This post will be all about securing sponsorships from other blogs. This is completely different from sponsorships from companies. I'll cover those in another post. (Soon to be linked here.) So let's dive right in. How to get other bloggers to want to sponsor your blog. I'm going to be honest, it's going to take some numbers to make this happen. They don't have to be super sexy numbers, but you're going to need to be able to show that you can provide something of value to your potential sponsor. Value to most bloggers seeking to pay for sponsorship is traffic to their blog. It's tough to show that you can provide traffic when you're sitting on 25 GFC followers and 30 Twitter followers. To start from the bottom is tough, but you're going to have to get those numbers up a bit. To learn what to do if you are starting from the bottom, check out this post ---> How to Get Your First 200 Blog Followers. So once you have a small following, do some price research. Take your … [Read more...]

Here's an addition/update to our Why You Must Disclose Earnings on Your Blog post. The FTC has released an update to their original Dot Com Disclosures. Some key points and what they mean: "Under the new guidance, this means advertisers should ensure that the disclosure is clear and conspicuous on all devices and platforms that consumers may use to view the ad." This means that you should be able to access your disclosure policy or see disclosure information from the mobile version of your site. "Although the 2000 guidelines defined proximity as “near, and when possible, on the same screen,” and stated that advertisers should “draw attention to” disclosures, the new guidance says disclosures should be “as close as possible” to the relevant claim." and "Display disclosures before consumers make a decision to buy" To satisfy this, I recommend you have a disclosure policy in your sidebar as well as at the beginning and end of each post. It is silly to think that … [Read more...]

Skimlinks is the network for you. Skimlinks boast a library of over 17,000 merchants. That's right, 17 thousand! So basically, if you want to get paid for promoting a link to just about ANY store, Skimlinks dashboard and what it'll look like when you … [Read more...]

See the updates to the FTC disclosure guidelines here. Note: you don't have to disclose your exact earnings on your blog (such as $1,000/year), you just have to disclose the fact that you do earn SOMETHING from your blog. Many people don't know what to do when they start making money. If you make any money on your blog from other businesses, you are required by law to disclose that fact. If you receive free glasses in exchange for a link or mention, you must disclose that. If you use affiliate links, you must have a disclosure policy in place. Here's the official info on it if you like legal jargon: http://ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf http://ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm And the granddaddy of the all: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/05/0005dotcomstaffreport.pdf The easiest way to cover your back is to have a comprehensive disclosure policy on every page or post on your site. Take a look at these two examples of disclosure policy placement. … [Read more...]