Can blogging pay in the era of freeconomics?

As we noted in earlier posts, blogging can pay, even in a freeconomics climate.

Yummy, Freeconomics. Will I get rich quick?
Probably not, unless you start working full-time on a niche blog and studying SEO in depth.

Slate magazine's Blogging for Dollars dug into Technorati's 2008 State of the Blogosphere report and revealed that sites "with 100,000 or more unique visitors a month earn an average of $75,000 annually—though that figure is skewed by the small percentage of blogs that make more than $200,000 a year. The estimates from a 2007 Business Week article are older but juicier: The LOLcat empire rakes in $5,600 per month; Overheard in New York gets $8,100 per month; and Perez Hilton, gossip king, scoops up $111,000 per month."

Before you dash off, Gold-Rush-style, heed Slate's warning: "Once a blog hobbyist goes pro, he or she faces a daily pressure to churn out new material. In the wrong mind, that can lead to top-10 lists, recycled ideas, half-baked notions, lots of viral videos, and a general increase in information pollution."

I'm with usability expert Jakob Nielsen on this. "Avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers."

Mike and I both find affiliate programs, like Amazon Associates, to pay off quickest for "dabbling" bloggers.

Amazon and other affiliates

Recommend stuff, get paid: the idea's so simple, so very ... viral. Yet pound for pound, Amazon Associates may be the quickest way to see financial results for your blogging efforts.

The drill? You name-drop books, DVD's, garden implements and novelty mustard kits: whatever floats your boat and is available in the Ur-Warehouse. Amazon gives you a unique code, which attributes the referral to your account. Then it kicks back a thin slice, 4-10% of any profit, via gift certificates if you prefer.

Yes, it's all very "company store" ... but as someone who runs up a big media tab each year, I won't complain much about those frequent $25 gift certificates.

Amazon recently revamped its system, so associates have a top-page nav bar that can "link to this product," among other neato tricks. Users can chose between text and image, image only and text only, adjusting colors to suit a template. I'm still wary of its text links, which embed all types of lame-o spacing into the mix. Instead I look at the autogenerated HTML code, pick out the "http://blah" bit, then paste that into my WYSIWYG program. Like this.

The class blog features an Amazon widget, right-hand side. Graphic- and link-rich, these ads are customized – you handpick each element – and quite productive. A determined person could gain ground quickly here.

How pay-per-click works

As Chris Anderson points out in Free! Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business, "Thanks to Google, we now have a handy way to convert from reputation (PageRank) to attention (traffic) to money (ads). Anything you can consistently convert to cash is a form of currency itself, and Google plays the role of central banker for these new economies."

Google Adsense places commercial notices on your site – ideally ones tailored to your content, hence the label "targeted ads". You receive micropayments for readers (CPM – cost per thousand impressions: the "M" is the Roman numeral) and more if they take action (CPC – cost per click).

Sometimes Google gets it all wrong. Road Remedies', for example, veers off on alopecia cures every time I blog about beehives or hair, due to title ambiguity. When I've shifted the subject from Seattle to Palau, the front-page ads don't quite caught up and still advertise Seattle Singles, Condo/Lofts and Puppy Housebreaking for a few days. Recently I clocked a creepy ad for "Dr Oz Resveratrol". Should that turn out to be BS snake oil, I'll blacklist the site. AdSense allows publishers can block certain URLs, set content filters and chose default ads.

Note that I didn't follow-through my own Google Ad there ... I could be liable for click fraud, if I did. So I cut and paste possibly offensive addresses, then decide how grumpy I am about them.

Searching on"ResV" reveals it claims anti-aging, weight-loss and antioxidant abilities (yup: snake oil – nailed that in one). I'm dubious and reckon most of my readers would be too, if they gave a fig about such things. But unless something's actively aggravating – like adverts from the local cult church that suppresses women – I generally won't A. notice or B. take action. Life's too short to crack-down on every cellulite-burning scam...

