Entries from November 2007 ↓

Readers Question from pauline santos: how did the top/most successful blogs make money? Through ads, donations, links, etc? How do ads work as a revenue stream? What makes the most money (ads, donations, etc)?

There are various ways to make money with a blog.

The most popular source is Google adsense. These are ads which are automatically displayed by Google. The advantage is that (usually) they display ads relevant to the content. The blogger then gets paid per click. (PPC). Therefore, the more traffic you get, the more clicks and revenue you get. A typical click through rate (CTR) is about 1-2%. This means out of a 100 visitors 1 or 2 may actually click on the ad.

The payment you get per click can vary alot. For some topics and niches advertisers are willing to pay a high price for advertising. For example, insurance, mortgages, online drugs e.t.c. However, for funny videos and poetry the return per click is likely to be low.

If you get enough traffic and have the right product you can end up getting a lot of money.

Note: Google take a high % of the advertising revenues.(about 50% I believe)

Selling Ads Privately

Another way for bloggers to make money is through selling ads directly to sponsors. This means there is no intermediary like Google to collect a %. You may also get a higher return because the advertiser can better target is ad.

Affiliate Sponsors

Another way to make money is through using affiliate ads. These are usually linked to a product. If someone buys a product via your blog, then you get a % of the sale. The most popular affiliate program is Amazon, who may give upto 6% of a sale.

Donations

This is another way to make money. John Chow made popular a plugin called ‘Buy me a coffee’. I have it on My economics blog - buy me a coffee. But, to be honest it doesn’t make much money despite answering people’s economics questions.

For a new blogger, Google adsense is the most easy to use, this can soon give a regular monthly income. However, it requires a certain amount of traffic. Generally, the longer you have been blogging the more earning potential you will have. Income from affiliate deals again can provide a good monthly income, but, it requires having a suitable blog and enough traffic.

I hope to be a full time blogger. At the moment, about 20% of my salary comes from blogging. I started trying to earn money from blogs 12 months ago.

Related

• How much does John Chow earn per month? - See what an ‘A list’ Blogger earns
• Problogger - How do bloggers make money from blogs

I have been a regular reader of pickthebrain for several months. It provides a good selection of articles on self-improvement. Recently, I have also contributed a few guest post articles of my own.

Because of the consistent quality and variety of articles, Pick the Brain, has seen its RSS readership reach over 10,000 in just over 12 months. Several articles from the website have also reached the front page of Digg.

I was rather bemused to find that when I tried to submit an article to Digg it gave the following message:

URL blocked

This domain has been consistently flagged as an intermediary to the direct source of news and/or video content. Please link directly to the story source.

The first thing to point out is that Pick The Brain has never used ‘recycled’ content from elsewhere on the web. All articles are original and uniquely written, they are also written by a variety of authors. Therefore, there is no good reason for Digg to block the URL.

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A good article does not magically appear out of thin air. Even the best writers have to work very hard at producing good quality articles.

A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
~ Thomas Mann, Essays of Three Decades, 1947

However, if you breakdown the article writing process into several steps, it becomes easier to organise your thoughts and produce a memorable article. It is worth noting that here, we are aiming for excellence rather than mediocrity. Mediocre articles will generally sink without trace; unless you can really stand out from the crowd your article will have little long term impact.

1. Think of a Title.

• A good title is essential to creating the initial interest which is so important on the internet.
• If the title is insipid, you’ve lost 50% of your potential readers before they get to the first paragraph.
• Of course, make sure you know what you are writing about - Writers can not live on good headlines alone
• 7 Tips for creating eye-catching titles

2. Have a Clear Objective

To a large extent this will be determined by the title. But, when writing an article think about:

• Who is the target audience?
• What do I hope to achieve with this article?
• What can I add of value that hasn’t been said before?
• What is the optimum length?
• Don’t try to cover too many things in one article. Break it down into separate sections
• Write with Confidence and authority.
• related reading: The Beautiful Post at Skellie.org

3. Plan 7 -10 Points which are the main 7 paragraphs of the article.

You don’t have to write in list format (although, they often work well on the internet) However it is a good idea to have a plan; this breaks down the essay into manageable sections.

An example of an Article Plan is like this

How To Write A Good Email

1. Short / Concise
2. Be Polite
3. Wait before sending important emails
4. Is it better to phone?
5. Stick to the point

(BTW: How to write a good email)

Then all you have to do is expand on the points and explain it. It becomes less daunting to write a 1,000 word article when you have this structure.

4. Write with Enthusiasm

• The next stage is to get in the flow of writing.
• Don’t aim for perfection, just write the ideas that come out. (Try imagine talking if you get stuck).
• You don’t have to begin at the start. Begin anywhere.
• See - Write like there’s no tomorrow.- then edit at Daily Blog Tips

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These are a few of the things I learnt from moving hosts.

