With BlogHer just around the corner, bloggers are all abuzz about sponsorships, scholarships, and partnerships with companies to help pave the costly way.

I wanted to bring in a few ways to work with Public Relations and companies in order to secure sponsorships for the conferences that would benefit both parties. Do not kid yourself. Sponsorships are work. They do not come with a signed check for you to do what you want, but instead are based on an exchange and terms of the sponsorship.

Here are a few key points to assist you in your journey.

1) Sponsorships are about relationships: Repeat after me “Sponsorships are about RELATIONSHIPS.” If you cold call a  company and ask them for $1000, they are going to respond with “huh?” and rightfully so. Bloggers that are sponsored to events generally have a long standing or strong relationships with a provider. They know what you offer in terms of your site, you have proven your worth to them in the past via reviews, giveaways, or articles, and more often then not, they want to continue their relationship with you. Companies that are willing to do sponsorships are generally into social media and are interested in expanding or remaining a part of that.

When deciding on which companies to approach for a sponsorship, immediately specific names of public relations or brands should come to mind. Who have you provided for in the past? Who have you completed projects for? Is there a brand you work with over and over again? Is there a PR rep that you work with on a continuous basis? Those are the individuals you should be reaching out to.

The cold hard truth is if you do not have a prior relationship with a company, your barking up the wrong alley and need to start saving.

2) A sponsorship is a two way street: Yes, Companies love to work with bloggers. Yes, PR love to work with bloggers. But don’t think that just because your a blogger you deserve a free ride. Conferences for bloggers generally benefit the blogger so you have to decide what type of service you are going to give back to the company in exchange. Have your plan together prior to contacting them. Some suggestions are:

• Ads on your site for a specific time
• Mentions on your radio show as a sponsor
• Twitter backgrounds or tweets
• Passing out business cards/swag at the event
• Wearing company logos (i.e. shirts, etc) at the event
• Come up with something unique

Figure out what your comfort level is in exchange for sponsorship and approach them with a proposal. Companies generally think in facts and numbers, so provide them with as much information as possible to save yourself countless emails back and forth.  I think its easy to fall into a trap of wanting to do anything to get to a conference without paying for it, but be careful not to “sell your soul” in exchange for a few hundred dollars. Find what you are willing to do and write it up and submit. Its OK to turn down a company offer and vice versa. Both sides have to be comfortable in order for the relationship to work. I think I would draw the line at dressing up in a chicken suit, kwim?

3) Think in terms of partial sponsorships: Often times I see bloggers seeking large dollar sponsorships, but I believe its much easier working with several (non-competing) companies in order to assist you to a conference. Its much easier to approach a company on a $200 sponsorship versus a $1200 sponsorship. I imagine there will be a lot of closed doors on anything over $300 at one time. By breaking it up, you keep your responsibilities for each company lower, provide a way for a company to be involved even with a stricter budget, and have the ability to work with smaller companies (not just corporations).

When we approached companies for a BlogHer sponsorship, we took sponsorships for as low as $100 in exchange for longer termed advertising on our site.  I contacted companies I had relationships with and specifically asked them for X amount to fund a ticket purchase in exchange for fill in the blank. It was helpful for companies to know exactly where their funding was going and who they were providing it to.

4) Be patient, but follow up. Lots of bloggers are also seeking sponsorships, so it pays to be proactive. My general rule would be an inquiry letter and then a follow up phone call or email in about a week to 10 days to answer any additional questions they may have. Its OK to be rejected. Sometimes its not the right fit for the company or in the budget. Do not get discouraged. Continue building your relationship with that vendor for the future.

5) Know why you want to represent that company at a conference. Be prepare to answer questions like:

• How will this help you?
• How will this help us?
• What is the conference about?
• Why is the conference important?
• Why do you want to work with us?
• What about our product do you like?

Now many people use small letters to judge interest, but I am someone that puts it out there immediately to save the company time. I want to respect that they are busy and let the letter go to the direct contact without a lot of back and forth. Be prepared for a phone call as well. I know you’re a blogger and hate to talk on the phone, but when you’re looking for a sponsorship and representation for a company, be prepared to have a few follow up meetings.

