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How To Sell Ads On Your Blog Even With Hardly Any Traffic - A Step-By-Step Guide
I really don’t want to keep harping on Blogrush. I don’t hate it at all, and I’m not trying to scare anyone… I just think it won’t work for the majority of my low-traffic blogging brethren.
Time will tell. But rather than keeping bitching about my opinion of it, I’d rather help you, the low-traffic blogger who isn’t making any buck with your blog, with a few better ways/ideas to make some money with your blog.
Here’s my first idea, put to you in steps you can/should follow. Give it a try and let me know how it goes. In my opinion, this is a much better use of your prime real estate to generate profit for you down the road.
The problem for you? You have a low-traffic blog. You’re not a marketer, or do you wish to be one. You just know you like blogging and you wish that you could make a few extra bucks a month from your efforts. You’ve tried Adsense, didn’t work. You’ve tried Chitika, didn’t work. You’ve tried them all, they didn’t work. So you thought, “why don’t I sell some ads on my blog?” But you don’t know how to do that because you’re not a marketer. Plus, you have hardly any readers, so why would anyone want to buy an ad on your blog? So what do you do?
Step 1 To Selling Ads On Your Blog: Make Some Room!
The first thing you have to do is make some space on your blog for some ads. I suggest you work 2-4 ad spots into the top of one of your sidebars. Pick a standard ad unit like 125×125 and reserve that space on your blog for those ads.
Step 2 To Selling Ads On Your Blog: Explain Yourself!
Now build a page on your blog discussing ad rates. Make sure to include your monthly traffic stats (even if they are low) and also write a paragraph about what your blog is and why people like to read it, and who those people are. Advertisers want to know who they are reaching.
Step 3 To Selling Ads On Your Blog: Track Advertisers Down!
The next step then is to identify some advertisers to pursue. Go to the more popular blogs in your niche and see who is advertising there. For example, if I wrote a tech blog, I would go over to Techcrunch.com and see who is buying ads there. Make a list of the top 10 companies to contact.
Step 4 To Selling Ads On Your Blog: Pitch Them!
Send an email, or phone call if you can, to those companies telling them you’re giving away a free banner ad on your blog for 3 months. All they have to do is send you a 125×125 banner and you’ll post it up for free. Send them your ad rates page and explain to them that you’re simply trying to get noticed and that your blog is a good target for their potential customers. Be honest with them. Let them know that you’re giving them the free ad in hopes that in months time they’ll be interested in buying an ad from you, but will not be required.
Step 5 To Selling Ads On Your Blog: Report & Track!
Now hopefully you’ve gotten some advertisers to take you up on your offer. Set their banner ads up and closely monitor how many clicks and impressions they are getting from your blog. At the end of every month, send a quick note to the advertiser letting them know how the free ad is doing. Make sure you’re using a tracking program if you can, like Openads.com which is free, but kinda complex to setup. Not totally necessary to use, but helpful.
Step 6 To Selling Ads On Your Blog: Close Them!
At the end of the 3-month free ad, or right before the end, send your advertiser a summary report. Make your case. Ask them if they’d be interested in purchasing that spot now on your blog for a very low rate. Make it $100/month or something, whatever. Even if only one of them goes for it, you’re now making $1200 a year more than you were before.
Summary: This, in my opinion, is a much better use of your prime real estate than something like Blogrush, and is hardly any work really. Give it a try.
Blogrush currently has 60-80% surplus inventory which hasn’t been earned by anyone. Whilst the percentage of that surplus inventory compared to users will decrease, a lot of that surplus is on the high traffic blogs.
From what I can see that surplus is being shared out to everyone, thus the smaller blogs are gaining a benefit.
A blog in the top tier with 30,000 impressions per day is giving the network 240,000 advertising positions that it is free to disperse however it chooses.
John is perfectly at liberty at some time in the future to decide that blogs that are not providing inventory don’t get to spend their credits from downline or give them reduced exposure - I am not sure he will have to - if the top tier remove widgets, there would be a chain reaction.
The top bloggers will get lower CTR because many people have already read their content.
If you have followed anything about Income.com, John has stated that most of it will be free and there are going to be a number of services and community features.
Over 3 days I have generated 70 targeted visitors - I need to improve conversion of that traffic. If I wanted to get that traffic from Adwords, it would have cost me between $7 to maybe $70 depending on niche.
It is true that I could earn $70 from the same space, but probably not $700
There are credits being wasted on blogs that aren’t relevant, foreign language etc that slip through, it is very early days.
