PureBlogging

WebProNews recently had a very short but informative video about ads.  In the video, there was talk about how many ads should you place on your page, and how well you should blend the ads into your sites design.   As expected, the video stated that you should balance the ad to content ratio, and don’t have 20 ads for a two paragraph article.  As people try to make money off of sites, this may seem like a strange practice, where newspapers and magazines have a lot of ads per content.  There are some things that are bad about having to many ads on your site.  Read more »

Read Write Web posted some fascinating findings from a survey it conducted recently, in which they asked 20 bloggers and social media consultants how much they make. An intrusive and personal question perhaps, but that’s why half of them agreed to give out that information on an anonymous basis.

Rather than write it all again, I’m going to use my coverage for WPN liberally:

It looks like the average rate on a per-post basis is $25, though some reported to make as little as $10 and as much as $80. “Let’s say these people are half-time pro-bloggers making $25 per post, writing 3 posts per day,” Kirkpatrick [of RRW] says. “That’s $75 per half-day, a little less than $20 per hour, about $1500 to $1750 per month for half time work. Take two of those jobs at once, do it for a year, and you’ll make about $40k.”

You could do worse, but in-house bloggers seem to be doing better. According to Kirkpatrick, respondents reported annual salaries ranging from $45k and $55k with benefits up to $70k, $80k and $90k with bonuses. “We’re tempted to say, based on the anonymously submitted but descriptive replies we got, that the closer to pure journalism our respondents were doing the lower their wages were,” he says. Now that’s interesting. Critics of blogs as news sources (like the one discussed in this article) ought to love that little nugget.

Those in-house bloggers still didn’t make as much as the participating social media consultants who make as little as $150 an hour, and most commonly about $300 an hour. That’s fascinating considering the amount of sponsored content infiltrating social networks. I have to wonder how the pay rates of these consultants reflect their practices in terms of white hat/black hat.

These numbers (while it should be kept in mind that there were only 20 anonymous participants) might make you jealous or provide you with motivation to reach that point (unless you’re already in the same range or are doing better). What do you think?

OK, yes, this is the third post in a row about Johns Wu and his $15 million Bankaholic blog. I keep bringing it up because not only is this a wildly inspirational story for all bloggers aspiring to achieve success at the hands of their blogs, but I keep getting more info.

I talked to Wu a second time and came away with some more insight into his deal, which I wrote about in yet another follow-up piece at WebProNews.

Since we’re all about blogging here, I didn’t want this nugget to float by off the radar, so you can read that here.

From the little I’ve communicated with Wu, he seems like a pretty cool guy with some personality. He likes BBQ and making his own beer (not to mention Subway at drinking on the weekends [I wonder if he's checked out Google's latest Google Labs project - the drunken email filter aka: Mail Goggles]).

Anyhow, Wu said taht user engagement was a huge part of why his blog was bought by Bankrate.

He also noted in a comment on WPN that Shoemoney is the reason he got into web publishing. Not a bad endorsement for Shoemoney huh?

It just goes to show that you can learn a lot from other bloggers, and translate that knowledge into a ridiculous amount of money for yourself.

Well, it’s still Monday morning on the West Coast. For a little while longer, anyway.

37 Signals offers some great motivation (and good ideas) for finding revenue streams.

Hacker News has a great discussion on the nature of SEO.

Copyblogger has tips on managing the length of your blog posts.

Men With Pens asks the Ultimate Question: Why do we blog?

Seth Godin makes a great observation about Wall-E and the bravery of creating great content.

Has anyone seen Wall-E, by the way? For my dollar it’s the best movie of the year. If I ever make it as an actor, I’ll be able to cry like a hungry baby, on command, just by thinking of the scene where EVE is trying frantically to find a new circuit board to replace Wall-E’s broken one. See, there I go right now. Big salty tears, right in the keyboard.