Politics aside, Adsense let's you rock the fashion with custom color scheme and freedom to decide where adverts go (so liberating for "dead tree" media types!): banner, sidebar, even live-linked into your text. Google has an excellent tutorial on placement, which I won't attempt to nutshell: just read it.

The amount you earn varies, based on how much advertisers are bidding for certain keywords (check out Google AdWords, if you're curious about this process). Certain types of blogs see the best results, like those focused on products, hobbies or niches. Take another look at the best paid blogger list: most are tech, marketing and self-help gurus, except for Sharon Maguire's site. Cleanly integrated ads led dogbreedinfo.com to earn $650 per day. She talks technique here.

A journal-style blog, like RR, that meanders over many topics won't quickly rake in major cash (in fact, Google makes you wait until the $100 mark before cutting the first check, annoyingly). But with enough promotion and dedication, even a diarist can turn a profit.

Display adverts and providers

Tired of the G-domination? Duck around the mighty Google machine by selling ads directly (let's fact it: a TON of work) or allowing another company do the heavy lifting.

A display advert is, well, a big, pretty graphic one, as opposed to the "listing" style familiar from classified. Adsense lets you select either style (or both).

A few middle-man options:

*AdBrite serves nearly one billion pages daily, placing top brands like GM, Verizon and AT&T. Multimedia formats can take advantage of photos and video clips.

*BlogAds, a pioneer in the field, matches advertisers and bloggers. Small companies or individuals can choose your site, then you can agree or pass, depending on your convictions. Here, you can see how that works with wonderful transparency. Of course, we're talking about a range from a $18,000 top-right space in Perezhilton.com, a sport high on the bell curve's end, to a $20 spot in CrochetDude.

*Commission Junction can pipe in ads from HP, Expedia, Yahoo, Dell , Staples, Home Deport and other heavyweights. Each publisher – blogger in this case – receives an EPC rating (earnings per 100 clicks). This shows how effectively they translate leads into sales.

Linkshare and Clickbank are two other options worth exploring.

You'll also see the term "conversion rate" bandied about: again, this measures the percentage of visitors who take a desire action, like a purchase, filling in a form or dancing like a funky hamster.

OK, I made the last one up. But you try writing about "freeconomics" all day without your brain leaking out your nose...

Can I use AdSense and another service?
Yes. You're the boss, remember? Next question.

What if someone approaches me about a bespoke ad?
You can insert code via Settings>Page Elements>Add a Gadget>hml/javascript. But remember to consider the whole process, when setting your fee. You need to act as a designer, fitting the advert to your layout; as an accountant, issuing the invoice and chasing it, if necessary; as a content manager, taking down/refreshing the ad, according to the contract, and finally as a webmaster, monitoring statistics upon it, should the company request this intel. Products like AdReady can centralize much of that process.

For the self-sufficient, sometimes an offer can simply be too small. A company recently approached the Greece, A Love Story site about an inch-square $30/year advert. That pays for about a half-hour of my time. As it would take longer to publish and collect the cash, I demurred. Especially as the book is co-authored and shared income, like award cash, typically donated to charities...

But I'd rather have ads *I designed* on the site than generic ones. I want to build sponsor links directly!
Hard-core DIY! Check out these links on designing good online display ads and banners, which advocate:

• simplicity, a quick "read", a call to action, minimal video cycles and quick loading
• details on standard graphic and animation formats from a singularly ugly website
• the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) ad-unit guidelines for consistent sizing
• ImpactEngine's net-based software for creating Flash Ads easily
• Google's AdWord tutorial about choosing keywords and creating click-through ads
• More resources on WebsiteTips.com

Micropatronage and blog sponsorship

Online money conduits like Paypal allow readers to make small donations to authors. Blogger Jason Kottke coined the term "micropatronage," when he spent 2005 blogging full-time, living off the largesse of his audience.

