Guest post? Sponsored post : To do or Not to do? FAQ? How to approach?

Hello All 🙂

Last to last week I did some sponsored post, even last Tuesday and I have done even before that!!
The moment I published them, there were some queries popped in my inbox. I answered only 3 people yes only 3. The rest got disappointed, irritated not to mention that din’t end well.

Why I did that, I am not going to explain. That’s not the point here; the point is “ How to approach and how to turn the guest post into sponsored post”. Now I have been blogging from August 2014. That’s all !! I had some ranting unknown blog before that, and somehow my career has/is revolved around all this hosting, domains and blogs and troubleshooting. So I do have some ideas about all these.

So how to approach the ones who contact you for sponsored post/ads:

Sponsored post guest post is it okay to do free post how to approach PR companies how much to take from PR companies guest post do posts get paid

First and Foremost: Never do any press release posts, ads or general posts for free. The time you have spent on writing, the time you spent on collecting resources has value. So first step would be converting the guest post to paid/sponsored post.

Most of the approaching PR people have rosy words like your traffic will increase, long standing collaboration, sharing the posts in social media’s and bla. Traffic of your blog increases good thing. But think this way if one post gets a 1000 hits instead of your usual hits, though good thing,what are you getting?? At the end of the day, you are paying for the domain, hosting, also the energy/time you put in is yours. So always take a fee.

Also if you dont like something say content or the pictures. Be vocal about it, say that you will change it according to the blog, Will they be fine with that?

What if they say No and use harsh words? Don’t bother: Smile and reply “ I only do sponsored post”. If they use harsh words, I personally will give them a twisted sarcastic answer, if you cannot, just ignore. People asking for you to work for free are not really worth it. All those going to share on all social Medias, increase in traffic rarely happens. So chill. Your blog, your rule!!

What about the money? How much?: Now each blog is different, has social media follower, has page views. If someone is not ready to give the fee you mentioned reply them saying that you are ready for negotiations, but also show them who you are, where your blog stands and give them the social media numbers. In my case it’s the communication power. I don’t have much numbers when it comes to social media followers, but I do have page views and people who actually follow my blog.

You can even show the Alexa Ranking. Alexa!! Who? Alexa ranking which each website has. Then there are PR companies who upright say that their budget is that much, will we be fine with that. If you are okay with the amount go ahead.

Regarding Payment: Most of the time I say Pre publishing the post or within a week of publishing the post. All those PR Company’s which approach you get the payment after publishing the post, then you get the payment. So leave about week to 10 days time, consider the bank holidays too.

What if I don’t get payment? What if I become a fool? : Nothing you learn. I have been a fool twice #facepalm. Usually the articles, go with the theme of the blog and they have some links. So leave the article and remove the links. If the article is on completely different topic, like ad and if you haven’t received the payment, just delete the article itself. Simple. Since they haven’t given you the payment, the problem is from their end not yours!!!

I personally take clothes, beauty related, website related topics. I was approached by some electronic ( AC, fridge) company sometime back, I refused as it dint seem right for me that I suddenly start selling AC instead of talking about my love of lipsticks =)) .

Will you get hate: I got hate when I did the Dress link post. Constructive criticism, concerned comments are different direct hate is completely different. And I got direct hate. I got around 5 hate comments and I deleted them right away!!! I done with the drama girls ( guys) I am done!!! . I chuckled and thought “People are ready to put the lenses inside their eyes because someone said it, but not ready to wear clothes..lolz” . Take a chill pill yo!!! Haters gonna hate, potatoes gonna potate.

Should you say yes to Sponsored post? Yes, go ahead make money. Irrelevant to relevant to blog: depends on you. If you want to do the AC/Fridge one, go ahead!! It’s your blog. But don’t publish/write for free. Negotiate; Show them your skills, social media numbers. Don’t ask around much!! And make sure there is a product review or a fun post or a useful post going live after the sponsored post! You need to give something for your readers!!

