Archive for June, 2007
Frito Pie
One of the issues I happen to be struggling with these days seems to create a cycle of decisions that winds me back in the same place. I’m considering some drastic moves for the simple fact that it might simplify my life. I’m old enough to want simplicity.
Lately I’ve been spending a great deal of my time beating the bushes investigating affiliate opportunities, adding back RON ads to my archives for about 1.00 eCPM (bleh), and applying for specific corporate grants from big companies for my niche for some “wish-projects”.
The financial needs of the site require a stream of revenue. Its that simple.
But as I assess the needs of the business, I am discovering the things I probably should consider doing without at this time.
I currently have offices (and all the utilities and expenses that go with a lease) in a commercial building. A few years ago I moved the office and merchandise warehouse out of my house and into another building. I felt nudged to find a more secure location for my personal protection in my home. And I felt nudged to secure the merchandise in other digs besides my home. I thought it best to separate the two.
And yet now I find I spend way too much time, guaranteeing the revenue required for the added expense.
Is bigger better? I’m not so sure.
I do what I do because I love the topic of my site. I gave up my 8-5 job to do what I do because I wanted out of the hub-bub of a day to day job, tied to a schedule. And now, I’m back in the cycle, working to maintain that which I do not love: an office.
So now to consider how to reconfigure the house square footage in a way that would keep merchandise in a warehouse setting (perhaps a section of the garage) while I go back to officing with a dog on my lap.
Simplify. Simply simplify. Sounds simple.
Posted in Forum Building, Affiliate Marketing, Monetization | 2 Comments »
Guaner
In a long line of Google Adsense updates, the latest update to hit the market is the new feature to add rounded edges to the boxy ad units. Google announced this morning the changes they made to the familiar format in hopes that it will prove to be a great addition to their service.
In the past, we were able to customize both size and colors. Now, we get to also customize the edges of the ad units by changing from square (standard) to rounded or very rounded. Here is the image they are displaying:
Keep in mind that the background color as well as the border color must be different to that of your site’s background color otherwise the new borders will not show. They urge you to keep in mind the “feel” that your site already has before deciding to change the corners of the units. If your site looks and blends better in the boxy scheme, then go with that. If not, try the new formats out! Let us know how it goes for you.
Posted in Monetization | 3 Comments »
Frito Pie
Years ago when I would approach the main online advertising networks, providing my page views and other relevent stats, I would often be offered an advertising CPM price for the forums that was different than the content segments of my sites. Significantly lower.
It was a frustrating time to have a forum online. I shook my head at the silliness of their notion that traffic on the forums was not as valid as traffic on the content pages.
Now, years later, the forums are finally getting their honor among CPM. By some.
Someone, somewhere, has figured out that traffic that hangs out on the forums has a loyalty factor built in. Not just random browsers, clicking in and rapidly clicking out, forum traffic reads on average 9-13 pages per session, increasing the likelihood they will notice the sponsor, place an added value to their services and click to purchase.
I still do not put up with network pricing of their CPM. In fact, the last time I used Burst Media, my CPM was averaging about 50 cents CPM. Yes, you read that right, that’s no typo. I don’t do it.
But I do sell advertising directly to companies. And I do have a non-exclusive contract with a high end advertising agency with a department in my niche. I receive 10.00 - 25 CPM (and with the agency, receive 60% of that) which is significantly better than the 50 cents I received from Burst’s network with random ads that never matched my demographics.
Thankfully, someone takes the traffic of a forum seriously.
Posted in Forum Building, Case Studies, Monetization | 2 Comments »
Lee Dodd
I was recently asked about the importance of creating a website build around an already successful forum. The concern that was shared had to do with the possibility of the new portal distracting users or taking them away from the community. While I can understand the concern, I feel confident in saying that the upside much outweighs any possible downside. Let me explain…
The advantages of having a portal in addition to your forum are huge. It doesn’t make a difference if your forum is one day old and without members or 2 years old with 25,000 members. We see numerous sites that have superb communities that invest heavily in the build out of content (think IGN, the offering of virtual products or services (think Gaia Online, or other methods to attract viewership.
The benefits are as follows:
- It provides you with a platform to build content your users will enjoy
- It will get you in to more CPM networks (higher tier networks)
- CPC ads perform better on “content” pages, so it will increase earnings
- Can be a great help in the SEO game when targetting certain keywords with the content
- It shows the community you are working to “improve” the user experience
- It separates you from the forum only crowd and provides an increased perceived value
- It increases the sellability of your site 10 fold at worst
This is a short list, but I think there are even more reasons that you could think of as to how this will benefit your community, your earnings, and the overall health of your site. If you are serious about building something “special”, then don’t wait. Get your “site” in the works now!
