18+ Opportunities for Bloggers to Generate Income with Brand Partnerships [Podcast 105]

Summary: This is the first of a multi-part episode on 18+ opportunities for bloggers to make money with brand partnerships.   We give the pros and cons of each one, telling you which ones have the most potential now and in the future, which ones are dying, and talk about emerging opportunities,  1.  Sponsored Posts - This is getting a lot of buzz in the mainstream media right now. The new term for this is Native Advertising.  Pros: These are more readily available than other brand sponsorship models. Get paid quickly. Pretty straightforward, and easy to do.  Cons: Requires good negotiation skills.  2.  Product Reviews - The initial way that bloggers are approached by an advertiser (outside of affiliate marketing). Can be another form of Native Advertising. Pros: Benefits your readers, provides a real and lasting service. This is a steady revenue model that will be around for a long time. Cons: They tend to be one-time transactions. Sometimes all you get is the product.  3.  Brand Ambassador - Building long-term relationships with brands. Pros: Builds lasting relationships with brands. Tend to be very lucrative, with annual deals. This is a big growth area for bloggers  Cons: you need an established audience and authority in your niche to be considered. It takes time to negotiate and finalize the deal.  4.  Twitter Parties - Bringing a group of people together to have a conversation about a topic with the brand as the sponsor. Pros: If done right, it's good pay for a specified amount of time. Excellent way to get in the door for building relationships with brands. As long as twitter remains relevant, this is going to be a good way to work with companies. Cons: Can be stressful during the party. Tend to fizzle if you don’t have good giveaways. Takes a lot to coordinate.  5.  Press Trips -  Press Trips usually don’t pay you – but you could find sponsors to include when you discuss things from the press trip. Pros: Free trips to amazing destinations.  Cons: Packed schedule, time away from family and/or work,  6.  Podcasts - making a big comeback because of smartphones. Pros: has the potential of reaching a large audience and attracting many sponsors. You can  make $1,000+ dollars from sponsors for your podcast. The popularity of podcasts is rising because of the explosion of smart phones –People can easily download them onto their devices and listen to them anywhere and anytime it's convenient for them. Cons: Can be challenging to set up right. Have to be proactive when looking for sponsors. Need to make a long-term commitment of producing podcasts on a regular schedule. In the next podcast we will start off with opportunity #5 - display ads and text links. Join the discussion on Facebook here. Or join us on our Linkedin Group here.