أرشيف شهر Monetization

Should You Start a New Blog, or Something Else?

أبريل 17, 2008 في 1:45 م · Filed under Feature, Monetization

Kevin Muldoon has asked on his blog, System0 if his next project should be a blog, and while I am a full time blogger, and big fan of all things blogging, but I am leaning more towards “no”. Before you all lynch mob me, let me explain myself.

In the last three years, I have witnessed many bloggers make big bucks online, but, to me, what is even more apparent is that services can actually be easier to monetize and grow much larger than most blogs will ever strive to.

When working with Bloggy Network, a fair bit of the revenue generated was from services (though even more was spent on its constant development due to Ahmed’s quest for perfection).

You develop something, grow your user base, and monetize it. Once developed, the content added to Blog Flux was generated more by users than by the owners, and unlike paying bloggers to write for you, most of the content is generated freely. They add their sites to the services, and talk on the forums, all the while building up a service site that someone else gets to make money from.

With blogs, it is a hard, long road to real monetization through content development. Sure, there are the “over night successes”, but I see just as many, if not more, from the online services world.

If Kevin had asked me this question three years ago, I probably would have told him wholeheartedly to add new blogs, as it was a slightly newer market then, but with the fierce competition today, and the growing difficultly to stand out in the crowd, growing a blog from nothing into something large enough to make money versus just losing money is one of the hardest things you can do online.

Yes, I know this flies in the face of my own efforts as I continue to launch a few blogs here and there, but that is mostly due to the start up costs associated with each type of site. Starting a blog is cheap, while building an easy to use, effective service is expensive, and I just don’t have the capital to put such a site up right now.

Also, considering the niches that Kevin wants to get into is Tech and Humour, I really wouldn’t suggest starting up “just another blog” at this point, not unless he has an amazing hook for each site that will quickly separate them from the millions of others he would be competing against.

Now for another caveat, stay away from turnkey sites. Those are sites built on mass produced scripts where the only differentiating factor is the owner and the domain. Building your own idea, and capitalizing on its uniqueness, no matter how small, is the better business approach in my mind.

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nextMEDIA: Trends and Tools for Monetizing Digital Media

نوفمبر 29, 2007 في 12:49 ص · Filed under Feature, Monetization

This is continuing coverage of the nextMEDIA conference in Toronto. To find all the posts related to nextMEDIA, check out Splashpress’ Blog

The fourth session at nextMEDIA was entitled, “Trends and Tools for Monetizing Digital Media”. It seemed to focus much more on the trends, rather than anything else.

Duncan Steward, Director at Deloitte Research, had way too much text on his slides, and that reduced my ability to really figure out the root ideas of his presentation, but he did still bring up some great points.

Duncan mentioned that content producers should not repurpose content for other platforms. It seems easy enough to do sometimes, but by doing so, you are compromising the benefit you could be giving to your user.

He also spent a fair bit of time talking about traditional media, saying that while we are multitasking and television has become background noise for many people, only recently has there been a shift in attention away from television, where people are spending more time on the Internet than watching TV.

Duncan also noted that the majority of the Canadian population still reads magazines (as high as 72%). I found that shocking in one sense, as I continue to hope for the demise of the traditional published work, but I do understand the need for people to hold the magazine in their hands.

He also made an interesting statement that I don’t agree with and that is that “generations are different, but not extremely so”.

Deloitte also puts out predictions every year, and Duncan gave us a look at their 2008 list which includes:

  • HD Content is past the tipping point
  • Traditional media starts tapping the online world more
  • Millennials getting bored of digital (18-25 hitting a digital saturation point).

A very statistic oriented session, but another one that makes the online world look better and better to the advertisers that were both sitting in the audience and the ones online reading articles such as this.

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Teaching Sells Members-Only Affiliate Program

نوفمبر 20, 2007 في 6:20 م · Filed under Community, Monetization

Teaching Sells Affiliate ProgramSo, the long talked about Teaching Sells Affiliate program is now live, with only certain members being accepted into its ranks so that you won’t have to compete with all of the over 800 currently members out of the starting gate.

