Blog donation buttons are seen all over the blogosphere. No one really knows if those ubquitous click to donate buttons result in any real revenue for the blogger.
In fact, rarely does anyone mention them at all. If the donation buttons are generating cash, almost no one ever talks about how often or how plentiful are the total contributions.
Donating money to support a blog is only one of the ways that a favourite blogger and blog can be assisted. Cash is nice, of course, but there are other methods of help for your friends. Not all of them cost any money. In other words, you can help out blogging buddies even if you are strapped severely for discretionary spending money yourself. That’s a fancy term for being broke, by the way.
It doesn’t cost you anything in the way of cash to quote another blogger, and link to the post in question. Adding an exciting new blog to your blogroll is free as well. What the receiving blogger gains is new readership and visitor traffic. A few of those vistors could provide several bloggers with cash.
It costs nothing in the way of dollars to e-mail another blogger and offer to join into a potential business partnership. That person might possess the exact skills your startup business requires. Of course, prior to any partnership, you would do your due diligence and check out the credentials and history of the individual in question. Once the blogger clears your hurdles, the resulting business relationship could be financially beneficial for all conderned.
Interviewing another blogger can assist that blogger, as well as yourself, in obtaining a higher profile in the blogosphere, and on the internet as a whole. Any resulting publicity can spread offline, and could even translate into additional financial rewards for you and your interview guest.
As for more hard cash assistance, the donation button is always there for you. Of course, a bit of creativity and targeting could benefit everyone involved to a much larger degree. Placing a paid advertisment on a blog raises your company profile, while adding some dollars to the blogger’s bank account.
Sponsoring a blogger to help the person attend a blogging conference has many benefits, both in the short and longer terms. Many a powerful professional relationship has been founded on sponsorships. A sponsorship is one those cases where everyone wins in the end.
If the blogger has written a hard copy or e-book, is planning a webinar or live seminar, you can give them some publicity on your blog. You could even help to underwrite the cost of the conference call for a webinar, or some publishing costs for a book. In return, the recipient blogger could provide you with a much appreciated promotional ad or page. Perhaps you might be invited to write a foreward or introduction to their next book; or even the first one. You may even be asked to collaborate on the book with a single chapter or be offered co-authorship.
As you can see, the ways you can help cash strapped bloggers is many and varied. Cash donations are only one of the ways you can assist your blogging friends. Merchandise, or payment in kind, or in the form of returned labour, are also welcomed.
You may never know when you might need a helping hand yourself. As always, bloggers will always be there to help other bloggers.
After all, blogging is all about building relationships with others.
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Wayne Hurlbert provides insigtful information about marketing, promotions, search engine optimization and public relations for websites and business blogs on the popular Blog Business World.
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