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YPN Continues to Disappoint

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Yahoo!, when you announced YPN, I, and a million other Adsensers, jumped for joy. With another “real” contextual ad solution, the rewards of publishing on obscure topics (potentially) go way up, while the risk goes way down (two baskets for your eggs).

You started slow, fine, no sweat. We were promised improvements, and we waited patiently.

But somehow, EIGHT months later, YPN is still a huge dissapointment for me. It just amazes me how terrible their offering is.

  • Internartional? What’s that thar? Section 11.1
    Abuse of Services. You agree not to:
    display all or part of the Ad Unit to any user located outside the US;
  • The short tail From a WMW thread:

    I am seeing vonage ads all the time while my site has nothing to do with vonage.

    So far, the targetting is terrible: lots of generic “Mortgage Loan” and vonage ads. I would say that, if I’m lucky, one out of 4 ads in a skyscraper is at all remotely targeted to the page. Usually, none are.

    i got rid of the vonage adds, but I agree about the florist and ftd ads, they are still there after a couple days and I’ve blocked every url (including ftd.com/folder, ftd.comfolder, ftd.com/folder/ etc. w/ and w/out the www)

Of course, some pub’s are making more with YPN, but that’s not because YPN is a more efficient market (HA yah right)… it’s because YPN is too stupid to use any type of Smart pricing, which is only going to sour advertisers completely on YPN (even more than they are with the Google contextual network).

[Not that I have a problem with pub’s using this inefficiency to its full potential — hey milk it while it lasts!]

Maybe it all started with Overture

I think one of the problems is that Yahoo’s CPC offering (based on the old Overture) is still clunky and annoying. With YPN built on top, it can’t help but inherit the problems of its parent.

Yahoo!, perhaps you could hire a usability consultant (or three) to take a look at your CPC program and interface?

And when you’re done with that, please hire a business consultant to take a look at YPN (someone who knows what the “Long tail” is, and why having it is the critical success factor in contextual ad platforms).

And then switch the “International button” to ON.

…

Sigh. Google “gets it” 90% of the time. Yahoo, please, please get your head out of your arse. Otherwise you may find your contextual product to be #3 behind MSN’s. And that’s just plain humiliating.

Profitability: a Game of Inches

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I finally broke down (thanks to my partner Jimbo’s pressuring), and took a bit of time to sort out my company’s to-do list. (“Small business productivity”) While I’ll miss seeing the snazzy Notepad interface smiling up at me, the gains of using Ta-da list are already impressing me.

The thing about me is, I’ve never ever had a “great idea”. All I ever have is little 2 minute ‘slight improvement’ ideas. You know, those quick chores you think of when you’re surfing (and hopefully get around to later). These are the details that make a decent Web site good, and over time make a good Web site great. And they also make a mildly profitable business much more profitable (if you commit to doing them over a long period of time).

The problem being, during the course of a day I think of a dozen of these things that need to be done, and I either:

a) email it to myself or Jimbo to be done (and half the time we never get around to it because there’s no follow through), or
b) just plain forget about it.

Recently Jimbo made the jump to fulltime blog overlord, and he has a lot more hours in the day to actually do all the things we want to do. So rather than continuing to half-a** it, we finally got (semi) serious, and setup an account at Ta-Da list. (Neat little app by the way, but I’m not ready to name 37Signals the ‘next big thing’ quite yet).

Our productivity gains have been staggering. I finally have a clear overview of what work’s being done by whom, how long it takes, and where our strengths and weaknesses are. Which, if I’m getting real about building a business, is a necessity.

There. I did it. I made a post about productivity. See that transparent haze floating away? That’s my soul 😉

Gettin’ Creative

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I’m usually all numbers and Adsense and affiliate links yada yada yada, if you haven’t figured it out by now (and some people have) let me spell it out for you: I’m not very creative.

But Perfomancing member Cigar Jack is.

I’ve put together a flyer that says “You’ve Been Jacked” and sending it out with a few cigars to different people on cigar websites. The rules on the flyer ask that they replace two of the four cigars and either hand it off or mail it to another cigar smoker. It encourages them to log on to my site to find out where the package has been.