If you look at my blog you will notice that I have removed a number of widgets. Spicypage has never really brought any traffic, the Technorati links without being able to edit or add to them weren’t giving me any control. They will come back in another format later on.
Bumpzee is missing only because of the server problems recently, it will be switched on again today or tomorrow. I don’t class Bumpzee as wasted real estate and have a lot of time invested in the community.
There are some interesting things happening in internet marketing, the “closed” landing page is opening out. Blogrush is going to help bridge communities which is good for blogging and for affiliate marketing in general, of all persuasions.
John Reese isn’t new to the blogging game, some time ago he purchased Pingoat.com - I am not sure how long he has had the squeeze page at the top, but I am sure he has a large database of bloggers already and already had a huge list anyway.
Oh, just to be clear, the $70 or $700 that could possibly be earned is over a 30 day period, the traffic was a 3 day example, it is too soon to tell.
I’m confused how you go from having a “low traffic” blog and giving the ads away to suddenly charging $100 a month. That seems like dreamland to me. Shouldn’t it be more like $10.00 a month?
Brilliant - I’m working on some of these - and it’ll be a useful reminder for many! Thanks for writing this, Jim!
Wow, that’s an awesome idea and I will be implementing it soon. Thanks for the step-by-step clear instructions!
Certainly some good material there for us bloggers. Thanks for providing the information plus the clear, meaty instructions. So many times, i’ve seen good content, but its rarely backed up for the easy to follow ‘to do’ steps.
@YC, let me know how it goes.
@cardiogirl, as I said above, let me know how it goes. Glad to help.
@Adam, I’m happy to assist. Tried to make it as easy as possible to follow.
Any opinions about just how soon you should start this process, if you are starting a brand new blog? I’m guessing you should wait a month or two till you have a good cache of articles and a few regular readers?
@Chris, yes, you should probably have a few months of content built up on your blog first.
[...] How to Sell Ads on Your Blog Even with Hardly Any Traffic from Jim Kukral. [...]
Simple is usually the best way to go. Good list. And, I agree that blogrush is the next over-hyped thingamajig. Sounds great on paper, but I have not read any of the links in any of those boxes I have seen on people’s sites.
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I am one of those blogs that has low traffic. I have only been around since may. My blog documents what I have learned to increase the ranking on google of one of my websites in a very competitive arena. I was zeroed out on RSS subscribers until last week when my blog was featured on a video by WebProNews.com. Now I have 30 subscribers and about 70 visitors a day. Still very very low but it is a start. I think one thing that is very important at this point is not to get discouraged and quit but press on. I am at a point where many bloggers quit… that six month period with no income and low visitor rate. I have a feeling if I continue to blog daily with constructive content that eventually the blog will pop out. Patience is the key…..
@Jason, yes, simple and high quality content!
@Novice seo, continue to write content that solves problems for people and you’ll be on your way to success. Stick with it.
[...] the video short version of my previous post about how to sell ads on a low-traffic blog. Click To Play play_blip_movie_395248(); Blogging, Video Blogging, Video TutorialsHi, and [...]
[...] How To Sell Ads On Your Blog Even With Hardly Any Traffic - A Step-By-Step Guide - Jim Krukal shows you how low traffic blogs can still make money. [...]
Interesting idea, but if I had a low traffic blog, I would focus on building traffic so people would want to buy ads. I wonder if your idea would work…
I’m curious…what exactly is considered low level traffic? Less than a 1,000 visitors a day? If so, will companies realistically fork over at least $100/month for such weak numbers?
@Matt, it does work, try it.
@Super, I say low-traffic is like 100 visitors a day, or less. That’s 99% of all blogs my friend. If it’s in their niche, and you make it easy for them, and you can prove that it’s worth a few bucks. Why wouldn’t they do it?
thanks for writing this jim
Howard can I add these standard 125×125 ad spaces without using AdSense or another provider?
I’ve sent you an email and a contact form inquiring about your services with NO response. You must be too busy for new clients…good for you!
Not true Mike. I did email you back. I said I wasn’t doing any of my free consulting anymore which you mentioned you wanted. If that wasn’t you, than I never got your email.
[...] How to Sell Ads on Your Blog With Hardly Any Traffic - In this industry the rich seem to get richer don’t they. The bigger blogs attract the best [...]
Just discovered a complete list of all marked down products at Amazon, sorted by category
and % off, ranging from 50% off to 90% off (thanks Sonja for the effort).
Actually I never thought Amazon would have articles with 90% off, but only in the category
Electronics there are more than 3000 of them - look for yourself, the list is on
Bargain Hunter (which is a blog of a woman who specializes in finding good deals at
Amazon, like Britain’s “Jeanie”).