Here We Go: Adproval

Today’s HERE WE GO post is a short interview with Adproval founder, Matthew Anderson! Adproval is an easy way to manage and sell your ad space directly to sponsors you approve. Learn more here:

How did Adproval begin? Were you involved in the blogging community beforehand?

I have been off and on with my own personal blog for quite awhile, but I have consistently gotten a lot of value from other blogs in my life. I think the average person would be shocked to realize how many times they end up on blogs without even realizing it just by googling something. That’s how I ended up on a DIY blog about a year and a half ago looking for projects to do and noticed ads in the sidebar via AdSense for an obscure online dating service. Not only were those ads creepy and making fun of my singleness, but they led to my realization that (a) there is no way this blogger would want that ad showing up to her readers, and (b) she could make a lot more money and maintain a higher quality site if she actually knew what advertisements were being shown and was able to endorse her sponsors beyond just a display ad. I then discovered the trend of bloggers performing these direct sponsorship sales themselves, despite how time consuming it is to manually build relationships, collect and upload ads through email, collect payments, and so on. So, I saw a clear problem keeping bloggers from efficiently making the money they deserved and set out to fix it with Adproval.

What’s your favorite part of running Adproval?

As mentioned, I get a lot of value from blogs. I made my giant bookshelf based off of a design on a DIY blog, I get honest music reviews from blogs, I get tips for training my dog from blogs… the list goes on. Considering all the value I consume from blogs, my favorite part of running Adproval is helping bloggers get value back for what they produce. I know first hand how hard it is to be a consistent blogger, as I have tried (and failed) many times myself. I love being the founder of a startup doing all we can to provide dedicated and creative writers with the tools they need to improve and see a good return for their work without compromising the integrity of their sites.

How does your service differ from other ones like Passionfruit Ads?

We have a few key differences now (customizable Ad Store colors, getting paid instantly, etc.). Our main difference, though, is Adproval’s unique approach in not only allowing bloggers to easily sell and manage their display ads, but their content sponsorship offerings as well (like featured or sponsored blog posts). We believe that a bloggers most valuable asset is their content. It’s what they spend the most time on, it’s what earned their faithful readers, and it’s how they express themselves best. And we aren’t the only ones who believe this. Advertisers are recognizing the value of an authentic bloggers content. We are committed to doing all we can to help these connections be easier to make, manage, and process for bloggers, while allowing them the ability to maintain complete authenticity by approving of every advertiser they work with.

Do you offer help for those that might have trouble setting all of this up on their blog?

Of course! Our service only requires bloggers to put one line of code onto their blog to manage their “Ad Store” where their sponsorship inventory is listed and one line of code per display ad group. That is all there is to do to get set up. We have some (and are working on more) tutorials for different blogging platforms. We also have a live chat within Adproval and we are always available via email (support@adproval.com) to help with Adproval specific set up or offer recommendations for a bloggers advertising strategy in general.

I don’t currently accept sponsors or ads. Tell me more about how I can be involved as an advertiser and find a good match.

Right now, we would love to help you build relationships with the bloggers that best fit what you’re looking for as an advertiser. Let us know what type of blog you’d like to work with, what specific areas of influence you’d like them to have, what type of sponsorship you want (display ad, sponsored post, product review, or all of the above), and we’ll hand pick bloggers from our user base that best suit you. We have an exciting new platform in the works that will streamline this process, too.

How do you see Adproval growing or expanding?

We are so excited to expand to allow bloggers to set up more types of content offerings and to help them connect with brands that they are passionate about. We have a great vision laid out before us, a great team in place to take us there, and a great base of bloggers. We’re looking forward to more bloggers joining us and letting us know what we can do for them so we we can continue providing an innovative, helpful, and ever-improving tool for bloggers!