What Is Sponsored Content And How Can You Make Money With It?

So you’ve signed up with YAYWORLD and published your first post. Now how do you make money creating content?

The great thing about YAYWORLD is that students and young writers can make money creating content before graduating and before finding a job.

Why Your Profile Matters

Blogging and content creation is a financially rewarding career if done right, but you need a strong online presence to make a living at it. Whether you want to work in advertising, publishing, PR, film making or music, you'll need a good portfolio to showcase your work. YAYWORLD offers a solid way to build a portfolio, and a proven method to get your name and your work out there now, while you're still in college.

When setting up your YAYWORLD profile, be sure to select all the topics that interest you because businesses that register on YAYWORLD can search for content creators based on their favorite topics. By looking at the posts you've published on your profile (this is mine), a business owner can get a sense of your writing style to determine if you're a good fit to write about their business . That's why it’s important to keep your non-sponsored posts fresh and to write about subjects that are important to you. 

Why a Business Will Sponsor You

Although the Internet makes it easier for small businesses to compete with their larger counterparts, most small business owners don't have the time or the means to create content to promote their own business online. In fact, many small businesses don't even have a website! This is where you come in.

Where to Find a Sponsor

We all have that store, restaurant, or coffee shop we're particularly fond of - it's where you buy what you need, go to get some work done, or just visit with friends when you have nothing better to do. Those are the places you should write about. 

If you've been there a few times, you're probably already a familiar face to the staff, the manager, or the owner. These are the people you should talk to about sponsoring a post. But before you talk to anyone, do your research.

Run a Google search for the product or service your favorite business provides in their city or location. Don't search for them by name - search for what they do so you can see which other businesses are doing the same thing. Is your favorite place listed on the first page of Google? Who are their competitors and why is that competitor listed before them? Is it because they have a better website? Better content? A better social media presence?

You need to have a sense of what this business is missing so you can present a well-informed case for why they should sponsor your content.

Don't leave out the franchises - they need help too!

What exactly is a franchise? Let's use UPS as an example. Basically, the franchisee (the owner of the UPS store) pays the franchise (UPS) for the right to use their brand and the system that UPS has developed to sell its products or services.

A franchise is likely to rank higher in search results than a single-location private business because the executives at the franchise headquarters will have invested a lot of money in marketing. But that doesn't mean the franchisee doesn't need a little help too! He or she wants their store to do better than all the other franchises in the area, and that's where you come in. 

Your Social Network is Valuable

Why? Because sponsoring a guest post by a blogger is a powerful way for a business to gain credibility. Writers who share a post across their social network validate the business as a credible service or organization - and that's worth a fortune to a small business! (Bonus: YAYWORLD can auto-share your posts across six of your social networks - no need to publish to each one manually.)

Inviting a Sponsor

Hover over your icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen and select INVITE A SPONSOR from the drop menu. The following pop-up will display. Enter the contact details for the business owner or manager to send them the invitation email. The business owner must register with YAYWORLD to use the platform, just like on Airbnb, Upwork, or any other marketplace.

Creating Your First Sponsored Post

Once the sponsor has registered on YAYWORLD, either you or the sponsor can open a job by selecting NEW POST from the drop menu. Follow the same steps as for a non-sponsored post by choosing your topic and the most relevant website (e.g. YAYUSA vs. YAYMASSACHUSETTS vs. YAYBOSTON). On the next pop-up, add your sponsor's email, choose a deadline, and enter your writing fee. Check the last pop-up to make sure all the details are correct, and click SEND.

You'll each receive an email with the post details. Both of you can change the website, the topic, the deadline and the fee. The topic and the website can be changed at any time before the post is published, but the deadline and the fee cannot change once both users agree to terms. When either the sponsor or the writer clicks AGREE TO TERMS, the job is live.

Best Practices

A sponsored post is not a review. Your post should be thorough, detailed and objective; your goal is to inform, not to convince. Good posts will position your sponsor as the best at what they do, and present them as a natural choice for anyone searching for a solution to a problem.

Keep your post short and sweet. Break up the text into short paragraphs with subheads to make it easier on the eye. Images also make your post more aesthetically pleasing, and personal photographs are always the most interesting. Try to avoid stock images. If you must use images from Google, ensure your search only includes unlicensed images. If you use licensed images, be sure to credit the owner at the end of the post. (Avoid adding the credit to the image caption.)

Publishing the Post

When you're satisfied with your post, scroll to the PREVIEW button and check how it will look in published form. When you're ready to share the post with your sponsor, click READY TO PUBLISH. This will send the sponsor a link to your draft. They may request edits, which will be sent to you as a new message. The writer cannot publish a sponsored post; only the sponsor can, by clicking PUBLISH from their dashboard.

When the sponsor hits PUBLISH , their credit card is debited and your writing fee is immediately transferred to your account. No chasing or worrying about payment!

Going Forward

Now that you know how easy it is to make money on YAYWORLD, start paying attention to any businesses that are part of your daily routine - that Starbucks with the best atmosphere for getting your homework done, or the corner store with the Mexican candies you can't find anywhere else. You might just be able to help them, and yourself, at the same time.

Written by Allyson Gottlieb & Colette Bellier
Photos: Our buddies at UPS Santa Clara, Roper Insurance, Muncie Voice.