Thousands of blogs are launched every single day with the intent of making money. You can see just how popular this is by observing how many “make money blogs” and blogs about blogging exist. I’m sure you’re aware that only a select few make money bloggers have actually made significant and consistent money with their blog. That’s not to say that there’s no value in a blogger who is writing about the journey. I enjoy Caroline Middlebrook’s blog where she discusses her own efforts and talks through her opinions with readers. I also enjoyed following Ben Cook’s progress through his one year Blogging Experiment before he sold it.

The truth is that very few bloggers will ever make a full-time income by blogging. In my opinion, that opportunity is very much available, but few bloggers have the persistence, patience and ability to get there. What’s more likely is a respectable part-time income, but many are let down when they conclude that this is as far as they’re going to get.

Many bloggers tend to lean on ad revenue as a source of income. Top blogs can usually make a pretty good amount from ads alone, but most bloggers are fortunate to make a few hundred dollars per month. I’m not attempting to discourage anyone from going after ad revenue, it’s certainly a major piece of the puzzle in most cases, but I think most bloggers don’t really calculate how much traffic they’ll need in order to earn a living on ad revenue.

Why Blogs are Difficult to Monetize:

People are used to getting something for free

Blog readers have gotten used to the fact that blogs produce content for free. As a result, this becomes expected and many bloggers that try to develop some revenue streams face the difficult task of convincing readers that there is something worth paying for. An example of this is premium content, membership sites, or even e-book sales. We’ve gotten so much for free that it can be difficult to create something that’s going to lead people to open up their wallets.

Ad blindness

Most blog readers visit a decent number of blogs and websites on a daily basis. As a result, they see the same ads over and over again, and they start to ignore the ads. Ad blindness makes advertisements less effective than they could be otherwise, and that means bloggers can’t make as much with the advertisements.

Affiliate sales can be frowned upon

Depending on the niche and the audience of a blog, placing affiliate links in posts can really offend some readers. When I first started blogging I put a couple of affiliate links in a post and I got a few readers who questioned the practice, including one who flat out was against it. Affiliate sales are a big source of income for many top bloggers, but if your audience isn’t ok with affiliate links (assuming they can even identify an affiliate link) it could be a big struggle to generate sales this way.

Traffic and effort has to be constant

I couldn’t even tell you how many bloggers I’ve seen over the past year that looked like they were on their way to running a very successful blog, but they gave up somewhere along the way. Not that many people are able to stay interested and motivated when it comes to building a blog, because it takes constant work. Take a month off with no posts and your traffic and income will fall, and you’ll have to build yourself back up again. Especially if you’re hoping to earn a full-time income, the consistency becomes an even bigger issue. As a part-timer you can probably deal with up and down income, but that might not be possible without another source of income to fall back on.

Compensation is usually not direct

I think most of us are programmed to expect to be paid according to the work that we put in. With blogging, you could spend hours researching and writing a post, but if it doesn’t do well you may not have anything to show for it financially. This is actually a positive, because once you’ve built a successful blog you can earn much more money for your efforts, but it becomes a discouragement to those who are just starting out.

Many traffic sources are difficult to monetize

When it comes to making money with your blog, not all traffic sources are equal. For example, social media is a leading source of traffic for many blogs, but these visitors are notoriously difficult to monetize. They’re not going to click on ads, they usually leave after seeing only one page, and they aren’t as likely to subscribe as other types of visitors. As a result, you may be able to produce impressive traffic stats and not even be able to really make anything significant from it.

Uneven playing field

Small bloggers trying to “compete” with blogs that have a full staff of writers are at a significant disadvantage. Additionally, established blogs have a much easier time than those that are just getting started. While I don’t think that this is really a negative to blogging for money, it does make it difficult for the little guy, and many don’t have the patience to make it to the other side of the fence.

What Can You Do About It?

1. Be realistic

One of the leading causes for bloggers giving up is the existence of unrealistic expectations. It’s a one in a million shot that you’ll be making a full-time income from a blog in a matter of months, yet that’s what some people have in mind. There’s nothing wrong with ambitious goals, but they should also be accompanied by some realistic understanding or there’s a very high chance of disappointment that won’t be overcome.

