I'm a big fan of companies knowing general information about me so that I can see better ads as I browse the web. I'm going to see ads anyway, might as well be ones that are interesting. I'm also fine with retargeting, the strategy of serving me ads based on a site I've been to but chose to leave without making a purchase. Offline stores would love to be able to do that. However, let's imagine a scenario where an offline ... Keep reading »
This is the second in a series of articles on online business models written from the perspective of the person using it. In talking with at least a hundred successful online business owners the past few years, it has become apparent that there only a very few basic building blocks of an online business. As with DNA, though, there is an endless array of how those building ... Keep reading »
This is the first article in what I hope will be a series of articles on different online business models. In talking with at least a hundred successful online business owners the past few years, it has become apparent that there only a very few basic building blocks of an online business. As with DNA, though, there is an endless array of how those building blocks can be arranged. So ... Keep reading »
Andrew points to a Wall Street Journal article today about how Google is looking into a number of ways to maintain profitability during tough economic times and speculates: As Google struggles to keep its earnings growing, another place the company will look is to squeeze its content partners. All it has to do is dial back the revenue share it provides to content publishers. That includes domain name owners. Since Google has essentially killed ... Keep reading »
As I've pointed out often, income is great, but it barely holds a candle to what you can make when you sell a site. If you follow a wise plan, you're looking at at least a 5X buyout and quite likely 10X or more. 10 years' worth of income would be more than enough for many people to sell and move on to the next ... Keep reading »
You'll never get rich blogging. 18 months ago that was the very first thing I wrote on this blog, and I still think it's true. However, that's no reason not to make some money from your blog. Depending on what you're blogging about, even 10,000 to 15,000 monthly visitors could earn you $5,000 or more annually. Not enough to quit a job on, but who couldn't use an extra $416.67 every month? So what I want ... Keep reading »
Many women regularly go out dressed scantily and then wonder why they don't get the respect they deserve. Dave Chappelle answers that question with another: "If you're not a whore, why are you wearing a whore's uniform?" I can't tell you how many sites I see wearing a whore's uniform -- selling themselves out for a quick AdSense click, not realizing that they're sacrificing greater long-term benefit. Take a good, honest look at your site ... Keep reading »
Alright, I know I said you need to think beyond AdSense, but I'm also all about grabbing all the low-hanging fruit you can. This is one of those cases. If you haven't read Joel Comm's AdSense Secrets, you need to get a copy. I bought it back when it was $97, but I made that back in a week with a site that was getting less than 100 visitors/day. Now ... Keep reading »
Too many times, I see people focused on AdSense as the sole source of their revenue. That is a huge mistake. Even Eric Giguere admits that AdSense is a crapshoot. Don't get me wrong. It is often fantastic for getting a site off the ground -- very often I can instantly make my money back with good AdSense placement -- but you're leaving a ton of money on the table if ... Keep reading »
Back in February, I wrote about "The Top 3 Ways to Generate Revenue from Your Blog" -- number one being advertisers: Dedicated advertisers are usually your best source of revenue. They pay a much better rate, they’re a guaranteed revenue stream every month, and they tend to stick around. The only downside is that you usually need to have really healthy traffic levels to make it worthwhile for advertisers to work with you directly. I noted later in the comments that what constituted a "healthy traffic level" really varied from nice to niche -- some sites may be able to attract advertisers with a tenth of the traffic of others; it's just so dependent on what type of readers you're attracting. Additionally, you definitely want to avoid monetizing too soon. Very few things can kill a site quicker than letting your advertising overwhelm everything else. Let's suppose, though, that you do have healthy traffic levels for your niche and are indeed ready for advertisers. How do you go about finding them? Keep reading »
