Why Thinking Big Is Critical To Your Success
September 1, 2008
Warning! I’m about to make a statement that will probably offend you or contradicts everything you learned about internet businesses.
Most internet entrepreneurs are small thinkers.
Just visit a few internet business-related forums and you’ll notice that most entrepreneurs are satisfied with a financial goal of $50,000 to $100,000 a year.
Or check out the numerous products sold to internet entrepreneurs. Most of them appeal to people who want a 6-figure income.
Now to most people, maybe even you, that may seem like a lot of money.
But here’s the problem… Read more
Adsense Terms That You Should Know
August 18, 2008
If you are adding Adsense to your blog or website, it is imperative to get a firm grasp on some of the unique terminology associated with the Adsense program.
Here is a list of important terms, their common abbreviations and meanings:
Terms of Service (TOS). All participants in the Adsense program are required to abide by Google’s Terms of Service. This is basically the “rule book” for Adsense. Anyone who fails to conduct themselves according to the TOS may be banned from participation and/or have their account suspended. You should read the TOS carefully.
Publisher. That’s you. Anyone operating a site displaying Adsense ads is considered a publisher. Read more
One Of The Most Overlooked Keys To Adsense Success
August 11, 2008
One of the most profitable revenue streams for a blog is Google’s Adsense program. Here’s how it works:
You agree to display contextual advertising served up from Google on your site. In exchange, Google will pay you for every visitor who clicks on the ads. Your blog becomes the online equivalent of a billboard and you are paid for getting cars to drive down your street to see it.
There are a few factors to optimizing Adsense profits.
One factor is getting traffic to your site. In order to get paid, you need to get clicks. In order to get clicks, you need to get visitors. Thus, many bloggers pay a great deal of attention to developing multiple traffic streams.
Another factor is choosing a profitable topic that attracts many advertisers. Some topics have more advertisers than others. So, it’s imperative that you choose a topic in a market that offers many products and services. Read more
Alternative Ways To Making Money With Your Blogs
August 5, 2008
Many bloggers rely on Google’s popular contextual advertising program, Adsense, for their revenue. Although, Adsense has been the driving force behind the increased level of interest in using blogs as a revenue generating tool, it may not meet the specific needs of some bloggers.
If you have a blog that produces a nice stream of traffic and are looking for alternatives to Adsense, you may want to consider some of the following options:
Adgenta (http://www.adgenta.com/)
Adgenta is a keyword-based advertising program that allows publishers to insert ads into their blog. Every time an ad is clicked, the blogger is paid a flat rate of 15 cents. While Adsense determines which ads to display based on its own assessment of your page’s content, Adgenta allows you to choose which keywords you would like it to use in choosing advertisements.
This can be a great solution for boggers who have pages that fail to serve up relevant Adsense ads or for those who tend to get only very low paying ads.
Adgenta’s interface is simple and sign up is free. The ads are inserted into your site using simple HTML blocks and the ads are actually linked graphics, unlike the more complicated script used by Adsense.
Yahoo Publisher Network (YSN) (http://publisher.yahoo.com/)
YPN is Yahoo’s version of Adsense and preliminary reports indicate that it may be a profitable solution for bloogers who are unable to use Adsense. The Yahoo system is very similar to Adsense. So, Adsense publishers should be able to utilize the program easily.
Although still in its infancy, the program is backed by a major player, which lends it a greater degree of long-term reliability. Unfortunately, the YPN project is still in beta and you must apply for or receive an invitation to participate.
Ad Networks
Instead of relying on a pay-per-click model, you may want to sell advertising space on your blogs. You can sell directly to advertisers or through the use of an ad brokerage.
If you have a blog that receives a significant number of well-targeted visitors, selling advertising space can be a great alternative to the Adsense model.
Other Options To Consider
- Chikita mini-malls (Chitika.com)
- Text link programs (Adbrite.com)
- MSN ContentAds (coming soon)
As you can see, even if Adsense doesn’t work for your blog or you cannot use Adsense, there are other options available. Adsense may be the biggest game in town but it certainly is not the only one.
Why You Should Not Use Free Blogging Services
July 28, 2008
Many bloggers use a free blogging service to support for their first entry into the field. This makes a great deal of sense. Free providers offer very easy to use and relatively powerful platforms. Additionally, avoiding a cash outlay reduces the risk involved to a bare minimum.
Free blog providers can be a great way to introduce yourself to blogging and to learn a little bit about the process. However, they are a poor choice if you’re hoping to generate significant blogging profits. There are simply too many pitfalls associated with their use.
1. Advertising revenue
Firstly, many free blogs hamstring your ability to utilize one of the most effective ways of generating a profit via blogging, Adsense. Some free blog providers offer the free blog and server space in exchange for the right to display their own Adsense ads.
The terms of service directly prohibit you from displaying any additional contextual advertising. This is how the free services generate their revenue and the prohibition makes perfect sense. However, it takes the most powerful revenue stream away from you.
2. Control
Second, whenever you use a free service, you lack control over your site. This is not simply a matter of advertising or content restrictions. The lack of control is far more serious.
Blogger.com, for instance, is known to regularly freeze and/or delete blogs outright for unexplained reasons. Those blogs simply disappear and a great deal of work vanishes with them. Other lesser-known services may be undercapitalized or lack profitability and may simply go under – taking the blogs right down the drain with them.
3. Credibility
Third, there is the issue of credibility. Whether it’s right or wrong, surfers tend to bestow a greater degree of credibility to (and are thus more likely to visit) sites that have their own URLs. A blog that is an obvious sub domain at a free host can make potential visitors and customers wary of a blog’s legitimacy and can have a negative impact on profitability.
4. Flexibility
Finally, there is the matter of flexibility. Some free blog services limit your options in terms of appearance and may use platforms that lack some features that can really aid in profitability.
For instance, the blogs at Blogger.com lack the categories found in their Wordpress counterparts. Other free services may offer only a few templates that can only be tweaked ever so slightly. In order to perform optimally, you should be able to make any and all desired changes to your blog.
You can find a variety of powerful blogging platforms that won’t cost you a dime. The competitive fields of hosting and domain registration make owning your own chunk of cyberspace surprisingly affordable.
So, using a free blogging service as a means to launch part of your online business simply does not make sense. The minimal capital required to own and control your own site is a definite bargain when you consider the pitfalls associated with the alternative.
