you comply with the FTC and disclose sponsorships, affiliate links, native advertising, and the like. An example of this should appear at the top of every one of our posts, a popup likely greeted you on your first visit to our website for good measure, and we go into further detail on our site policies page which has a link in our footer.
I hope that helps!
God…that’s the article I was looking for! There is so little quality guidance on pricing and brand value out there. I am really elated that you disclosed the blogger rate card. I’ll use it as a pricing compass from now on. Thanks a million!!
Hope it’s worth 2 million! Glad you dig it.
Stay safe out there –and don’t forget to join AWIN and FlexOffers affiliate programs; they’ve both been a great income source for us, which I have a feeling will be very helpful in light of current events.
Thank you so much for this helpful information on what to charge for sponsored content! I just had an inquiry about it for my site and needed to update my rate card for 2020. I did a quick search to see if there were any guidelines out there, and found this post. I’d been selling myself short by hundreds of dollars! The chart you created is easy to use, and so was the tool to determine domain authority. Thanks again!
Hi Michael! What if my Domain Authority is lower than 15? Should the minimum rate be $75 no matter the DA or should I lower my price? I am sort of thinking that $75 should be a bottom price for any blogger, but I will leave the judgement up to you, sensei because you’re the man!
Thanks for the great article!
Hey Robert!
Great question, and I think you hit the nail on the head; $75 USD is a good entry-level amount to charge for a sponsored post if it’s an SEO company (not an awesome direct sponsor relationship), regardless of DA.
A low DA may not have much SEO value today, but it will in time because that DA will undoubtedly climb.
To be clear; you’re charging for your time –email back and forth, and maybe even writing a new article for them. You’re not charging for links themselves, because that’s against Google’s rules and no publisher wants to tango with Google if they want to grow.
Worth mention, most companies who offer $35 up front are usually willing to bend to $75, even on low DA sites. I’d say $75 is the bare minimum on an SEO engagement. If they can’t swallow that cost, keep moving.
Edit: At that price, I’d also do a brand mention on existing content. Writing a whole new article, for us at least, must cost more than $75. What you charge for writing is up to you. And finally, I recommend you never take their content and put it on your site. Their content will likely be a sales pitch or not retain the “voice” of your existing content. It may even be duplicate content.
Thanks for the insight – I’m getting around 18K pageviews per month with a DA of 26 and never thought I could charge the rates you have in this card! Very eye opening, I always assumed my blog was too small yet to charge such rates – so thank you.
Hi Angela, thanks for your comment.
Just remember –when we say sponsor, we aren’t referring to SEO company engagements. Those are much lower value, and we don’t recommend taking them on very often (if at all).
Sponsorship examples we refer to here could include a “free” (high value) stay at a luxury resort, for instance. Or you get to keep a laptop you review, etc. It isn’t always cash.
I hope that adds a little extra clarity for you, as well as future readers. Thanks again for stopping by –sincere best with your blog!
First thing first, this is the best post I read related to the sponsored posts. You are right, there are plenty of newbies who are clueless about how much to charge. This table will be really helpful. And hopefully, brands follow ethics and do better.
Thank you for such an eye-opening article.
Glad you found it useful Maheshwaran, thank you!
Hi Mike, thanks for the rate card. It’s in line with the rate I am charging and what clients are willing to pay.
The work we put into every post justifies the rates and the value we offer far surpasses that rate. If anyone is wondering what kind of work a blogger puts into running a website, I have a post written. But I don’t want to spam it over here. Just thought perhaps I can help clarify the doubts of most general public or those who don’t blog a lot. 🙂
To add, I have received a sarcastic reply from an SEO farm rep on my rates. Those were the people who probably wished our rates were friendlier. In fact, I would want to charge a higher price for those types of posts to maintain quality and quantity control.
Chat soon, and have a happy weekend!
Thanks Nicole, very much appreciated. And we’re totally on the same page!