As Blogging for Dollars reveals, he "quit his job to blog full-time and asked his readers to become 'micropatrons' at a suggested rate of $30. He received $39,900 from 1,450 people but abandoned the experiment after a year. Kottke is vague about the reasons why he swore off micropatronage, but he suggests that he was worried that people wouldn't donate year after year. In order to build a bigger audience and potential new donors, he would have had to do some of the cheesy things to drive traffic (i.e., "Top Five Best" posts) and/or become a cult of personality (overshare, start flame wars, social network relentlessly). These days, he accepts ads as part of the Deck network."

A handful of bloggers have found sponsorship deals with larger outlets. Sometimes that's an endorsed feature like Craig Romano cross-posting a hike a week on WeatherChannel.com. I worked on a Diet-Coke-branded MSN site in 2008 that mixed text with short film clips of presenters, whom the snarkosphere dubbed "video puppets". Our budget derived from the advertising end and, in fact, my editor worked at a marketing company: an odd mishmash of intentions we'll probably see more and more (MSN Daily Access ceased publication after nine months or so).

Other times sponsorship's an outright "this post was brought to you by Brand X" entry-label. As an old-school journo, I'm pretty uncomfortable with "advertorials" unless they're distinctly labeled. And the government – in the US, at least – may soon require better labeling. But in the meantime, you're da boss. Do what suits!

For charitable endeavors, turn to fundraising platforms like Kickstarter, which showcases "backer rewards" and easily processes donations via Amazon accounts. My friend, travel writer Charyn Pfeuffer, just raised $20, 518, so she could voluntour in 12 countries. Thank-you treats ranged from homemade Theo chocolate bread to 40% off three nights at the Royal Hawaiian. Pfeuffer now can trade her Blackberry for a backpack, volunteering and publicizing programs around the world. Not only will her adventures give something back to cultures she routinely covers, but she now has a powerful social-network to broadcast her findings. It's a fantastic experiment in voluntourism and grassroots media funding.

Merchandise me!

Once a brand's established, bloggers can start with the spin-off merchandising, just like a blockbuster or Pixar hit. Companies like CafePress blaze your logo or slogans onto everything from mugs to hoodies to light-switch covers – all created on demand.

The cruel truth about exposure

Hating all the business end of this? Opt out with a "conglomerate" like Gawker, a network that includes Wonkette and Gizmodo, or Weblogs Inc, specializing in tech, media and science. On a more relaxed end of the spectrum – not requiring 10 to 12 posts a day – are profit-sharing schemes like Examiner.com and Today.com, which feature a range of unedited bloggers under one banner.

Once the companies have taken their cuts of Google Adsense and other revenue streams, writers rarely see more than pennies. And clips from outlets like that can hinder a professional-hopeful more than help... An emerging author is better off posting on her own site or volunteering for a reputable webzine.

Still, any way you slice it, the deal's better than "reader blogs" currently offered by companies like p-i.com and the revered blog-giant Huffington Post, which hog all the income with honeyed promises of "exposure" in return.

As wags put it, "why would I want exposure? People die from exposure". You want to meet the bills each month. Find a network that's on the ball about tech support, promotion and search engine optimization. Otherwise you might as well remain a one-man band...

Screenwriter Harlan Ellis rants memorably about all this on a preview of the documentary Dreams with Sharp Teeth. "You gotta pay me ... By what right would you call me and ask me to work for nothing? Do you get a paycheck? Does your boss get a paycheck? Do you pay the Telecity guy? Do you pay the cameraman? Do you pay the cutters? Do you pay the teamsters when they schlep your stuff on the trucks? Would you go to the gas station and ask for free gas? Would you go to the doctors and ask them to take out your spleen for nothing? How dare you call me and ask me to work for free?"

Publicity was the answer. And, as Ellis points out, that has little value. How many DVD viewers will enjoy his interview, then seek out and purchase one of his books? "I should do a freebie for Warner Brothers? What, is Warner Brothers out with an eye-patch and a tin cup on the street? Fuck no!

"I sell my soul, but at the highest rates."

 

More, I want to know MORE about monetization

Time to hit the web, kiddies! We're here to give you a foundation and tools to grow with, not a bachelors degree in new media.

I recommend starting with Daryl Rouse's great ProBlogger article.