When I got the idea for my blog back in 2007, I knew that I wanted to monetize it. Since I had no clue what I was doing, I hired a graphic designer to set up my blog, create a logo, and install a WordPress plugin to accommodate banner ads.
I figured out how much to charge for ads, wrote my advertising copy, and after 15 months of hard work, I launched The Work at Home Woman.
As a brand new blogger, I didn’t yet have any advertisers or sponsors, so I filled up my ad spaces with affiliate marketing ads. This gave the impression that companies were advertising, and it allowed me to make money with the small amount of traffic that I was getting.
While I was eager to make money from my blog, my primary focus was on producing great content. Part of my content strategy was to interview other successful work-at-home women. One of those interviews was with a well-established humor blogger, Kelcey Kintner of the Mama Bird Diaries. After the interview was published, Kelcey was kind enough to post a link to the interview on her site, which led one of her readers here.
Guess what?
This reader liked what she saw and purchased a banner ad on my site. All in all, it took me a little over two months to get my first blog advertiser. While it may seem like my first advertiser landed in my lap, I will tell you that I was always marketing my blog, and soaking up every piece of blogging information that I could get my hands on.
It took a lot of effort to get the word out about my blog, but I was determined to make it work. I also LOVED what I was doing, so it never felt like work.
Six Other Methods I’ve Used to Get Blog Advertisers:
1. Make it Known
While I talked about it briefly, this is the absolute first thing you need to do to let companies know that you’re open for business. Make sure that your blog is set up to host ads, and that you have a prominent page on your site discussing your advertising options. To get an idea of how you want to set up your framework, check out other blogs within your niche, as well as your favorites. To serve ads on your site, you’ll need to install a plugin to allow for that functionality. I currently use AdRotate, but this post has some other good options.
You should also consider creating a media kit that goes into more detail about your demographics, stats, social media accounts, topics you cover, and what differentiates you from other bloggers. Having these details in place easily allows companies to learn more about you, and it makes you look more professional.
2. Social Media
Follow brands and companies that you’re interested in working with on social media and share their content with your audience. Add thoughtful comments on their posts and authentically interact with them. I’ve had numerous companies contact me because I’ve shared their content on Twitter or Facebook, or I’ve interacted with them on Instagram. The more genuinely active you are on social media, the more opportunities you have to be seen by potential advertisers.
If there’s a product or service that you love, create a social media post around it, and tag the brand. Often, when a brand likes what they see, they’ll contact you about other opportunities.
3. Email Prospecting
Much like cold calling, but less invasive, email prospecting is where you pitch a company or brand about your advertising services via email. I personally like to combine this method with the above social media method. By interacting with them on social media, you start to build and nurture the relationship, so you’re not just emailing out of the blue.
To get started with email prospecting, research companies within your niche and email them a short, sweet, and concise sponsorship proposal. I’ve done this numerous times with many successful outcomes. The key is to be personal and show the company what you can do for their business; remember this is not about you!
To have the most success with this method, you’ll need to find the right person to contact. Sometimes this can be easily accomplished through a direct Instagram message. If the company doesn’t respond on Instagram, try looking on LinkedIn for an employee that works in the marketing department. You may be able to contact them directly on LinkedIn, or they may have their email address publicly visible.
If those two methods don’t work, do a Google search with the company’s name and the words “press release”. If they’ve sent out a press release, their contact information should be listed at the bottom of it. If all else fails, you can try reaching the marketing team through a general email address on the company’s website. But in my experience, this last resort doesn’t yield the best results.
4. Put the Ball Back in Their Court
Over the years, I’ve received a lot of emails from companies asking me to add a link to their client’s website, spread the word about an article they wrote, or offer discounts or coupons to my audience for free. While being asked to work for free is annoying — it can be an opportunity in disguise.
When I get these emails, and I feel like there is a good fit between our audiences, I’ll send them back this response:
Hi Jennifer,
It’s great to meet you!
Due to the overwhelming number of requests for resource and link additions, I’m unable to add any new unpaid resources to the site.
I do have some affordable and effective advertising solutions if you’re interested. Please let me know if you’d like me to send over my media kit.