They say that they are only accepting members in good standing, and so while I have been reading all the content, and absorbing it all, I haven’t been communicating much on the forum, and am unsure what the qualifications are for being considered in “good standing”.

We will pay you 50% of the initial sign-up fee (currently $197) when someone joins Teaching Sells from your referral. Plus, we will also continue to pay you 50% of the monthly recurring fees (currently $49) for that subscriber who remains in good standing beyond the first three month period.

Interestingly enough, the affiliate page goes on to say what I have already expected, they are holding back content until the three month anniversary of the site, meaning that if you want to continue to get all the great things that they have thought up, you will have to sign up for another three months at the $47 renewal rate.

Sounds like a first rate affiliate program though, and I can see some people, with a huge amount of community clout making a killing off the nearly $100 per new member earnings that are possible.

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Selling Your Readership

نوفمبر 5, 2007 في 8:29 م · Filed under Monetization

I have to admit that I find it a bit sad that so many make money online bloggers are taking the easy way out by selling their blogs, some well before their time for some quick cash due to the fickle market valuing such blogs at what I consider to be a fairly incredible rate.

So far I have seen nearly half a dozen blogs jump ship ranging from $2500 all the way up to $10,000. Mark at 45n5.com has come up with a great post, giving basic valuations to many blogs, further inciting people to sell now while the market is hot.

What does this say about the original blogger? How does this make me feel as a reader of these blogs? I honestly feel a little betrayed. Some of these bloggers promised to deliver a product: their knowledge. They have instead decided to sell off their blog leaving me wondering what kind of things I will be able to learn from the new owners.

Every blog sold goes through a transition, whether the old writer stays on for a day, month or year, it eventually changes from what made it great, into something different. Don’t get me wrong, different doesn’t necessarily mean bad, but in my experience, very few blogs improve after changing ownership.

Really what most of these people are doing is selling their readership. They are selling my time on their blog and the value I bring to someone else and the only way I can think to combat this is to take my time back, and place it in the hands of blogs that I feel confident are going to stick around, with their original owner, or at least a trustworthy level of professionalism.

On the flip-side though, I am enjoying that so many people are leaving the race, as it only helps continue my trend at making this the blog about becoming a professional blogger, and making money online.

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Sale Fever: First Blogging Fingers, Now One Man’s Goal

نوفمبر 3, 2007 في 10:01 م · Filed under Monetization

Of course now that Google’s PageRank update is over, everyone that can flip their site for a good profit, is taking the opportunity. Blogging Fingers recently sold for $6000, and now One Man’s Goal is on Sitepoint with a current bid of $6400. It is very interesting to see so many great sites sell long before they have shared the full breadth of their knowledge. Had Darren Rowse given up on Problogger.net and just sold it, I doubt we would all be talking about him so much today.

Here is some of the text from the sale:

After much thought, I’ve decided to sell my high-profile blog OneMansGoal.Com.

This blog is a true gem, and it is already causing quite a splash at only 4 months old. I’ll get into the traffic and the revenue a little later, but I want you to know how truly magnificent this blog is.

After only 4 months of blogging (I was completely new to the blog scene), I’ve managed to earn a PR4 and quite a few high quality backlinks. These backlinks include some of the biggest blogs in the make money online niche such as Problogger.Net and Entrepreneurs-Journey.Com (among many others).

I am selling the blog because I have a new project in mind that I believe will be a big earner for me. Rather than neglecting One Man’s Goal and it’s family of loyal readers, I’d rather sell it to someone who can give it the attention it needs.

I might be persuaded to stay on as a paid blogger if you would like. Also, if you need me to, I will stay on for a period of two weeks until you get settled and running smoothly (free of charge).

It will be interesting to see if this trend continues. The good news is that most sites, once they are sold, even if the author stays on for a while, the transition usually creates a drop in traffic. That drop, in my experience, can be as much as half, so that makes my work in rising up the ranks of this niche that much easier.

