Advertiser
Hello,
We have a client in the e-learning sector who is interested in advertising on
your blog. We find it relevant to our client and your blog to be of high
quality. We are interested in buying links site-wide, homepage links, link
within articles, or having you write about our client and linking to them. If
you are open to doing so, we can also provide the content Please write back to
me with your advertising rates and how much it will cost to sponsor a blog post
on your site. Also, if you run other blogs, please send those to me too. We will
be able to Paypal you immediately for these link placements.Regards,
John
Me
Hi John,
Is $10,000 per sponsored blog post too expensive? I don’t
know what the going rate is these days for a sponsored post…
Advertiser
Hi Scott,
Thanks for the response. I think $10,000 for sponsoring a post is just too
much. We can pay you $50 for sponsoring a post for our client.Let me know if you are interested.
John
Me
That’s not enough. Thanks, though!
What I should have said
I appreciate your interest in my blog. However, please do me and my
readers the favor of actually reading some of our blog conversations first to
understand the focus of the blog and the issues that we address. If you then
make me an offer that meets the needs of our community (rather than your
company), I will at least give you careful consideration despite my general
reluctance to accept outside advertising on the blog. Thank
you.
Scott: I have to admit, your tweet made me nervous. But, reading the blog post made me laugh! I get some sort of perverse pleasure out of “working” vendors, so I appreciated your technique. The more predatory and aggressive, the more I work them! I have been offered many “opportunities” over the years that are questionable at best, even unethical in some cases.
Again, good job letting them know that some of us in the educational community are not for sale!
Bravo Scott. I guess, in theory, it is a compliment that someone wants to advertise on your blog. Thanks for keeping that out of this community. Well said.
What are you doing?
Looks like the haggle room between your demands and their offer will keep you, the first round blogger pick in the draft out of training camp and perhaps the start of the regular season.
Did you ask for not trade clause as well? Free use of corp jet? Free athletic shoes?
Seriously, I couldn’t keep from lol while reading this – totally over the top! I am glady that DI can’t be bought – but I’ll spring for the first beverage at NECC!
Hi Scott,
Good to know your price 😉 There is an old joke that has the punchline, “We know what kind of girl you are, we’re just negotiating the price.”
It’s definitely a response I’ll make when somebody wants to advertise on the Skunk!
Too funny,
Doug
As someone who has been and is still navigating the steep learning curve of being a “marketer” in the blogosphere, I have to admit that I feel a little bad for the guy. This is a brave new world-—for advertisers and marketers, in particular-—because our careers hinge on understanding it…and this poor guy is clearly way behind. There are others, on the other end of the spectrum, who are running scared and pretend the blogosphere doesn’t exist.
That said, this post raises an interesting question: what IS the relationship between blogger and marketer? is there one? will there ever be one? and…is it a fixed point?
P.S. How about $50 plus a branded coffee mug?
@Sarah It’s a difficult and interesting time. If you haven’t already read Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin, I highly recommend it (there’s a link on the right side of this blog). Godin gets what it means to market in an attention economy. I’m also almost done reading Groundswell, which is excellent as well (although more applicable to companies than schools).
On an unrelated note, I think your blog’s off to a good start! I’m impressed with the quality of the first few months and am looking forward to your further contributions to the edublogosphere!
I’ve put some google ads on my blog mostly as an experiment to see if people actually click on them. I think after three months i’m sitting at $12 in profit. Supposedly once it tops $100 Google sends a check. I plan to use it to take my family to dinner. Too many adds are certainly tacky. But then again if they are adds for relevant school related stuff why not pocket a dime or so here or there for our efforts. Selling out would probably be a different story and pushing a single corporations agenda.
Not that I’ve been … let’s say “pursued” … but I’ll write about a product if they want to send me a sample. However, the content will be honest – and I’m not sure that’s what’s wanted. 😉