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If you’re looking for a fantastic alternative to the Text-Link-Ads site and marketplace, then TNX.net (TNX pronounced as the word “thanks”, as in internet chat speak) could be your perfect solution. They target both advertisers and publishers in a great way. This site could easily surpass other text link ad websites, you just watch and see. Or even better, sign up and be a part of it all so you don’t miss out!

For Advertisers

TNX.net is a great place to buy links and have them appear on other sites. They make it simple and easy. Once you access their site and see their global dashboard, you click on the “Create Campaign” button. You name your campaign and select all the kinds of site categories it will appear under. There are also little dollar sign symbols beside each category to let you know how much they cost, which I think is a very nice addition. You also get to choose the languages of the sites your ad appears on, along with the number of backlinks and the PageRank the site must have. Last but not least, you get to choose how much you are willing to spend.

Once you enter in all of this information (which takes about two minutes to do), the site will calculate approximately how many links you should receive for your campaign. With all of this, YOU get to control how your ad campaign runs and you get great exposure on quality sites.

For Publishers

If you’d rather be the one earning money by displaying links on your site instead of buying them, then TNX.net offers that as well. After registering it’s very easy to become a publisher. You just click the “Get Code” button in the sidebar of the dashboard and are presented with a few different copy-and-paste methods of inserting the code into your site. This is very quick and will only take a minute to do. After that, you are able to fill out a quick form and add your site for acceptance into their marketplace. TNX.net site submissions are moderated by real people, so acceptance could take a couple days.

However, after your website is approved within a very short period of time links will start appearing on your site, and there’s no hard work involved for you!

The TNX Point System

One thing I have yet to mention is that TNX.net runs using a point system, which makes it unique and more special than other link marketplace sites out there. TNX points can be acquired by purchasing them from TNX.net themselves (currently the cost is 1,000 points for is a little over a dollar and the price increases 2% per week, so hurry!), or even other members of the site. This can be an awesome money-making opportunity for some! TNX points are based on PageRank and here is an example of what you can get by having 20,000 points:

• 20,000 different PR0 pages from different websites
• 400 different PR1 pages from different websites
• 200 different PR2 pages from different websites
• 100 different PR3 pages from different websites
• 40 different PR4 pages from different websites
• 20 different PR5 pages from different websites

As you can see this is a very fair value, and often times you can get a lot more for your money!

Affiliate Program

I absolutely love TNX.net’s affiliate program. It isn’t based on a flat rate like most other sites. Check out this description, copied from TNX.net’s site:

“When you refer webmasters to TNX.net, you get 13.3% (as long as your account is active) of all TNX-points that are generated by their websites. In addition, you will receive 5% of all payments, made by referred advertiser (this option will work after paypal payments will be automated).”

All in all, I think TNX.net is definitely a great site in which to sign up for, whether you’re looking to sell ads and buy links or earn from displaying them. (If you ARE interested in buying links, there is a currently a limited time offer where you can get free points to use on free links!) As you can see, TNX.net offers a great system that is unique from any other. They have a simple and easy-to-use interface, good pricing, a fantastic affiliate program, and offer a lot of control to their advertisers AND their publishers. I don’t see much on the site that needs to be improved and it has great potential, and already thousands of members that are taking advantage of its great service.

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No matter how popular your site is (or isn’t), you can always make money online with it. If you get less than 50 unique visitors a day or more than 500, there is always going to be someone out there who is willing to promote their product or site on your blog. As long as you price your advertising fairly for what you’re offering, you can make money with your blog.

First, create an advertising page. At the top of the page tell what your site is about and the kind of people it attracts in a paragraph or less. After that, display all of your important stats such as your PageRank, Alexa and Technorati rankings, RSS subscriber count, and the amount of traffic you get on a monthly basis.

Then you’re just going to list what advertising you’re offering to future potential sponsors. My recommendations are selling text link ads, 125×125 banner ads, a prime position 480×60 banner ad on your front page, ads in your feed (as long as you update daily and have a decent subscriber count), and site reviews. List the prices and why the sponsor would want to purchase that advertising method. Don’t overprice - you won’t make a dime if you do!