Thanks for reaching out,
Holly Hanna
While many tell me that they don’t have a budget for paid campaigns, I’d say about 20-30 percent request additional advertising information.
5. Sign Up For Their Affiliate Program
Let me start by saying this doesn’t happen a bunch, but it can happen. When I find a company that I want to work with, I check to see if they have an affiliate program. If they do, I sign up for their program and integrate their campaigns into my content. If they start seeing a decent amount of traffic, sign-ups, or sales coming from my site, they often email me to do further promotions. I’ve had this happen many times over the years.
6. Write About Them
If there’s a brand you’d like to work with, but you haven’t been able to grab their attention, you may want to write a blog post and include their brand, product, or service in it. Over the years, I’ve written many blog posts and included companies that are relevant to my niche. If the post does well, often the company will come to me, and say, we’ve been getting a lot of traffic from this post you wrote and we’d like to see what other advertising options you have. When you include a brand within a post, you may want to tag them on social media when you promote it, or you may even contact them via direct message or email to let them know about it.
How Other Bloggers Scored Their First Blog Advertiser:
Stacie Connerty, The Divine Miss Mommy
“I landed my first paying blog advertiser after six months. I had worked with the company a few times, and then I offered them ad space on an ongoing basis. They said yes right away and paid what I asked.”
Tracie Nall, From Tracie
“The first paid work I got from my blog was not something I went after or applied for; it came in the form of an email from a PR company I had never heard of, offering me money to try a hamburger and write about it. They found my blog and were able to gather all the information they needed to determine I was a good fit before they even contacted me.”
Anna Thurman, Real Ways to Earn Money
“It actually took me a year of blogging to get my first advertiser. When I first started blogging, I was hesitant to approach advertisers directly, so I waited for them to come to me — one reason why it took as long as it did. This advertiser approached me because they discovered I had written a review of their company.”
Miranda Grimm, WAH Adventures
“My first advertiser contacted me by email and offered a year contract agreement. It was over a year into blogging. I think it was about 18 months into blogging. It was so exciting and made me feel legit.”
Conclusion
If you want to monetize your blog with direct advertisements or blog sponsorships, you’ll need to get out there and make it known. You may make some mistakes along the way, we all do, but the more you put yourself out there, the easier it gets. Also remember, as you grow your audience and page views, the more advertisers will want to work with you.
How did you get your first blog advertiser? How long did it take?
Originally published September 26, 2014. Content updated June 12, 2020.
Great information. I’ve read most of it but didn’t have time to read all of it. So I’ve booked marked this page to come back. I’m just getting started and looking forward to reading the rest.
Jennifer White
This is a really helpful article. I have been blogging for a year now and trying to work on monetizing my blog more. The resources you have here are very helpful, I am going to start using your sponsorship letter reference.
Glad you enjoyed the tips, Alex. Good luck on your journey and keep us posted!
I’m working for my first blog, this is very helpful!
Glad you enjoyed the tips!
Hai this is Manjula Raj and I am from India, can you pls. Explain me little bit briefly because I need some more briefly. Please help me even I want to become the Next holly
Do you have a blog yet? If no, this post explains how to set one up: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/setup-blog/
Thank you! It’s great to be encouraged.
I’ve started a blog and am lost in inter-space trying to find answers that I can understand. Thanks for you help.
tiredyetinspired.com
Glad you enjoyed the post, Kari. Good luck with your blog and keep us posted!
Thanks so much for sharing! I’m just getting started and appreciate the insight!
Glad you enjoyed the tips, Liz.
I just found this post on Pinterest and I am so glad I did!!! You said that you placed affiliate ads on you blog. Did you place them on your home page? I’ve placed a few Amazon ads in a couple of my posts that coincide with my topic, but no luck yet. I’m working on increasing my traffic, but I am just starting out. I would appreciate any and all info or links you can spare! Thanks so much!
Hi Kristi, Yes, I placed affiliate banner ads in all of my open ad spaces, so it looked like I already had advertisers on the site. It took some time before I started making affiliate sales. My advice is write AMAZING content that people want to read! Of course you’ll want to focus time on marketing and monetizing, but having AMAZING content with strong headlines is what brings readers in and keeps them on the page. Also, make sure you know who you’re are targeting and that you’re writing about the topics they want to know about. Have you signed up for my free e-book, Blogging Success? You can grab it here: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/work-at-home-make-money-blogging/ Good luck on your journey!