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John Chow’s September 2007 Income Report

أكتوبر 1, 2007 في 10:29 م · Filed under Monetization

John Chow’s September 2007 Income Report also known as “the post that makes me cry every month” has been posted on his blog, and its dizzying to watch as his blog gets past the $20,000 mark in one month, and even more amazing, it is only a year since the blog started.

His total blog income for September was $20,512.17 USD. This means that he made a little over $683 a day from his blog. I really want to stress how amazing this is because if he earned this much every month for a year he would be pocketing over $240,000 USD. Not bad for any blogger, let alone one that primarily blogs about making money online.

He did prove me right on one thing I have said before though and that is that private ad sales are really the way to go, as it became his biggest earner in September. This increase is most likely due to his redesign which focused heavily on creating advertising positions for him to sell.

John has done well for himself, but I believe that there are many other bloggers out there that can put in the effort needed to see such results as well.

If you are on Facebook, feel free to join my John Chow Wannabe Support Group, where you can complain, question, and network with others that want a piece of John’s income online and if you are lucky, John Chow, who is also a member, might stop by, and say “hello”.

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PayPerPost: Selling Your Audience?

سبتمبر 14, 2007 في 7:11 م · Filed under Advertising, Monetization

Before I begin this post, I want to mention that I have sat down and broken bread with Ted Murphy of PayPerPost before. He is a great guy, and his simple idea, turned company, has had the blogging world in a fury more than once.

PayPerPost

What is PayPerPost?

The simple explanation is that it is exactly what it’s name implies. I pay money to advertise a product, service or site using PayPerPost’s system, and members write about it on their blog, and collect the money for doing so.

From PayPerPost’s website:

Get paid for blogging. You’ve been writing about Web sites, products, services and companies you love for years and you have yet to benefit from all the sales and traffic you have helped generate. That’s about to change. With PayPerPost advertisers are willing to pay you for your opinion on various topics. Search through a list of Opportunities, make a blog posting, get your content approved, and get paid. It’s that simple.

The Good

This system sounds great for a variety of reasons. Instead of getting pennies a day, or sometimes a month through systems like Google’s AdSense, or Yahoo Publisher’s Network, you can now make a fair bit of money by reviewing products, services and websites through PayPerPost.

We are just coming into the half way point of the month, and some bloggers have already earned over $900 so far this month from this one advertising system. The top earner since the beginning has earned nearly $16,000 from the PayPerPost system. So it is easy to see why this whole type of advertising has become a success.

There are many people in this and other niches that seem to make around twenty to a hundred dollars per post on their blog, and so assuming that you can secure just one review per month, you would be bringing in $20 to $100 using just PayPerPost Direct. In conjunction with other forms of advertising, this could mean the difference between buying coffee once a month, to buying a dinner at a fancy restaurant.

As the service has grown, many great opportunities are now on PayPerPost. I found it very lacking when it first began, many of the better opportunities to make money being created by PayPerPost itself, which worked very well as a means to create buzz about the service.

The Bad

What will your readers think? This is one thing that many bloggers are struggling with. As you build up your blog, you are also building up a profile as well as certain expectations. Some readers will see you as selling out if you take the PayPerPost route.

Are you willing to sell out your readership to make some money by pushing a product, service or website

Others will see you as being fake, since the posts you might have to write will require you to put a positive spin on whatever you are reviewing. It then becomes a game of dollars versus ethics. Are you willing to sell out your readership to make some money by pushing a product, service or website that you don’t have in depth knowledge about? Can you really give a non-bias opinion when money rides on your answer?

I have heard of bloggers losing readership from using the PayPerPost service, and while that is understandable, is it worth worrying about?

The Ugly

There is also a pretty big group of bloggers out there that are willing to slam the service, the idea of the service, and anyone using PayPerPost. They find the whole thing unethical and compare it to selling out, or selling one’s soul. While you are required to post that a PayPerPost post was a paid advertisement, does that really excuse the act of putting advertising in your content?

Conclusion

Before you join PayPerPost or any similar service, you have to weigh the pro’s and con’s. I think that PayPerPost, like any advertising service has it’s place, but if the draw to your blog is based on your opinions on any subject, you might want to take an extra pause, or at least only accept posts that allow you to write your true feelings, positive or negative, about a particular product, service or site.

