July suggested I accept advertising, and I’m not one to question.� I’m afraid he might tell August if I don’t.
This post is actually for all those interested in advertising on blogs, in general.� I haven’t actively pursued advertising very much, as evidenced by my lackluster advertising page.� I want to spruce that area up, and was wondering what you like to see when� you consider advertising on a blog.� Do you want stats, facts, figures and prices?� On the one hand, it’s convenient.� You only email the blogger if you are interested and the rates fit your budget.� I had something up like that a while ago, but took in down because my blog grew substantially and the stats/rates were no longer relevant.� On the other hand, everyone knows what you spend on advertising.� That rankles some cankles for those who prefer to keep their business private.� Totally understandable.
Next question.
What do you think of those advertiser summary posts that bloggers do?� Honestly, I normally skip them.� I don’t object to them, but since I don’t have spending money right now, they are of no use to me.� I would read them (quickly) if I had the extra money or if it was closer to the holidays.
I have more questions, but they aren’t relevant to advertising.� A reader asked me how to grow her blog, and I had no idea what to say.� I’ve done nothing tangible, other than write frequently and work on improving my pictures.� There are definitely things you can do, but they are things I find naturally difficult.� Networking, introducing yourself to bloggers bigger than you, commenting on popular blogs (commenting for comments seems phoney), joining forums (who has time?), and other tactics.� I’m of the work hard and it will happen mentality, which might not be the best way to build an online business.� Actually, it’s the worst way to build an online business, so don’t do what I do if you are looking for explosive growth.
Okay, advertising welcome for August and beyond.� You can email me for rates.� In the spirit of full disclosure, I reach roughly 2,500-3,000 visitors/page views daily, including rss feeds. I’ve included a chart of the breakdown.
Thanks for your support.
well i’m not an expert on either one…because my blog is new so I haven’t thought about advertising yet. And for the second question about how to grow a blog…well, my blog is new so it hasn’t grown yet. So…glad I could help.
I’ve been commenting on blogs for a while now, so now I just include my url and it seems like folks are clicking on the link. i’ve read some suggestions that you should comment on a bunch of new blogs every day…which i guess would work but it seems fake to me – click on a blog, find something that vaguely interests you, say something witty, and cross your fingers that they’ll visit. Lame. On the flip side, visiting new blogs is kinda fun…you find some new cool people. The ratio of cool blogs to lame blogs is a little overwhelming though…
That was alot of words and I don’t think I said anything useful. Hm.
I’m still stuck on “rankles some cankles”. I gotta use that.
I’m all about organic growth, which I think was what you were getting at. Maybe not the best option for someone who wants to grow aggressively. But sincerely commenting on other blogs is important I think. And by blogging you are inherently putting yourself in the blogging community and other than by blogging itself, commenting is the way to participate in the community. I think.
I agree about the organic growth. I just don’t feel right posting a comment that isn’t sincere. Also, aggressive growth is often hard to handle. I’ve had 2.5 years to flounder and mess up in peace without scads of people watching my mistakes.
I have zero input on the advertising, because I’m not at a place where I’m ready to do that. However, growing your blog, for me, means content and commenting. Do those things regularly and being truly genuine when you do will grow your blog faster than anything else (in my case anyway).
“July suggested I accept advertising, and I�m not one to question.� I�m afraid he might tell August if I don�t.” lol!
Are you sold on selling ads privately or would you consider BlogHer or Federated Media or something similar?
I have to say, I’m slightly shocked that you haven’t thought about it before this with the amount of traffic you’re getting.
Blogging was never about making money for me. Only the last year, with the issues we’ve had with my husband’s job, have I really considered advertising more than just fleetingly. I was with BlogHer (I made very little), and now I’m with Federated Media. The relationship is new, so there is little more than enough to pay for a cup of coffee coming my way. It will take time to see income, but even the projections I have seen are rather low.
The odd thing is, I see blogs with the same or less traffic as me that are making a tidy income. I suspect that my readers aren’t small business owners. Most are highly educated, bookish people with professional jobs or careers with no need to advertise.
This is my first post here ~ I just stumbled across your blog when reading another…I bookmarked yours and not the other, based solely on your writing style. I don’t even know where I came from, actually!
Anyhow, as a non-blogger, I am amazed you have all that information about your readers. Did they fill out a poll, or do you determine all of that some other way?
As a reader, it wouldn’t bother me one way or the other to see ads (as long as they’re not popping up). I think people will click on what interests them and not worry about the rest. It only bothers me when the sponsors seem to dictate the posts. One very popular young blogging couple has driven me away because every other post seems to be promoting one of their sponsors, or a thinly veiled request for a freebie.
I just love your blog ~ and I do like it when other bloggers leave links to theirs…it’s a great way of finding new ones!
