Will You Sponsor Me?

    I’m sure most of you who are serious Bloggers like I am have already found out that a certain blogging conference is going to take place in New York City next August.  Obviously, I don’t have to tell you how exciting that bit of news is to me because I live in NYC so it has become entirely possible for me to attend next year.  Attending such a prestigious event with my fellow Bloggers would definitely be the culmination of all my hard work on this blog for the past two years.

    Recently, I wrote a post about how there is some secrecy in the blogging world with regards to monetizing and PR.  You can read all about it here.  In any case, I am finding out that this is especially true when it comes to what’s involved in having a company sponsor you to attend a blogging event.  I’m not sure if everyone is afraid that all of the sponsorships will run out if they share the information with other bloggers or if a lot of them really don’t know how to go about obtaining a sponsorship.

    In my quest to get some more information about being sponsored to attend a certain blogging conference, there are some important tips that I have been picking up along the way that I don’t mind sharing with all of you here.  After all, how hypocritical would I be if I didn’t share the information with you guys after preaching in a previous post about us Bloggers needing to be more supportive of each other.  Don’t worry, my disclosure policy also includes disclosing most of anything that I learn about blogging with my readers too.

    One of the first things that I learned is that it is important to reach out to companies that you have worked with in the past.  Those would be the ones whom you have written reviews for and who have sponsored giveaways on your blog.  This is a no brainer because these companies already know the kind of work you do so, in essence, your reputation precedes you before you even approach them.  Obviously, you would not approach companies with whom you have had negative experiences with but, if you are a good Blogger who conducts herself or himself professionally at all times, you should not have many of these.

    It is imperative that you have a proposal in place before you even approach these companies.  Perhaps a detailed outline of how you plan to represent this company at the blogging conference.  This would include where you plan on displaying their logo such as business cards along with any sponsored posts, tweets, and FB posts that you plan on creating in order to further their brand exposure.  Additionally, you should at least come up with some kind of an estimate for what your total expenses are going to be during the conference, including ticket price, lodgings, etc.  It would be a shame to find out later that you underestimated the expenses it would take for you to attend this event.

    Keep in mind that you should approach companies that market a product or service that has a direct correlation to your blog’s niche.  Common sense would dictate that you don’t approach a company that manufactures meat products if you write a blog about being a Vegetarian.  This might seem obvious to most of you but, I just thought I would mention it for that random Blogger that didn’t get the memo about the importance of representing brands and products that you personally stand by.  Such a faux pas can create a sticky situation for that rogue Blogger in the future when his or her readers realize what is preached is not practiced.

    The last tip that I have picked up is that you can’t be afraid to put yourself out there.  How will you receive a sponsorship if you are too afraid of rejection to ask for one?  Sure, there will be some companies that will turn you down but there might be one, or more than one, that will surprise you and agree to work with you.  Believe me, there are a lot of great companies out there who are looking for dynamic Bloggers with authentic readerships and followings to align their brand with.  Such a partnership is a win-win situation for all parties involved.  The company gets tons of brand exposure and you get to not only work with a great company, but also network with some wonderful and talented people at the conference.

    Hopefully, these tips have given all of you some insight into what it takes to get sponsored to attend a blogging conference.  I am not, nor do I profess to be an authority on the subject.  I’m just a dedicated Blogger who does her homework and is not afraid to ask questions.  Hopefully, many of you will chime in with comments giving all of us a lot more tips on this subject.  In the end, we are all looking for the answer to this question: “Will you sponsor me?”

© 2011 – 2013, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.