A part-time income from blogging can be pretty nice, but when you’re expecting much more it can be disappointing. Whatever your goals and intentions are, take some time to realize what’s involved and what others are able to accomplish. Appreciate and celebrate your small victories along the way and take a long-term approach to building an income.

2. Diversify income sources

Rather than just relying on ads to make money, why not find other ways to do so, such as selling an e-book, doing reviews, etc. While one source of income is unlikely to support you full-time, three or four may be able to do the trick. Take a look at top bloggers like Darren Rowse and John Chow. They make money in a number of different ways that all add up to a six-figure income.

3. Get creative

The income sources from your blog don’t have to be the typical ones mentioned above. Get creative and find some new ways to make money. Niche-specific job boards are getting very popular, and for blogs with a decent-sized and focused audience, this can be an excellent source of income. I mentioned Blogging Experiment earlier. When Max Davis bought the site from Ben Cook he turned around and offered a membership course on buying and selling websites, and he almost recovered his investment in just a few short months.

4. Provide a service

Many bloggers have the opportunity to sell a service in addition to their blogging efforts. Michael Martine wrote a post several months ago about selling consulting services through your blog. Services can be an excellent fit for bloggers. As you publish content on your blog you’re selling your readers on your knowledge and expertise. Once you’ve built some respect you’ll have a natural marketplace for your services.

5. Freelance on the side

While you’re building your own blog you may want to consider writing for others on a freelance basis. Freelance blogging can be a nice source of supplementary income and it may keep you motivated as you’re seeing real money coming in.

6. Build your name

Many pro bloggers earn a living by running multiple blogs. If this is the case, name recognition is very important. Once you have built an established audience at one blog you could branch out to another one and take many of your readers with you. Then you’ll have two successful blogs instead of one. We’ve seen this in practice recently with the quick success for NETTUTS and VECTORTUTS riding on the wave from PSDTUTS.

What Are Your Thoughts About Blogging for Money?

Do you blog with the intent to make money? If so, what’s your experience and what do you feel are the biggest challenges?

If you’re looking to start a profitable blog, niche research is important. Depending on your goals and your approach you may wan to seek out a niche that’s currently underserved, or you may want to identify niches that have plenty of income potential. Most of the niches that have a high income potential will also have a good deal of competition from other websites and blogs. However, to make money in these niches you don’t necessarily have to be the biggest, most popular blog in the industry. you can make a decent income in the right niche just by simply getting a small piece of the pie for yourself.

I’m sure you’ve read a lot about the need to choose a niche that has lower levels of competition, but that can be both a blessing and a curse. Personally, I don’t think either approach is right or wrong, it just depends on what you want to do, but if you’re looking for big potential, competitive niches will typically provide more.

Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Shy Away from a Popular Niche:

1 - Huge Potential

As I just mentioned, more competitive and more popular topics tend to come with very high income potential. Choosing a smaller, less-saturated niche may give you better odds of success, but they generally will not have the same potential.

2 - You Don’t Need to Dominate

In popular industries you won’t have to be the biggest or the best to make some money. You can still be profitable while being a relatively small player. In less popular niches you’ll likely have to be at the top in order to really make money.

3 - Huge Targeted Audience

One of the biggest struggles of niche blogging can be finding targeted visitors. Choose a topic that’s too narrow and the amount of potential readers will be pretty small. On the other hand, popular industries will have more competition, but they’ll also provide unlimited potential because of the huge audience.

4 - More Income Opportunities

One of the major benefits of being in a popular industry is the added income opportunities that are usually associated. For example, a competitive niche will have a much larger number of affiliate programs that you can promote on your blog as compared to a small, less-popular niche. In addition to just affiliate programs, there will also be more companies that are willing to advertise on your blog to promote their products and services, simply because there are more products and services available in popular industries.

5 - Proven Money-Making Potential

Most of he popular industries are so crowded in part because others have proved that there is plenty of money to be made. Smaller niches may have potential, but more popular industries can have proven potential.

