I know many people are wondering how to actually make money from their blog or website. Hopefully me sharing my revenue sources may help some of you.
I’ve been a web publisher for over ten years now. During that time, I also gave birth to two wonderful boys, so I am also a full-time Mom. I don’t think you can say I got rich off web publishing, but it does generate a nice steady monthly income, and has been doing that for years.
I love that because -
- I work from home, available to my kids when they’re here.
- I work only 20-30 hours a week.
- My work time is extremely flexible.
- I still make much more than the average salary, and probably more than I could have made in almost any other career option (especially if you look at an hourly rate).
That I immensely enjoy what I do is definitely a nice bonus!
Where Does the Money Come From
First, let me state (the obvious?) – you need traffic to make the money. Whether that traffic is channeled through one mega site/blog, or divided among many is not the main issue. I have one “biggish” site (over a million pageviews a month) and a bunch of smaller ones. Here is how they make me money:
Direct Advertising Campaigns
I have several small-medium size companies that publish on my sites by buying campaigns directly. These are usually banner campaigns of various sizes, or upgraded listings on a directory that I have. They are always niche-specific.
Niche-specific Advertising Networks
I work with one good niche-specific network for my largest website. They deliver national campaigns with good rates and a nice check every month.
General CPM Advertising Networks
I use Casale Media as a filler for the rest of my inventory. The rates for non-specific campaigns are low, but it still adds up.
CPC Advertising
I use Google Adsense on most of my websites. Have been with Adsense since the very start and I’m happy with the results. There used to be a time when Adsense made up 70% of my income, but its relative share is now down to 30% or so.
On some sites, and in specific sections, I also throw Kontera into the mix. I am happy with Kontera’s revenue, but the contextual links can be confusing for users, so I prefer to avoid them on some pages.
CPA or Affiliate Marketing
I promote products both in blog posts (as the subject matter of a post) and in sidebars. Amazon is my main program, because of their good affiliate tools and good conversions. I also promote a few programs by ShareaSale (yes that’s an affiliate link) and a few ebooks from Clickbank.
Twitter: Kidgas
says:
I ran across this post on blogengage. It is good to see that you have been successful over the years. I am just getting started and am pleased to know that 10 years into the future, I can look forward to some additional traffic.
Most of the bloggers that I read suggest 2 years as the minimum to start developing traffic and meaningful monthly income. I will continue to work hard at least until that point and see what happens.
.-= Kidgas´s last blog post ..Mixed Emotions from Life123′s Closing of Writer’s Community =-.
Thank you for the comment and I’m glad you found the post helpful!
I wish you the best of success with your efforts. One suggestion though – get your own domain for your blog. You’re going to have to get it sooner or later, and might as well start building it up now.
Five Ways I Make Money from My Blogs and Sites: http://bit.ly/dCYDrt In case you were wondering.
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Five Ways I Make Money from My Blogs and Sites http://c2kfo.th8.us
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Rt @israelimom: Five Ways I Make Money from My Blogs and Sites: http://bit.ly/dCYDrt In case you were wondering.
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Great post, I think it is an inspiration to new bloggers to know they can do this, but will have to work at it.
Only 20-30 hours a week? I must not be managing my time right….
.-= Keith´s last blog post ..The Part Of SEO You Are Missing =-.
Maybe you are managing it right and will end up making much more money than I do
Twitter: anneonline
says:
I worked with a guy who when looking for other employment was too focused on his current earnings compared to what others may offer him. After he took into account his travel expenses, time away from home, and other miscellaneous costs he found he could earn less and be no worse for wear. This would hold true for working from home.
It’s great that you can earn a decent income from 20-30 hours per week and spend time with your family. To me that’s priceless.
.-= Anne´s last blog post ..Self-aware or Self-obsessed =-.
Good point there. My alternative for a career was in the army. Had I stayed, I would probably have been an LTC by now, making just a little bit more money, but with much much longer ours, especially if you factor in the travel time. I much prefer spending the time with my kids.
That’s awesome! Glad you’re able to work in some great income while spending time with your family.
.-= Gabe | freebloghelp.com´s last blog post ..All-in-one SEO is mandatory for 99% of all bloggers =-.
Hi Anne,
Just curious, what’s the criteria before considering Direct Advertising Campaigns? Alexa ranking, Google Page rank, number of daily/monthly visitors, number of regular subscribers? That’s the one thing that I don’t understand.
.-= Aaron´s last blog post ..The Biggest Loser Season 9: Getting Caught Up =-.
I guess you’re asking about how the advertiser chooses the site on which to advertise (in my case it’s my site).
I’ve prepared an online media kit with my basic stats (monthly pageviews and unique visitors), along with the results of a user survey I held several years ago. I asked our users things like the amount of money they spend on their pets (that’s my niche) etc.
Advertisers don’t really care about pagerank and alexa rankings. In my experience, most of them don’t even know what those are. They understand number of visitors and they’re looking for visitors who are the target audience of their product.
I do use OpenX to track views and clicks on banners, and advertisers get their own login to track their stats. I only do that on the big sites though. Otherwise, I just sell monthly spots, because frankly, many advertisers are small business owners who can’t be bothered with the learning curve of managing a campaign.
Hope this helps.
Twitter: linkigre
says:
Thanks for sharing your ideas that how you make money, I think there are some other ways as well for new one. such like proving different types of web promotion services, article and content writing. any way best of luck
.-= webmaster news´s last blog post ..Stock Up: Research and Practical Jobs =-.
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Twitter: JayceOoi
says:
Casale Media did not approve my blog. Any other CPM that perform well?
.-= Jayce´s last blog post ..Download Opera Mini 5 & Opera Mobile 10 with Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 Support =-.
Hmmm, I haven’t looked for one in years. My best one is a niche network. They work with very big companies and get campaigns that pay the webmasters $4-$8 CPM which is really good. It’s only for pet sites though, with large volume of traffic.
I suggest asking around at the advertising forum on http://sitepointforums.com – Good luck!