Posted in Forum Building | 2 Comments »
Frito Pie
I earn money in various ways through my website. Members upgrade membership for added benefits. Advertising campaigns through direct sell or advertising agencies. Google Adsense. Direct product marketing through a niche ecommerce store. All good ways to diversify the income stream for an online community.
However, the missing element in my package of revenue producers is affiliate marketing on a consistent basis.
Its not for lack of trying. For years I’ve tried various offers from CJ. For a number of years I’ve tried Azoogle and a few others, trying to find the product or the service that would fit this particular website. It just hasn’t happened.
Products that I would think would be a fit are of little interest to my traffic. Or offers I’ve found that might fit, have a bit of snake-oil-ness to the offer and I simply have a personal ethics issue that turns those down.
The visitors and members of my site are shoppers. They are simply not interested in unrelated items to this particular niche. Apparently when my members/visitors come to the site, they are thinking in terms of our topic only. Thus, general offers for our demographic don’t seem to work. The product must be spot on.
Once I found a terrific offer through advertising.com. I applied to the program and was accepted. For over 1 year we experienced the only successful affiliate offer program in the many years we’ve been online. And then the offer stopped. I have found nothing to take it’s place.
Until recently.
I visited Linkshare, signed up and browsed their offers. I found 4 offers that fit our niche rather well. Upstanding companies with excellent products, I applied to all four.
I was turned down by all four.
The automated email said this:
We regret to inform you that has chosen not to accept you into their affiliate program at this time. The reason for this decision may be as follows:
* inability to access Web site
* Web site not yet live
* traffic levels too low
* inappropriate material on site
The key here must be the words: ” The reason for this decision may be as follows” simply because the reasons are not appropriate for my website. It can not be because the site is not live (its been live since 1998). It can not be because the traffic is too low or has inappropriate material on the site. It can not be because the site isn’t accessible. (All four offers denied me over 4 days time. Never once in that time did I have any notifications from the datacenter that the servers were offline. Never once did any of my staff or large membership complain the site wasn’t up.)
I’m left with the mystery of why my large, niche website was declined for offers/companies that fit the specific demographic of my traffic. And the maddening quest to find the perfect offer for my site.
I do have one affiliate offer through a private source I will be trying on the site within the next week. I suspect it will be a “winner” but time will tell. It is specific to the niche in general sense and has a loyalty factor for the website built-in on top of great savings to the visitor. Once I get it up and rolling, I’ll report back in my journey into affiliate marketing.
Posted in Affiliate Marketing, Case Studies, Monetization | 5 Comments »
Guaner
Sprint announced that it will begin providing cellphone users with a nifty way to get their hands on merchandise regardless of where they are. Using GPS technology, a Sprint customer could type in a keyword, be it “tennis rackets,” and the service would point them to the nearest store that carries the item. Sounds like a cool plan. If you go to a store and they are sold out of Casio watches, you would simply type that into the phone and a list of results would come up.
This is not brand new as sites offering cell service have been up since late last year. What intrigues me is the possibility of affiliates entering this arena as well. When cellphone users “click” on an ad, the retailer pays a set amount. So far, the online advertising payment model could work well even in other areas, namely cellphones. Large retailers such as Toys “R” Us and Circuit City have already begun to advertise through Sprint’s system. Sites like Shoplinc.com have already incorporated features that allow you to find merchandise and set a price you are willing to pay. When the item becomes available at your price, you are notified on your cell phone. Also, consider the iPhone’s arrival and what that will do to revolutionize the way cellphones are used.
One thing is for sure, how do you make even more money from people who are already having to pay exaggerated cellphone bills? Well, seems like adding a one-stop shopping experience couldn’t hurt.
My question however is this, are we sitting on the verge of something great here? I mean, how successful can this really be? Is this something that could potentially draw many of us as affiliates or will it be reserved to retailers only? I don’t know. With cellphones already being able to browse the internet and see Google ads, I’m not sure this has much hope. But then again, this is only the beginning.
Posted in Industry News, Miscellaneous | No Comments »
Charl Norman
Super Affiliate Vinny Lingham has launched his much anticipated Synthasite project into closed beta. Truly one of the first world class web 2.0 apps to come out of South Africa getting reviewed on the holy grail of web 2.0 news, Mashable.
The goal of SynthaSite is to bring the offline functionality of a WYSIWYG web site editor like Frontpage or Dreamweaver to the browser in a rich Internet application. Synthasite enables you and your team to collaboratively work on your website design using the tools available within its service, which easily arrange text, images, badges and buttons to create a professional-looking site. There are a few items available by default, such as a YouTube video or a Flickr photo search, which can be dragged and dropped into your design. The functionality is very easy to maneuver, enabling novice users to create feature rich websites and easily choose between a selection of professionally designed templates!
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Web 2.0 | 1 Comment »
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