Blogging and Marketing Resources for the Average Blogger and Business
Posts tagged Monetization
Your Turn to Provide a “Review”
Jan 9th
When I began offering Free Blog Reviews, I have been very pleased with the response and have grown quite a backlog of requests. Thank you for your interest and I assure all of you, I will get to all of them. However, this time I would like you for a review.
Recently, I added a PayPal Donate Button to the right panel of The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit. My thinking is that if the information contained in “the kit” is of value to you, you may throw a bone this way. Pleasantly, even after the test I had a friend perform, I’ve actually received a few “tips.” (No, not “stay out of the stock market!”)
What do you think? Back in February of last year, I weighed in with Donate Buttons: Classy or Trashy. At that time, I had only advertising on the site and posed a number of questions relating to monetization in general, appropriateness and if “donate” can or should coexist with “ads.”
I want your opinion. Over this past year, I have become more confident in my blogging skills and decided to test the water. Your opinions are important to me.
Thanks,
Dave
Multiple Blog Monetization
Jul 10th
Grow Your Blogs
As I’ve explored many different blogs in a number of varied categories, I have found instances where the same apparent author has created multiple blog properties. They are all monetized and in some cases, look very much the same. The topics within those families vary to different degrees, but one thing seems to be common: they are all owned by the same person.
Why is that significant? I’ll take a run at it from a couple of different angles.
First, frequency.
As I’ve indicated before in Frequent vs. Relevant, frequency plays a significant role in enticing readers to return. Post too often and people may not want to keep up with all the posts in their blog reader. Post too infrequently and they get bored. Multiple blogs allow frequent posts (for those prolific bloggers) to be shared across each blog, keeping an “every few days” cycle for each one.
Next, relevancy.
In the same post, I suggest that knowing your audience and staying on target is also important. Multiple blogs allows those of us with some A.D.D. tendencies to explore a wide variety of topics, but channel those topics to the appropriate venue.
Finally, monetization.
With an understanding that the “basic blocking and tackling” of frequency and relevancy must be performed on each blog property, casting a wide net allows a wider monetization coverage. We still need to post at the right frequency with relevant content. However, multiple sites means multiple Adgitize ad sets, more Google AdSense boxes and a greater chance that a blog will “take off.” More saplings planted means a better chance of a large, healthy tree – or maybe a whole forest.
OK, I’m about out of cliches.
But I’ve begun to take my own advice. In addition to the “business” blog of the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit, I have previously mentioned my “casual” blog the New Blogged Word. Last week, I just launched Energication to satisfy my passion for education and renewable energy. Energy Education. Energication. Get it? Sorry. Had to play the game. No monetization on that last one yet, but watch for it!
As humans, we have no end of opinions and perspectives. What better way to channel that energy than through multiple blogging channels. The only requirement is quality. A large number of bad blogs can’t compare to even one great one. But multiple good blogs gives us the best chance for monetization success.
Dave
Membership Sites as a Lucrative Business Model
Jun 14th
Yaro Starak's "Motivational" Video
As bloggers, many of us envision a time when we can actually make a few dollars from this hobby. Some of us are already there and looking to expand the success. Membership sites are one way to do that, although it could be a very different way to look at the world.
Yaro Starak is one of the “whales” of the industry and while I am not here to endorse or recommend anything he is selling as blogging resources, I had to share this video with you. Yaro Starak on Membership Sites
In the spirit of full disclosure, I am not an affiliate of, nor associated with Mr. Starak in any way. I just enjoy viewing his video as my own motivational tool.
Let’s think about changing your business model into one supporting a membership site. You’ve developed considerable and valuable base of content in your blog and believe people would pay a small monthly fee for exclusive access to it. You may publish “routine” material for everyone, but in-depth and very detailed descriptions of thing people need is held for the subscribers.
Sounds easy, huh? Potentially lucrative, yes. Easy? Not so much.
The hard work comes not only in developing a critical mass of valuable information to launch the membership site, but it comes again in the form of continuing to feed the monster. Without a consistent flow of quality material ADDED on a regular basis, your initial fans (paying members) will not believe they are getting the value.
Impossible? No. It just takes effort.
Remember, the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit is not about screaming hype about getting rich quick. It’s common sense discussions about growing your blogging success. With some planning and hard work, membership sites could be a part of your long term efforts.
Share your successes (or failures) with membership sites. Have you tried it; are you making it work; have you given up? We can all benefit from your thoughts.
Dave
PS: For more information, you can visit Yaro’s Membership Mastermind. (Again, not a pitch, just simply a resource.)
PPS: Here’s another link to Jeremy Shoemaker’s post on Shoemoney. His post includes a link to an MP3 of an interview with Yaro.
People Learn Blogging in Different Ways
May 25th
Blogging for "Beginners"
The Ultimate Blogging Toolkit is billed as a “resource for average bloggers,” it occurred to me that people learn in different ways. Some Interate. Some Educate.
Some of us just jump right in, start the process, adjust our initial assumptions, test the new thinking, gather more perspectives than our own, apply them where they make sense, adjust again, and so on. They “interate.”
There are a large cross-section of people who like to have a some background, allowing them to make sound decisions before they begin, saving the effort of reinventing the process to get the best deliverable possible. They “educate.”
Neither approach is better or worse than the other – what’s important is to find out how you operate and take the proper steps.
Blogging for Dummies is part of a very successful line of “For Dummies” books. The dummies name could not be farther from the truth. These books are a great place to start, regardless of the topic. If you want some solid background on a topic, written in a clear, enjoyable and sometimes comical way, this is the book for you. I’ve read several through the years and have enjoyed them all.
But the “For Dummies” series is only one way to get your feet wet with blogging.
ProBlogger Secrets
ProBlogger is a site like the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit, but with a start in 2004 and run by a very talented blogger, I’d be the first to admit they are the style of blog to which I aspire. How Darren Rowse describes his effort:
“This site is dedicated to helping other bloggers learn the skills of blogging, share their own experiences and promote the blogging medium.”
I highly endorse the sentiment.
If ProBlogger is an extreme resource, it would be appropriate to also provide a look into a more aggressive blogging goal – and who better to use to make a point? If your aspirations have developed further than just starting out, ProBlogger’s Secrets For Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income is the tool for you.
Regardless of your style, there are many ways to get started or advance from your current position. From beginners books to six-figure guides and from the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit to ProBlogger – there’s help out there. Just ask.
Dave
Diversify Your Monetization Strategy
Jul 13th
Posted by Dave in Uncategorized
2 comments
Affiliate Revenue at Risk
To continue thinking Monetization for one more post, I thought it important to talk about a recent news item. ”Amazon Cuts North Carolina Affiliates to Avoid Tax.”
While the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit has been a forum for much Monetization discussion (note the relative size of Monetization in the tag box to the right), it bears mentioning that like any investment strategy, diversification is an important strategy in monetizing your blog.
In “The Move to Monetization: No Google Adsense,” I recapped my unsuccessful attempt to reinstate my Adsense account after it was disabled for reasons I still can not determine. I’m not in this situation, but IF blogging was my primary or only source of income, and IF all my eggs were in the Google basket, I’d be, well, hosed.
Many people do this with Amazon, but for those in North Carolina, the opportunity just went away. The State of North Carolina is close to passing a law that would force companies to collect the tax if they have in-state online-marketing affiliates. As a result, Amazon has ended business relationships with marketing affiliates in North Carolina to avoid collecting sales tax in the state.
It may come as no surprise that affiliates make up a small portion of Amazon’s traffic, so this move won’t hurt much. But it does help Amazon avoid substantial headaches in trying to manage the taxation.
As the economy continues to chug away at the bottom of its cycle, more states that need to fill budget gaps may be looking use affiliates as a way to force companies to collect a sales tax for online purchases. Amazon also has threatened to pull out of its affiliate business in California, Hawaii, Rhode Island and other states. States including Maryland, Minnesota and Tennessee have rejected similar laws.
The irony of the North Carolina direction is that they have likely reduced (not increased) state revenues by driving this commerce activity out of the state.
Protect yourself. Evaluate your revenue model and be sure there are many sources in that model. Adjusting one that fails is one thing. Completely changing to a new “single source” may be devastating.
Dave