Short 'how to' for getting sponsors for scientific blogs and websites. Presented by Mary Canady at ScienceOnline 2013 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Follow #sciopartners on Twitter for updates.

1. Getting Financial Support For
Your Blog Without Selling Your
Soul
Mary Canady
Comprendia, LLC
ScienceOnline 2013 Blitz Session
#sciopartners comprendia.com/sciopartners

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Step 1: Understand Your Niche
• How many read your blog?
– Quantcast is leading public info
• Who is reading your blog?
– Quantcast demographics
– Survey your readers
• Where is your network?
• Who are potential advertisers?
Understanding readers=understanding advertisers

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3
Step 2: Make It Easy
• Media kit
– Stats from #1
– Provide all advertising options
• Give ad sizes, set up plugin before any sales
– Template at comprendia.com/sciopartners
• Access
– RSS Feeds with FULL content
– Newsletter
– Facebook, LinkedIn, Gplus
• SEO/Descriptive blog titles
• Directories
Image courtesy Flickr User Civilian Scrabble

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Step 3: Make It Happen
• Get to know your prospects
– Learn where they ‘live’
– Provide resources
• Dedicate resources to getting sales
• Look at the competition
– GenomeWeb, Journals
• Consider changes needed
– Interface
– Topics
– Channels
• Be creative

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Free Thought
Blogs
•1.7 million
visitors per
month
•Ads handled
externally
•Niche:
Scientist,
atheist, skeptics

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Knoepfler
Lab Stem
Cell Blog
•2500 visitors
per month
•Great SEO
•Niche: stem
cell
researchers

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7
Minority
Postdoc
•5000 visits
per month
•Clear,
varied
advertis-ing
options
•Niche:
minority
scientists

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8
Next Steps
• Make it easy for me to help you
• Biotech Marketing Group promotion of blogs
• Hire a ‘communal’ sales person?
• Experiment!

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9
Nothing will work, but everything
might. Now is the time for
experiments, lots and lots of
experiments…
--Clay Shirky’s Blog, 2009