In my experience, it is common for small and medium sized businesses to spend hundreds of dollars per day for regular online ad campaigns, a single seasonal sale, etc. So, a lump sum for content they didn’t have to create themselves, that stays online for the lifetime of a site (years), on a site that has an established following of hundreds of thousands of readers –can be a much better deal for a brand than spending a hundred bucks per day on a pay-to-play ad platform, contingent on their turnaround requirements and goals. Even moreso; when creative assets are created by the blogger and the brand can use and repurpose them without having to pay for the rights for them (ie. photos, drone videos, etc), that’s another win for brands.
In essence, they’re making a commercial that has more reach than a regular TV commercial –why wouldn’t it cost a few grand, right? It covers most social media, a website, maybe YouTube too, has plenty of SEO value, doesn’t require your marketing team with their high salaries, and yet it is cheaper than all forms of ads, online or off. Anyone balking at the numbers above may need more time in sunlight.
In spite of some great bloggers who’ve stopped by to disagree with the figures above; if you’ve got a marketing background, you know what people are already paying when it’s the right fit. When a layman compares the value of these sponsored blog post rates to, say, the rates listed in Google Adwords, they too will see the big value of exposure for certain keyphrases.
For newcomers, this article is really about brand partnerships –not middlemen SEO companies just looking for a backlink. If you’re just selling a backlink, $200 – $300 USD is a reasonable starting point for sites under a 35 DA (in my opinion). Just be warned; Google has criteria they follow for de-ranking sites that buy/sell links for SEO purposes. This is why focusing on selling brand mentions is our key prerogative, not links. We don’t sell backlinks and we mention this on our contact page.
Don’t ever sell a link for $35. I see that number a lot, it’s bullsh*t ? Anyone offering $35 has double the budget at minimum. And that’s the end ‘o this tangent.
Hi Mike, yes, we are definitely on the same page as I believe we are both from business background/training. A lifetime prominent exposure at $1k to 2k is really quite a bargain, especially when you’ve mentioned how they may gain usage of intellectual properties created, e.g. photos, video etc. All these could easily cost more than the sponsored rate if they were to engage a company to produce a video clip/product images/write-up/SEO-optimized.
Also, I like to clarify that I’ve not sold any links. All the articles on my blog are written by me. I only provide my rates to SEO company to see if they are willing to allow me to write a high quality content for them. I also use it as a polite way to decline their offer (so far, most offer about USD100).
And yes, let’s get back to the main focus of this topic. It is to provide marketing exposure for companies, not to sell links or help boost a website’s ranking. 🙂
Right on Nicole. Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for an in-depth article on blogging sponsored posts. You have clearly mentioned the ins and outs involved in this business. But the prices you mentioned above do not mention the niche. I have been blogging for the past 10 years and have been approached by different SEO or middleman companies, which pay between $35 to $100. I don’t receive any emails from brands as you have mentioned. Most of them are third-party companies. If the traffic is 50k UNIQUE VISITORS per month, majority coming from US, UK, AUS, INDIA etc and DA of 35-40, then how much I charge from Internet Marketing or SEO or Digital Marketing companies.
The arrangements in this article refer to something other than an SEO engagement. If you just want to sell a link this article isn’t for you.
A sponsored engagement is a partnership of sorts; it could be a review of an all inclusive resort, an Instagram photo or two of a particular outfit/designer, etc. where the value of the engagement is equal to the rubric above, more or less. The value could be services rendered, product, cash, and so on. When it’s product or services, the sponsor has the advantage of expensing things at cost.
Create a brand that’s influential and one that leading brands want to align with, and they’ll find you. Don’t ask me how much to charge, every deal is different. What’s it worth? How long is a piece of string?
Great post. The numbers seem to be spot on in my experience. Don’t be afraid to negotiate, especially if they reach out to you.
Why do bloggers think they deserve so much for doing so little. You lot seriously are delusional. It’s not as if you are actually influencing anybody. You have the audacity to believe you are more important than Doctors! You pathetic imbeciles need lobotomising!