I wrote sooo much 😐 Hope this is useful and answers query 🙂 

Have faith. Be postive. Good luck!!!
Live Life To The Fullest
XOXO
SB



60 thoughts on “Guest post? Sponsored post : To do or Not to do? FAQ? How to approach?”

  • Very aptly put Swathi. Some people just use bloggers’ platform for site linking or traffic. Lately many guest post rounds have been doing. It’s your own blog so decide what you have to do it, but never for free…. 🙂

        • 😀 Long back I did some healthy related post. I wrote word by word, the way she was behind me I thought they will pay me as soon as I write. Even after 1 week no news, so I said chuck it and removed the links. Guess what? They dint even ask about that!!! =))

  • very informative post dear. lately I am getting mails for guest post and seriously I was not having single idea and I just said yes for them 🙁
    This post helped me a lot and I seriously wanted to make read this post others too so sharing this right away 🙂

    • Thanks a lot Shwetali. That is exact reason I wrote this post!!! Yeah too many of those are reaching us
      This is better than asking question from anyone one by one.

  • Wow this is such a nice post !
    I want to share one incident that happened to me when the company was too kanjus…
    Warby Parker wanted me to write a post on their latest collection and when I told them that I can do such a post in exchange for a fee, they gave me the ridiculous reply that they can’t afford it (I hadn’t even sent them my quote) ! Imagine that. They want us to write a post but are too cheap to afford it lol. I’ve now filtered all mails from them to spam 😛

    • Thanks so much Lana 🙂
      Waah, they have money to bring out the collection but nothing for marketing :/ One of kind
      They deserve that 😀 😛

  • This post came in time considering my shift of attitude towards blogging.. i always regret quitting my job because there was money – here there isnt and whats there is like not enough to sustain myself.. I learnt many things which i wont deny bt somewhere u need to see if it benefits u or not.. i hv done many sponsored posts n i say whats the harm its my blog.. many PR’s want u to work fr free bt i do ask money now as m tired of giving my 100% with no monetary gains…
    As u rightly put u need to be assertive in what u do, believe in it and set boundaries fr urself or else u will go nowhere I believe 🙂

    • Agreed. Job has that definite money at the end of the month. Here no matter how much you earn, it wont reach that level. Yeah, one post so much energy and time.
      Thanks so much 🙂 XOXO

  • nice post dear!!! I am getting some guest post offers these days, thanks for sharing this information!!!Now I am ready for the action!!:-)

  • This is definitely a touchy subject! I definitely don’t think just accepting anything is the way to go. If you’re going to go down the sponsored post route you better make sure to A) be properly compensated and B) stay true to yourself regardless of being paid.

  • This is true. The most funny thing I was asked by a Canadian company to buy their 500 product and sell them here. I refused saying I do not have that kind of budget to buy and market. What non sense!
    Really good article.
    The dress link post I remember was like a forest fire in the blogger community. The vague thing which must have made people hate is bloggers were suggesting things to buy without trying themselves. I guess so. Still, your rightly said who care. 🙂

    • Even if you have budget, why you have to buy someone else products and sell :/ total BS.
      Thanks a lot.
      Well I have different take on hate comments, if you dont have anything nice to say dont say at all. I clearly remember I said Do check them out, I dint tell anyone to go spend money on the website on the gunpoint =))

  • Wow. You explained it so well. If we write guest posts for free we only give something boring to readers instead of something useful and if we’re posting it should be paid. I learned from you that we bloggers need to be givers not takers!

    • Yeah exactly. Do you really think if we are posting continuous ads people will be interested. Give them something to read. Some of the articles which are doing rounds are useful, but still I say give something to readers.
      Thanks for the kind words <3

  • You go girl! Loved loved loved this post! and it came up at an accurate time when I needed to read such kinda post! I have been observing my mail box is getting flooded off late with such mails requesting for a guest post !! I was so confused with what to do! Now I know all the answers! A big thank you for opening up and writing this post Swathi :* <3

    • yay I am happy that it helped you.
      IKR!! Even I am seeing too many emails popping, tell them about the fee they wont come back to say no thanks also =))

  • Kudos to you dear for writing this article. I was searching for such article from an Indian blogger but could not find it. I was really confused about this sponsored post thing and moreover I didn’t like the money that was being offered. It was way too low and not worth my time. You are right that they should pay us our deserving amount as we put in so much efforts in our blog. Loved your article so much 🙂

    • Thanks a lot for the kind words girl :*
      Exactly thats what I want to tell others, if you dont feel like dont bother. We all started blogs with passion, we are paying for it and then we have to write/do ads for free. Doesnot make sense to me!!!

