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How I Increased My Adsense Earnings 266%

September 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Over the past week, I have increased my Adsense earnings 266% on Bike198.com. Really…no lie. I made some serious changes on the site over the past week and the results have been staggering.

It all started with the idea of a complete overhaul and redesign that changed the way my readers interact with the content. As we took a look at how readers were interacting and how we wanted them to interact…we saw room for improvement. The fun part…we were absolutely right and all of the stats are through the roof. Now, let’s take a look at the subject of this article specifically as it relates to other forms of advertising on your blog as much as it does Adsense.

I Use Adsense As A Litmus Test

First, let me start by clarifying that I use Google Adsense as a Litmus test on my “non-blogging” blogs to see how direct advertising and other forms of banner style advertising will perform given certain designs and locations. Why do I do this? Adsense provides you with real time feedback on certain ad locations and sizes will perform. In certain niches, it can also give you some insight into how much you should be charging for a given location. In markets where Adsense performs well, advertisers could have to beat what Adense is generating for a given location.

For these reasons, Google Adsense is a great way to test out specific locations in terms of performance, but it does not mean that it is the best means for maximum revenue generation in all niches.

How I Increased My Adsense Revenue 266%

As mentioned before, this all started with a redesign project that was based around user interaction with Bike198.com. The #1 goal was to integrate the various subdomains into a more seamless design that allowed for ease of movement among the content. During this process, I saw a real need to extract more performance around the banner advertising sections of the site. Who doesn’t like to make more money?!

Let’s take a look at the before and after with Mountain.Bike198.com as the example…

Before: Mountain.Bike198.com

Old Bike198.com

Mountain Biking for Beginners Section

After: Mountain.Bike198.com

Home Bike198.com New

Beginner Section New Bike198.com

You can navigate through Mountain.Bike198.com and see the other ad locations, but these screenshots will serve a purpose as you are about to see.

What Changed: Reader Interaction

As you take a look at the before and after, let’s point out the significant changes.

  • Cleaner Overall Design
  • Sidebar Location Moved To The Left
  • Lighter Colors
  • 300×250 Ad Spot Moved To Top
  • Restructured Navigation

At first, I was a little bit nervous about removing a lot of the image elements of the new design as a lot of people liked that aspect of the site, but…after the fact…everyone is actually liking the lighter look and increased speed of the site (if the flood of “it looks great!” emails aren’t proof enough). Now…let’s get to what you are actually reading this article about…increasing revenue.

How The Site Re-Design Increased Revenue

The re-design of Bike198.com did two things that were specific goals that directly affect revenue.

  1. Put the emphasis back on the content.
  2. Put the ads in direct view of the reader without being obtrusive.

Having a lot of graphical elements, widgets and other miscellaneous “looks cool” items on your blog can get a good reaction from your readers, but you need to realize that…most times…those elements go against what you are ultimately trying to accomplish…more interaction with your content and revenue streams. The previous Bike198.com design got that “wow factor” but the image elements distracted from advertising and the content.

When we moved the sidebar to the left and brought the color of the design into the content and the ads instead of the design, we drew the eyes of our readers where it mattered the most without any distractions. The result…more conversions (rss, Facebook, YouTube), higher comment counts, more emails and ultimately more revenue on the site.

When you are trying to extract more dollars out of your blog, you need to be the eyes of your reader.

Where do you want your readers eyes to go? On an image that generates you nothing or on an ad that brings you income? How about an article or picture within an article that will bring you more traffic? It is not about what you think looks cool or getting a compliment about which background you chose, it is about increasing efficiencies and incorporating elements into your design that help you achieve your goals. After that…you start testing, moving and experimenting to see how you can increase these elements even further.

As a general rule, the simpler the design, the better it will convert as long as you have set defined goals. With less distraction from conversion elements, the eye will gravitate towards color and size, so structure your elements in a hierarchy of importance keeping those to aspects in mind. If you spend all of your time chasing what you think looks good without any technical backing on why, you will be spinning your wheels wondering why you are not making any income.

The redesign of Bike198.com drastically increased earnings because reader interaction, conversions and income generation was the ultimate goal.

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

EPIC Post: How To Breathe Life Back Into Your Stale Blog

August 26, 2010 By 4 Comments

I got an email in from a reader this week that is a common occurrence in the blogging world. You hit the ground running and start to see some success. With time, you start to shift your focus elsewhere, leaving behind your primary source of revenue only to find that traffic and profits decrease on the project that is the source of getting you online success. Or…all of your current methods have hit a plateau in traffic and earnings and you have no clue on how to get off it and back to sustainable growth! And what are you left with? A stale blog starring you in the face. You need to win back old readers and find ways to attract new readers to your corner of the web to bring back up profits and encourage growth. The big problem…where to start?

