How much to charge for a sponsored post? That is the question all bloggers struggle with, even lose sleep over. No one wants to be shortchanged or work for free. I know I don’t but how much to charge for a sponsored post is a hard question to answer.
I could ask you to first ask yourself, what do you think your talent is worth? How about your time? Time away from your family? Your social media influence? Your community?
Are you a wordsmith whose words cast a magical spell over your readers? Are you a humorist who can make people laugh at and enjoy reading about absolutely any topic? Do your words tug at heartstrings and illicit empathy and understanding, camaraderie? Are you a salesman who can weave a web of silk and turn any piece of shit into shinola with your turn of phrase? Or are you a press release regurgitator? It’s no matter; there is a place for all of us.
I read an article last week by Cecily Kellogg on MomCrunch that enlightened me and shed some light on the age old question, how much to charge for a sponsored post?
This is the simple formula that she came up with. I say simple because when I read it I thought to myself, wow that makes sense. But not simple in the fact that I would have ever figured it out had it not been for Cecily’s generosity in posting the piece.
Here it is.
How much to charge for a sponsored post:
Algorithm Example
Number of total Monthly page views 100,000
(Add to that) Your total Number of Twitter Followers 10,000 = 110,000
(Divide that total by)Your Google Page Rank 3 = 37,778
(Multiply that total by .01) 37,778 * .01 = 378
Divide the entire total by 2 378/2
= How much to charge for a sponsored post $189.00
**If your Google page rank is higher than 5, this algorithm will not work out in your favor. I personally decided that when calculating my rate of how much to charge for a sponsored post, I would skip the multiply by .01 step. If this were the case in the example, the pay for the blogger would be about $380 per sponsored post rather than the $189. I think if you have 100,000 page views per month and 10,000 Twitter followers, you would charge somewhere around of $200- $300 per post. The more influential the blogger, the more you can charge for a sponsored post.
In my case, I now charge between $100-$300 per sponsored post. Add to that another $50-$100 for a widget in the sidebar, per month. My rates of how much to charge for a sponsored post have recently gone up. Of course, this all depends on my relationship with the brand. These are all things to consider when deciding whether or not to even take a sponsored post.
I can’t tell you what I would charge for text links because I simply refuse to do them. I feel it will litter my blog and make it a commercial. I hate commercials. That is my philosophy for my own blog.
I also don’t let companies post press releases on my blog for pay. I can’t be a billboard or I would probably lose my readers. I can’t take that gamble. I’ve been building my reputation and this blog for almost 3 years; I can’t just give away my relationship with my community. It’s priceless.
Never ever work with a brand that you don’t genuinely support. If you are a vegetarian, don’t take a sponsored post from the National Pork board. Your readers will figure out that you are selling them a product that you, yourself, would not use and you will lose any and all integrity that you had. You will lose your authenticity. You cannot get that back. Keep that in mind.
Something else, in my opinion, that all bloggers absolutely need to be equipped with is a media kit. If you ever want to justify your rates, solicit sponsorships, or just demonstrate to brands why they should work with you over any of a million other bloggers, you need a media kit. It lists your stats and a quick blog bio in a handy easy to access format. Your media kit is your online business card and resume.
Start by making sure that you have a Google Analytics account and, my personal recommendation, a statcounter.com account. This was a piece of invaluable piece of advice given to me by blogging diva, Jessica Gottlieb and she should know.I listened. I’m glad I did. I suggest that you do the same. Armed with your stats, you can make an awesome media kit to wow even the most selective brands. I have compiled a very comprehensive how to write a media kit for your blog post that I urge you to take advantage of now.
- Katie (Sluiter Nation): Not My Business, Baby (why you do NOT want to monetize your blog)
- Devan (Accustomed Chaos): Monetizing Your Blog: Why’s & How’s of Making Money (why you do monetize and how you do it)
- Kristin (What She Said): Getting Paid to Blog: So Many Questions, So Little Time. (newbie in the monetizing world)
- Tina (Life Without Pink): Tips For Building Successful Relationships With Brands and Scoring Paying Opportunities (pitching brands, sponsored events, ambassadorships)
- Gigi (Kludgy Mom): So You Want To Be A Freelancer? What You Need To Know. (freelance work)
- Natalie (Mommy of a Monster): So You Wanna Make Money Blogging? How To Get Sponsored Posts (sponsored posts)
- Alex (Late Enough) “ Writers Teach, Why Can’t Bloggers?“
Check these amazing posts out. This is a great group of generous bloggers, who have learned a lot along the way. We just want to help other bloggers learn to navigate the monetization of their blog and demystify some of the biggest secrets of blogging. Hope this post helps you know how much to charge for a sponsored post and how to write a media kit.
