Brilliant Business Moms

Episode 13: Working with Brands to Monetize Your Website

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Working with Brands to Monetize your website Beth Anne shares tips for partnering with brands including how to pitch, what information to share, having a plan ready for promoting that brand as well as partnering with etsy shops to fill ad space on your website

Have you ever wondered how bloggers are filling their sidebar ads?  What about sponsored posts with brands like IKEA or Canon?  Do you assume (like I mistakenly did!) that these money-making opportunities are for “big-name” bloggers only?  Working with brands to monetize your site may be easier than you think!  Tune in for advice on how to price your sidebar ads, tips for creating the perfect pitch for brands, and insider info on how to partner with Etsy shops to make money on your site.

Tools and Recommendations for Ad Pricing on your Site:

Ad Pricing Formula by Yaro Starak:
Daily visitors to your site divided by 10 = X number of dollars you can charge for each ad per month on your site
– You will always have to test, as different industries place different pricetags on leads

AskPat Episode 105 recommends 3 tools to help with pricing

  1. Google Keyword Planner
  2. Research the Media Kits of Your Competitors
  3. Alexa.com

Insider Tips as Etsy Shop Owners to Help You Connect:

  •  Include in your pitch the number of visitors or pageviews your site receives per month, along with social media numbers.
  • Tell us why you love our product or brand and why we're a good fit for your audience.
  • If you're only contacting us to receive free stuff, we'll see right through it 😉
  • Consider Yaro Starak's formula above.  Even just a $30 product means you should probably sport at least 300 visitors to your site per day to make the relationship worth it to us.
  • Some of these rules can be thrown out the window if you have a very focused and loyal readership who will mesh PERFECTLY with our product or brand.
  • If you don't have an audience yet, try buying a small item first, writing a great review, then approaching the shop to form a mutually beneficial relationship.

Pitching to Big Brands – Tips from Abby Lawson

  • Include a link to and some background info on your blog
  • Mention your stats (visitors to your site and social media numbers)
  • Include links to successful past projects that may be similar
  • Include links to other brand partnerships (if any!)
  • Include ALL relevant details about the project you are pitching.  Make it easy for the brand to understand what you're asking for.
  • Spell out how working with you will benefit them.  (How many blog posts and social media shares… any expected results based on past projects?)

Best piece of advice on working with brands to monetize from both Abby and Mary:  JUST ASK!

Listen to Abby Lawson's interview with us here

Listen to Mary Larsen's interview here

Well, brilliant business moms, this outline just scratches the surface of everything included in the podcast, so I hope you'll listen and feel empowered to create your first pitch today!

Are there brands you really admire and connect with?  What's holding you back from pitching to them?

We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

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