The Story of Tweaks For Geeks

I figured the best way to tackle this common occurrence in the blogging world was hit it head on with a real world example, so here is the email I received this week. I hope Kevin doesn’t mind!

Kevin’s Email To Me:

Hello Robb,

We’ve corresponded a few times in the past, perhaps you remember me. Anyway, my query is as follows:

This particular question may actually make for a good article for you; as I’m sure there are others out there like me that have started up their sites and have seen some success, but have either stalled in their progress or simply want to take their online business to a whole new level.

I’ve owned a site about computers/technology (primarily focusing on how to fix various computer issues) for a little over five years now. While I am one of the few that can say that he has made over $1,000 a month from his sites, I am simultaniously one of the many that has fallen prey to the “do nothing” bug and have let my main earner fall into stagnation (and sadly seen my revenue plummet as a result). It still brings in ad money, but needs a new updated look to it (which I almost have done), and fresh consistently updated content.

So – with that in mind:

  1. What steps would you take in order to give an established but a bit “dusty” site a jumpstart?
  2. In your professional opinion, how long do you think it would take in order to make a site like that a contender again that regains its old readers and acquires new ones?

Currently I am in an excellent position where I can dedicate most of my time to revamping and regrowing my online ventures; and with my technical background I am fortunate enough to be able to do all of the programming work myself in order to add new and innovative features to it.

Really I just want to know what the most effective course of action would be to take this from a publication that gets approximately 55,000 unique monthly viewers that are all one-time visits and turning it into a destination where people visit and then want to not only stay, but return regularly. Of course, I would also love some tips for explosive growth.

Again, I think that this would be an excellent article for your readers; so perhaps you’ll want to do a full writeup on it. If not, then some friendly pointers would be greatly appreciated. If you do decide to make an article of it you can feel free to post parts of this email, or all of it in its entirety as part of your content.

Also, thank you for providing such a concise and informative site about the blogging industry. RobbSutton.com is one of the best resources out there that I’ve come across.

Keep up the good work!

Thank you,

-Kevin Souter
Owner, TweaksForGeeks.com | Rent A Geek Computer Services

Breathing Life Back Into Your Stale Blog

Ok…before we even jump into this…my biggest recommendation to any blogger is “do not ignore your primary income generator“. Yes…blogging is exciting and new projects are always more of a rush than old, but by jumping around starting and stopping new projects, you are just crippling yourself for the future by not giving anything ample time to grow. I am not sure if that is what happened in this case, but that is the most common mistake I see in new bloggers. Try to fight the urge to start “the next great idea” every week and focus on projects that you can tackle without leaving what has brought you success behind.

When you look to breathe life into a stale blog or bring new growth to an existing blog, your efforts are going to fall into 3 basic categories.

  1. Content
  2. Blog Design
  3. Promotion

These are the three core elements to blogging that will bring you new growth and make existing readers happy every time. When you start to jump on each of these aspects of your blogging individually, you need to do so with a plan and ask yourself the right questions.

Content: Shaking Things Up

No…I am not going to sit here and give you the same, old, tired out line of “write pillar articles and content is king”. Hopefully, you have already been doing that or you wouldn’t have seen any success to begin with. When you are looking to attract new readers and bring life back to old readers, you need to ask yourself a couple of questions.

  • Who do I want to attract? – You need to specifically lay out exactly who you want to attract with your content. Who are you not reaching now that you want to? Are you generating content for that specific target audience? You need to start bringing in high quality, targeted content into your blog to pull in new readers that you are specifically targeting. However, this content needs to be relevant to current readers as well, so do not step too far outside the scope of your niche as you can start to alienate your die hards while trying to attract new.
  • Where can I expand? – When I start working with new bloggers, I tell them to find a niche that is manageable. Do not take on TechCrunch right off the bat…you will loose. When you find a sub-niche in your industry, you can really drive it home and start to see success because you are reaching a very targeted audience in a smaller competition market. When you take this theory, you can start to run out of content over time, so now is the time to look into your expansion opportunities in related subject matters.
  • How can I be more useful? – How you write your content and the types of articles you publish are incredibly important. Are there certain articles that seem to perform better than others on your blog and in search engines? In my experience, tutorials and other “helpful” articles tend to perform the best, so look into areas that you can continue to hit a home run and start to product more of those types of articles as you look for new growth.

Your content is the core of your blog. Without it…you are left with an empty design that doesn’t do too much of anything. When you are looking to expand or revive, it is where you need to start as the rest of this isn’t going to mean a thing without your content.

Blog Design: Time To Shift Focus To Action

How your readers interact with your content is completely based on your blog design. Where there eyes go…where they click…the actions they take (rss feed subscribing, newsletter opt-in, social media spreading) are all dependent upon how you present your words through the design. When you are looking to ramp things back up a bit, it is time to look at how your readers are interacting with your content.

