How I Got Sponsorships And How You Can, Too

I've been reading a lot of complaints about the inability to get sponsored on read.cash. I understand the complaints. I felt that way, too, until I didn't.

It took a while for me to figure out the sponsorship bar: how to make it appear, how to fill in those accusing, empty square boxes once I was able to make it appear.

I did some research, applied it, and finally got a few sponsors. I'd like to share my process with you.

The Technicalities

I'll be demonstrating with pictures, step by step. These steps apply both to using a computer and using a mobile device (cell phone, tablet).

I find step-by-step instructions to new much easier to follow with pictures, so you'll be seeing a lot of those.

Step 1. The first thing to know is how to get the sponsor bar to show up.

All you have to do is hit enter.

The bar should automatically appear.

Step 2. The second thing is to hit the dollar sign.

I'll touch or click on the dollar sign. What I get is this:

That's it. Two steps. Easy peasy, right?

But wait! There's more.

The technicalities are easy and easily found anywhere. You might already have read about sponsorships here:

https://read.cash/@Read.Cash/get-sponsors-aa17e199

This is the article you will see if you go to the bottom of your notifications page, for example, and click on get sponsored.

Many others have written on this subject. You don't need to hear more about it.

What you do need to hear is more than the step by step instructions to bring up the sponsorship bar. You need to hear how to fill those empty squares with logos of people who are willing to spend BCH every month to support you in your writing.

"But, c'mon Jonica, what's the big deal with getting sponsored?" you might be thinking. "Won't Rusty come and reward my articles? Can't I just write about doing my laundry and loving Bitcoin Cash and make money from the Random Rewarder?"

My answer is of course you can write about anything you want. And maybe Rusty will give you a few cents to encourage you to stay and adopt Bitcoin Cash as a currency. But eventually, Rusty will stop tipping. People will see your name and scroll to the end of your article and see empty squares, or worse no sponsorship bar at all. When people stop reading your stuff, the AI will soon follow. And you are left screaming into the void with nobody listening.

You might be one of those rare writers who doesn't care if anybody reads their work. You might not even care whether or not you get paid for writing. You might be independently wealthy.

If any of the above describes you, it won't hurt my feelings if you quit reading. I'd love for you to keep going, though, just in case something resonates with you.

I used to be all over Facebook. I had over 1k "friends" at one point. I loved writing a quirky little quip and shutting down the program. I was a hit it and quit it type of user. I got a lot of likes and comments on nearly every post. Facebook was my only social media.

But then, I discovered I could actually get paid to write. I discovered Medium, a social platform where you can read and write quality content. Medium was in part developed by the same guy, Ev Williams, who had a hand in developing Twitter.

As I understand it, Medium was originally thought to be like Twitter, but with no characters count limits. Anybody could say whatever they wanted using as many words as they needed. And Medium would pay for it.

I published the second thing I ever wrote for the public. I had submitted a poem, first, and people didn't hate it. (I actually republished the second story here: https://read.cash/@JonicaBradley/i-pulled-the-trigger-and-hit-publish-09c093f1

I saw others writing poorer stories and making more money. Those stories were chock full of grammatical and spelling errors, yet the writers claimed to be making teens of thousands of dollars every month.

How could it be that the first full month of writing for Medium I only earned less than five dollars? I knew I was a better writer with more interesting things to write about. What was their secret?

What did they have that I didn't have? In a word, followers.

And then there's me. Not even two thousand followers.

I discovered something else. It seems backward, but it's very true.

People only follow people who already have followers.

It took me over a year to break 1000 followers on Medium. It took me around the same time to get about the same number of followers on Twitter.

I gave up my Facebook account, (it's not deleted, just unused) when my son was having difficulties. It didn't seem right to tell him not to do something I was doing every day.

I dinked around with Instagram but just couldn't get into it. I don't know how many followers I have there.

Read.cash is a little different.

Read.cash has an AI program that will reward individual articles to encourage authors to continue to blog on this platform. What a great idea! The only hitch is, without sponsorships (so I've heard) the Random Rewarder stops tipping.

So, almost more important than followers on read.cash, sponsorship is a must-have.

On read.cash, just like the rest of social media, sponsors prefer to sponsor people who already have sponsors. It is a loop that may seem hard to break through. And it should be a bit of a challenge, otherwise, all we would see is shit writing, plagiarism in the form of copy and paste, and simply rewording articles published on other platforms.

How to get sponsorships in 6 steps

1. Write excellent copy

2. Write original content only

3. Get your name noticed

4. Read successful articles

5. Be a sponsor

6. Get uncomfortable

Write excellent copy

I have notice too many articles on this beloved platform seem to be dashed off while waiting in line at a taco truck.

I don't care to sponsor writers who do not have anything invested in their writing, who do not spell check, who do not use a grammar checker, who simply parrot a headline they've seen elsewhere on the internet.

I love to sponsor people who take the time to research their subject, make an outline, have a flow to their article. I like articles that make sense. That I can tell the writer has invested themselves into what they are writing.

I like to read a writer who is growing and learning.

If the language in which you are writing is not your native language you must take more care, not less. It is patently obvious when someone using a translator. If you do not speak or understand a language, please do not attempt to write in it. I'm not saying never write in a language that is not your tative tongue. I'm saying please understand the language in which you are writing.