Hello BlogglesS (blog-less?) –thank you for your comment!
tl;dr — Advertising in general has always been a lucrative business, and when it’s done intelligently it’s also very effective. Advertising on a blog can be much more cost effective than running ads with Google.
Brands also really enjoy working with a blogger who has worked with sponsors previously, and appreciate the control they get when they can choose the real estate their brand is mentioned on. Ad networks struggle with that.
It’s not that bloggers are self-important, it’s that selling a car is still selling a car. It’s a business, and feelings shouldn’t come into sponsored post rates.
When Compared to Ads
When compared to a Google ad placement running on a site that caters to and nurtures a very specific demographic for a limited time can cost thousands –even tens of thousands of dollars per year– whereas having a brand mention on a blog is drastically cheaper, and in many cases the brand mention will be actively visible for the lifetime of the blog.
Also, some brands are not allowed to advertise with leading ad managers like Google because of content restrictions, so a sponsored blog post makes even more sense. Examples would be some health products, and just about anything cryptocurrency.
And then there’s YouTube’s #adpocalypse –an ad on a blog helps brands ensure they aren’t associated with content creators they don’t want to be associated with.
Tracking Impact
Marketers can track the impact of their engagements with bloggers; they can see which blog positively affected their bottom line and if they tag their links, they can see by how much.
If the impact is exponentially higher than the cost they paid for it, it’s money well spent. If a blogger has a case study, all the power to them.
Not For Every Brand
This form of advertising isn’t for every brand (high margin lifestyle brands and subscription services benefit most IMO). Businesses that work with companies like Affiliate Window hand out millions per year for the privilege of the kind of access bloggers provide.
For the right brand and the right blogger, these rates are reasonable for bloggers who meet the metrics above and serve a niche where margins are higher. It’s up to the business to decide what is most equitable for them.
I’ve negotiated lower rates for some clients because I liked their product or service, or it was effective social proof for myself, or their goals were easy to reach and didn’t require too much work on my part.
Disagree with this blogger rate card? Not so fast. Perhaps you put all that hard work into a blog without researching your niche before you got started?
Travel? Low margin niche. Same with electronics, video games, and so many others. If you have a blog in a small money niche and zero negotiation skills (or bad content), what do you expect? That’s on the blogger, not the blogger rate chart.
Maybe it’s my past career or my time in Asia, but there’s value in learning how to handle awkwardness and negotiate.
And make rebuttals, like this one.
OMG kudos to you for even replying to this comment!
As Michael stated, the value of a blog post is in its longevity and its reach. While a doctor can charge tens of thousands of dollars for a procedure, that procedure is a one-and-done thing – There is no recurring income from it. Doctors rely on the daily clients to make money.
Bloggers, on the other hand, have a net influence numbering in the tens of thousands of visitors per month, or higher for more successful and larger sites. Sometimes even tens of thousands per day. That reach makes them valuable to brands within their niche.
Even if only 5% of those convert every month from the post, they can easily make their money back within a week or less, depending on the products they sell. Even a $1000 price tag on a sponsored post is literal peanuts for the fact that it is an investment that keeps on giving for years to come. It’s why brands approach blogs with sponsorship offers in the first place.
Blogs very much do influence people, I see it every day on my site. The fact that it gets traffic at all, in the thousands per day, proves that. I don’t know of any doctor’s office that has that kind of reach, outside of major hospital locations. Even then, the load is split among hundreds of doctors and nurses. And the blog can serve exponentially more people than that, every day, without breaking a sweat.
Are blogs more important than doctors? Debatable, and depends on the blog in question. But that isn’t what advertising is about. It’s about fulfilling a need or want for information about a subject, or a product that can solve a problem at a price they are willing to pay.
To Michael – Thank you for this write-up. I wasn’t quite sure what a good price to change was, and this post helped me a lot in that regard. You’ve earned yourself a bookmark and a future reader of your content! 🙂
You’re bang on the money, MonoDex. And I appreciate that you took the time to thoughtfully drop some personal experience.
