You may have noticed that with the new look came a spot on the headbar for "Sponsor," a page that currently has zero information on it. I wanted to share my thoughts on that, and ask for yours too. I know there are sooo many different ways to go about sponsoring, and I wanted to share my vision for Sweet Home Santa Barbara sponsoring today.
I've had it on my heart to start accepting Sweet Home SB sponsors for a while now, but I want to make sure a lot of thought and prayer is put into that before moving forward. I want this place to be a community, somewhere where all of us can come for hope, encouragement, inspiration, and most of all, Jesus.
My hope is that a sponsor sidebar can be just that, a place where we can go for more hope, more encouragement, more inspiration, and more Jesus. A place where we can click and read the thoughts of another woman who's venturing through this thing called life. Whether that means venturing through a season of singleness, or marriage. Celebrating engagement, or nursing a break up. Starting a family, or mourning a loss. Blogs are beautiful, because with all of the thousands of bloggers, there are thousands of stories. I want to celebrate that here; I want to give my readers access to more than just my story. Because really, they're all His stories.
I've sponsored my fair share of blogs. I've had many different experiences, and through that, I've come to have a vision of what I want the Sweet Home Santa Barbara sponsoring experience to look like. Here's what I have in mind:
-I will commit to reading your blog. While you are on my sidebar, I will be investing time in your words, and your story.
-I will commit to sharing your blog. Posts that touch my heart will be shared with my audience, either here, or on twitter, or on facebook, or on instagram. And by "posts that touch my heart," I mean anything that moves me, inspires me, encourages me, makes me laugh, makes me cry, entertains me, gets my brain moving, you catch my drift.
Here's what I'm doing to ensure that I can commit to that: I'm doing a test run with 5 of my favorite blog friends. I'm making sure that I can commit to reading and sharing 5 blogs before I even consider asking others to sponsor Sweet Home SB. It's only fair, right?
I don't want to have sponsors just to have sponsors. I want to have sponsors because of the community that I hope it will build upon, and because I love blogging and truly want to connect & work with other bloggers. I know you have a story, and I want to do whatever I can to get your words out there even more than they already are. I want to spread His story by spreading yours.
If you haven't already, check out these ladies and their stories:
Kerrie from Life. On A Mission
Kenzie from Life According to Kenz
Julie from An Anchor For The Soul
Kiki from In It's Time
Leah from Beautifully Molded
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What are your thoughts on sponsoring? What do you feel is a good sponsor rate? And what do you look for/expect in a sponsoring experience?
Love you guys! Happy Friday!
8 comments:
Kenzie from Life According to Kenz wrote on sponsors I don't know maybe a year ago and I really liked what she had to say.
I haven't been sponsoring lately because I still haven't sat down to make myself a blog button, but when I did have one I sponsored a blog every other month, I like supporting blogs I read while being able to get my blog "out there"
Also LOVE the new look of your blog Amy!!!
That is a good idea! Sometimes I write inspirational posts now. Would I be considered as a sponsor? :)
I think you are totally on the right track with your thoughts on sponsoring! I think with this type of attitude it's going to provide the biggest benefit for everyone involved. Exciting stuff!
i absolutely agree with what you're saying amy. sponporship to me means being able to share other women's blogs that i find inspiring and encouraging and those that i can connect with. i feel like your heart is definitely in the right place.
and also, i love you friend. to see my name up there along with the other amazing ladies, is such an incredible honor. you're such a blessing! <3
so happy to be included in your trial run Amy! Although you're already a great supporter as it is! I think your thought on sponsorship are spot on. Sounds like a great way to go about it!
Okay, so first of all, I feel so majorly bad that you've committed to my blog when I haven't had a chance to consistently comment on yours (major blogger fail!).
All that aside, I love your openness and honesty about sponsorships. I've gone back and forth with sponsorships and while I don't feel it's right for me (at least right now), I do know that it works and is a good fit for some--especially those who are just as dedicated to their sponsors as their sponsors are to them! That said, I can truly see you sponsoring and having some wonderful sponsors on your sidebar! :)
p.s. I seriously LOOOOVE your new blog look. So clean and fresh and so you, too! :)
p.p.s. I am also seriously honored to be in that list of bloggers. Those are some pretty amazing bloggers you've listed there!
I loved reading your personal take on sponsors!
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