  • A wonderful and informative post , writing a quality post consumes lot of time and effort so it should not be done for free , some incentive like products or voucher or money compensates that hard work .
    Thanks for writing this article and sharing your views 🙂

    • I agree and disagree. Even with the big know brands which has name, I have burnt my hands with them. I believe it’s okay to do sponsored post, if you are okay with it, plus you can always Google, may be i’ll do some post on that later 🙂

  • I loved the post and I love your blog…Even i got my hands burnt twice and several times I did post for free when they have given me written post but now I don’t entertain such people… Even printing a flyer cost money people and you want us to do your marketing for free? oh come on! I agree with you totally and I think posting irrelevant content just makes blog not so interesting… I like when i get to know about sites like dresslink the sites which are good as per experience of someone who shopped from there so I don’t understand the hate…but like you said haters are gonna hate and they find some lame reason everytime so delete and move on 🙂

    • Thanks so much Anubhuti 🙂 :* Yay 😀
      Yeah, ads after ads after sponsored posts are boring. As a reader of other blog I get bored, I do. I want makeup gimme that 😀 So I say better mix it up. Earn as well give readers what they want.
      The funny thing about hate is “who dont hate, they never understand hate”.Exactly 🙂

  • I wanna hug u Swathi..i had no clue how to go about this topic and you came up with a post and here I am telling my hubby universe responded n i got my answers haha n yes he is clueless about what is wrong with me. He said “go take a nap” :p

  • I appreciate your take on this topic Swathi. Well written and an informative post you have shared here and for this thank s a ton 🙂 I had quarries about this topic but you solved them all <3

  • i agree to each and every word you said..I accept some guests post depending on the article they want me to share..Havent really done any press release yet but I am looking forward to it as it lets the readers know what just came in to the market.

  • Hi Swathi ! awesome post , you know i always think “why this only happens with me” but after reading your post, i feel relax. I want to share one thing, one of the famous Indian blog had posted the vaccany of writer, so i mailed them with one of my article, you dont believe, how harsh they talked to me. It was really sad, but i move on.

    Cheers to you. !

    https://itsafashionista.blogspot.in/

    • Thanks Rishika.
      Oh I believe, all these things happen just nobody mentions it. Glad you opened up here.
      Ofcourse, nobody has a right to put others down 🙂 XOXO

    • Thanks for your view on this Zarrah 🙂
      I do Google a bit about the company or website, then I go ahead. That gives me idea about the fee.
      But seriously one who owns the blog has the last word.Period 🙂

  • I agree to every single point you mentioned. Infact, we should openly ask whether its a paid or free work even while sharing our details in social groups where people ask for publishers/bloggers … I’m fed up with “we are a start up” kind of statements they give when asked for incentives..

    • Thanks a lot Shilpa.
      Exactly, I have even stopped giving details in groups now, all they do is dump press release with the heading, Dear publisher!!! :/

  • Swati,

    It’s 1.10 AM here and I feel so happy reading this post on your blog! You’ve nailed it. The brands and PR firms should understand big time that we don’t do free promotion after all the effort we put into our blogs’ growth.

    You’re definitely going to make it big one day!

    I wish you a very successful blogging journey!

  • I always love to do guest posts for my fellow bloggers. When comes to the sponsored posts i have my rules and if the brand is not ready to follow them i simply reject their proposal.

    • Fantastic. Thats what I want others to do too. I havenot been taking all the guest post coming in way and no free reviews of websites for free samples :/ Thanks for the comment 🙂

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