Such great info Deb, I had never seen that formula before. Thanks for sharing all of your tips.
Jessica recently posted..Lost In Translation
Thanks. I hope it helps everyone understand this crazy bloggy business just a little bit more:)
I love this collaboration. Really great information, especially as I’m thinking of trying to make the transition. You’re awesome!
Jennifer Cullen recently posted..To My Warm, Naked Valentine
Thanks sweetie. Hope you got to read all the posts, they are all choked full of amazing information.
Great info indeed. xoxo
tracy@sellabitmum recently posted..Mormons Exposed!
Thanks sweetie. I just think it’s so much easier if it’s all laid out.It’s so hard to find the information.
Love that formula – thanks so much for sharing all your info! It’s going to help me for sure!
Devan @ Accustomed Chaos recently posted..Monetizing Your Blog: Why’s & How’s of Making Money
Thanks. I’m so glad to be a part of this project. I love that we can help each other:)
I really need to get better at negotiating – I think I undersell myself a lot!
THANK YOU for doing this Debi!
natalie recently posted..So You Wanna Make Money Blogging? How To Get Sponsored Posts
You are so welcome. Thanks for including me in this project. I loved doing it. XOXO
Thank you so much for sharing this information! I’m always wondering if I’m charging the right amount for ads/sponsored posts. I love that formula…thanks again!
Helene recently posted..The SAHM’s Survival Guide
I love Cecily’s breakdown – crazy how it actually works. Awesome post with lots of great info!
Thanks. Cecily is one of my favorite go to gals for all things bloggy and I think her formula is a great start the only flaw is that the higher your Google PR the worse your breakdown, that’s why I left the Google PR but minused the times .01 when doing my own. But her formula is a great starting point, for sure.
AWESOME info…especially the formula and the WHY of the media kit. I have one…I clearly don’t use it…but it’s put together quite well if I ever DID want to use it.
I think this post also shows bloggers they are worth MORE than what they probably think. Kudos on that!
Katie recently posted..not my business, baby
Yes, I think a lot of bloggers truly don’t understand their reach and influence. A company would pay any other outlet for advertising, why should a blogger who writes a sponsored post be any different?
Wow. This is seriously the MOST practical post with real answers.
Too bad it also shows me that I’m so not ready for this aspect of the business…ha!
Still.
A girl can dream.
Even a 43-year-old girl.
Thanks so much for sharing this info.
I love when bloggers are generous with each other.
A lot.
Thanks for your kind words and don’t underestimate yourself. Remember to take into account your influence all around social media, Twitter followers, FB fans, friends, Pinterest followers, Stumble Upon and your community of readers. Pageviews and uniques are only part of the picture. There are also fantastic groups that you can become a part of that will help you find those sponsored post, no matter the size of your blog. I believe Natalie Hoage posted on that today, take a look at the links at the bottom. Great resources, wonderful bloggers.
I’ve never seen that formula before, but that is SPOT on! Bookmarking this for future use.
Courtney Kirkland recently posted..Small Blessings
Cecily is awesome and she knows just about everything there is to know about blogging.
This is priceless information! seriously.
Now my question is how do you get a sponsored post(s)?
Check out the link to Nat’s post. I would suggest joining Clever Girls Collective, especially if you are just beginning.
I’ve been part of the Clever Girls Collective for a long time now and I think I’ve been selected once to do something with them. I’m also part of One2One and The Blog Frog.
Jackie recently posted..Listable Life ~ 5 Moments
That’s odd. I’ve been with them since last July. I think I’ve had about 5 campaigns, maybe 6. And I love BlogFrog too but I’ve only had 2 campaigns in the past 7 months.
FINALLY – some actually numbers I can use! Thank you so much. Pity the marketers who try to pull the wool over our eyes now that we are armed and fabulous!
