The Editor’s Introductory Guide to Blogging Profit – Monetizing It (Part 1)
In the first installment of this guide (which has proven to be Wordpreneur’s most popular post to date), we pretty much just went through the basic start-up and operations formula for editors — not necessarily writers — to get into the online publishing game on a blog platform.
As promised, now we get into the good old “how to bring money in” part of it.
Comprehensive? I sure hope not; I’d like to think that we as an industry are just scratching the surface as far as making money from publishing online goes. Nor am I breaking any new ground here. Others online (and many of them) have presented all this information already, often grouped together, in one form or another — most probably even found right here on Wordpreneur, and I’m just too freaking lazy to go try digging it all back up.
But I’ll also be adding something towards the end of this post that we don’t usually see in these “how to monetize your blog” articles, something I’m sure at least a few of you editors will likely find appealing. [NOTE: This installment got too long, so I'm breaking it up into two parts... the second part should appear tomorrow!]
Ready? Onwards…
As you probably already know, the easiest way to begin trying to monetize the traffic that your site brings in is Google AdSense. There’s no shortage of information, how-to’s and tips out there (like in the most recent Wordpreneur Carnival) to get you going.
Briefly, AdSense is an advertising network. Advertisers rely on Google to post their ads on sites with content related to what they’re advertising; if anyone clicks on an ad, both the site (you) and Google get paid by the advertiser for that click. No click, no pay.
Simple. Especially for you, the publisher, since you essentially and predominantly just worry about your content.
There are other advertising networks besides Google AdSense, maybe worth looking into after trying and learning what you can from AdSense.
Then there are affiliate programs, which have been around far longer than AdSense. There are many different ways to get paid through affiliate programs — from pay per click (PPC) like AdSense to pay per lead (PPL) and more, but most common and usually most lucrative is pay per sale (PPS) where you receive an actual commission when a sale is made.
Normally, in none of these affiliate marketing cases do you actually physically ”sell” and take orders for anything… instead, your site’s visitors “clickthrough” you to get to the merchant site. Technical wizardy “tracks” these visits and keeps them tied to you, so if a purchase is made (usually within a time “window,” like 30 days or so), you get the commission.
One of the oldest examples of a viable affiliate program to try is Amazon Associates. They don’t pay the largest commissions, but you don’t have to sweat trying to convince anyone to buy from them either. There are also a number of huge affiliate networks around, where you can pick and choose merchants and products to promote. Besides that, one other huge benefit of these networks is that you don’t have to worry about getting paid, no matter how many member merchants you promote; the networks handle all that ho hum stuff for you.
Four (4) tried-and-tested networks for you to check out and start out with are:
- Commission Junction
- LinkShare
- Shareasale
- ClickBank (for ebooks and other downloadable products)
A number of companies run their very own affiliate programs (which is actually how it used to be in the early days), but you’ll not only have to find each merchant and apply directly to each’s program, getting paid is a slightly riskier proposition. But taking this direct route can prove to be very lucrative, if you find the right programs.
I suggest that if you’re just starting out to begin with the affiliate networks first, and then after you’ve gained a bit more experience and knowledge, try working the indies.
What you may have already figured out, however, after reading the above is that to make good money from AdSense and/or affiliate programs, you will need a subtantial amount of traffic. The more the better. There’s no shortage of complaints from bloggers and webmasters whining about the fact that their sites are only bringing in a “trickle” of money from AdSense and affiliate programs. You can pretty much guess why.
Here’s one you usually see on Internet marketing forums, for example: “I’m ready to give up! My blog only generates $5 a day in clicks on Google…” Yup, this guy’s not going to retire from this site. But let’s pretend that he’s actually got some business sense and also makes a few affiliate sales here and there each month (just for the sake of argument, let’s say a lowly $1 a day in aff commissions) on top of the Google clicks.
OK, that’s ($5+$1)*30 or $180 a month or thereabouts. Woohoo! Yeah, no question a “trickle” when you compare it to some of the numbers being reported out there by other online publishers.
But remember: You’re not generating fresh content, Mr. or Ms. Editor. Which begs the question, how much time are you actually spending each week at it? Let’s say 2 hours weekly, or 8-10 hours a month, getting and posting new content to the site. That means for this particular “activity,” you’re actually getting paid $18 to $22.50 an hour!
No, not huge by most standards, but guess what? Six bucks a day is conservative, in my experience, for a well-edited, continuously growing site. Do your “editor” duties well and stick to it, in other words, and you’ll see your hourlies move up.
Now, what if you could devote more than just 2 hours a week? Let’s say, you have 10 hours total. No, I probably wouldn’t put more time into this site if I were you… but what’s stopping you from doing four (4) other niche content sites? The formula I outlined previously is not only easy enough, you get the right hosting plan (like at Site5), and you probably won’t need to spend more money for hosting each extra site you publish.
Do the math and see how much total you’ll actually be pulling in, doing something you like (editing and publishing). And by all accounts, this is all still very very part-time. No, you certainly haven’t hit the jackpot… but you’re now possibly in “making a living” territory.
Starting to look interesting, isn’t it?
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2 Responses to “The Editor’s Introductory Guide to Blogging Profit – Monetizing It (Part 1)”
By Michael Werner on Nov 6, 2007 | Reply
One of the things that I’ve seen happen over the years, E-Man, is that people simply give up when they’re “only” bringing in ten dollars a day from their blog.
I suggest that a blogger not look at it like that, in the “only” mode. Try to get it to $15 day, then $20 a day. Keep writing good and entertaining messages, and word will spread. BUT, it does take awhile for this to happen. So, WriterBloggerWannabe, don’t give up. Keep on your task.
By Kathleen on Nov 15, 2007 | Reply
I think most writers should blog but it’s mandatory for non-fiction writers. I started one because I was bored and had a lot to get off my chest. Nearly three years later, it’s become a presence all its own, the leader in its category. I never imagined I’d make a living blogging.
Some items not on your list are donations, gifts and advertising. I never have to buy books anymore unless I’m really hot for a given title and want it immediately. I have so many that I’m behind on my reading and (briefly) considered deleting the link to my amazon wish list until I could catch up.
Donations are another thing; I’ve made more than I care to say publicly (note I’m not including my url but you can get that from my addy). More than $10K last year in addition to another $6K I raised for charity from visitors. In this category I’d add gifts of *real* value, specifically software programs with value in excess of $7K, things I’d really use (haven’t taken the benefactor up on the offer yet, still sourcing the hardware peripherals -another $20K- to run it).
Last of all is advertising. Those display ads in my far right side bar go for a lot more than the going rate of what my traffic would imply because I’m hitting my niche.
Then, there’s book sales. A blog can establish one as an authority in the field. Mine isn’t the number one seller in my niche (altho sales have doubled) because it is the most expensive title but it is far and away the most highly rated.
All told, my income from the time I started has tripled. I have other projects in the works I’ll be executing over the next year. My conservative estimate is that my income will double over today’s earnings. This will allow us to relocate to a pricier city where my husband can go back to school full time to become a math and science teacher (he’s an engineer now) and our standard of living won’t be affected. I am very proud that my husband will be leaving a high paying respected profession to contribute to society and I never could have imagined that my blogging would have enabled that. Most ironic of all is that I was not able to finish high school myself but I’ve still managed to contribute to society meaningfully via blogging and its proceeds.