Last winter, Tribal DDB Toronto worked with home & lifestyle blogger Lindsay from the Little House Blog on a pilot blogger ambassador program for our client Canadian Tire. We sent Lindsay a selection of Canadian Tire Christmas products and she detailed her Christmas décor routine, room-by-room, describing how her new goods would fit into her family’s long-standing traditions. We couldn’t have asked for a better partner – it was a perfect fit for both Lindsay and the brand. Through this relationship, I discovered that Lindsay is the co-founder of the BlogPodium conference series for design and lifestyle bloggers. And a few months ago, I was lucky enough to be asked by Lindsay to be a panelist at the second-ever BlogPodium conference, on the topic of the “Business of Blogging.” The panel consisted of Christine from Bijou and Boheme and Cheryl from Gluckstein Home, Lindsay and I.  The four of us explored blog monetization from both the blogger and sponsor perspectives. Key take-aways from the panel discussion that resonated with the 200+ attendees include: How do you spot bloggers to work with? Even the most skilled social media communicator can’t stay fully aware of the major blogs in every niche. But before turning to outdated blog directories or agency databases for a starting point, we start with the blogs we already read and love, click through their blogroll, and branch out our research from there. Sure, this is straightforward enough, but from there we evaluate and scrutinize a blogger’s presence in a variety of ways: *Do they have authority? (do other bloggers comment on their posts, link to them, have them on their Twitter Lists?) *Do they self-identify as Canadian? (often, our Canadian clients only want us to contact Canadian bloggers.) *Are they active across multiple social media channels? (do they have an engaged following?) *Does the aesthetic/style of the blog suggest prominence and care? (remember that we have to pitch blogs to our client and wouldn’t necessarily pitch a blog that looks outdated.) Do you pay bloggers? In what instances? Typically speaking, we’d only offer bloggers monetary compensation to cover expenses for what we’re asking a blogger to do; for example, buying ingredients for the creation of a recipe. Other incentive options could include: *Offering product trial for the blogger; *Product for reader giveaways; *Offering exclusive access to the brand; *Having the blogger participate in a content partnership or guest posts on a client’s owned properties, which leverages a blogger’s expertise and in turn amplifies their reach. Every way, it’s important to always disclose a blogger and sponsor’s relationship. How do you see the blogger/sponsor relationship evolving? The blogger/sponsor relationship should be carefully cultivated.  Essentially, it should evolve into a true partner in every sense - from developing creative promotional ideas together and co-creating content, to exploring cross-platform promotions and leveraging advertising space to feature contextual ad placements on their blog. Having the opportunity to meet face-to-face with bloggers is not something I get to do often enough, especially in this capacity, and I was thrilled to be a part of such an excellent event. Thanks to Lindsay and to her co-founder Jen for connecting bloggers and brands in such a powerful and unified way. See you at the next BlogPodium!