How can I ethically reach out to potential blog sponsors?

Question

I've been running my small security blog for about 3 years with monthly articles.It has been successful so far in regards to bringing opportunities and gaining industry contacts, but I've never directly made any money from it.I've tried having a 'Sponsor Me' banner, where I've received a few reasonable offers, but non from companies that I align/agree with or would be happy to promote.What would be a reasonable way to directly approach companies that I would like to sponsor me? Is this a big no-no, or is there an ethical way to do it? I've had a look at 'cold emailing' services, but they seem to go against the values of my blog, which are privacy, security, non-tracking, etc.Any advice or case studies would be massively appreciated. :) Thank you.

mooreds · Accepted Answer

I think this is the kind of thing that you just need to go out and do yourself, at least for the first 5- 10 sponsors.
First, have a clear idea of what you are offering (you can look around at other blogs in the same space and even reach out to them to see what they are offering/charging).
Display ads? Paragraphs in a email newsletter? Links on your sidebar? Job listings? Sponsored blog post?
Then, what will it cost? How long does the agreement run for? Is it exclusive? What happens if two companies in the same market want to sponsor you?
Then, what is the value? How many people visit/read your site each month? What kind of engagement can the sponsor expect? (You'll have a better idea of this after a few times, but I can warn you in my experience you'll get far less engagement than you expect.)
You seem to have a list of ethical companies you'd like to be associated with. If you don't, build that list.
Then see who you know at those companies (LinkedIn). If you don't know anyone, see if you have any 2nd degree connections and ask for an intro.
Then present your offering and your cost to these connections. If you are priced right in the market, you'll sell some sponsorships.

frickinLasers · Answer

What is unethical about cold-emailing a company? A business is not a person. Conducting business requires open communication, or else no one would ever make money.

stevesearer · Answer

Find companies who already spend money advertising to readers of your particular niche. This will usually be tradeshow sponsors, industry magazines, other websites, podcasts, etc.
It is much easier to get them to give you a small portion of their existing budget than to create a budget exclusively for you.
It is a good idea to not have the mindset that you somehow deserve their money or thinking that your site is only $X of their huge budget. It is their job to get the best return on their expenditures and it is your job to deliver that to them.
Also since you seem to have a privacy conscious site, it will be important to make the case that since you don’t track users directly, users target your content because it is such a specific niche that only people interested in it (and the potential advertisers’ products) read and visit your site.
Having sold a lot of ads directly, it is really important to be a trustworthy person that advertisers enjoy dealing with so they have every reason to keep you in their budget every year.