Make sure you include your contact information so anyone can get in touch with you, and explain the payment methods you’re going to accept. Also make clear how long the advertisement will stay on your site and exactly where it’s going to be.

After you have your advertising page up, make a post about it like I did here. Describe the advertising opportunities and how being a sponsor on your blog or site will help the company being advertised. Make sure you include your prices in the post (remember, don’t overprice!) and tell everyone they are a limited time offer, because the prices are only dirt cheap for the first month.

It’s important that you know to cut out the middle man. Companies like ReviewMe and PayPerPost take extra money from you and your advertisers to pay themselves. If you run your own direct advertising on your blog you can be 100% in charge of all your rules, prices, direct negotiating, etc. Running your own advertising is the way to go!

If you have any questions about running your own advertising or making your advertising page, or anything else on this topic, please write me a comment or send an email through my contact form. If you’re not sure how you should price some of your ads, I’ll be happy to help you figure it out. Good luck, and happy blogging!

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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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When you use other programs like Smorty, PayPerPost, and ReviewMe, you’re either following someone else’s strict rules, having a huge percentage of your earnings taken from you, or hardly making anything at all in the first place. Why let some company control your advertising, reviews sales, AND how much you’re paid for it? My advice: cut out the middle man.

Basically, that means that you shouldn’t use these other programs (or at least, they shouldn’t be all you use). What you SHOULD do is set up your own advertising system. Set up a contact or payment form and offer links for sale at the top of your sidebar. Do a review system where you offer to review a person’s site and create a buzz and get traffic for them, for a set price.

When you use ReviewMe, they take half of the money you make and put it in their own pockets. Think about it: with your reviews and advertising, you could be making twice as much!

So instead of relying on those money-hungry companies, cut them out altogether. Offer the advertising on your site and set up a Paypal button and form for payment. Here are some suggestions for advertisement you can sell on your site to make you some cash:

Reviews. Everyone loves having their site reviewed by a good writer. When you review, describe the site. Tell what it’s about and list what you like about it and what could be improved. If your site is small, ask for no more than $20 for the review. If your site is average, $40-$70. If you have a site with a high PageRank and a lot of traffic, you can demand even more.

Banners. You can set up a banner space in your sidebar where you either feature either one larger banner or around four smaller ones. OR, you can add a banner somewhere in each post, like the bottom, and sell that out to one person. You can make the banners last a week, two weeks, or a month. The bigger the banner, the exposure of its placement, and how long it is up on your site determine the price along with your PageRank, traffic, etc.

Links. The cheapest of all but in my opinion, easiest to sell and manage. Set this up in the top of your sidebar (or some other very prominent place). Decide how many slots will be open (5 links at a time, 10 links, etc.) and also decide how long they’ll be up. One week? A couple? Then sell the links for anywhere from $5 to $20, and even more if your site is big.

Be creative and come up with your own advertising ideas. After all, that’s why you’re cutting out the middle man: so you can do it your way! And even if you’re managing your own ads and reviews now, it’s still okay to do a PayPerPost opportunity every now and then. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. And remember, be reasonable and don’t charge too much!

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I recently joined Smorty, a fantastic service for bloggers where you can make money by writing your opinions on certain topics. Smorty connects advertisers with bloggers, and advertisers can pay bloggers to write about their site or service, including a linkback to them.

When you sign up with Smorty, you will have your own dashboard interface which shows you your new opportunities and pending tasks. It also shows you your Smorty score, your post information, and earnings information.

It’s easy to get paid to blog with Smorty. Each opportunity pays you at least six dollars, and some can pay up to one hundred! The money is delivered to your Paypal on a weekly basis. Smorty is so simple and easy to use. If you have your own domain, a subdomain, or a Blogspot domain, you can join in on Smorty and start raking in the dough. The more your blog grows with traffic, pagerank, how well you’re doing on Smorty, etc., the more you can get paid for your opportunities.

Or, if you want to take the approach of advertising, you can advertise on blogs and spread the word, create buzz, and drive traffic to your site.

So why not try Smorty? There’s nothing to lose!

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