We’ve all heard that most bloggers don’t make money with their blogs, and that’s definitely true. The majority of the money comes from ambassadorships, freelance writing, consulting, and other opportunities that come from the blog. But, savvy bloggers can certainly make some money from their blog. Here are a few options for making money from your blog:
Traditional Advertising
Traditional advertising is available as both CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per thousand impressions). You can make more money with cost per click, because the advertiser is paying for a visitor, but you have more control over the money you make through impressions. If you are getting paid on impressions, most advertisers want ads “above the fold” which means the area of your site that shows when you first look at the site (without having to scroll down). Having a smaller header on your site means you’ll have more room for above the fold ads.
Most ad networks have requirements you’ll need to comply with, and you generally have to be accepted into the network. Many networks sell ads on all of their “inventory”, not specifically for your site.
Suggested Networks:
MTVN Tribes
Six Apart Media
Google Adsense
Juice Box Jungle
Federated Media (incredibly difficult to get accepted to)
Pay Per Post/Advertorials
With pay per post, you get paid to write about a specific topic. You’ll generally need to follow some requirements, such as the number of links, the number of words in the post. Keep in mind that Google has rules against text links, which these links could be considered.
Suggested Networks:
In-Text Ads:
Unlike text links, in-line ads are not delivered as hyperlinks. When users mouse over the link, an ad pops up. If the user clicks on it, you receive revenue. Some complain that they are obtrusive, but, the good thing is that don’t take up any additional space on your site.
Suggested Networks:
Text Links
Text links are an actual hyperlink placed on your site. Google frowns on these, but they pay really well, so it’s up to you to make your own decision.
Suggested networks:
Text Link Ads
Affiliate Networks:
When you have an affiliate relationship with a company, you’ll receive a percentage of the revenue generated when a customer clicks on a link or ad on your site, and then makes a purchase. These relationships can pay well when you have the perfect content on your site, but it can be difficult to make money.
Suggested Networks:
Next week, I’ll drive into how to specific make more money with these different types of ads.
Photo credit: Jen DeCesari
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey girl,
So good to know that most bloggers aren’t making money. I went to a blogger advisory board meeting, and during the course of the night, I casually mentioned that I wasn’t making any money with my blog.
It was like I was a leper! I (think) I have all the normal stuff on my blog, and I have a few dollars here and there in my advertising/affiliate accts., but most of them won’t pay out until you hit something like $100! …and to my little blog, that seems like such a high threshold to reach!!!!
Thank you for confirming that most of us don’t make money off doing something that we love. (I mean, I’d LIKE to, but it’s the nature of the beast!)
Hi Debbie – while you probably won’t make a fortune with your ads, you can definitely optimize for them. More posts later on this. In the meantime, don’t get discouraged – I’ve heard LOADS of bloggers say they never hit the threshold.
Great info Jodi-THANKS!