I’ve been noodling a few things lately in regards to the League of Extraordinary Bloggers, and wanted to open up a bit of dialogue with all of you. Last week, we tried something a little different in that we had a sponsored weekly challenge. While I don’t think that kind of topic will be the norm, I do think that we might be able to find sponsors for some of the future challenges. Here’s what I’d like to know:
First, do you like the idea of sponsored League posts or should we bag the whole idea and just have fun as usual?
Second, if the League assignment asked you to put an advertisement or sentence at the end of your post in order to be included in the incentive, would you be up for that? (You can always NOT include the sponsor’s message, but you would be excluded from that incentive.)
Currently, I am thinking that a sponsor might offer participating blogs “X” if they include an ad of some sort in their post. The topic would be anything, but NOT necessarily related to the sponsor’s product.
We see an average of 15-20 blogs submitting responses every week, and clearly there is value in that. So let me know if you think it’s worth pursuing or if you’d rather keep the same course that we have been travelling. I’m not leaning one way or the other, but am always looking for ideas and opinions.
Hey…
I’ve no problem with sponsors or sponsored challenges. Glad to share a good product or service with others through my blog, and if it gets us even more hits or incentives, that’s all the better! I’d suggest mixing it up– have a sponsor one week and then a just for fun post the next or however you want to do it.
Had a lot of fun with the Hake’s auction assignment this week and didn’t mind putting up their logo or links to help them out. Amazing stuff there!
Thanks for the input Classick! So, as a follow up question, if we had a contest type of topic with a single “prize” (like last week), should that be awarded randomly or should the sponsor pick his favorite? Or maybe the League should vote on their favorite?
I think that at times, it might be simpler logistically for a sponsor to come up with one prize rather than 20, but I’m thinking out loud here.
I think any prizes should be awarded on the auspices that they were chosen randomly to avoid any hard feelings and to eschew the potential of members looking to “game the system” by writing filler/pandering blog posts.
I agree, random is probably the best route.
Go for it! I’ll do all I can to promote it.
Awesome. Thanks Howie!
I don’t see anything wrong with asking to run a post-based ad in exchange for a some form of monitization (whether it be a discount, an entry for a prize, or what have you.) I would suggest keeping the ratio of sponsored assignments at something like one in four, but that’s just my two cents…
Good point on the frequency. Thanks Shawn!
I don’t mind promoting stuff, hey isn’t that kinda what we do.
It is! So, why not get bonus every now and then. 😉
I think it sounds good to do these types of posts occasionally. I also agree that random selection of awards would be best.
Just my two cents.
Thanks Rich!
As someone who is going to start working on the occasional League posts, I’d say a good mix of sponsored and non-sponsored is the way the go. No one’s forcing a blogger to contribute to the League, so if they disagree with a sponsored topic for whatever reason, they can skip that week and pick up another topic soon.
Rob, I am thrilled to read that first sentence of yours. 😉
Thanks for the input. I doubt we’ll have any objectionable sponsors, but I know some folks might be opposed to running ads on their sites (obviously, I am not one of them).
If I’m going to do the post anyway, might as well have a chance to win something for it! Maybe once a month, twice at most I think.
Point taken. 😉
I’m fine as long as it doesn’t feel like the League is just a promotional tool for sites and services I have no experience with. I feel like I’m in the minority here, but I love participating in the League challenges, and I’d hate to see it just turn into some sort of ad machine.
As long as every week wasn’t a promotional challenge, I’d still probably participate… but if that’s all the League becomes I just won’t be interested any more. (I’m sure my loss from the League would be crippling but you’d all manage somehow). I’m not making any ultimatums, I hope everyone understands that. I’m not in any position to make them… but the reason I desperately wanted to start a blog to join in the weekly play-by-play was because of how awesome it was to see folks freely and openly gush over their geeky passions.
I’ll admit I was just busy this week, and I didn’t get a single breath to join in… but I also wasn’t terribly motivated to wade into a site (regardless of how cool it obviously is) I was unfamiliar with and give them free advertising. Let me be clear that that is NOT why I didn’t participate though.
I also applaud the idea of branching out and profiting in some way from blogging. Sponsored blog entries seems to be a way to accomplish this. As long as our content is not in any way dictated by the sponsor… I’m not afraid of progress. I just want balance.
Some great points Derek, thanks for chiming in! I was wondering where you were last week. 😉
I like where you are going with the sponsors and having the blurb optional is good. I’m always up for incentives although it’s usually the topic that drives me to write that particular week.
I’m with Classick in that unless you get a wave of sponsors lining up, maybe once or twice a month at most to start.
I think we’d be lucky to get one per month (but I’m gonna try!).
I like the idea of winning a prize but that isn’t the motivation for taking part in these group posts. I enjoy reading other people’s posts as much as I like my own and discovering all the great stuff that other League members put out.
Agreed. I am amazed at the variety of items people selected for the Hake’s shopping spree–I really thought there would be a lot of repetition but this group is so diverse, the responses are always surprising.
Every now and then a sponsored topic would be fine. If it was every time not so much. I do get screwed by random generators all the time but I agree random not voting is the way to go.
Nothing wrong with sponsorship. I’d do it too. Will you still be Cool and Collected? Will I still be a Hellion? As long as the blogs remain true there’s nothing wrong with having some sponsors. New eyes on all of our blogs. As always, any one of us can opt out. Lets say the weekly sponsor is Amazon but my site has a deal with B and N (just to pick names at random). In such a situation I’d be happy to have the option to opt out, or to answer without linking to the sponsoring site.
No matter what though I plan on being there every week.
Brian,
Advertising goes both ways, it would have been nice for Hakes to promote the League which might have brought in some new readers. It’s just another form of networking.
Actually they did! Check out their Facebook page and you’ll see they pointed their followers towards many of our League posts, and they also sent out out some links on Twitter.
I’m with just about every one else here. I don’t see a problem with sponsorship as long as its in moderation. And since you’ve clearly given us a choice as to whether or not we include the sponsor’s message, we have control over it as well to some degree.
I did notice that Hake’s ran some links on their Twitter feed (and they were nice enough to follow me back) so there is certainly potential for expanding your own readership with League entries of last week’s caliber.
I also really enjoyed the Hake’s League Challenge so if it’s more of that – I’m more than likely in!
yr pal,
Hoardax.
The only one problem I have about sponsors is my location. That’s why I didn’t participate in the Hakes asignment. My thinking was this: “¿what if I win but they don’t ship the prizes worldwide? Or maybe I have to pay the shipping and handling so winning can be more expensive for me. or maybe the $100 credit was just for USA citizens. This is too complicated, I pass”.
Good point Yelinna, and one that I have thought about a little bit. I know Hake’s would have shipped anywhere, but the cost of shipping would have come out of the credit. One of our winners is actually in Canada, and shipping there can be expensive. Unfortunately, I think for future prizes it will probably be the same sort of deal. However, please don’t let the sponsorship aspect keep you from participating if it’s a topic that interests you!
Hi Brian!
Don’t worry, sponsorship won’t keep me away from the league. On the other hand, a nice links interchange with sponsors and League’s members blogs will be ok 😀
Although I’m not a regular poster (I wish I had time to be more regular) I don’t have a problem with sponsored League posts. As long as it doesn’t stray too far from the general interest of the Leagues normal themes.
If I review the site and decide I don’t have a problem advertising for that site, I would be more than happy to put in a blurb or image/banner in my posts.
Just my .02.
Sounds good to me as long as we can opt in or opt out of any given topic.
I’m game!