Whether it’s selling digital goods or affiliate marketing, there are more passive ways to generate a higher income than any blogging sponsor could generate.
One little extra thought to reinforce;
If no one talks about how long that sponsored post has to exist, you’ve got carte blanche to eventually remove the brand mention and replace it with either an affiliate offer or a different sponsor.
It’s normal to prune underperforming content and if a sponsorship agreement doesn’t discuss how long the post will be up, the blogger has greater flexibility. If time is discussed with a sponsor, “lifetime of the post” is better than “lifetime of the blog”. A post’s life can end when you decide it isn’t helping your business. Keeping a loop hole open like this is always in the blogger’s best interest.
Excellent read!
This blew me away.
For many months – I have been charging way way low for sponsored posts on our site, and this post is an eye opener.
Thanks for writing this.
Glad you got something valuable from this, Nissar!
Thank you so much for this Michael, I have been approached by a couple of people wanting to me to review things for them and then put a link into my newsletter or else write a post for them. I wouldn’t have a clue what to charge so this has helped me a lot.
It is so tempting when you are broke to accept the first offer these companies give you but like you say…the feeling in your chest isn’t worth it.
Love your work, thanks again!
Thanks Liz, you made my day!
Yeah, when you take a low-ball sponsorship deal it feels worse taking the money than it does spending it, trust me. Especially if it’s something that’s going to live on your website forever!
Ideally, we forgo the sponsorship process altogether unless it’s a really great opportunity. Monetising our blog with AWin has been more consistent over all (which makes saying no to businesses who aren’t the right fit a bit easier).
Thank you so much for this! It helps. I’ve been so confused about how to handle brands that approach me. Pricing for blog posts makes sense to me, but a lot of people want Instagram posts for me and I’m still a bit baffled by how much to charge for those.
Appreciate your comment Katie! As for Instagram sponsored post rates, when in doubt ask them to make you an offer with a baseline of $200 USD.
Other bloggers have stated it’s normal to charge up to $10 USD for every 1,000 followers you have on Instagram. That’s up to $10 per CPM –a CPM is the cost to reach 1,000 followers.
However, email back and forth establishing a deal takes time and I believe you should be paid for that, too. Thus the baseline cost of $200 USD. And of course, if you combine this with a blog post the rate card above applies.
I hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by.
As someone who gets 252k uniques a month and a DA of 54, according to this, I should be charging, what? $10,000 to $20,000 a post then? That’s ridiculous! Where are these companies paying that?
Also, question: are your link placements nofollow or dofollow? Most companies that contact me ONLY want the dang dofollow but I DO NOT accept paid dofollow links (per Google’s rules). Are you also disclosing these paid insertions? Or are you just putting them in there?
Hi Katelyn,
Where do you see $10,000 – $20,000 for a sponsored post on this chart? Sponsored post rates generally have a ceiling and yours tops out around $5,500.
Looking at your comment as a whole, I think you’re referring to basic SEO link placements.
The real value is in brand mentions directly from a brand (not an SEO middleman), and these are often not paid in cold hard cash. Instead, they are paid for with equivalent value in products or services produced by the sponsor.
For example, a tech reviewer may get to keep an Alienware laptop after writing an unbiased review (very high end laptop), a travel blogger may get a free stay at a luxury resort, and so on. In return, they get a review on your blog and related social media posts across the spectrum, and get permission/license to use the creative assets you created.
If you have a large following and do 2 – 5 posts on say, Instagram, the value of your sponsorship goes up dramatically. If the agreement specifies you can’t work with a competitor, the value goes up further.
The reviewer gets the full value of said free product or service, and the sponsor is really only giving away its cost before margins are added.
As for SEO link placements, we prefer to avoid them on Hobo with a Laptop. And yes, you’re right about Google which is why we explain that we do not sell “dofollow” links on our contact page, right above the contact form.
