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How To Write A Sponsored Blog Post

ponsored blog postings have become very popular and an awful lot of bloggers are making money out of them. The problem is that far too many bloggers have no idea how to write properly.

Far too many people think that writing an original blog entry involves nothing more than copying a paragraph from somewhere, linking to it, and then adding a one line comment. This is not original content: it is little more that filling space on the screen.

A blog posting should be approached as you would any other piece of written work. You need a beginning, a middle and an end. Or, as my old tutor used to say, an introduction, a body and a conclusion. The introduction tells your readers what you are going to do. The body of the essay does it - and then the conclusion summarises everything.

It sounds easy, but if it was then everyone would do it, and we wouldn't have all those cut and paste jobs, would we? Luckily, it is a skill rather than an art, so you can learn how to write workmanlike sponsored posts; all it takes is a bit of practise - and this article!

Let's say that you have to write 300 words on The Widget Company. You have been given three keywords, say, and each keyword is linked to a page on the company's site. Go and have a look at each page, and if you are new at this game, take a few notes about what is actually written there.

Make sure that the notes are in your own words. This is very important because you cannot copy and paste from the company's website. If you do then your career as a copywriter will soon come to an end because Google will think that the company is spamming, and they will mark them down in the rankings. Of course you must use the keywords that have been provided to you, just don't copy all the text - use your own words.

Very well, you have been given your three keywords, have gone to the three pages to see what is there, and you have taken some notes. Now what do you do?

Start off with an introductory paragraph that sets out, briefly, what the Widget Company actually does. If you can, then go on to introduce the three concepts that the keywords embody. Let's say that the first of your keywords is John Smith who turns out to be the owner of the company. The second is blue widgets, and you find out that this company specialises in this type of coloured widget. Finally you have easy credit, and from your reading you know how the company's credit policy works.

Now, I said if you can, because you need to have some writing skills in you to be able to explain in an introduction how these three link together. Something like this would do at a pinch:

"The Widget Company has been in existence since 1856 and specialises in the production of the blue variety of the product. John Smith is the current owner and he is offering some very nice easy credit terms."

Do you see? Two of the three keywords have already been used once, so you could link to them in the introduction. If you wanted you could even change "blue variety" for "blue widgets," but that would mean repeating the word "widget" twice in one sentence.

Now, with the body of your essay all you do is devote a paragraph to each keyword. Tell your readers about Mr. Smith, state why his blue widgets are wonderful and go on to explain how easy his credit is to get.

Finally, your conclusion is just a summary of what has gone before. One sentence will do:

"John Smith's Widget Company: the people to go to for blue widgets on easy credit terms!"

Don't worry, it will get easier as you write more and more sponsored postings. Looking at my watch I can see that I have been writing this posting for exactly 15 minutes, but then again, I'm a fast writer and can construct a simple essay in my mind without having to use notes. It's just experience, that's all.

Now, do you remember that you had to write 300 words? Well that means 300, it doesn't mean 250. If you are short then you can write something else in the conclusion. Or expand any of the main paragraphs. However you do it, you must keep to the advertiser's word length. He doesn't mind you going over 300 words, but he will be mightily unhappy if you write under his required length.

It looks easy, doesn't it? Then you will sit down at a keyboard and start to think that is isn't. Take your time, and remember the magic formula: introduction, body, conclusion. Stick to it, and to the word count, and you will get there in the end.


Ken Bell is British and lives in Mexico City, where he makes a precarious living doing a bit of this and that. He has been blogging for two years at The Exile. He is currently trying to put his theory of how to blog for money into practise at The Money Blog. The author is married with two children, both of whom drive him nuts.