1. It is important to Get a Host with Unlimited bandwidth

If you know your bandwidth is limited, then there is always a worry in the back of your mind, that you don’t want to get a flood of traffic. This is the wrong mindset to run a successful blog.

2. Good Theme is Essential

It is vital to be happy with your theme. (This is not the final theme for Net Writing) but, it is fine as a stop gap. Mani Karthik gives some interesting statistics from his redesign. - Desgin Matters - pay someone to do a good job. It is a necessary investment. (I know content is king) But, when buying books, people give more attention to the outer cover than we would like to admit. When your theme is not so good, it acts as a psychological barrier to posting and developing your blog.

3. Back up Wordpress Databases

A good tip is to back up and store it in a Gmail account. You can save 100s of files before you need worry about file limits.

4. Test on All Browsers

I always use Mozilla Firefox, the site looked fine on my browser. But, this morning I checked on Internet Explorer 6.0 to see the usual bugs. I should have checked straight away. - Also since I have a Mac I test on Safari as well. (BTW interesting fact on Net Writing 40% of users have Firefox) For most other sites I have, the statistic is closer to 15%.

5. It’s Not That Difficult

I was tempted to pay someone to do the moving for me. But, I was glad I did it myself. You learn a few things and it’s not that difficult

If you want any help / suggestions with moving hosts / blogs you can let me know.

I have wanted to move Netwriting to a new host for a long time. But, had always put it off because of concerns over the technical difficulty. These are a few suggestions I can make about switching wordpress hosts.

1. Back up Your Database.

I recommened using this wordpress plugin for database back ups. If you want to do it manually you can follow the advice at Wordpress. However, I found the plugin very effective. I will be using it to make monthly backups to  my wordpress sites. Tip - backup to different places e.g. hard disk copy, CD and email backup.

2. Set up Site on New Host.

I added Netwriting as an account. I created a fresh installation of wordpress (2.3.1) on the new host. This installation created an empty Mysql Database.

3. Import Saved Database into New Database. 

The best thing to do is to follow the instructions on the Wordpress site. It is relatively straight forward. After importing the old database to the new site on the new host. I am basically ready to make the switch. If I had additional files outside wordpress, I could now upload them using FTP. However, Net Writing is only a wordpress database at the moment.

This process took some time but, it is important to check that you can see all the files on the new host are as they should. I doubled checked by connecting with Dreamweaver by FTP

4. Switch Nameservers. 

When the site is now ready on the new host, it is a matter of switching the nameservers to the new host. My old host allowed me to do this myself. Some providers will do it on request. When the nameservers are switched, it takes a few hours and then the www. will show the site from the new host.

5. Keep old files on old Server 

I still have all the files and databases on the old server. If there is any problem I could just switch the nameservers back to the old server.

6. Update Customisations

I made some customizations in the sidebar on the old theme. I manually saved the html, and then manually added it to the new sidebar. This theme is widget ready, which makes life easier.

Thanks to blogging tips for some tips on wordpress hosts 

I have decided to switch my hosting provider from a UK provider to Hostican.

My UK provider - Heart Internet was fine, I had no complaints but I decided to switch Net Writing to my Host I Can reseller account

The reasons were:

1. It will save me money. I already have a Host i Can account so I can add another site at no extra cost.
2. UK web providers tend to be more expensive than US. This is because of the weak dollar and cheaper broadband in the US
3. It’s more convenient to have sites hosted on 1 account, rather than have them scattered on different hosts. (I actually have some other sites on another UK provider, but 2 is better than 3)
4. Host i Can has good features like fantastico and easy file / mySQL database.
5. Moving Hosts has provided me with the opportunity to make a long delayed upgrade of Wordpres 2.3.1 (which has some very nice features). I will also be bringing in a new theme soon.
6. Host i Can provides ‘unlimited bandwidth’ - I have yet to test it on a Digg homepage, but, it would be nice to find out how it does

I could have stayed with a different host for greater variety of IP addresses. This has a minor SEO benefit. (Google tend to discount links if they come from the same IP address). However, I don’t tend to link Net Writing to other sites like Mortgage guide, Cycling and my personal Blog. - There is not much in common.

New Theme Coming Soon! 

Moving hosts was not as bad as I feared. It took a while, but, I learned a few things on the way. I will write about moving hosts soon.

Because many bloggers are trying to make a living online, we can’t help but think about ways to increase traffic.

One of the best ways to get traffic is to write something interesting / controversial. If you read Digg and  Reddit, the articles that do well are often criticising some person / some institution. You just don’t get a story on the Digg home page with a title like

“Congressman does Good work, in finding a thoughtful solution to this longstanding problem”

Therefore, every blogger, (and to be fair every newspaper editor) has an incentive to sensationalise and perhaps exaggerate an initial story.