Engagements with SEO companies don’t pay very much unless you’re in a market where the “pay to play” cost is higher, like cryptocurrency websites, which in my experience charge upwards of $1,000+ for a placement.
How did we get these numbers?
We ran an agency for years called Copyrise before our passive income made actual work less profitable than blogging and have first hand experience with these sort of inclusions –and the chart above is also supported by AWin, an affiliate marketing leader. All we did was convert currencies and mark them up a little for American audiences.
I hope that answers all your questions, thanks for stopping by!
Hi there, this is a great article, but I wanted to come into this conversation here. You say these rates are for sponsored posts, but don’t sell ‘do follow’ so what benefits do the brands get if the links are not going to be picked up for them via Google? For example if you have a much lower readership? I would get nothing if I said only ‘no-follow’ just wondering how you get around this? How do you get brands to take no-follow links?
Hi Kelly, thanks for asking.
When you’ve got the engagement metrics, a native brand inclusion can go a long way for a sponsor. A common example of this are sponsored Instagram posts, where there’s no link within the Instagram image description –no backlink or tangible SEO value, instead benefits are measured in other ways like sales, click-through traffic, lead generation, and so on. Another example could be mentioning a brand on a podcast, or writing a review where you’d likely link to Amazon to buy something rather than the MFR website.
Blog content often goes beyond words, when you’re not tied to SEO metrics there’s great potential to do something bigger, more meaningful, and organic.
Hope that clears it up!
Thanks so much for this information. It has been extremely helpful to me in negotiating sponsored post and link requests.
Glad you appreciate our blogger rate card, Lesley. It’s great to know what a blog can be worth! Figuring out how much bloggers charge for sponsored posts is often a crap shoot.
Come back often!
I’d be in the lower right-hand $4,200-$5,500 range and I’ve never seen those sort of rates offered for a guest post, ever.
Thanks for stopping by our blogger rate card and leaving a comment Gary. It means a lot, you’ve been an inspiration to me personally over the years.
Some niches will fair better than others; travel is a low margin niche and it is certainly not under served. By my guess, a new travel blog launches every five seconds and sponsors are spoiled for choice.
Figuring out how much to charge for sponsored content will be affected by the margins on products or services mentioned within posts and how saturated the internet is with blogs on the subject.
Case and point; a mommy blogger in 2010 – 2015 could make a mint on a sponsored post. Sponsored blog post rates for mommy bloggers have greatly diminished (although it’s still probably better than a travel blog today).
Personal finance, debt management, or cosmetic surgery blogs probably do even better from a financial standpoint (to name a few).
I know it’s easy to call bullsh*t on these sponsored blog post rates, but if one looks at their niche and market saturation before they start a blog the numbers on this blogger rate card are still very much achievable in 2019 and beyond.
Anyone reading this may want to look at our free blogging course and pick up Keysearch to analyze the profitability of a niche before they get started. Specifically, our post about niche selection may be of value.
Thanks for stopping by Gary. Hope our paths cross in “real life” one day. Until then, all the best.
This was such a great article I came across. I’ve been getting approached sporadically for guest posts, sponsored instagram posts with promo codes and what not and the constant question on my mind has been, hey yes, I’d like to work with you and build my brand, but I also need to make money doing it.
This blogger rate card is a getting starting off point for me to start implementing and getting some cash flow! Thank youuuuu!! 🙂
So happy you dig this blogger rate card, Rose. Learning how much to charge for sponsored content is a tough slog, there’s a lot of conflicting information out there!
And Instagram sponsorships can be even more lucrative than what’s on the infographic above if you’ve got great metrics. The only downside is an algorithm change can mean sudden income loss, so IMO it’s best to have both (like you’re doing).
PS. Love your shipping container hotels post, I’m a big fan of that sort of thing ?
Thanks for stopping by!
