5 Steps You Can Follow to Monetize Your Blog
You’re ready when people are willing to pay you.
Seriously. It’s that easy.
Sure, there are sites like Dooce and Mashable that get a bazillion readers per day, but the likelihood of pulling those kinds of numbers is unlikely for most of us.
Does this mean you can’t start to monetize your blog? Heck no. It just means you have to know how to set your asking price.
Here’s a few tips that have helped me monetize BeDeviant.com:
1. Don’t Be Afraid to Cold Call
Roughly 75% of the ads run on BeDeviant.com have come from me getting in touch with business, ministries or organizations that I believe in. Most times I get a “no” or no response at all, but those who do respond usually join the team. It’s unnerving at times to say, “Hey, I believe in my site, I believe in what you’re up to. Do you want to partner?” It’s almost like dating–that whole fear of rejection thing. But what’s the worst they can say? No? Give it a shot.
2. Match-Match
Pick ads for your site that make sense. Depending on the amount of traffic your site receives, you can easily get paid ads from companies that are willing to pay. But sometimes they don’t make sense. If you blog about puppies, putting ads for camping gear on your site doesn’t make sense. Petco, Purina, Eukanuba–those ads would make sense. Not REI. Don’t sell out your blog and your readers for a few extra bucks per month. It’s not worth it!
3. Play With the Price
Before I started running ads, I looked around on other blogs that I respected to see what they were asking. (Compete.com was my best friend–the comparison feature was key! Stats aren’t the only thing, but they are some thing.) I threw some numbers together and presented them to potential sponsors. I knew I had the price right when people started signing up!
Another ditch to avoid is pricing your ad spots too low. If you’re offering too good of a bargain, the perceived value plummets. That’s less than good for you. I drive a rental car differently than I do my own, paid-for car. Why? Simple: value. There’s more value in my car than a rental. Same goes with your ad spots. Woo owners, not renters!
4. Join Referral Programs
On our site, I run a combination of paid sponsors and referral spots. Right now, our Amazon ad is part of the Amazon Associates program. We’ve also run referral spots from Clover and Basecamp before. It may not bring in the same amount as paid sponsors, but it can help you leverage your traffic for better monetization results. Plus, it gets you in the mindset that you have value to bring to the table!
5. Have Fun!
I can tell you that meeting and interacting with the amazing sponsors of this site has been one of the highlights of blogging. From Matt at MemberHub, to Alison at Clover, to Brian at Rockbridge, to Joseph and Sarah at Bethel, to April at Twubs, engaging with these folks and their organizations has been so much fun. Yeah, they pay to put an ad on this site, but the partnerships we’ve formed go beyond a financial transaction.
If you’re passionate and focused, if you have a tiny bit of entrepreneurial skill, if you love blogging, you can attract advertisers. It’s a great way to bring in readers, make a little extra cash and spotlight the hard work of other organizations and businesses.
So go on, already. Start makin’ that dough!
(And of course, if you’re interested in joining the sponsors team here at BeDeviant, we’d love to talk to you!)
Question: At what point, in regards to your stats, did you decide that your blog would be a worthy investment for sponsors?
Glad to be partnered with you Justin!
This is where Compete.com comes in handy. I took a look at some other sites I read that have sponsors as well. When I ran them through the comparison feature on Compete and saw that there traffic was similar to mine, I knew I could start making some calls.
Really though, it's all about the perceived value. Stats, though important, are only one piece to that puzzle.
Never really thought about monetization, hmm – although it would be cool for the blog to pay for itself and then beyond that to empower me be better in the things I blog about.
Well Justin, I hope one of your unwritten pieces of advice isn't to use images in violation of their licensing restrictions, but that is what you're doing here. This image (mine) has a Creative Commons license that allows you to use it for non-commercial uses with proper attribution. I'm not sure of the former, but I am of the latter. The image at http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuckp/252924532/i… is clearly labeled and I would appreciate it if you took it down now. Thanks,
Chuck
Hi Chuck. I will gladly take your image down.
You should know that I found your picture through http://search.creativecommons.org, just like I do with all the images here on the site. You may want to check the classification of your image, as it turned up usable in my search.
Well Justin, I hope one of your unwritten pieces of advice isn't to use images in violation of their licensing restrictions, but that is what you're doing here. This image (mine) has a Creative Commons license that allows you to use it for non-commercial uses with proper attribution. I'm not sure of the former, but I am of the latter. The image at http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuckp/252924532/i… is clearly labeled and I would appreciate it if you took it down now. Thanks,
Chuck
Hi Chuck. I will gladly take your image down.
You should know that I found your picture through http://search.creativecommons.org, just like I do with all the images here on the site. You may want to check the classification of your image, as it turned up usable in my search.