Chapter 20
IN THIS CHAPTER
Checking out the advertising options
Blogging for money
Putting products on your blog with affiliate programs and gifts
Looking for a blog sponsor
Viewing your blog as a platform
You’ve gotten to know the basics of blogging, you’ve built your online community, you’ve mastered the art of creating pinnable images; now it’s time to consider turning your blog into an income source. Long gone are the days of bloggers needing to explain the value of their online platforms. Companies are well aware of the value of online influencers, and the sky’s the limit for ways bloggers can convert their time online into substantial income.
In this chapter, you take a look at common ways to monetize blogs, but keep in mind that creativity is king in the online world. Let this chapter inspire you rather than confine you.
Advertising on your blog has never been easier. Many different advertising systems offer bloggers a free way to place ads on their blogs, and businesses have picked up on the fact that blog advertising can really work. Putting an ad or two on your blog can help you easily earn a little money doing something you enjoy. Many bloggers turn a pretty penny, and some even earn a living from advertising.
Ever since websites came into existence, you could find online advertisements. From the first web banners of the early Internet to today's contextual advertising systems, ads have run the gamut from wildly successful to a waste of precious bandwidth.
In some cases, the effectiveness of ads has more to do with the readers than anything else. Some types of blogs attract readers likely to look at and click through ads, whereas other blogs’ readers seem to not see the ads at all. In fact, some blog readers may find the existence of ads on a blog downright offensive!
Banner ads (rectangular ads usually placed along the top or bottom of a site) used to dominate ad slots on the web but became less important because people often just tuned them out. Then, pop-up, animated, and blinking advertisements generated a few clicks and ultimately managed to generate a massive backlash. Many of these moving, beeping, and blinking ads just irritated users instead of successfully advertising a product or service.
Today's contextual advertising tools are actually intelligent; ads are matched by subject to the words and phrases that you use on your blog. Generally, this approach gives you ads that better suit your readers’ interests, making those readers more likely to click the ads.
First, decide whether your blog is meant for an advertising campaign. Many blogs can benefit greatly from advertisements. However, you should think about a few things before diving in:
Answering these questions isn't easy; in fact, you might find it impossible unless you jump in. Try using some advertising and observe the results.
You can use several kinds of advertising methods to turn a blog into a place where you can make a tidy profit. The last few years have seen an explosion of companies that want a piece of the action in the blogosphere, and these companies have come up with creative ways to make ads easy to use, simple to implement, and appealing to your readers.
If you're a new blogger or just new to advertising programs, you can easily latch onto the first advertising system that you find and commit to using it. Although this system may serve your needs well, you might want to take a look at some of the different ad systems available and find out about how advertising tends to work in the blogosphere before you start using ads.
A multitude of advertising companies offers bloggers simple solutions to monetize websites. Most of these programs work in similar ways but have unique delivery methods. Many bloggers also choose to work with a specific ad network, which serves ads directly to their bloggers’ sites. As a blogger, choosing an advertising program that works for your audience can make the difference between an increase in readers and turning off your existing traffic.
You can deliver ads to a blog audience in four different ways. Additional methods are available, but most don't work very well in a blog. The most popular advertisement formats for blogs are
Most ad programs today — with the exception of sponsorships — use contextual advertising, which coordinates ad display with related editorial content. So, a blog post about skiing might include ads for ski shops and resorts. A blogger who posts about blogging, for example, ends up with ads for blog software and tools.
Contextual ad systems search your blog for keywords that match products the advertisers have in their inventory. These ads then appear beside the topic keywords and, in theory, apply in the context of the web page on which they appear.
Contextual ads about blog polling tools appear on the left side of the Colorado Moms blog, as shown in Figure 20-1.
Money can flow from the advertiser to the blogger in different ways. Always read the terms of service for an ad program because each advertising company has a different idea about how to compensate bloggers. The usual business models for online ads are
Most bloggers choose to incorporate advertising programs by signing up with a company that serves as a middleman between the blogger and the advertiser. This company typically negotiates rates with the advertiser, tracks ad performance, and pays the blogger for advertising placement.
Although you can cut out the middleman and sell your own ad space, many bloggers find that they don't really want to spend their time dealing with the negotiation, tracking, and technical overhead.
But even the most time-pressed blogger can likely find the strength to listen when an advertiser contacts that blogger directly and offers to sponsor the blog. These arrangements are typically more lucrative for the blogger (and the advertiser, presumably), and the two parties negotiate this relationship on a case-by-case basis, depending on the audience, product, blog traffic, and other factors.
