I’m pretty sure there are tons of resources out there that talk about how to advertise your business on other websites.
But funnily enough, many people still commit these blunders even to this day.
It makes sense if we’re in the circa 2000 where any website will do.
But with millions of websites to choose from these days, it’s appalling how some people still commit the same blunders over and over again.
I can’t help but wonder if they even have the qualifications to run the marketing department.
Look, I’m not expecting these people to hold Doctorates in marketing or anything of that sort.
But I find it puzzling that the way they operate isn’t that much different from the Internet back in the old days.
I guess some eras don’t change, I suppose.
Ways to advertise your business on other websites
Google ads, Facebook ads, and BookBub ads come to mind when it comes to how you can advertise your business on other websites.
While your ads will be visible all over Facebook and BookBub email, Google ads are the only one that goes way beyond the ads on the search result.
The same ads will appear on other websites too if the websites enroll in the Google AdSense program.
Of course, if you want full control of where you want your ads to appear, then your best bet is to advertise your business on other websites that are relevant to your business.
Unlike Google and Facebook ads where your advertising budget will depend on the cost-per-click, advertising on other websites tends to come with a monthly flat rate.
Depending on the website, you can choose to run banner ads, text link ads, and in some cases, sponsored posts.
While I don’t have a dedicated page for accepting sponsored posts, this is the option I provide whenever I receive an inquiry from someone who wants to advertise on my website.
Just so you know I don’t offer sponsored posts on this website for now.
But I do accept sponsored posts on my fiction author website, though.
The blunders that keep on appearing over and over again
I won’t deny that savvy marketers exist. But no matter how clearly you state what kind of audience you have to the potential advertisers, there will always be a handful that manages to slip through the crack.
If you ever accept advertising of any kind on your website, I’m sure you come across these types of people too.
While some of them make you appalled, some can give you quite a chuckle.
Here are some of the things I come across when I’m offering sponsored posts on my website.
Not personalizing the email
Okay, I understand that we’re all busy people. But it still doesn’t give you the right to do an email blast without taking the time to know the person behind the website.
Not only it’s hard for us to take your advertising request seriously. But it will only cause us to doubt your business since it looks like it comes out of the scammer playbook.
You don’t look like a legitimate business when you don’t take the time to personalize your email.
So please, I beg you.
Take a minute or two to get to know the person behind the website considering that many people who own websites these days are individual.
Gone are the days when only a large conglomerate being the only one who has a faceless website.
And that leads me to my next point.
Not understanding the website’s audience
There was a time I received an email from someone who wanted to advertise his business on my website.
During my heydays as a fashion blogger, it wasn’t that unusual for companies to contact me to ask for a sponsored post opportunity.
I had a few of them in the past. So, the email seems like your usual sponsorship inquiry email.
But guess what?
This guy wanted to advertise his clothing manufacturing business on my blog.
Now, let me ask you this question – if you go to my blog for fashion inspiration, will you be interested in learning more about this guy’s business?
Well, maybe if you’re thinking about starting a clothing line.
But the rest of my audience will ignore this guy’s business like a plague since that’s not what they’re here for.
They’re here for fashion inspiration, nevertheless.
Funnily enough, it took me a few emails back and forth just to learn about this guy’s business.
He didn’t specify what his business was all about until our last few email exchanges.
All I can say is that this guy is a total nutjob. And I can’t believe that I wasted my time dealing with the likes of him.
If you think that’s the only crazy thing I discovered during our email exchange, you’ll be hard-pressed to find out about other crazy stuff that he said to me.
And yes, that crazy stuff relates to my next point.
Haggling the advertising price
It was clear from the get-go that my fashion blog wasn’t even the right fit for his business.
He even went as far as disagreeing with the price I set for the sponsored post, saying that it was too expensive.
Hold on, that can’t be the craziest thing he ever said to me, right?
Yes, you’re right. That’s not the craziest thing he ever said to me.
The craziest part came after the final few email exchanges I had with him.
Rather than paying me to do the post, he suggested I pay him to guest-post on my website instead!
Say what?
What got him to be gutsy enough to come up with such a proposal was beyond me.
But all I can say is this – just be polite and say thank you if the price is too expensive or way out of your budget.
This is not something you can haggle only because the price doesn’t feel right for you.
Just go and find a website that fits your budget, and I’m sure there are tons of them out there.
Speaking of price, I’m sure my next point will resonate with those who offer sponsored posts on your website.
This is by far the very reason that makes the sponsored post deals meet their dead end.
Free products should be enough to compensate for the sponsored posts
Newsflash – free products don’t pay the bill.
Even if they can, there’s nothing wrong with compensating for the time and effort it takes to write a sponsored post, especially a good one.
Sure, you can argue it only takes a few minutes to whip up something good thanks to tools like Quillbot.
But if you want writing that can move people, Quillbot can’t do that for you.
It takes time and skill to write a good, engaging blog post.
If you want this person’s target audience to engage with your business after reading the sponsored post, then you ought to pay this person handsomely.
Insist on wanting to advertise their business on a specific page on the website
I understand your reason for wanting to pick a specific page on the website when it’s the page that receives the most traffic.
That’s how you get more eyeballs on your business.
But do you think people will be curious enough to check out your business when your business has nothing to do with the page you insist on being on?
Of course, the answer should be obvious to you.
Just because the page receives the most traffic, it doesn’t mean people will pay heed to your website.
And it’s even more so when your business isn’t related to the content of the said page.
Imagine when the post is about where to buy manga online but you want me to lump your cooking utensil business on that same page.
Will it get people to visit your website and buy cooking utensils from you?
Well, maybe if they need one.
But most of them won’t because it’s not what they’re looking for when they stumble upon the page.
And it doesn’t look good on me too when they see an unrelated website among the list.
It looks more like I’m being sleazy, trying to make a quick buck by adding a website that should never be there.
Yes, they’re all applicable to you too, authors
While what I write here applies to all kinds of businesses, this advice also applies to connecting with book bloggers as an author.
Yes, you don’t pay book bloggers to talk about your book. But some of them do offer advertising on their website.
Keep these pointers in mind when you engage with them and not only that you’ll score yourself a long-term relationship with them.
But you’ll never know that they can be your biggest super fan based on your interaction with them too.