Michael, this is such a helpful post, thank you! What do you call a brand mention? Do you have a link to an article with a brand mention you could share? I know some brands will ask to be added to an upcoming Christmas gift guide article. Is that what you mean? Everytime I tell a brand or PR agency that I take money against articles, I get told the client doesn’t have any money for sponsored posts… very discouraging that all would think we should work for free…
Hey Laura! Thanks for stopping by our Blogger Rate Card post. A brand mention is literally mentioning a brand, and in most cases it also means providing a link to their website. We’ve got a few sponsored post examples here. We’ve got more than one blog, we don’t take sponsors on this one as often as the others.
Businesses that won’t offer a fair price for a sponsored post are typically SEO companies marking it up and selling links wholesale –not the ideal sponsor. They offer regular engagements at low prices and they want you to work harder for less money. They don’t care about you, your audience, or calculate the long-term value of a brand mention beyond its SEO value. We made a fair amount of money working with SEO companies in the past, but I don’t recommend it.
You’re on the right track choosing to work directly with a brand or PR agency who may not even care about the link at all, they may just want to weave themselves into the conversation to build brand awareness. However, you’ve got to reach certain metrics to get these kind of sponsors. They’re harder to satisfy.
I don’t recommend spending time looking for sponsors who will pay you what you’re worth; they’ll find you when you meet their metrics. In the meantime, keep pounding out that great content!
Those who ask for a free guest post or sponsored post think that running a website is free he he they think that hosting, domain fee and developers are free he he
I agree, often small businesses feign ignorance on how much bloggers charge for sponsored content.
It’s usually SEO companies that are the ones trying to pose as a fellow blogger to cut a larger profit on link building with your website (and not pay you anything). I don’t blame them for trying! It’s never personal, it’s just business.
Sponsored posts are best reserved for companies looking for a brand mention, where SEO benefits are secondary and not the main reason for the engagement.
Most businesses know the value of running an ad for a month on Facebook, or placing native ad content on an online magazine –these sponsored blog post rates are much cheaper than PPC because a sponsored blog post could be active for the lifetime of the blog.
The time spent (often years) growing and curating a very specific audience takes time –time and effort that businesses can save by purchasing a native brand mention.
Hope you found this blogger rate card helpful, Giovanni! Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Mike,
Great post you’re sharing here. Do you think it’s necessary to create a rate card with design and save it as pdf?
Thanks
Cheers,
Ogie
Hey Ogie, thanks for stopping by. I’d recommend you keep your sponsored post rates to yourself because you never know what a sponsor is going to ask for before they ask for it. Every sponsorship arrangement is unique, these numbers are for your personal reference.
For example, we raise our rates for some sponsors that might be a stretch (not totally the right fit for us). If you give them numbers instantly, you’ve lost your ability to negotiate a better arrangement.
What you’re thinking of is a Press Kit, and I highly recommend making one of those.
Sponsors often want to know your metrics before they ask about pricing. Your metrics tell them what is in it for them and the sort of reach they can expect by working with you. Hitting them with your blogger rate card right off the bat could scare off a great sponsor.
Your press kit should include; monthly page views, monthly unique visitors, average visit duration, domain authority, audience profile (gender, age group, geography), metrics of social media engagement (followers, views, etc), and the month/year these metrics were recorded.
Hope that helps!
this was really helpful. kindly visit my blog and let me know what i have to work on. i want to start paid sponsorship too, what do you advise? thanks Mike.
Hi Anne, happy you stopped by!
You’re off to a great start, your hard work really shows. I ran two tests; a site loading speed test and a quick keyword analysis of your entire website domain.
I found that your page loading speed is under 2 seconds (awesome!), but your keyword usage isn’t very focused. Some “money-making” keywords should have boiled up to the top of this list (see below).
Here’s a screenshot of what keywords you’re ranking for right now on your website, what position you rank for them on Google, and how much estimated traffic you get for each:
Without a focus on keyword usage throughout your site, Google doesn’t quite know how or where to put your site in its search results, thus the weird keywords your ranking for in the above screenshot –and that means sponsors won’t find you when they search for niche-related blogs to approach.
