Matt - Great numbers! You can do all sorts of ad types, really.
As with any kind of ad sales, have an "advertise with ___" page (there's debate about whether or not to publish your rates) and you could take a suggestion I saw earlier, where you go after those in your niche who are already spending money on AdSense, send them a personal email, mentioning that you do private ad sales and if they'd be interested, you'd send along your stats and pricing.
Thanks larakulpa! What is generally accepted as a legitimate source for stats? I'm using webstats with my host as the primary indicator and Statpress/Woopra for more real time data.
The Statpress and especially the Woopra numbers are wacky at times. My best guess is that it is because a very large number of my visitors use Firefox and a popular addon is Noscript.
I'm assuming you're using self hosted WordPress? Try the WP.com Stats plugin. It's one of the best free ones I know right now.
Also, Google Analytics helps you run reports that an advertiser might want specifically.
Short of that, paying for a stats package, you might want to consider something like omniture (it's what b5media uses).
@ Mattb4rd
I recommend that you investicate Quantcast.
It is also used by advertisers sometimes.
Hope this helps,
Nate
Debt-free Scholar - A growing college finances blog
ROFL: - From the blog of BloggingGuy"
Hey Comrade, gimme me lunch money!
You made my day BG! Have a great ride.
Fred
- Thoughts to change humanity's rendezvous with destiny -
@fredinchina "Hey Comrade, gimme me lunch money!"
I'm sorry, what?
Fred. You're showing your age. Stoppit. :P
BG - this is kind of random, but I noticed on your advertising page that the spots you are offering are toward the bottom of your site. Advertisers will want to be at the top, next to your current post.
"I don't claim to have found the truth but I know it has found me." Sara Groves
@sarahmaeblogs on Twitter<
Well, actually it's that the Standard ad's are near the bottom of the side bar, not the bottom of the page. Premium ad's though are at the top, right under the RSS feeds, and RSS ad's are right under the post in the RSS feed, half off with a premium ad.
<public service announcement>
Donations are a hard way to go even if you ARE promoting something other than yourself. If anyone's interested in supporting Relay for Life (American Cancer Society), please drop by my blog and sponsor one or all of us. I'll be going head to head against a 13 year old who has challenged me to a rematch in Dutch oven dessert cooking. You could give him a little pity prize (donate to his Relay for Life campaign) if you believe I'm going to win this round (just read the entry and click on his picture).
Hurry though - Relay's tonight. I'll be posting pictures and stories from the event later this weekend.
</public service announcement>
Jacob, don't sell yourself short. As a professional writer, I find it galling to see people devalue their work. If your writing is any good, you deserve to be paid for it. That doesn't mean you can't give it away for free (we discussed the pros and cons of submitting articles to free article databases the other day, and I don't expect you to pay yourself for writing on your own blog, nor do I pay for guest blogs that promote the author's blog, product, etc.) But if you want to make a living through your writing, there are probably other, better ways than through blogging. If you want to make a living blogging, then learn about SEO, learn how to monetize your blog, learn - well, from the pros. Like you're doing here. And don't expect people to donate - most never will, as others have told you. People may pay to subscribe to premium content, or to attend workshops, if they really like what they see and think they can learn something of value from you. Confidence is attractive. Have confidence in yourself and the value of your writing. If you wouldn't pay for it, why would anyone else?
Well, this thread finally twisted my arm to register !!!
What I have been mulling over and would really really (did I say really?) like Darren to address, is how to monetise (and market) for non-profits. [I am not saying that the ideas so far can't be implemented - not at all - but there are some differences.]
On one of my sites I have an entrenched Paypal donate button, so a person would have to click on the link on 'ways to contribute' to the site, of which $ is one (listed below participation etc).
It's partially about covering the ever-increasing costs of a growing-traffic site and developing it further so that its even better, but also for the cause. Hey, money helps change peoples lives!
I have included an Amazon list where it is 100% relevant to the content of the site.
What are the other options? What does a non-profit have to sell anyway? How do you fund-raise? Hey, how do you get people to respond to your call for actions?
Phew, I feel better getting that off my chest!
Over to you......
Passionately supporting home education (aka homeschooling) law reform in Germany as a human right.
Azam
Member
I came late in this topic... I think that if you are running a blog without any ads and you decide to run it without any ad then its ok to have a donation button. Because non-profit blogs have more chances of getting some good donation for their good content. Lets take example of wikipedia its running without ads and have a high quality of content so readers feel that if they donate some money it will help it to develope more and continue to provide quality content. If you are making good money from ads and asking for donation then it cretaes a bad impression on the reader. I looks like even you have money in your pocket and begging for food... So donation buttons are good for non-profit blogs or sites...
"BORN AS A PROGRAMMER DIE AS A PROGRAMMER"
While I am not adverse to people having "donate" buttons on their blogs, I would only make a donation if it's there for a cause; a legitimate charitable or fundraising cause. Actually, my opinion piece for this week is on Malaria and I provide the link and encourage readers to donate to support the global effort to eradicate the disease. So, I dont have an issue with the approach per se; unless the request is just a give me money plea...
I can understand the twitter apps creators who say... donate to help us keep the research going or the blogger who has a button for his/her favorite charity. They are adding value by either creating apps I could use or by educating me about a cause dear to their hearts; beyond that I'm not buying. Cheers!
Tempus Fugit -Carpe Diem! I need this reminder...
I am not a fan of Donation button. But it can work for you. For example http://www.stevepavlina.com/ makes a killing income from Donations.
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