Also, make sure you think to yourself, “would I read a blog that had a full post of advertising, even just once every month?”

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Secondary Benefits to Blogging

يوليو 24, 2007 في 12:30 ص · Filed under Blogging, Monetization

For many people, it is not the blog that brings about a change in the person’s life, but instead the secondary benefits of blogging.

Secondary benefits include book deals, invitations to speak at conferences, free products to review, and even employment opportunities.

I haven’t yet experienced most of the above list, but I have watched as the bloggers that I enjoy have continued to climb the social ladder and gain access to some of those great benefits.

I have, however, been given products, and access to services due to my standing in the blogging community, which was really exciting. I was able to give my opinion to my readers allowing them to make an informed decision. It also allowed me to “geek out”, which is something I don’t get to do often enough.

Why does blogging bring about such things? Blogs can allow a person interested in you, what you do, or what you have to say in a very quick, and focused way. Most blogs will give an overview of the writer’s work ethic, writing ability, and most importantly, your personality.

So, don’t think that just because you don’t know how to monetize a blog, that nothing will come from your efforts. From what I have read, more people are able to gain access to the secondary benefits of blogging than living off the money they make directly from their blog. Either way, it sounds like a good deal to me.

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Text Link Ads

يوليو 20, 2007 في 1:16 ص · Filed under Advertising, Monetization

Text Link Ads

There are many different ways you can make money from your blog, and one of my favorites is Text Link Ads (ref link).

The system is simple enough. You add your site to their service, and based on the popularity of your site, advertisers buy links and you get paid half of what Text Link Ads brings in.

Advantages

The advantages of a system like Text Link Ads are three fold as you get a central website for advertisers to find such advertising opportunities, advertising on your site that isn’t intrusive, and a fairly high income from the ads, depending on numerous factors.

The central hub for advertisers to find advertising opportunities is why Text Link Ads takes a rather large cut of each sale. You could sell text links on your own blog, but an advertiser might never come to your site for such a thing, but they will check out Text Link Ads, if they are looking to buy text links.

Non-intrusive advertising will put those with ethics at ease. There are no pop-ups or other such annoyances with text links. They are just regular links. They sit quietly in whatever position you put them in, and people can click on them or ignore them.

You can earn a lot from the advertising revenue attached the advertisements that Text Link Ads sell, especially if your site is very popular. For a Google Page Rank 4 blog with a higher than one million Alexa ranking can easily earn ten dollars per link per month, and with the ability to have up to eight links, that could convert to eighty dollars you weren’t previously earning. Sites with higher Google Page Ranks and lower (better) Alexa ranks of course make more money per link. Some blogs listed currently make upwards of three hundred dollars per link, though that is quite rare. The average seems to be around the twenty-five dollar mark, which becomes two hundred dollars if all eight of your advertising spots are sold.

Disadvantages

No advertising system is without its disadvantages.

It won’t last forever because Google is a smart search engine company, and that is the largest disadvantages I see with Text Link Ads. With constant improvements to Google, the benefit to advertisers is going to continually be reduced, thus dropping the bottom out of such a system.

You might lose some of your Page Rank as it has been reported that Google penalizes sites that sell text links. This makes sense with the way Google works, as their Page Rank calculations are based on links and passing value through those links from one site to another, so really you are selling your Google Page Rank, and shouldn’t be surprised if your Page Rank goes down.

You may never sell a link. This is in part due to the huge user base on Text Link Ads, meaning much more competition. You have to stand out compared to other blogs in your niche, or advertisers will buy text links on their site, and not yours.

Is it for you?

Text Link Ads has to be one of the easiest advertising systems I have ever used. I picked where I wanted the links, and other than that, I didn’t have to worry about trying other positions, finding ways to maximize exposure, or other optimizations. The income generated off the links greatly outperformed AdSense on pretty much all of the sites I have tried it on. A word of warning though. If you want to use this system, keep yourself informed on what Google is doing in regards to text links, as it could greatly effect your site, and no amount of money is worth being knocked back down to a Page Rank of zero.

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