This is the kind of out of the box thinking that rarely ever comes to me. And when it does, I usually try to ‘crunch the numbers’ in my head, and probably over-conservatively, talk myself out of it. This is a major weakness.

In keeping with my uncreativity, I’d like to suggest there are three levels of execution in this game:

  • Creativity + little elbow grease — have some fun maybe, make a pittance
  • A lot of elbow grease + little creativity — make a decent living, but not getting [really] rich (I’m here!)
  • Creativity + a lot of elbow grease — at this level, several years in the game can net you seven figures

So what do yah’ll think of Cigar Jack’s idea? And what other creative marketing campaigns have you done? Discuss at Performancing forums: Word of Mouth Promotion

Handling Hate

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Chris posted on the dangers of revealing personal info on your blog. I’d like to explore the issue of negativity a bit further: a surefire indicator that you’ve made your mark in the blogosphere is that you receive hate. What is it, why does it happen, what to do about it?

What I mean by hate

When I use the term “hate” I mean any type of negative language that is not meant in a constructive spirit; for instance, if someone says “Gee Andy I thought this Handling Hate post was a bit boring, I wish you would go back to the Monetization Makover series”, that would not qualify as hate.

What would qualify as hate:

  • Consistent trollish comments meant to degrade, hurt feelings, slander, etc.
  • Name calling / hate posts which go beyond disagreeing with your ideas and instead ridicule your religion, appearence, sexual orientation, etc.
  • Certainly any type of threat or violence (although keep in mind if something reaches this point it is time to call the police AND your personal attorney)

Why does it happen?

  • For some reason people say and do things on the Internet that they would never do or say in the real life.
  • Jealousy: however hard you work to make something a success, you can be assured that others will try just as hard to tear it down. The beauty is, if you’ve built something truly good, no amount of hate is going to bring it down (although it may hurt your feelings).
  • Stupid kids: I also think a lot of it comes down to the matuirty level of much of the blogosphere. I suppose it mirrors the Real World: it just isn’t that high. Further, there are a lot of teens and young’ens on the Net who may not know exactly where the “line” is (I know that when I first got on the Net, I sure didn’t).

The funny part is, I think the more successful you are, the more hate you get. Usually (*exceptions) if you’re getting hate, you’re doing something right.

What to do about hate

To me this question does not have one answer; it depends on the situation you’re in and what type of hate you’re getting.

  • Constructive hate: this is the best type of hate. Someone tells you how to make your blog better, without attacking you. In fact this isn’t really hate at all! How I’d react: read their criticism (with a grain of salt), and possibly act on it.
  • Good-spirited hate: hate that pokes fun at you but isn’t really mean spirited (e.g., parody). How I’d react: Either ignore it, or participate/reply (showing you have a sense of humor and humility will usually win you more fans). Again, this doesn’t really qualify as hate.
  • Comment trollers: How I’d react: If they do it once, moderate their comment as you please. If they do it twice (or thrice, or whatever threshold you like), ban their IP, as well as username (if applicable). Remember it’s your blog and you can do as you like!
  • Slanderers: If someone states something untrue about you, which they know to be untrue, with the intent to do you harm, you may have a legal case (in the USA, at least). No I don’t think you should use the legal system to solve all of your problems but if it’s slander that’s harming your biz, you should definitely act.
  • Name callers / racists / personal insulters: This one is a judgement call. If you think the person is an ***hole but harmless, you may wish to highlight their behavior (without namecalling back); you’ll be surprised just how many readers will come to your defense, and the hater may lose some reputation. However depending on the seriousness of the hate/insult, you may wish to do any of the following: ignore the hate; (if the language is very offensive) send an email complaint to their Web host; or if it’s really bad see the next point…
  • Threateners / weirdos / stalkers: You never know about people, esp. on the Net. There are a LOT of crazies out there. Don’t take any chances. Seriously. If someone has threatened you, it is time to call the police AND your personal attorney.

Personal reflections on hate

In the past I’ve gotten some hate and haven’t reacted very well. In hindsight, yes, I wish I would’ve handled things differently. I’ve also hated on people more than I should have (though I’ve never gone “too far” of course).

Part of it was that I was young & foolish, and part of it is that when it happens to you for the first few times, it really blindsides you, and you’re not sure how to react. Sometimes I just reacted too fast, when I probably should have “slept on it” before replying / posting / emailing.