Example letter I sent out (please do not plagiarize me). This letter serves as a GUIDE ONLY. Companies are going to read it here and know its mine, so just be careful to design something that fits who you are. This letter is from January 2008 and may have outdated information in it. It has also been cut to fit here and does not contain all of my information.

A) Open the conversation up by introducing yourself. No matter if a company knows you (and if you read point #1, they should!) the letter may go to someone in the firm that hasn’t met you yet. If this is too formal for a relationship I am sending this to, i preempt it with a paragraph that is a little more laid back.

My name is Trisha Haas and I am the owner of www.MomDot.com and www.BLoggersGive.com. MomDot.com is a unique site that not only serves as a personal blog, but as a blogging community where users come to advertise their own links, contests, and find out information on the newest products and parenting information out there on the web. Since opening in July 2008, MomDot has quickly become a go to site for mommy bloggers to reach out to each other. We offer free listings for blogs,  interviews for blogs and boutiques, have an entire review team of 8 bloggers that are continuously reviewing products (located on a sub domain at www.reviews.momdot.com) and have recently opened the first ever Blogging Charity.

B) Talk about your stats, traffic. You can ignore this if you feel that your stats are not strong enough. I dont believe stats should be the  sole reason a company works with a blogger in the slightest. Instead focus on some of the content you write or projects/collaborations you have been a part of. Adjust all this for your needs. Mine was 3 paragraphs long, but I have cut that here for space reasons.

C) Explain your costs:

As the owner and main representative of MomDot, I am looking for a sponsor to assist in plane ticket, conference fee, and hotel costs of the upcoming BlogHer convention in July 2009. A plane ticket from Mobile, Alabama to Chicago, IL at this time cost approximately $350, Early Bird convention fees available till Feb 28th for the Main Convention are $198, and Hotel costs at the Convention site are $199 per night (approx $600 plus taxes).

D) Explain what you are offering:

As a sponsor for Momdot, we would provide a partnership between our site and your company.  There are plenty of options we can work out in terms of a sponsorship. We can offer 6 months worth of partnership sidebar advertising above the fold, which would provide upwards of 50,000 unique visitors a month in view. Additionally, we have the ability to interject footer links that appear at the bottom of ALL posts on MomDot and we would be happy to provide a link for 3 months that asks visitors to visit the sponsor.

*This is a good spot to talk about VLOGS you may do, youtube videos, tweets, etc.

E) Explain the convention. Don’t just assume the business knows where you are going. I always provided links back to the sites that had more information:

BlogHer is one of the largest conventions for bloggers and businesses to network and create relationships. The BlogHer conference layout and agenda can be found here http://www.blogher.com/blogher_conference/conf/9/agenda/1 but encompasses speakers that share their expertise on leadership, micro logging, mommy blogging, social media, SEO, publishing, online networking and keynote speakers. The convention also has some down time where there are socializing events where bloggers and companies can meet together.

F) Why you want to go:

Going to this convention not only benefits MomDot in growing into a stronger community, but also is a great way to exchange informational learning, garner stronger and new relationships, and establish ourselves.  Being able to network and attend conventions gives us a voice, a strong voice, not only for the companies we work with, but for our site and our community as a whole. For companies that find themselves out of place in this ever changing media, we can provide feedback on the convention, up and coming ideas, and an open relationship between us as bloggers and you as a company.

G) Closing. Include all your contact information

As you can see in that example, I did not layout a specific sponsorship cost but in other letters, we took paragraph C and talked about a specific cost and asked for a specific funding of $200 for that cost. We also changed out what we were offering each company. Be careful not to promise to wear the shirt of 5 companies at a convention..its impossible. Offer very calculated ideas and campaigns.

A few other ideas are to blog your interest so visitors to your site can check you out and see if they would be interested in working with you, get creative with a video, reach out to twitter, network with friends, and sell discounted advertising on your site to assist in your costs.

Remember, working with a company should be respected and treated in an ethical and business like manner. It should also be fun and beneficial for both parties. For more information or assistance, please feel free to apply at the MomDot.com blogger forums, where bloggers from all over the web exchange ideas and support to help you grow.

If this article has helped you, please thank me by leaving a comment.

It makes me feel loved.

~Trisha

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