There is an interesting story picked up by Darius Monsef at Young go Getter about the dangers of exaggerating initial stories so that we end up with something completely true. via Daily Bits

(BTW - Daily Bits is a new blog by Daniel of Daily Blogging Tips - well worth bookmarking)
Basically, bloggers were up in arms about Nissand who claimed be making bogus claims about a self healing paint.

It went from:

    ‘color changing paint technology is being viewed by Nissan and other auto companies’
to…
‘Nissan talking up their bogus but juicy claim to have developed a self-healing paint system that can actually change color based on your mood, will be on production vehicles by 2010.’

In a way it becomes rather amusing, that such an exaggeration has occured. However, it is easy to see that this kind of reporting could be alot more common that we think. How many digg type stories have a similar level of exaggeration? Perhaps we will never know.

The problem is that it is easy to ignore the costs to others of misleading claims. I think there is a lot to be said for being very cautious before jumping on a bandwagon of criticism.

At the same time of course, bloggers can raise awareness of issues, perhaps left by traditional media. But, if this potential is not met with responsibility, it is a real problem.

Also, I think there is a difference between exaggerating the facts and looking for an interesting angle on a topic. It is a careful balance to maintain though.

One issue bloggers may struggle with is finding topics to write about. If you struggle to find good ideas for articles here are some ideas to give you new inspiration.

1. What would be Useful for You?

Are there any questions you would like answered? What do you wish you had known when you started blogging? Don’t worry if these things seem obvious to you now. There will be many who still search for the basic answers. Also, if you can write from personal experience your articles will have more authenticity.

2. Area of Expertise.

Some niches are crowded with similar articles. Think about areas where you have specialised knowledge. What do you know most about? What topics can you write effortlessly without having to research ideas from others

3. Comments.

Sometimes when writing comments on other blogs, I realise I could easily make this comment into an article. Don’t give all your best ideas as comments on other blogs. Expand it into your own post.

4. Get into A routine

I find that if I leave a blog for a week, it becomes harder to find ideas. However, once I start writing a blog entry I find new ideas start to flow. The more time I spend on a niche, the more ideas come.

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I came across a thought provoking post at Problogger - Would you blog differently if you had lots of money? Darren’s post was inspired by Anne Wayman’s

My initial reaction was:

• I wouldn’t do my blog on mortgages. But, I would continue my blog on self improvement (which doesn’t have any ads anyway)
• I would continue other commercial blogs, but less intensely more quality less quantity. My favourite blog at the moment is my Economics Blog. I receive several questions per day, and spend time answering them
• And I wouldn’t have to care about Google wanted at all!

This is How My Writing Would Change if I had plenty of Money

• Titles I wouldn’t worry about Choosing SEO titles, with lots of keywords
• Quality vs Quantity. I wouldn’t worry about quantity. I would only write where I could really offer something unique and interesting.
• Topics I would not worry about writing on profitable keywords like mortgages, credit cards, debt, and insurance.
• More Pictures. With more money (and therefore time) I would probably take more time with each post. I would like to spend more time learning how to use a digital camera and improve my photography. These would be used to illustrate my posts.
• More Research. I would like to spend more time researching certain articles. i.e. some articles need more research and background reading. If you want to be a problogger, you can’t afford to take 1 day per article (I try to have 10 posts per day at the moment)
• More Time. The first thing about having more money is that I would be able to retire from teaching. Therefore, I would have more time to spend writing.
• Less Comments I think I would comment less on other people’s blog. (When I comment, part of the motivation is to get traffic, not all the time, but quite often)

Of course, the hope is that one day blogging will enable me to earn passive income to support myself and be a full time writer. Therefore, in the future, I might like to try and write to publish a book rather than just publishing on a blog.

Note: I have been stretched for time recently. I have been spending my time adding short comments on other blogs, rather than posting on my own. Therefore, after adding a comment on problogger, I thought - why not make it into a post.

Quite often, bloggers can spend too long commenting and not enough time posting. This was definitely the case with me last week.

Another note on comments. I like what Doug said about how his blogging would change after becoming rich

“I’m not sure but I would gladly accept a sponsor to find out!

First impressions are important. For blogs, it is important to create a welcoming and attractive to design. A good logo is an easy way to help differentiate your blog.

(BTW: If want to get an example of a bad website have a look here (warning do not visit if feeling slightly nauseous)

I have been looking for a few logos for my blogs. I came across a very good deal with UK Web Space

They offered to design 3 logos for 3 of my blogs.

I was very happy with logo for:

• Economics Blog
• Mortgage Blog
  

I came across the offer at Digital points Forums, I recommend looking getting a distinctive logo for your blog - it does make a big difference. For myself to design a logo, would have taken ages. Don’t feel bad about paying other people to do what they are good at. It is more efficient to specialise in your areas of expertise

This is the new logo for Net Writing - which I will be incorporating into a new theme - quite soon.