Iris recently posted..How to Be Awesome, I guess.
LOL! Right? We just needed to shed some light on it so we can all stop getting hosed:)
Deb, Thank you, thank you, thank you! I just started monetizing my blog a couple of weeks ago because I got laid off. I hate it. It feels fake. I need to read all of these and decide what will work best for me. Mwah!
NotJustAnotherJennifer recently posted..Unemployment Isn’t for the Faint of Heart
For me, the best money has been sponsored posts. Ad networks are great for getting some change in your pocket, but you will not be living off of your royalties:)LOL
Interesting formula and great useful tips. I can only agree on not working with a brand you don’t genuinely support. Last week I turned down an offer from a phone company I has some issues with in the past. I don’t like their product, so it does not feel right promoting them.
Judy recently posted..Work from Home Checklist
Thanks so much for the info! Im definitely pinning these for future reference. Im trying to make the transition into monetizing my blog so that formula is definitely going to come in handy.
Jessica recently posted..Reverse Bucket List
Great. Please share it with any of your blogger friends that you think it might help. This information is so hard to come by, I’d love it to be passed on .
We really do need to decide what we are comfortable with on our blogs and with our readers and then charge what we think we’re worth, but I agree that formulas help us start somewhere.
Alex@LateEnough recently posted..Writers Teach, Why Can’t Bloggers?
I don’t get the formula – the higher the page rank, the lower your price works out to be. That doesn’t make sense. Under your example above:
Page Rank 3 = $189
Page Rank 2 = $275
Page Rank 1= $550
?
Leigh recently posted..Choo Choo Soul visits Discovery Cove
I 100% agree. Thisi s not my formula, this is one that Cecily Kellogg came up with. For me,my page rank is higher, so I use the algorithm but I don’t multiply by the .01. If your PR is above 5 it really doesn’t work out in your favor using the formula.I thought I mentioned that in the post but I may have not:( I agree, it penalizes you for a higher PR which is crazy. I think Cecily suggests not dividing by the 2 if PR above 5. I simply don’t multiply by the .01. SOrry if it was confusing.
Such great tips, Deb! Thank you!
Galit Breen recently posted..Memories Captured February Linky!
Thanks sweetie!
Great tips and thanks for the reminder that I need to update my media kit again. I love that bloggers are now coming out in support of one another making money from this craft. Kudos to you guys!
Jessica recently posted..How She Found the Marbles: By Journaling the Memories
Thank you. I think it’s about time we demystify how to make money from our blogs. There is enough room for all of us. Keeping the information secret is so mean girl-esque. Not conducive to building a community, in my opinion. I plan to share more as I learn!
I can see that you are putting a lots of efforts into your blog. Keep posting the good work.Some really helpful information in there. Bookmarked. Nice to see your site. Thanks!
THank you!
Finally getting around to checking out this post after a whirlwind weekend responding to comments from my own monetizing post and SITS Day – whew!
That formula is invaluable – thank you! And I completely agree with everything you said about being selective in accepting sponsored posts. I also feel that my readers’ respect is priceless.
Now off to check out your media kit post – this is something I really need to do!
Kristin @ What She Said recently posted..Friday Tapas: Invasion of the Bodysnatchers Edition
Thanks I just took another class on pitching and sponsorship fees. SO much to learn. I will need to write a part 2!
Thanks for the tips. I need to read your post on making a media kit and then make one!
Tonia @TheGunnySack recently posted..Easy Drawstring Bag Tutorial
I want to know more about this media kit..thanks a lot for sharing I should check this..
Marielle recently posted..Songwriting
Thank you so much for this, and hello – found this & you through @tiffanyrom a la the fabulous SITS Girls. I’ve been wondering about this, having finally reached the point where select sponsorships may make sense, but I’ve had no idea what to base my fees on. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. Thank you!
I’ve been doing sponsored posts for years now, and the price really does depend on the client. Someone in a comment asked where to get sponsored posts and Clever Girls Collective was mentioned. When they email me, they already have a price in mind, and it is never anywhere near $100-$300!
While I do agree that bloggers should get paid more than they generally do, I’m wondering if you can give us an example (without using the real name of the brand) of someone who agreed to a price of $300 for a post. Maybe I’m just working with the wrong brands.