But burnt hand teaches best. These days, when I see something like this, I’m less inclined to think “those bastards!!” and more inclined to think “Wow I’m in great company there” instead, and have a quiet laugh.

(As I side note, I find it odd that this poll has only received 12 votes to date, either it’s turning most members off from participating, or that forum just isnt very popular.)

Top 8 Pro Blogging Time Wasters

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Sometimes I wonder how I’ve managed to build some successful blogs when I spend 70% of my time, well, wasting time. Question: If I had spent all those hours building engaging content instead, how much further ahead could I be by now? In no particular order, my top 8 pro blogging time wasters:

  1. Reading blogs – Obviously it’s something we all have to do, to stay up with current news and events, get fresh ideas, challenge ourselves, etc. But it’s easy to get addicted to reading blogs; instead of spending 70% of the time reading and 30% posting, perhaps you should spend 30% of the time reading and 70% posting. You might think, “Yah, but my knowledge would suffer” – but ask yourself, out of those blogs you read, how many are posting the same thing? If you cut out half of them, would you really miss any news?
  2. Replying to comments – So some guy writes an interesting comment that begs reply. Do it: it’ll show readers you’re engaged, and build community and repeat traffic at your site. But what about those d*****bag antagonizers who make some smart aleck comment each time you post? Ignore it. Replying to it probably won’t build community, traffic, or revenue. Remember, you don’t have to reply to everyone, and you probably shouldn’t.
  3. Commenting at other blogs – Yes, this can be valuable in building your reputation and profile, especially when your blog is new. There comes a point, though, where you should consider putting your reply/rebuttal on your own site as a blog entry. This has the added bonus of being link bait (many bloggers will link to people who specifically disagree with them).
  4. Refreshing Google Adsense earning stats – Actually, this is one of the things I like about Commission Junction – they seem to update every 24 hours. So there just isn’t any motivation to login (after I do so once, during morning coffee)
  5. Checking the Sitemeter – Probably something you should do once a day. If other bloggers are linking to you, you want to know, if for no other reason than to engage in conversations at their sites to strengthen whatever relationship you have with them. But there’s no reason to refresh the stats every 30 minutes!
  6. Tweaking the CSS – I just had to get my homepage to be WAI AA compliant. It feels soooo much better now that it’s done. Will the time spent doing that give me a positive ROI? Probably not. (It probably would if I had a gigantic ecommerce site – but I don’t. I have a small static homepage, and some blogs.)
  7. Tweaking the Adsense – Hey I’m the biggest Adsense optimizer guy out there, but there comes a point where the diminishing returns are screaming at you: “Go make content!!”
  8. Reading Performancing – Just kidding. If you don’t do this every day, your blog is practically guaranteed to fail.

What sucks up your time?

Maximize Revenues… with Design

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I think this post about page design is one that should have been made 3 years ago–many thanks to Graywolf for putting it out there. The problem most people have is that they don’t do much thinking about ads until after they finish their design template.

So of course they then have to “fit them in somewhere”… and usually that “somewhere” is somewhere where they don’t “clutter up” the design. The problem being those “clutter up” spaces are usually where the heat map turns orange or dark orange.

The thing is, if you work hard at it and focus on ads in the beginning, you can put them in obvious, ‘obtrusive’ places without losing as much of the site’s aestheticism. Yes, you’ll lose a bit; it’s a tug of war.

Bottom line: are you in this to make money or aren’t you? If you are, check out Graywolf.

YPN to Enter the Big Leagues?

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Sure, we were all happy when Yahoo! entered the contextual ad game with YPN. But it’s a joke to say they’re competing with Adsense right now. The question is, when do they plan to enter the big leagues?