If you are writing in your native language, please make certain your grammar and spelling are immpecable.

It is ok to take your time with an article. Some articles will take me three or four days to write, edit, rewrite, tighten, and perfect. But you will get an excellent article, not something I dashed off on my way to work.

It's ok to take your time in order to write excellent copy. Excellent copy will get you sponsorships.

Write original content only

This is so important. Please only write your own ideas. If you see something that resonates with you, write about it. There is nothing wrong with watching a video and sharing your thoughts about the video.

There is nothing wrong with reading an article, relating to it, and wanting to share your own thoughts.

Writing doesn't come naturally to everyone. That's ok. But you still have to put in the work if you want to be rewarded. Original content is as easy as thinking. Writing it might be a little harder, but there are so many free resources to help you improve your writing.

Plagiarism, stealing someone else's words by copy and paste, simply rearranging words to make it "original" is unacceptable. I guarantee, if you do this, you will be found out and any sponsorships you have will be removed. You might be taken to court. You might have to pay a fine. You will definitely be noted here on read.cash and reported to the powers that be.

If you want sponsorships, and want to keep them, you will write your own copy.

Get your name noticed

@CryptoMax has a wonderful suggestion for name recognition: comment on articles and reply to every comment on your own articles.

If your comments are thoughtful and intelligent, you'll get noticed.

Comments such as, "Wao, dear!" or "good dear, you have sense make." or "good article" are not intelligent and thoughtful.

An intelligent and thoughtful comment will respond to the article. It will detail your reactions to the content. Maybe you have experienced something similar. Maybe you have more questions. Maybe you completely disagree with the author's premise. If you are unable to articulate your thoughts and feelings in a comment, you are very likely unable to write a good article and are just as unlikely to gain sponsorships.

Name recognition is a double edged sword. Good writers will be recognized but so will plagiarists. The good writers on read.cash are actually a pretty small community. We talk to each other. We inform each other of bad actors. We report them to the read.cash moderators.

Make sure you have name recognition for your good writing, not for your lazy, cheating, or plagiaristic tendencies.

Name recognition will get you sponsorships.

Read successful articles

Surf around read.cash for successful articles. Read them. Pay attention to their formating. Pay attention to paragraph length, photos, paragraph headings. Pay attention to the way the subject matter flows.

Look for the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Look at the grammar and spelling usage.

Some of the most successful articles on read.cash are written by non-native English speakers. Most of the successful articles are written as an essay rather than as a social media post. Most of the successful articles on read.cash will hold up on any other platform out there.

Put in the time to educate yourselves on format, structure, and flow. This might be even more important than subject matter. As for subject matter, go to some communities that are not about crypto. Go read the successful stories, there.

Many people believe you must hold degrees from universities to do well with writing. This is simply not true. You can educate yourself by reading. And by really paying attention.

Reading successful articles will get you sponsorships. Especially if you also comment intelligently and thoughtfully on those successful articles.

Be a sponsor

A sure fire way to get noticed is to be extra generous. Help out those newer than you.

Become a sponsor.

Sponsorship, to me, is a bit more than simply giving money. It is also about being a cheerleader. It is about giving a helping hand. Providing anserws to questions and advice on how to succeed.

Spread the wealth.

Rusty will have tipped your first few articles (given they are original and well written). Use those tips to help someone.

Go be a sponsor in order to get sponsored.

Get uncomfortable

It is so easy to put yourself in a box and just stick with the same comfortable routine. Even if it isn't beneficial to you.

Any growth will require you to get out of your comfort zone. You will have to step outside of your box.

This was the hardest part for me. My comfort zone is to be independent. I am very self sufficient and feel incredibly uncomfortable asking for anything.

I grow my own food. I process my own meat from animals I have raised myself.

I am independent and self-sufficient.

Which is great. Only, despite my writing skills, my excellent copy, my original content, and my generosity, I still didn't have any sponsors.

I had to get uncomfortable. I had to actually ask for sponsorship.

It was very uncomfortable. But I got a sponsor almost right away. Had I not asked, had I not made myself uncomfortable I might still be sponsorless today.

Maybe you don't have any problem asking for help, but you feel very uncomfortable with your writing skills. You will need to get uncomfortable and keep writing, anyway.

Maybe you feel uncomfortable writing every day because it feels silly or awkward. Maybe you just don't feel like writing. You would rather play video games or stream The Walking Dead.

You will need to live in that discomfort and write anyway. Your writing will improve and excellent writing gets sponsorships.

• Excellent copy

• Original content

• Name recognition

• Reading

• Generosity

• Discomfort

These are 6 ways I achieved sponsorship. Follow these principals, and you can, too.

More by Jonica Bradley

https://read.cash/@JonicaBradley/your-articles-arent-making-any-money-heres-why-2d09eded

https://read.cash/@JonicaBradley/whipp-using-this-method-will-improve-your-writing-guaranteed-3f53223e

https://read.cash/@JonicaBradley/everything-in-moderation-plagiarism-criminal-laziness-and-doxxing-ffb8575f

All photos by author or license free from unsplash

Lead imageBy U.S. Air Force photo by Larry McTighe - United States Air Force, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=566736

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