Hello,i just bumped into your post on pinterest.i want to get serious with blogging…am based in Nairobi,Kenya,Africa and would really love more tips towards the right direction.
Hi Harriet, This post will give you a great place to start your blogging journey: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/setup-blog/ Let me know if you have more specific questions – happy to help =)
Hey, great read! Lots of links in here I’m gonna have to come back to.
So do you recommend newbies filling up their sidebar with ads, but to leave space a the top for potential clients? I don’t know how a client will come up to me if I don’t have that much of an audience yet! (Maybe that’s when I go up to them?)
You can fill your inventory with affiliate marketing ads. For more information on affiliate marketing, check out this article: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/affiliate-marketing/
Wonderfull! Thank you for sharing
Glad you enjoyed the article, Chelsea!
This was very informative, thank you! Do you suggest that I have a certain number of blog posts before adding affiliate blogs to my website, as you suggested to make my blog seem popular? I am still in the beginning and I am starting to promote my blog, would it be smart to raise traffic before even considering ads?
Yes, I would fill up any open ad slots with affiliate ads. Just make sure that they pertain to your audience. Here is some additional information on affiliate marketing: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/affiliate-marketing/
Good luck on your blogging journey!
I just started my first blog a couple weeks ago and am trying to figure out how to monetize it! This was ver informative since monetizing a blog is so extremely complicated or so it seems!
Congrats on your new blog! Have you grabbed my free e-book on blogging? It has lots of tips for getting traffic and monetizing — I think you;d find it helpful: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/work-at-home-make-money-blogging/
Thank you for such valuable information! It’s so confusing trying to figure out how best to monetize. Your collection of options looks easy to follow!
You’re welcome, Julie. Good luck on your blogging journey!
Great read! Thanks for sharing! http://www.styleonedge.net
Great post! It’s always exciting to get your first advertiser. I launched my blog a couple of weeks ago and I love reading inspiring posts like this. Thank you for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed the post, Rissa! Keep us posted on your blogging journey =)
Hey Holly,
You share some wonderful ideas. I am at the stage you write about where you were reading, commenting like mad, marketing my blog and soaking up as much information as you could. I love it. It’s been a challenge to move into my stage two of slowly charm the internet world one person at a time.
I really appreciate this post as it’s the beginning of the new project of monetizing my blog. Thank you.
Rachel.
Glad you enjoyed the article, Rachel. Just keep putting one foot in the front of the other and you sill see progress. You may enjoy this post too — it’s mistakes I’ve made along the way: https://www.theworkathomewoman.com/earn-more-money-blog/
Good luck and keep us posted!
I’m still kind of unsure about the money side of blogs, but articles like yours are so great.
I can wait to move my site and try to find my first advertiser and work together with them :)
The cool thing is there are many ways to make money with your blog. If you need some other ideas, let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction. Good luck on your journey, Sofie!
Nice article. I remember 8 years ago my very first blog advertiser offered me $500 dollars to advertise a banner on my blog. I was so excited and knew that it is possible to make money blogging. Like you mentioned, it’s important to make sure it’s a good fit for your niche. Thank you!
Wow, that a great starting rate for ad space. Congrats on your success, Sonia!
Thanks for the advice! This is actually really really useful in helping me progress my blog. Thank you so much :)
Glad you enjoyed the article, Charlotte.
You answered some of my questions with this post. It’s really helpful for beginners like me. Thanks a lot!
Glad you found the information useful, Ly!
Another option is to join us at the PolleNation! We make it easy to connect advertisers with reviewers and are always looking for fresh new voices to help spread the word. Check us out at http://www.pollen-8.com
Hi, I’m looking for bloggers for a new family friendly social media site. Bloggers make a backstage account and add links to their recent blog posts. Here is an invite link for you to make an account and try it out https://www.gosquishy.com/i/ca5rc4bs/b
If you like it I’d really love to interview you for it!
I have a “dream” company, this is inspiring because I really didn’t know where to start. Thank you!