Apparently, they plan to kick it up a notch in the spring. Loren Baker has the scoop:

As a member of the Yahoo Publisher Network Advisory Council, I spoke with Yahoo about this last week and plans for YPN which were approved for printing on this blog include:

1. Improvements in Relevance : The ads that are shown by YPN are based upon what Yahoo calls its ‘matching expert’s. These ‘experts’ will be expanded to include :

* Contextual Engine : Targeting based upon the content of the page
* Ad Targeting : Publishers can “tag” their own site by defining their ad targeting category in the YPN admin
* User Data : Behavioral targeting or profiling (geographic & demographic)

2. Wire Service : Offering publishers payment via direct deposit this Spring

3. Expanding Invitations : Continuing on reviewing and approving thousands of high quality web publishers

4. International Rollout : Global expansion beyond the United States to English and non-English speaking countries

5. Yahoo Search Box : Publishers can add Yahoo Search to their site which will pay publishers a percentage of sponsored search revenue

6. Integration into Yahoo Answers : Yahoo may be offering its registered users the ability to earn revenue or points for contributing to Yahoo Answers and other user generated content offerings.

Apparently Yahoo! is also concentrating on something known as “publisher quality”.

Such ’smart growth’ tactics by Yahoo are leading to the monitoring of ROI and controlled reach of Yahoo Search Marketing advertiser ads, as Yahoo is taking the quality approach as opposed to quantity.

For example, Yahoo is following a strict editorial review process

Umm, Yahoo, have you ever seen most Adsense publishers? “Quality” is a sucker’s word! 😉

Double Your Blog’s Stock With a Newsletter

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Newsletters are something we haven’t touched on much at Performancing, and I think it’s high time we did. Why? Well, first of all, they’re a great way to establish an emotional connection with readers; they’re also a good way to get users to come back to your site.

But speaking as an investor in blogs, I can also tell you that a targeted newsletter is one of the few things that really gets me excited when a site’s for sale.

And that is the subject of this post. Actually a whole other post (or series of posts) could be written about how underrated newsletters are to promote a blog, maintain reader loyalty, etc. But today I find that vein of thought boring. I want to talk money!

To explain my point, I’m going to use an example site: The RFID Gazette. It’s one of my original blogs, and holds a special place in my heart. Not because I am sentimental. Not because it makes a ton of money (I have sites that earn more). No, I especially love this site because of its long term value: it is worth a lot more than just a standard multiple of its earnings, to a particular kind of buyer. The reason? The mailing list of course.

Geez, I’m at the fifth paragraph already and I haven’t made a case for why yet. Okie, here we go, in bullet form of course:

  1. RFID is a fairly small B2B niche – there aren’t very many media publications on the topic in which to advertise. The advertising opportunities that do exist are pretty pricey.
  2. RFID products (software and hardware) are big $$$ products. One contract in this industry can easily be worth 5, 6 or even 7 figures.
  3. A mailing list of several thousand people in the industry certainly contains many people who can influence/make buying decisions at their company.

Thus the mailing list could give any new company in the RFID field instant access to their target market, and could potentially lead to many sales contracts. In other words: buying the mailing list along with this blog could help a company in this field achieve strategic objectives, not just act as a revenue stream in and of itself. I’ll repeat: When investors pay a PREMIUM to acquire a business or asset, they are usually not just after a revenue stream — they are after a business or asset helps them achieve a strategic objective.

Not sold yet? How about this little figure: $500 CPM is not an unheard-of rate to advertise in newsletters in many B2B niches. And that’s to reach that audience once, in one newsletter issue. In that light, what would it be worth to some companies to own the list, and to be able to leverage it to establish long term visibility and relationships with the people on it?

Now I’ll be the first to admit that RFID is an extreme case, and a newsletter may not double the value of your blog, depending on the niche you’re in. But it will in a lot of niches – particularly those that are at least moderately profitable, and moderately narrow (i.e. “digital cameras” is a moderately narrow blog topic, “technology” is not). A few other ways a newsletter will make your blog’s stock go up:

  • It gives your site another non-search-engine traffic source, thus lowering the risk to a potential buyer.
  • It can carry advertisements in and of itself and thus act as a revenue stream.

So what are you waiting for… go get a newsletter!

P.S. if you do, don’t go cheap, get a real solution. I can recommend Savicom and ConstantContact.

P.P.S. my favorite converting positions for a newsletter signup box are the top of a sidebar, and under the posts on permalink pages.

P.P.P.S. For the record, the RFID Gazette isn’t for sale, and I’m not using this post as a vehicle to pump it up… but I like the way you think, cynical readers!