6 - Chance for a Quick Start

In a smaller niche you’ll probably have to work very hard to slowly build your readership. In a popular niche you have plenty of interested readers out there, you just need to find a way to get noticed. Getting a link from a major website or blog, publishing guest posts, or achieving success with social media can all result in a quick launch.

Easily Find Money-Making Niches with Commission Junction

Researching a niche is a very broad topic that could warrant a series of posts in itself. However, one simple aspect of researching is to find a niche where a lot of money is being exchanged. Generally, if money is being made, there is plenty of opportunity for you.

Commission Junction (CJ) is an affiliate manager, which means they’re a third-party service that provides management of affiliate programs for other companies. CJ connects advertisers to publishers (website owners and bloggers that want to make money by promoting affiliate products and services) and they handle the tracking, payment, and all the other details. You can sign up for an account at Commission Junction and apply to the affiliate programs of hundreds or thousands of companies according to your interests.

As the affiliate manager, CJ provides you with a single place to manage your affiliate programs, rather than needing to login to every program separately, plus you get commissions from all the different programs in one check.

Commission Junction has a wide variety of programs to promote, and they cover all industries, which makes their service a great place for niche research. Once you’re signed up with CJ you can do some quick research to find niches that have a large number of advertisers (CJ categorizes them, which makes this very easy).

Generally, if you see a niche with a ton of advertisers, that’s a good sign that others are making money in this niche. If no one was making money there wouldn’t be so many companies with affiliate programs targeting that audience. As I said earlier, researching affiliate programs doesn’t mean that you would have to use affiliate programs to earn the income through your blog. You can always find advertisers to directly buy ad space, but doing the research this way is much quicker than contacting potential advertisers one-by-one. In a matter of a few minutes you can gauge the potential of a niche.

What to Look for:

As you’re browsing through the affiliate programs at Commission Junction, pay attention to the following:

Variety of products and services - Does and industry have a wide variety of products and services represented through CJ? If so, there are most likely even more opportunities outside of CJ. If the only products and services available through CJ are direct competitors, you may be more limited.

Reputable companies - CJ represents a large number of very well-known companies. Are there affiliate programs for companies that you would be willing to promote?

Commission - Each affiliate program will have its own unique commission structure. Some will give you a set percentage of sales, others a flat dollar amount. Pay attention to the percentage as well as how much money that will actually put in your pocket. Both numbers are important.

Cookie length - Most of these programs will use cookies to track your referrals so that if someone clicks through your link and then makes a purchase on that site a few days later, you can still get paid the commission. Some programs will track cookies for 10 days, some for 6 months.

What is required to constitute a sale? - This may be very simple, or it may be more complex. Most of the time a sale is pretty straightforward, but always read the conditions to make sure there are no important exclusions to what you will be paid for.

Are “lead” programs available? - CJ includes a number of programs where you can make money without the visitor even buying anything. For example, you can get paid if someone applies for a credit card, or if they fill out their information to be contacted about a mortgage. These programs can be very lucrative, and sometimes they’re easier to promote because of the fact that the visitor doesn’t have to buy anything.

Types of ads/creatives available - Each program will provide you with links and different types of ads (such as various sizes of banner ads) If you’re thinking of promoting a program this can make a big difference in your success.

Incentives - Some of the programs will pay higher commissions to affiliates that hit certain levels of sales. If you’re expecting to make a lot of sales this can be extra motivation.

Stats - CJ provides a little bar for each advertiser that shows how much they’ve paid out, called their “network earnings.” Those with higher earnings are producing more income for affiliates. They also provide 3 month EPC and 7 day EPC, which shows how much is earned per 100 clicks. In other words, if you send them 100 clicks to this program, on average you will make this amount.

Why This is Helpful?

Recently I have been researching an industry to see if it would be a good opportunity to start a profitable site. One of the best sources of information was the list of affiliates provided through CJ. Most of them I will never use even when I do start the site, but this proved to me that there is a wide variety of products and services, from many different companies. If there are this many affiliate programs in CJ alone, I know there are plenty of money-making opportunities within the niche. It was very quick and productive research.