Are You Getting Paid to Blog? Read This

The paid to blog industry has just started and don't expect it to calm down anytime soon. Paid blogging has been around longer than we think it has - in fact there are companies that apparently charge 10's of thousands of dollars to maintain blogger relations.

I wouldn't be surprised if some of the top bloggers of our times did get paid by these "companies" to extend a product or review a site on their blog. It is only now that these methods have come out in the open with companies like PayPerPost, ReviewMe, LoudLaunch etc... offering services to advertisers in a marketplace format. Now you can understand why some individuals and bloggers had a lot to say about this type of business as they thought that one day their "blogger relations" would come out in the open. Regardless.

If you are stepping into this avenue of the internet, pay close attention as I am about to give you some tips you need to be successful at it and make your advertisers happy.

• Build your blog - So you have set up your blog and you are ready to take opps, well and good. But have you figured out your niché yet? Don't make a general blog just so you can take every opp available. If you have a direction on your blog it will only benefit you more. When you have a focus it helps your readers recognize you for that subject. Now if you are home person and have a home type of blog setup you may like to talk about food, decorating, home issues and other related stuff. But then all of a sudden you reader sees something about NASCAR or Web Hosting Solutions it most probably will end up confusing them. Same reason I don't talk about mortgages or credit card debt here - it just doesn't fit. So create a niché for yourself and market that, advertisers like focus.
• Network your blog - This is important for that little green line that advertisers see in their Google toolbar called PageRank. When you connect yourself to relevant blogs/sites your authority in that particular area goes up and anyone will be able to clearly see that. Just don't get pushy about it, give it time. Blogging is an art because writing is an art. Your content will attract people as long as it is good enough. Educate your visitors about RSS or have them sign up via email, studies show that email is still one of the most effective ways to actually get people to click to your site.
• The Advertiser Deserves It - When you have taken an opp from an advertiser and they ask for a minimum of 200 words, give them a little extra. You have plenty of time to make that post as good as it can get. Don't rush yourself, as you write you will gradually get better at it { if you aren't already }. Make some research about them, read their about page, see if there are any customer feedbacks for the product/site, do a search in case their are any negative comments about them elsewhere on the web - find out why. Do some homework before you jot down that post as it will be an archive in your blog for as long as it exists. Your writing should show you actually care.
• Configure your post - Make sure that your post is not just one big paragraph. Humans will be reading this you know. Space it out, give it some coherence - let it breathe. Advertisers like to see that you have put some thought and care into it. Frankly seeing some of the bloggers that take paid opps and the way they configure a post just gives me the creeps. In cases like this the advertiser is just looking for linkbacks and doesn't really care. But then you end up with an ugly looking blog - so you decide.
• Links and Images - An advertiser needs links, that's the lifeline of the internet, without it they are nothing. So toss in an extra link with some keyword rich terms, they love that stuff. I always put myself in the advertiser's shoe and imagine the smile they get when they see the keywords I end up linking them with. Sometimes an advertiser will ask for an image sometimes they won't. With blogging platforms today it is very easy to insert images - I usually insert images whether they ask for it or not. It livens up your blog and keeps readers attention and compels them to click.
• Be Honest - If an advertiser has asked you to talk positively about something, don't sell yourself out. Do so only if you think that the product/site offers some value. Not because they are willing to pay you more. If they ask for neutrality then give them two sides of the story as they want to hear it, they want to improve as well. Though if you find nothing wrong then just mention how you think they can add more value. Make a joke once in a while it livens up the conversation. If you want to state facts make sure you point out a source and get it right.

Finally all in all don't forget that one day you might end up being an advertiser yourself so do as you would expect others to do for you.

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Technorati Tags: paid to blog, making money online, blogging, payperpost, reviewme

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