Archive for the ‘Monetization’ Category
skyhawk133
In a drastic move aimed at pleasing big budget advertisers, TribalFusion will begin offering advertisers the choice to block publishers with forums. TribalFusion is one of the largest advertising networks on the web. In an email from the company, account executives are requesting forum owners tag ads in their forums separately from non-forum content. Sites with forums have been identified and will be blocked entirely by larger advertisers beginning August 15, 2007. Only ads with the special tag will still run on forum sites blocked by advertisers.
Is this the end of CPM advertising on user-generated content sites? Will this include web 2.0 sites with user submitted content and comments? TribalFusion cites the unmoderated nature of forums as the reason, however, I highly doubt that’s the case. From an advertisers perspective, forums have notoriously low CTRs. Why not just come out and ask publishers to frequency cap forums. Or to pull sites out of the network with questionable or possibly questionable content.
I think this will have long reaching effects for TribalFusion. They built their reputation on accepting high quality sites, many of which have large forums, and having above average pay outs. Personally, my payouts have slowly declined over the past several months and with this latest change I think it’s time for another company to step up and take the reigns for forum owners. Forums may not be the best place to advertise, but with the right targetting and frequency capping they can provide an excellent ROI for advertisers, especially for branding campaigns.
In the mean time, if I may offer some suggestions for those publishers effected by this change. Now is the best time to step up your in house advertising efforts. Start going after those companies in your niche and show them the value of advertising on a forum. Work out deals with your second tier providers and let them know you’ll be sending more traffic their way. It may be time to sign an exclusive deal with a second tier provider to get a better CPM. And if this is going to completely kill your income, it’s time to start diversifying. You should have done this a long time ago, now you have no choice.
Posted in Forum Building, Web 2.0, Industry News, Monetization | 4 Comments »
skyhawk133
During ASE (Affiliate Summit East) I spoke with several site owners who were concerned about overwhelming their visitors with advertisements. I think this is probably a question that is asked often: “How much is too much?” At what point do advertisements deter visitors from coming back? The answer really depends on what kind of traffic we’re talking about. Let’s look at a few types of traffic and the typical behavior of those visitors.
Organic
Search Engine traffic typically has a very high bounce rate (70-90% in my experience). It matters very little how many ads are on a page for this type of traffic, in fact, I would encourage you to try to monetize organic traffic in every way possible. Visitors from search engines are usually looking for an answer to a question (unless it’s e-commerce and then you shouldn’t have ads on your site to begin with) and if they arrive at your site, they’ll typically stay for less than a minute and never come back. Why wouldn’t you try to get them to leave your site via an advertisement? Show them large ads (336×280 & 728×90) above the fold and focus on contextual. The more relevant to what they are looking for, the more likely they are to click.
Referral
Visitors arriving from other sites have one of the lowest bounce rates (typically less than 50%) and therefor are much more likely to stick around. This type of traffic should be treated differently than organic traffic and as such should see fewer advertisements. Using basic conditional statements in your forum software, or in whatever language your site is programmed in, you should be able to turn off ads for anyone who didn’t arrive via a search engine. This will improve your bounce rate even more and encourage your referral traffic to register/return.
PPC/Advertising Campaigns
This type of traffic comes from AdWords and other advertising campaigns. It’s a bit of a grey area and you’ll have to experiment with what works best. My personal philosophy is “once and ad clicker, always an ad clicker” so if they clicked an ad to get to your site, you may want to push your call to action (i.e. “Join Today”) up higher, but still have ads in case they want to leave. But you may also want to remove the ads so you don’t risk losing a visitor you paid money for. Bounce rates for PPC campaigns can vary depending on the landing page, so do a little A/B testing and see what works best for your paid traffic. Again, use a simple conditional to show/hide ads for this type of traffic based on the referrer.
Direct/Members
Type-in or bookmark traffic has the lowest bounce rate (usually less than 20%) and should be provided the best experience with the least amount of intrusive ads. This would include registered members and word of mouth traffic. Giving these users the absolute best experience possible is important and will encourage them to return again and again.
You may cut in to your bottom line a little at first, but the end result of improving the overall experience for your visitors will help grow your site and your bottom line. Make sure you are using a good analytics tool (like Google Analytics) to track conversion rates, bounce rates, average depth and length of sessions, and return rate. If you can monitor this data and continuously test you’ll find the perfect balance of advertising for your site.