To get these ads onto your website, the programs you sign up for usually provide you with a bit of code that you insert into your website templates. Some programs have step-by-step instructions for popular blog software packages, but be aware that you might also need to consult your blog software documentation for help with putting your ads where you want them.
First, decide just where you want the ads on your page. The best thing to do when you're thinking about introducing ads into your blog design is to make sure the ads aren't overpowering.
At the same time, you need to place ads in spots where readers can see them. Bloggers have discovered a few truths about ads, although your results might differ:
As alluded to earlier, monetizing your blog doesn't have to mean filling up your text or even your sidebar with ads. Many blogs make the majority of their blog-related money through sponsored post campaigns. For many bloggers, sponsored post campaigns means receiving money to post content related to a company or a product. Some bloggers also post product reviews and consider the product they've received to be compensation. Blogging for money can also lead you down the path of the professional blogger, where you write posts for other blogs.
Some bloggers fear that the influence of advertisers and content sponsors might take over the traditionally independent voice of the blogosphere. When advertisers offer money or goods to bloggers to share information about their products and services in a blog, it might not result in an honest review of the business. So, if you're paid to post information about someone else, make sure that you retain your right to post your own, honest opinion.
Many bloggers hear from PR firms and companies daily with requests for sponsored content placement and product reviews. However, a variety of companies also connect bloggers and brands. I recommend clicking through some of your favorite blogs to read the disclosure statements on their sponsored content. Bloggers will often thank the network that connected them with their content. Choose a network or two and sign up to hear about future sponsored content. Remember, signing up doesn’t obligate you to participate in marketing campaigns.
While PR firms and brands are interested in working with bloggers to create sponsored content in part because of the quality of their existing blog posts and videos, don’t underestimate the role that social media accounts play in landing paid blogging gigs. At the end of the day, brands working with bloggers are hoping to reach the most potential customers. If you have a blog with a growing audience but your connected social media accounts have already reached huge numbers, tie the two together in pitches to potential clients. Remember that social media amplifies the power of your blogging voice!
You can offer your blogging services to those who might want them by making a small business for yourself as a professional blogger. Believe me, companies are often looking for competent writers whom they can hire to contribute content to their blogs. To offer your service, check the blogger-wanted ads on job boards and see whether you're interested in writing about any topic. Also, be sure to post about your availability on your own blog's sidebar and in your blog itself.
A site where you can start your search for blogging jobs is Jobs.Progblogger (http://jobs.problogger.net
). This popular website provides help to bloggers so that they can monetize their websites. The job board is highly active, and blogger jobs often appear here.
If you ever blogged about a product that you really like and just knew that you were helping the company that makes the product make a sale, you can now make some money from that sale with affiliate marketing.
Popular retailers have set up affiliate marketing programs, most notably Amazon.com. You sign up with an affiliate program, and when you blog about one of its products, you include a piece of identifying information that the company gives you. You earn cash when readers of your blog click the product and buy it.
If you find yourself blogging about items that others might buy as a result of your recommendation, check to see whether the company that makes the product has an affiliate program, and sign yourself up.
In short order, your blog can contain links to books, DVDs, or other products that provide you with a commission on each product bought through a link from your website.
https://affiliate-program.amazon.com
Amazon is the most recognized affiliate program available, and it's arguably one that you likely benefit from using because many bloggers mention books and DVDs that they've enjoyed.
Amazon Associates works by letting you create specially formatted links that you can use on your blog to drive traffic to the Amazon website. Anything that a visitor who clicks your link purchases earns you a percentage of the sale as a referral fee.
http://marketing.rakuten.com/affiliate-marketing
Rakuten Affiliate Network, formerly called LinkShare, is another affiliate program that calls itself a pay-per-action marketing network. You can place both text and graphical ads on your blog and make money from any sales that come from readers’ purchases.
You can get sponsorships in two ways: by receiving requests from companies and by seeking them out yourself. Such sponsorship can mean one of two things:
Getting sponsors interested in your blog is probably the hardest advertising strategy, though it's also the most lucrative. To find a sponsor, you need to “sell” your blog, from the design to the content. Make the sponsor want to post its advertisements on your site — not someone else's. When you're seeking sponsors, keep your blog dynamic, on topic, and well written.
One of the best things sponsors do for your blog is legitimize your work. Many bloggers might be viewed by the public as “just another blogger” within the static of the Internet. But, if you have sponsors that believe in what you're doing, you can attract other professional relationships, such as speaking engagements or press interviews. If you're regarded as an authority, you can build a stronger brand.