No, that’s just a copy of a chart I took from Quantcast. Anyone can get one, and I don’t know how accurate it is. 60% of my readers don’t have children? I don’t know about that. You can find similar information on Alexa and ComScore, though you have to pay for it on the latter.
That’s funny about the demographics.. I was just trying to remember filling out any survey forms!
I don’t blog..so no advice, but I agree with the ‘organic blogging approach”. There’s something about a blog that lets you see ‘into’ the person more..and if I constantly saw you writing some random comment, maybe even a comment that showed you had not paid attention to what that post was about, then that would make your blog less sincere. Of course, I know you now (HA!!), and thus know this is not within your abilities.. :) I did; however, find your blog by perusing another. I don’t remember who,where, how or why now, sorry.
Facebook has become like this.. I like it, or used to, because I had friends that I just hadn’t had the time to keep up on their lives.. they weren’t on the daily ‘must call’ list, but I still wanted to stay involved. NOW, everyone, and I do mean everyone is on FB, and there seems to be copious amounts of narcissism injected now. Instead of having pics to just keep those up-to-date, I know have friends (of the acquaintance variety) posting pics that looks like they’re trying to get a modeling job! Yikes! And others posting status updates that sound nothing like them in real person…which makes me question how well I know them in ‘real life’.
Anyhow, enough of the hijack.
Blog yes, paid yes, and so if you need to advertise yes. However, I think you should color coordinate your advertising. That upper one.. it’s really bright. It throws off the light yellow sunshiney color of your blog page… Not sure how advertising works, but can you adjust things of that nature; make it more visually pleasing?
As for what I like to see advertised.. SALES!! Seriously, my rule is I purchase nothing at full price. Shoes…a slight obsession, jewelry and home decorating. That would be my vote.
I also don’t like it when there are blogs to just fill up the daily blogging quota, if that makes sense. It’s like a bad story.. I just skip to the end and decide not to read the entire post.
As far as the ‘sponsor posts’.. neither here or there. I already like what I like.. if I see things I like, I will look at the ‘sponsor’ website, if not…. If it is necessary for your blog, then do it!
2500-3000/day..that’s a lot of voyeurs!
You’re my hero! Mostly because I’m terrible at marketing myself. I just don’t like doing it. Which means I have a small readership. But it also means I have really great relationships with my readers, who all tend to be cooler than me. Such as yourself.
Oh, don’t look at me for marketing! I do NOTHING. I write, and then write some more. A few posts were featured on big blogs because someone there was reading. That’s it. That’s why I had no idea what to tell the reader who asked about growing her blog. I’m silly bad that stuff, mainly due to confidence issues/perfectionism.
I like what erinn said above about sincere commenting. I really like discovering new blogs that are off the beaten path of the popular blogs and so I’m always clicking through via comments. I recently decided to make a conscious effort to leave (sincere) comments on blogs that I may only visit once, simply because everyone likes to get comments! If I’m scrolling through a blog and think “cute baby” or “great photo” I make the effort to take the thought out of my head and put it in their blog. In the end, its not about commenting for clicks (I think phony comments are pretty obvious to spot, anyway), but being a part of a larger, supportive community of bloggers. :)
As for blog posts that introduce sponsors, I skip ’em. Mostly because I’m not in a position right now to buy a bunch of stuff. (Same reason I avoid magazines, etc.)
Growing a writing blog is harder than growing a design/craft/pretty things blog, I think. Good thoughts, as always, Jules.
Jules, this may seem like a really simple question, but I’ve got to ask. Um, how do you know how many people are subscribed via RSS??? I’ve been blogging for, oh, two+ years and still haven’t figured that one out (admittedly haven’t tried very hard either). Advice is welcome!
Oh, and keep doing what you’re doing. Love your style and approach. I would be interested in advertising, and am okay with rates posted or not. Whatever works!
Marisa–yes, growing a writing blog is a completely different beast. I can think of two blogs that started at the same time as me who receive in the millions of hits per month. Millions.
Bethany–you need to create an account at Feedburner. It’s just like a stat counter, but for rss feeds.
Oh perfect! Thanks so much for the tip. :)
Jules, I remember Grace of Design Sponge contemplating taking advertising on her growing blog. She was not entirely comfortable with it. I left one of my very first blog comments and said she should rightfully have an income from her passions and efforts and it would also be welcomed by interested advertisers. In the years to come her site was one of my favorite places to advertise. Unfortunately they upgraded/changed their advertising platform about a year ago and now it’s pretty much not attainable to small artisanal businesses like mine. I think you will do well with selling ads on your blog. Don’t think your advertisers have to come from your present readership. Put the word out and continue to do the great job you are now and they will find you. I’m thinking you will gain new readership from those advertisers who find you!
Project Wonderful is worth looking into.
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have truly enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
After all I’ll be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you write again soon!