Adsense Isn’t Enough To Make Money Online
August 26, 2007
When I first started my blog, I envisioned using Google Adsense, and only that, to make a very decent profit. But early on I learned that Adsense isn’t enough to make money online - in fact, it will probably be one of your lowest earners.
Adsense was big in its day, but now it is slowly fading out of the picture as paid reviews and selling banners and text links come in and take its place. The majority of people avoid ads like the flu and don’t want anything to do with them, and most Adsense blocks stand out like a sore thumb. Only the very famous bloggers made a good income with Adsense, and even then, it’s not as much as you might hope for.
With Adsense, you don’t earn that much per click and the ad block is taking up a huge amount of valuable space that you could be using for something else and making more money with. For example, if you have an Adsense banner in your sidebar, you could remove it and replace it with text link sales, which will benefit others more and make you more money.
If you’re a beginner to blogging and have just started, then Adsense might be your only bet. You can’t sign up for PayPerPost until your blog is 90 days old, and no one will be willing to buy text links, banners, or reviews from a brand new blog. So if you’re just starting out, Adsense could be one of the only way to go.
But if your blog is a few months old and you get a nice amount of traffic, have a decent subscriber count, and have PageRank, then it may be time to ditch the Adsense and try something new. People will be willing to buy advertising from you, so not only are you making yourself more money, but you’re helping other bloggers and webmasters out and giving them traffic and a secure spot in your blog. To see some on ideas on the advertising you can sell on your own, see my post titled Advertising: Cut Out the Middle Man and Make More Money.
Google Adsense has strict rules and it’s easy to get banned when you do nothing wrong. Also, they’re very unpredictable and you can never be sure how much you’re going to make. But if you cut them out and manage your own advertising sales, then you create your own rules and run set prices the way YOU want to it. Not only that, but you’ll be making more. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, experiment around with your money making techniques, and possibly ditch Adsense if it’s not doing much for you.
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Share Your Blogging Tips and Get a Free Link
August 25, 2007
It’s a Saturday, and I’ve recently decided to make Saturdays days in which I can experiment, ask or provide open knowledge, and give back to readers. Today I have sort of combined all three. I am going to ask you to share one of your favorite blogging tips. It can be one of your own tips, or one you learned somewhere else and highly believe in. Before you comment and leave your one tip, I highly suggest you read all the tips others have left. This way you can learn plenty of new knowledge and also make sure you’re not posting a tip someone else has already mentioned.
So what do you get back?
First off, you’re teaching and helping others with what you know. Second, you automatically get a link to your own site attached to your name in your comment because this blog is DoFollow. THIRD, I will select some of my favorite tips from the bunch and collect them all together in a new post, and I will link once more to the people who submitted those tips.
So what are you waiting for? Share what you know! Leave a comment and share one (and only one) of your favorite blogging tips. I’m leaving this very open. It can be a general tip or very specific. But don’t be shy. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. :)
UPDATE: 3 blogging tips written by YOU. Check out the final results.
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Get A Free Banner on JohnChow.com!
August 25, 2007
Do you know how much traffic and exposure you can get if your banner is shown on JohnChow.com? A LOT! Tim Schroeder of eMonetized is being extremely generous and giving four people the chance to have their own 125 x 125 banner ad shown on John Chow for free. Your can read more about his John Chow Banner Ad Contest Here. I think it’s definitely worth checking out - you have nothing to lose and in the end, you could come winning BIG TIME! :D
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The Importance of Having Your Site Reviewed
August 24, 2007
A couple of days ago I was over at CourtneyTuttle.com and saw that he was having a very generous contest where you tell him a little about your site and then he will choose a winner and give them a free review. I thought I’d give it a shot, and I was very surprised when I went back to Court’s blog the next day and saw that I’d won! Click to read the review.
I had noticed (and am still noticing) a great increase in traffic. The RSS subscribers count is already going up, but in the next few days I’m sure it’ll be even better. But not only am I getting traffic and subscribers from the review, I’m getting exposure. Having people know who you are and have a positive impression of you is very important if you hope to get anywhere.
The point of this post is to tell you that it is important to have your site reviewed. Most of the time you’re going to have to pay for it, and I just got very lucky with Court’s extreme kindness. But even when you do have to pay, it’s worth it. Reviews of your site not only have your traffic shoot way up, but the advertising lasts forever (unlike a monthly link, etc.) and people feel like they know you more than if you purchased a banner in a sidebar. People will have more of a lasting impression of your website and feel like can trust you.
If you’re brand new at blogging and can’t yet afford reviews, try some type of program like ReviewBack. You have to review another site in return, and you can’t be too sure on how good the quality of the review will be, but it’s free!
Or, to spin it around a little, OFFER A FREE REVIEW ON YOUR BLOG JUST LIKE COURT DID. Not only are you helping out someone who needs it, but you will get exposure for your generosity and your readers will really appreciate your kindness.
All in all, having your site reviewed (and writing reviews for others) is very important. The advertising that comes in a review is much, much more than a banner or a link in a sidebar that lasts a couple months. The review physically lasts forever, and it will also have a lasting impression on those who read it. People will feel like they know you more and will be much more compelled to become a subscriber or daily reader. So make reviews one of your top priorities, and good luck. :)
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John Chow Makes More Money With A New Theme
August 23, 2007
It’s pretty big news about right now; John Chow’s got a new design (created by Nate Whitehill). If you haven’t seen it yet, take a peek at the preview below:
I really like the new theme. To be honest, the old one was bland and I often wondered how someone with so much money couldn’t come up with something better. But now the blog has a more professional feel. It is sharp, bright, and still very well organized - and all of that without being too flashy. Nate definitely did a good job, and he was smart to offer the design for free. Not only does he get a lot of exposure for it, but a link at the bottom of the site that appears on every single page!
Oh yes, I believe I’m supposed to mention how John is making money with his new theme. Well, if you haven’t noticed, it does contain a lot more advertising. The eight sponsor buttons on the sidebar are all new and came with the new design. Each one of them cost $500 per month, according to Mr. Chow - now that’s a lot of money!
John believes in not selling himself short, that he should make close to the highest amount of money with his site that he can. But let’s face it: he’s already making a fortune online. And while John won’t gain anymore money from it, I believe he should cut the sponsored ad buttons in half, to four instead of eight. He won’t get the extra cash, but he’ll be doing something for his readers, and isn’t that enough of a reason? Many people are complaining on the overdose of advertising, and I agree. It could definitely be reduced.
But all in all, I really love the design. I’m very impressed by it and actually quite a bit jealous. Some good new features are the popular articles and subscribe sections at the top, and it’s things like that that I hope to get in a future layout for this blog. John’s theme is professional and stunning, but would be twice as better without all those ads. Great job on it, Nate!
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