Sponsors can be demanding advertisers, and they can restrict how you develop your monetization plan by changing the way you advertise on your site. Some sponsors demand exclusivity — which means that they're the only business of that type that advertises on your site, forcing you to turn away other potential sponsors. Others might demand that you always write about their products or services in a positive way. Dealing with sponsors can be a true balancing act. But the rewards can be worth the work.
Here's my recipe for a successful sponsor/blogger relationship:
Be clear on your topic. Know who you are and what you're writing about. If you have a blog that isn't clear about its subject, when you're seeking sponsorship, potential sponsors may be unable to understand why they are a good match for your blog. Sponsors want a very clear idea about the content you're creating and what you can do for them.
Keeping your blog on topic is especially important when sponsors are actively using their brand identities on your site. Make sure that they're aware of everything you might write about so that they don't have any surprises or objections to editorial content.
Know your audience. Educate yourself on your audience if you're seeking paying sponsors for your blog. With increased sponsorship, you absolutely must address the question of who your audience is. You need to document the activity in your community, track your comments, and analyze the information from your web statistics. (Check Chapter 19 for information on web statistics and traffic software.)
Create a report of your statistics to prove to any sponsors that you have the numbers you claim. Don't use any guesswork when creating this report. Your sponsors want to see solid numbers and data that back up your claims. Sponsorship arrangements often require you to create statistics reports. The simple fact is that if you want to make money, you have to gather data.
You can collect data from your audience in the form of contests, polls, and other interactive experiences. Ask your audience members who they are — and if you approach it in a professional manner, they might be happy to reveal a little bit about themselves.
Banner placement and visual cues. If you've been placing advertising on your blog for awhile, you already have a good idea where ads appear to have a good effect on your site, and you probably also know what types of ads work best. So, you can demonstrate the benefits of placement and ad types to any potential sponsors.
However, if you've never had ads on your site when you first seek a sponsor, be prepared to offer ideas and suggestions for adequately highlighting the sponsor's ads and branding. You can even provide a design mock-up or some kind of visual representation. Or you might even consider creating a demo website that actually shows the ads in the positions and formats that you think can work.
Jumping to the professional level in the blogging world poses a few potential pitfalls and requires ongoing reinvention on your part. Set up and keep to a few simple rules about what your professional limits and intentions are, and don't be afraid to write those rules down in a document that you share with sponsors and your readers.
Also, be ready to say no. Some sponsors might want more than you're willing to give. Yes, you may be able to earn some money from your blog, but don't forget the reason you're blogging in the first place. Your blog is your territory, not your sponsor's. You're renting the sponsor space on your site, giving it access to your audience. You aren't signing up for someone to tell you what to do. You already have parents for that!
Many companies offer news media access to products and services to generate press attention, and increasingly, bloggers are being offered the same goodies. After all, some blog topics are so specific that companies absolutely know that the blog's readers will be interested in their products. For example, a blogger who writes about cellphones might be targeted by a mobile phone company and offered a free product or money in exchange for some kind of online review or feedback.
This kind of exchange can be a tricky situation because some bloggers regard the gift as some kind of bribe or obligation to write something positive about the product in question.
In fact, that perception isn't correct. I know bloggers who accept products for review on the condition that they say what they really think about it, and most companies are perfectly satisfied with this kind of arrangement. In addition, most bloggers who do these kinds of reviews are very upfront with their readers about how they obtained the product in question and what agreement they have with the company that provided it.
If you're getting these offers, you can probably benefit from establishing such a policy. Most bloggers don't want to be seen as taking bribes or favors from companies that just want the bloggers to say nice things about them. Your policy needs to lay out how you plan to deal with such situations.
Here are three things to consider when you start to get product-review offers:
Keep to the core of what makes your blog great. If you get an offer for a free product, think about it first — don't accept it right away. You can even go to your community members and see what they think if you require advice. Whether you accept ads or sponsorships, and how you implement them, really depends on you. And remember, if you've received payment or a product, you are legally required to disclose that information in each post.
While the majority of this chapter focuses on ways to earn money on your blog, your blog may actually catapult you to earning opportunities off of your website or even offline completely. Many of today’s top bloggers earn revenue in relationship to their blogging rather than through their blogging. Once you’ve built a large audience with great content and social media engagement, the sky truly is the limit. Some other ways bloggers earn revenue include the following: