199 Readers
You just published your first blog article. You are a blogger! Congratulations!
You are using either a Tumblr, Blogger, or WordPress(.com), etc.
As time passes, you’ve realized your start-up costs on your blogging efforts has come to the total balance of $0. And you are pleased! A quick look at your PR0 Google Rank, 16M Alexa Rank, and 3 subscribers though (one being you, the others being your Mom…and your cat! sssh! I won’t tell!) is a clear notification that if you want to become more visible, and truly promote your blog effectively, it will require much more of an effort on your part.
A financial one!
Why do we resent actually having to pay for something online?
Eventually, if you want to make a serious go of it as a blogger, you’ll have to bust that piggy bank open! Let’s see, there’s the domain, web hosting, eBooks, banner design, site design, e-mail marketing, newsletter / autoresponder companies… and then there is one of of the most important expenses as a blogger… yes, advertising!
Blog Advertising – Buyer
Do you offer advertising on your blog? Oh, you do? OK.
Why would someone buy advertising on your site? What are they hoping to gain?
I have an “investor’s mentality.” – meaning that I want to see a return for my time or financial investment. I am a cautious consumer and am always looking for value.
And most likely that ad buyer is as well.
When you are visiting another site, do you ever inquire into their advertising rates? Do you ever assess how many subscribers the site has, how old the site is, what its Alexa Rank is, and what is its Google PR Rank?
Do you like the design? Would your 125×125 ad be featured prominently in an enticing area for visitors?
Most importantly, would the community there on the blog welcome you into their fold if they clicked your ad? In other terms, do you share the same demographic of reader?
When I am on your blog(s), I am taking all these things into consideration. Shouldn’t you be as well?
Blog Advertising – Seller
Selling adverting should be subtle, yet not passive. When a prospective buyer visits Source Blogger, I want to provide them with tools that will allow them to make a decision – and an easy one.
1) Clearly identify where their ad is going to be.
You would think this would be obvious, but, trust me, many blogs are selling multiple ad spots, and the spot you thought you were buying above the fold is halfway down the page… somewhere.
2) How much?
Many bloggers want you to make them an offer. If that’s the case, the offer that will come will always be below expectations.
As a buyer, I don’t want to prolong the process of guessing what a fair offer would be and waiting 3 days for you to respond.
3) Make it easy for me: The Advertise Page
Perhaps I’m “on the fence” about whether to commit. Take the time to sell me. Before you go into your instructions on how to purchase the advertising and how to contact you, show me you understand your market, your typical reader demographic, and provide some traffic statistics.
This is the advertising page for Source Blogger.
Sticker Shock
If you are reading this article on my homepage it hasn’t been that long since my designer finalized all of the theme customizations.
With that out of the way, I have made the commitment to advertise on about 6-8 blogs in my niche/category.
If you had clicked on an ad that looked like this to the left, I know my advertising dollars paid off.
If you frequently visit a site similar to Source Blogger, yet you did not see this ad there, it may have been for a good reason.
It was too (damn) expensive!
If that is the case you may want to review your pricing strategy. Most sites would struggle to pay the $200 – $500 dollars a month some of you are requesting. And that blank “advertise here” spot isn’t doing anything for you now, is it?
If another webmaster purchases ad space from you and is seeing results, no one said you couldn’t renegotiate for a higher price down the road. Tell them from the start it was a “promotional offer”.
An important word from Source Blogger
If you have discovered Source Blogger for the first time, I want to welcome you. Please consider becoming part of the growing, Source Blogger community. All that it takes is becoming an RSS or e-mail subscriber. I think you will truly benefit from the content here and will enjoy networking with myself, my readers, and other industry professionals.
If you are interested in advertising on Source Blogger, visit my Advertising Page. If you have any questions, please contact me here. I respond to inquiries promptly.
In addition, there is still some extra money in the advertising budget. Hit the ‘Contact’ tab in the navigation bar to solicit me for advertising on your site – just no “sticker shock” please!
The above caption is a screen shot of what Source Blogger looked like a week ago.
And this is me now. Let me know what you think of the new theme and its design. If you are interested in reaching out to my designer, (who was incredible), contact her directly here.
This week is the “(re)launch of Source Blogger!” Please remember to leave a comment. I appreciate your love and support.
Required Reading: How Do I Sell The 125×125 Ad Space On My Blog?
14 Comments
I have found that the more popular my blog has been getting over the past few months, the more ads I have been receiving, but the problem is usually what to charge for a month, I have seen sites charging a fortune and their stats are awful, so I try to keep my ads at a manageable rate for those that may be just starting out blogging and for those that are seasoned bloggers.
Karen recently posted..Avatar Hits The Big Screen Again As a Special Edition!
Karen,
I agree… which is why I purchased an ad on your site, Blazing Minds, this morning.
See… it’s just that easy!
You may want to consider limiting your available ads to two 125×125′s. I see since the last time I visited your site, that you have devoted a good chunk of real estate (your upper, right sidebar) to BuySellAds.
Thanks for your comment.
Source Blogger recently posted..Advertising On Your Blog Gave Me Sticker Shock!
Thanks, I forgot to change it to two when I added the big ad block to test it out, thanks for reminding me and a special thanks for purchasing an ad
Karen recently posted..How To Write a Twitter Bio That Gains You More Followers
Did you mean to say 16K Alexa rank? That Alexa rank would be so good I would expect advertisers would just purchase ads for the traffic alone, it would take around 2000 pageviews per day to reach 16k alexa by my calculations.
Justin Germino recently posted..Dragon Blogger Interviewed by Antonio Coleman
Changed to M! As in 16 million.
16K would be great right now! LOL
I used to offer advertising on my blog, but my stats weren’t great, and I soon became obsessed with trying to sell the ad spots. Now I focus more on my content, and will probably offer some ad spots in the future. Right now Google AdSense makes up for the costs of my blog.
Paul recently posted..A List of Common Tags in a Blogger Blog Post Header
Great article. Good guide for helping bloggers get the most bang for their buck with advertising. Nothing wrong with starting out with a very reasonable rate for advertising. You can always raise the rates as popularity and demand grow, but if you are over-priced from the start, you’re going to have nothing but blank “adverstise here” spots.
Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella recently posted..As a Blogger- How Do You Measure Success
Hi Jeffrey
Just came over from your guest post on Blog Angel.
What a relaxed and readable writing style you have.
My next venture will be to get a few advertisers to rent a small space for a very small fee – as Joella says above “Nothing wrong with starting out with a very reasonable rate for advertising. ”
I think that Joella has set you up with a great looking site.
Keith Davis recently posted..Two way traffic
Keith,
You are proof that guest posting works! And thank you for your compliment on my literary style. Other bloggers have hinted that I should write more for search engines… I find more satisfaction in writing for “real people” like you, not GoogleBot!
Joella is an “angel, isn’t she? – and she is right about a modest beginning with advertising.
After choosing some choice blogs to advertise from in conjunction with Source Blogger’s relaunch, I can say it appears to be working well.
Advertising… the “missing link” for many bloggers.
Thank you, Keith.
Jeffrey Baril – Source Blogger
“Determined To Make You A Better Blogger!”
Source Blogger recently posted..Advertising On Your Blog Gave Me Sticker Shock!
Nice theme
If paid advertising on a blog causes sticker shock, why not try one of the well-known 125×125 exchange ad sites, for example, Entrecard or Adgitize? I’m using both of these with good results so far. The Alexa rank of my blog is getting better with more visitors, but I haven’t tried selling ads yet. I’d also recommend CMF ads as a low-cost advertising method, to get some exposure for your blog.
Healthy Fitness Idea recently posted..Sitting is Hazardous- You Might Want to Stand While Reading This
@Healthy Fitness
Hi, I actually use them both…and CMF Ads — but, to a limited degree.
I do not see these services as true, traditional advertising. Many blogger use a multitude of these services on their blog all at once which only serves to camouflage your 125×125 amongst their MANY ad clusters and widgets.
In addition, it sends a message to bloggers that their blogs have a limited value since the compensation ranges from nothing (as advertised on Entrecard) — to less than a few cents.
The conversion rate is much higher for direct advertising and offers some SEO benefits — when the blog’s author does not institute a “rel=nofollow” clause. And lastly, the networking benefit is amazing.
Thanks for your suggestion.
I’ve tried using the services to get a bite from bloggers or others needing advertising. Can only say that my efforts have been fruitless.
Tonyknuckles @113tidbits recently posted..5 Tips For Growing Adsense With Research
Man you have an art for witty writing. What you are trying to say is totally true. Some sites charge a great deal man!
Vincent Vagabond recently posted..Now body organs can send updates to your cellphone