by: Carol Bryant
Words count and numbers matter. As a pet blogger, these are two assurances I have come to know are true. Time and again, I am asked how to monetize a blog and the different techniques I have employed to make money on my words.
Monetization of a blog does not necessarily mean ads and “click throughs.” I blog because my heart beats dog, and along life’s path, monetization has been a surprise factor and now a treasured partner in my blogging life.
A social media plan is pivotal if you plan to monetize a blog. The definition of monetization is ever-changing: from ads to banners to sponsored posts or a platform for your other writing projects. Blogging to monetize can happen, but a social media plan is essential. These are things I learned at the annual BlogPaws conferences, which are designed for pet bloggers and micro-bloggers (Twitter, Facebook, et al) but the content of which applies to anyone who wants to blog and monetize from that blog. Here are a few things you can do to take action on improving your needs, keeping track of your “stats,” and making your words count while including numbers to your valued advertisers.
One of the ideas I had for my blog went beyond an ad, clearly spelled out and more than a one-time deal with an agreement not to work with the competition. I created PR packages for potential advertisers. I have to believe in products and services that advertise on my blog, so my ethics come first.
You can also advertise the sizes of
your ads on a special page of the blog. You can reserve disclosing the amount
until contacted.
Recently, I was contacted by a company that dubbed my blog, Fidose of Reality, as a “Top 100 Pet Blog to Read in 2013.” Some of the criteria they used included:
- Compete Unique Visitors – an estimate of how many visitors each site receives per month.
- Alexa Rank – ranks sites by the number of visitors and page views they receive (worldwide ranking)
- Google Page Rank – is largely based upon the number and quality of back links to a webpage.
- Facebook “Likes” – the number of people who “like” the blogs accompanying Facebook Fan page.
- Twitter Followers – the number of people following the blogs accompanying Twitter Account.
Additionally, I incorporate SEO into my blogging, so registering on Technorati.com is part of that strategy. Technorati is an Internet search engine for searching blogs. Why should you care?
According to their 2013 Digital Influence Report, “Blogs were found to be the third-most influential digital resource (31%) when making overall purchases, only behind retail sites (56%) and brand sites (34%). In fact, blogs were found to be the fifth-most trustworthy source overall for information on the internet.”
This is gargantuan news for pet bloggers: We are a trusted voice and people turn to us for information when making a purchase. Your words count and numbers matter.
If monetizing your blog is a goal, starting a blog or changing your social media plan is something you find important, and/or you want to meet people like yourself and learn from them, join us at BlogPaws 2013 Conference May 16-18 in Tysons Corner, Virginia.
Great post! My husband and I are currently discussing the monetizing of our blog (but don't feel we are quite ready yet.) This is info will really come in handy if do decide to got that route. Thanks again!
Ilene at www.wagpals.com
Posted by: Wagpals | 02/18/2013 at 03:43 PM
I like your idea:
"...beyond an ad, clearly spelled out and more than a one-time deal with an agreement not to work with the competition."
This is what I've been trying to work out with potential advertisers. I haven't been successful yet, but hopefully I'll find someone out there who's interested.
I agree that numbers are important, but sites like Compete and Alexa are wildly inaccurate and easily manipulated.
Posted by: Colby | 02/18/2013 at 04:45 PM
Great post, I totally agree that its important to believe in the product or service that you are going display on your blog and get paid for. I think this is why blogs are so important, due to there is a passionate person behind the blog and usually they believe in what they post and say.
Posted by: Wagthedoguk | 02/19/2013 at 04:44 AM
If I may suggest: You might want to check if you're aiming for the right keywords before monetizing your blog! great post though!
Posted by: www.morethanwordsonly.com | 02/20/2013 at 02:25 AM
My blog has been monetized since the launch date and I'm so happy that I started right away, because I can see what works and what doesn't work and I don't have to make any drastic changes to monetize, which I had to do with former blogs.
This is a great post! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Kimberly, The Fur Mom | 02/21/2013 at 05:36 PM
Monetizing my blog is definitely a goal of mine but I want to be ready to do it right. I want to register with technorati.com but I get stuck when doing things like this, as I did on Blog Paws, because the blog is in the dog's name, email, profile etc. I try to protect my identity when I can. So do I register as myself or as the dog?
Posted by: Sandra Townsend | 02/24/2013 at 11:44 AM