Monetizing your blog can be tricky stuff, and finding the ad networks/partnerships that pay most can be tricky. Stuff. In this quick guide, I'll go over a few of my personal top earners and how you can benefit from applying them to your own blog(s).
Pay Per Click - Chitika.
Let's face it. Very few people are making more than $5 a day now with Google AdSense, if even that. Isn't it time for a change? I'ev founded Chitika adverts have excellent CTRs and payouts are ridiculously high. Ad customization is second to none, and as a great alternative to the saturates YPN and AdSense networks, I highly recommend Chitika. What saves Chitika from going down the same road as the other major PPC publishers, is partly its hard stance on splogs, and each blog is individually approved into the network before any ads can be placed.
Private Ad Deals - You.
Private ad deals are far and few, but it's worth having that 'Advertise With Us' button in your header for the odd occasion where someone does stumble across your site and want to buy an advert. The best thing about these kind of deals, is that you get 100% of the profits. No middle-man deducting 40% or 50% off your due bill. Just pure cash, direct from the advertiser. You get to set your price and demand what you want. You have full control over the ads that appear on your site. Heck, you can even charge a monthly fee for banners, if you like. Not just boring ol' Text Ads.
Text Links - Text-Link-Ads.
When using large Text-Link-Ads, you'll get high-visibility listing in TLA's very own marketplace and a hoarde of hungry advertisers knocking on your door. The down-sides? TLA takes 50% of commissions for themselves. The good points? High pay-out (even after the large percentage deduction), quality customer support and high income opportunities are all part of the package. Well worth the 50% commission split.
Sponsored Reviews - ReviewMe.
Also owned by TLA, ReviewMe is the undisputed highest-paying reviews program. The great thing about RM is the sheer number of advertisers in the network who see the benefits of advertising through the program. These guys are willing to pay that extra $30 to get a quality, in-depth review, as opposed to a 100-word glossover as is so common on networks such as PayPerPost. Some guys even end up paying an extra '$2499' to get these high-quality reviews on top-blogs. ShoeMoney's blog is (to my knowledge) the current highest-charger for reviews. As you can imagine, even just one post a month for Shoemoney covers your bills, eh? Not that an Affiliate Marketing whiz like Shoemoney would need the cash, anyhow.
Feed Advertising - Feedvertising.
I've admittedly not had all that much personal success with Feedvertising. Like RM and TLA, it's created by the same company and integrates seamlessly with your Wordpress setup. From those who've had interested buyers and advertisers, I've heard it offers real quality content and provides an unobtrusive way for bloggers to earn money and advertisers to drive targetted traffic towards their websites.
All-in-all, there's no single way to create a cash-sucking blog by using just one method. It's best to mix and match programs where you can, try and test them as much as possible and optimize them to blend with you blog layout. Try out the networks and advertising programs I've recommended above and try combinations of them all on different pages on your blog. See which work, scrap the ones that don't. Most importantly - be persistent. Don't give up. When the blogging gets tough, just keep going. Plod along slowly, take the traffic dips like a man and keep your chin up. There's no "instant fame fix-up" that's going to make you blog instantly popular and the only way to do it, is to be yourself. Go out there and make a blogger of yourself!
This post has been written by David Wilkinson - 13-Year Old ProBlogger.
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