About the Author
Chris Kenworthy is the owner of MediaGroup1 LLC and Dream.In.Code, a popular programming and web development community. Chris has been earning online since 2001 and recently began consulting with forum and community owners to help monetize and improve their web sites. He received a degree in Web Technology in 2005 and is a certified Google Advertising Professional. For more information and to contact Chris directly, visit his blog at http://www.ackfoo.com
Posted in Forum Building, Monetization | 11 Comments »
Frito Pie
I’m intrigued by the notion of online personas and the manner in which people can mask themselves well via forum discussions or email for the sake of hiding who they truly are. I’ve been frustrated by the auto-mail I have received from Google when I’ve tried to ask a question. I’ve wondered at the type of people behind the usernames in forum discussions and if they are who they claim to be really. At Affiliate Summit East I discovered that many are who they really claim to be. In the flesh. For good or bad. With a few exceptions.
I arrived in time to check in, register, enjoy a continental breakfast before a keynote address by the master of online entertainment. Entertaining and witty, the audience browsed through Ze Frank’s brain like Firefox on speed. Exceleration. Web 2.0. Interaction and visitors creating content. A blast for my creativity. He was who I expected him to be.
After the keynote address I began walking through the exhibitor booths where I collected t-shirts, pens, bags, money and a yo-yo. The Google gang was helpful with my Adsense and Adwords accounts. I expected them to be too busy to answer specific questions but they were not. One Googler had me log in to help me with Adsense. When I exhausted my concerns with that account, the Adwords gal took over. Helping me through the tools with plenty of answers to my questions, I walked away with a yo-yo and a great satisfaction at the helpfulness of their attitude. They were better than I expected them to be.
I found Linkshare who took my name and card and promised to explore why the four merchants I applied as an affiliate turned my website down as it made little sense to me. Again, better than I expected in person.
I walked into the HackerSafe booth with some questions and walked out with great information which should help me with security issues and concerns of my customers.
At this point, I was impressed with what I was experiencing. Better face to face communication with people I had only met through email or online forums that left me satisfied with the quality of character. Online and Offline matched or exceeded my expectations for the better.
It was then that I passed a booth with a name I recognized from some online forums for webmasters. This was a guy who had been banned from a few sites I was a member. His latest blog and forum ownership claim to be a place for discussions about online marketing and one, which when I visited in curiosity, was less than professional in content. “U no watt i meen?” In fact the thread titles contained profanity, content applauding the “black hat” area of earning with *coughspamcough* and much about the “adult” online industry. And here he was in the middle of Affiliate Summit exhibitors as though he was offering something wonderful to someone like me.
I was intrigued. I stood off to the side and watched his booth for a while out of curiousity. At some point an online marketer walked by who I know as a successful and moral online earner. He was called back to this booth. He turned, shook the hand of the booth owner to demonstrate respect, was offered a t-shirt which he laid over his chest as if wearing it while one of the booth’s helpers snapped a photo from a cell phone. Further curiosity revealed much more of a lack of character and a display of deceit that made my skin crawl. Back at my hotel I visited this guy’s forum to find the photo displayed for the humor and entertainment of his forum members.
I was disgusted as I thought of the childish, morbid behavior that I witnessed in person and on the online forums where he was banned. And now on his forums. And yes, he is exactly as I expected him to be. I had hoped for better and received far less.
“Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow. The shadow is what we think it is; the tree is the real thing.” - Abraham Lincoln
We may work hard to mask who we really are for the sake of our online business. But given enough time and enough interaction online and off, true character will demonstrate who we really are. Not the shadow of the reputation but the real thing.
Posted in Web 2.0, Affiliate Marketing, Monetization | 4 Comments »
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 »
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 »
Frito Pie
When I first added a community to my website, the community was hosted elsewhere. The domain was hosted on a shared server along with many other sites. It was cheap. No money worries.
When I decided to host the forum on my own domain, I purchased UBB software first and within 2 weeks was having to purge the oldest threads in order to keep the size within my hosting limits. I was notified I would have to move off their server or purchase more space/bandwidth.
I found vbulletin software which had just released their first version. I took the plunge at the urging of my new hosting service, with the expectation that the mysql and php would be the best solution for the forum. It was the right solution for the community. But I still had to move the forum yet again. And again. And again until I was on a hosting plan that was considered “virtually dedicated”.
It wasn’t. Within another few months I was told yet again my website was using too many of server’s processes and would need to move. The word “dedicated” was used to describe my needs.
What did I know about servers? Not much. I had been relying on the goodwill of others to lead the way, telling me what I need while my non-techy brain tried to wrap around it. I knew only one thing. Money was not only a worry. It was a requirement.
I told my staff who urged me to tell the community. Along with some new advertisers and the generosity of our staff and members, the money rolled in. We moved onto our first dedicated server about the same time I went to the bank to request a merchant account.
