How to Manage Blogger Business Leads

This is a sponsored post. All opinions regarding how to manage blogger business leads are 100% my own.

Being a blogger doesn’t mean that you don’t have a lot of business leads that you need to follow and maintain. In fact, a typical blogger may have any number of leads that they are following up on in a given day.

Sure, a lot of them are not a business lead in the usual sense, but all together they spell out what you need to keep your blogging business afloat and running smoothly. Let’s take a look at some tips to manage your blogging business leads.

Tips for Managing Blogger Business Leads

Keep A Structured List of Potential Article Providers

Many blogs get their articles from any number of sources. Some of it is content that the blogger pays for in order to have it on their site. And guest bloggers can be a great source of fresh articles, as long as it comes from a great source. But you need a method of keeping everything organized.

I suggest that you keep a list of article sources, along with some basic information on each entry. For example, it would be nice to know if a given guest blogger does a good job in the articles they provide, often in exchange for an outgoing link.

Keeping a list can help you quickly and easily accept or even request a piece from such a provider without having to go back and research through previously published works.

Having a read list of article providers from paid sources is another way to keep those needed articles only a few keystrokes away. It would be nice to keep information on their area of expertise, along with price and turnaround time, in any maintained list.

Be sure to have some indicator of value, since you will want to make sure that your article dollars are well represented for the funds spent.

In the past, I have used a spreadsheet for this information and it worked really well. The beauty is that you can sort by topic, price, turnaround time, or any number of key data points that you choose to track.

Google Docs, Apple Numbers, Microsoft Excel, and many open source spreadsheet programs are great for this kind of use without breaking the budget.

Have Your Business Information Always Ready to Distribute

As a blogger, you will often sell your services for a given rate. You should always have a current fee schedule at hand, ready to share at a given inquiry. Often a blogger will maintain this as a media kit, but you shouldn’t overlook a simple rate sheet either. What is the difference?

A media kit is usually a one to two page PDF that outlines your blog stats to potential brands and other customers. You would expect to see your traffic stats, social media data, a short history of your blog, your market information, and in some cases even a headshot and personal bio. These are wonderful tools to get a brand interested in what your blog can bring to the table.

In comparison, a rate sheet (or card) is usually a bare-bones one-pager that lists your services and the rate for each. You may want to include such things as a blog post, Instagram story, twitter feed, or even a video (if you are so inclined.) The rate sheet is the answer to the common “How much” question that you will receive in your business dealings.

You should have both of the valuable tools at your disposal for when the need arises. By doing so you will find it much easier to follow up on those potential business opportunities as they come along.

Many times you may need to act fast on an opportunity, so having them handy is a great way to easily manage these situations.

We have only scratched the surface when it comes to managing your blog’s business leads, and there are many great tools, such a Pronexis, to help. But just by following these tips will help you to keep your blog productive. The last thing you will want to do is to miss a great opportunity because you needed to get some numbers together or find an article to suit a client. Business moves fast, and being prepared will ensure that your blog leads the way.