This is common when a site is too broad, tries to be everything to everyone, and hasn’t quite figured out keyword research.
We’re guilty of this, too. Big time.
We made that mistake ourselves with Hobo with a Laptop –toooooo broad. One post about barking dogs in Asia, another about blogger rate cards, and another one about dating a foreigner. Very confusing for Google. “What the heck is Hobo with a Laptop on about?”.
There is a workaround though –it’s not the end of the world if individual posts have a very clear keyword focus of 2 – 5 keywords or so. For example, this post focuses on “blogger rate card” and “sponsored blog post rates”, among a few others.
Our keyword selection helps this post bubble up to the front page of Google.
Not so fast though, there’s more to it: It’s not just what keywords you choose or how much traffic those keywords could get you. It’s also who you’re competing with –like, who’s already ranking for them.
You need to factor in keyword competition, too. And free tools leave that important metric out, so you’re flying blind.
You want to try and compete for a specific keyword on a level playing field with other bloggers who are in your site rank class.
There’s plenty of quality paid keyword tools out there but they’re all $99 and up, per month –except for Keysearch, it’s under $20 per month and well worth it. That’s the tool I used to examine your website (and our own posts).
The Keysearch website has videos to show you how it works and what it can do for you. Click here to check it out.
Wrapping it up
If you go back to your posts that have affiliate offers (money making posts) and include not-too-competitive keywords in them (even the interviews some how), you’ll improve your site metrics over time and sponsors will find you.
To learn more, check out these posts:
I hope you found this useful, sincere best of luck with your blogging journey Anne!
This feed back was awesome! Going to try an implement a few! MY accountant tasked me with coming up with a rate card because I’ve been avoiding partnerships all together. I feel like it’s a little difficult to do with the nature of blogging I do (self-care, mental-wellness, etc) but thanks to you and of course my accountant, I think I might be able to make some cash out of it. Been blogging for 15 yrs, might as well try and make it a mini-business too, right?
Heck, yes! And you’ve got a really beautiful thing going on over there at yettisays.com. I’d wish you luck monetizing it but you don’t need it!
Thanks for your comment Yetti.
Good point about the “fellow blogger” reaching out. I seem to be getting a lot of these. And some people have pretty elaborate back stories. I’m starting to disbelieve everyone that writes to me looking for guest posts and sponsored posts.
Yeah, if they don’t have a real blog I never bother. Many will show work they’ve done for other blogs without having one of their own –another tell.
It’s a jungle out there; good luck Keith and thanks for swinging by.
Great post Michael, very helpful. Determining your rates is a very tricky thing, especially when you do;t have anything to benchmark it against initially.
Agreed –the secret is to be willing to say no. A sponsor is like a lifetime ad, there’s a lot of value in that.
Thanks for stopping by, appreciate your comment ?
‘Please lower your rates – I’ll give you lots of work!’ is the worst thing a potential client can say.
‘Oh great. You mean I can give away and devalue even more of my time for a low rate than you first suggested? Where do I sign up?!
Right on, right on. Fully agree, Alex.
What can I say on this topic I am definitely a sponsorsham ip guy. I’ve made $300 off of sponsorships this month. Either travel-related blog posts or via non follow links. I would definitely like to get to the point where I can charge a much higher price than what I am right now usually 50 to $100. I would like to weed my post down so it’s mostly me contributing but at this point I am plodding along.
Every time I swing by Grizzled Nomad, it’s looking better than the time before. You have a really nice website, Joseph. Not sure on your traffic, but even on the lower end you could pull in $150 to $200 USD with what you’ve got. The price may get rejected, even often, but the alternative is making your blog a link farm and that feeling in your chest that may make you fall out of your blog altogether; then where’d ye be? Choose love, get paid.
And keep up the awesome! Thanks for stopping by.