I found products that matched the niche. i found a simple and free software shopping cart. I found a free-lance customizer who helped me get the store in place. I opened the store with products on shelves in the spare bedroom of my house.
Today, I lease offices to house the store’s products and shipping space needs. Today I keep financial worksheets daily to track the daily income along with the expenses. Today I pay bills for the telephone line, the office worker, the shipping clerk, the CPA, the store software freelancer, the web developer, the graphic artist, the system administrator, the two servers that house the site, the electricity, the taxes, the taxes, the taxes, and more.
It appeared to me then, as it appears to me now. The larger the site, the busier the traffic, the costlier the expenses. The more money that rolls in from advertising, store sales and upgraded memberships, the higher the expense list becomes.
And so began the great exchange. Money for services. Services for money.
Posted in Case Studies, Monetization, Miscellaneous | No Comments »
Frito Pie
I started my website as a hobby, based on a passion, a desire to help other people. I worked in a long term career in a field not even close to the topic of my website. I’d like to think that I still see my website as a hobby simply because it is something I love doing. After all, who could love “work” the way I love managing my website?
Hobby: (noun) An activity or interest pursued outside one’s regular occupation and engaged in primarily for pleasure.
Based on this definition, my website is no longer my hobby, no matter how I feel about it, loving it the way I do. My website has become my regular occupation and somewhere along the way over the past decade I moved from hobbyist to business person.
I’ve had to become a business person.
I’ve had to learn about banking procedures and being a credit card merchant. I’ve had to learn to deal with vendors and negotiate billing cycles. I’ve become friends with my banker and learned to fill out financial worksheets daily to hand over to my CPA. I had to forage through the paperwork to sign a lease for my offices.
I’m not always comfortable with this notion of moving from hobby to business.
Posting at Earners Forum seems to underscore the idea that I’m in this for the money. I’m not. But I am. I have to be an earner in order to keep the website going. I do not want to offend the members or staff of my website as the business person, behind the scenes working on revenue opportunities to keep the website available for their needs. But, that is why I do what I do, balancing the management of the community and staff with the requirements of the business. I can’t lose track of either. Both hats are essential.
Yes, I could go back to my life’s career. But I’d rather not. I love what I do today and why I do it. And at the end of the day, the end of the week, the end of the year and the end of my life, I’m proud of the work I do and the way I’ve managed to keep my eye on the ultimate mission of my website: helping others.
Its my business.
Posted in Case Studies, Monetization, Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »
Frito Pie
I’ve been a website owner and manager for over eight years. It used to seem so simple. I started a website knowing a tiny bit of html and learned how to write cgi scripts to add functionality. I wasn’t concerned about making money. I was educating visitors.
Every few days I’d add more content, writing the articles myself. Adding them manually. It was messy and time consuming.
When I discovered that my hobby website was attracting visitors who used the website, read the articles and sent me email of thanks and was selected for yahoo’s directory, I knew I was onto something. I found forum software and started the great adventure as a community administrator.
Money was still not an issue. It was not a concern. I had an awesome team of volunteer moderators who helped me on the forums while I continued to add content as the needs changed and expanded.
Fast forward eight years. Today I have offices I rent in a business office building. I have a few employees. I left my “real” career a few years ago and I continue to manage my website. It pays the bills. And more.
I love what I do and wouldn’t change a thing. But I do have a confession to make as I begin the process of blogging about the business of running a forum website.
I’m in over my head.
It’s exciting and doubly thrilling. At the exact same time its terrifying.
There is much I do not know. I do not make money from affiliate marketing so this is uncharted waters to me. I don’t understand much about SEO and page-ranking although I’m well positioned because of the timing I entered the internet with my niche. I have not been able to keep up with html or css or php or cgi. Its all beyond me.
There is much I do know. I know how to find a niche and fill the need. I know how to put the visitors needs as the most important thing and reason for the website to exist. I know how to demonstrate good ethics and high morals which attracts wonderful staff. I know how to articulate an idea and find the right person to manage the task. I know how to manage a large staff, demonstrate good-will to huge “offline” corporations, manage the day to day tasks and plan the long-term goals of my website. And make it all happen.
And thus this blog is a chance to write about the struggles I have with understanding the ever-evolving business environment of the internet. This is my opportunity to learn about those things I know very little about while attempting to implement them within my own online business. And perhaps this blog may be an opportunity to share some things I’ve learned along the way that have been successful.
Posted in Case Studies, Monetization, Miscellaneous | 7 Comments »
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