I’ve long been resistant to the idea of accepting sponsorship for my blog. I value my credibility as an independent voice, and I don’t want to risk compromising that reputation.

Then I learned about Troy Hunt’s approach to sponsorship (https://www.troyhunt.com/sponsorship/), which he first wrote about in 2016 (https://www.troyhunt.com/im-now-offering-sponsorship-of-this-blog/). Troy runs with a simple text row in the page banner - no JavaScript, no cookies, unobtrusive while providing value to the sponsor. I can live with that!

Accepting sponsorship in this way helps me maintain my independence while offsetting the opportunity cost of not taking a full-time job.

To start with I’m selling sponsorship by the week. Sponsors get that unobtrusive banner across my blog and also their sponsored message at the top of my newsletter (https://simonw.substack.com/).

I will not write content in exchange for sponsorship. I hope the sponsors I work with understand that my credibility as an independent voice is a key reason I have an audience, and compromising that trust would be bad for everyone.

Freeman & Forrest (https://www.freemanandforrest.com/) helped me set up and sell my first slots. Thanks also to Theo Browne (https://t3.gg/) for helping me think through my approach.

Tags: newsletter (https://simonwillison.net/tags/newsletter), blogging (https://simonwillison.net/tags/blogging), troy-hunt (https://simonwillison.net/tags/troy-hunt)