Note: I would highly recommend paying close attention to your bounce rate and reader trends in Google Analytics as that gives you an insiders look at what is going on with your blog.

  • What do I want my readers to do when they finish reading? – You have to put yourself in the shoes of a reader in your niche (not a blogger looking at a blog article). In non-tech/blogging niches, your readers will have no clue about blogging and social media other than their own personal experience. It is your job to step inside of their head as they land on your pages. Do you want them to share it on Facebook? Do you want them to check out another article? These are important questions that you need to answer as they directly affect what you put at the end of each article.
  • What is my blog design not accomplishing? – Are you not increasing your opt-in rates? Are your pageviews low? You need to start looking at what your design is not doing for you currently. The outward appearance of your blog is not just a visual mechanism, it is how your readers interact and move through your site. When you are looking to get readers to dive deeper into old content, click on advertising or feel like they are on a quality site, you lean heavily on your design. To get things rolling, start to look at things like logo design, navigation and design elements while keeping in mind where you want your readers to go. As a general rule, bloggers tend to add too many elements to their blogs so only put it up if 70% of your readers are going to use it. Anything else will just be wasted space and clutter. You want to draw your readers eyes to your most important elements that promote growth and conversions.

What you should have created at this point is a site that is accomplishing your goals while also looking professional. One key thing to keep in mind is that you are building your site for your readers and what they will interact with…not what you are going to interact with. Keep your personal touch…but back it up with function.

Promotion: Time To Take It To The New Masses

The order of this process is intentional. With an end goal of attracting new readers, you have to create an atmosphere that they want to land on before you go out and find them. This does not meant that everything has to be perfect before you move forward (it never is…blogging is an evolving process), so don’t get locked down with “it has to be perfect” panic. When you feel like you have accomplished enough of the goals you have set out with content and design, you need to start pulling new readers into your revisions. Hopefully, you already know who you want to attract through the first content step…so let’s go get them.

  • Where do my new/potential readers hang out online? – It is your job as the blogger to pull in new readers. Where does your new “perfect target reader” hang out online? By visiting these places and building up a solid reputation (online forums, other blogs, meetup groups, Facebook fan pages, etc.), you can pull them back to your content and create another subscriber.
  • How do my new and existing readers spread content? – Not all niches spread content the same. While Twitter might be a great viral spreader for one niche, it could be horrible in another. It is your job to figure out which ones work the best in your subject matter and start building up a profile in these areas. The easiest (and hardest) way to get new reader’s eyes on your content is through viral spreading, but you want to make sure your time is not going wasted by doing some research before you jump in head first.
  • How do my new readers like to subscribe to content? – As part of your promotion techniques, you are trying to attract new, long term subscribers to your blog. How do these readers want to subscribe to online content? In the biking world, more than half (probably even less) know what an RSS reader is or even care. It is still a world of email, so I put a lot of emphasis on my RSS email subscription and newsletter subscription. When you promote your new content and pull new readers into your blog, you need to feature a method of subscription that is the most widely used in your niche. Do not force feed what some other blogger says you need to do. It is up to you and what your readers want.
  • Who can I collaborate with? - Guest posting is a fantastic way to pull in new readers to your blog, but it isn’t always an option in some niches. Try to think up of unique ways that you can work with both online and offline resources to bring more content/promotion to their medium while also promoting your corner of the web. In the past, I have worked with forum site owners, industry magazines and special interest groups to help them accomplish their goals while at the same time promoting my website. It brings you credibility and new readers at the same time.
  • What can I give away? – Contests and giveaways can grow a blog faster than just about anything else online. People love free stuff and they will promote you to no end to get it. Before you start sweating about the money you are going to have to spend…keep one thing in mind. Even the giveaways with inexpensive products…when targeted correctly…perform incredibly well. You can also have companies and other blogs donate prizes in exchange for promotion within the contest and you will not have to spend a dime. Just be sure you structure the giveaway or contest in a manner that you get some needed asset (newsletter subscriber, rss reader, etc) and that contest is virally promoted (stumbled, Tweeted, shared on Facebook, etc.).

Rinse, Repeat and Evolve

That is really the nuts and bolts of breathing life back into a stale blog (or starting up a new one for that matter). When you are looking to rejuvenate your blog, take a look at these three core areas of blogging to see what you are doing wrong and how to improve it. By taking a systematic and planned attack, you can not only bring a blog back to its former glory, but you can lift it above and to a success you never thought was possible.

When you create an atmosphere that is based around the premis of helping others, they will in turn want to help you. Ideally, you want to create a “cultish” following online where your readers want to tell other people that they hangout in your online space. When you focus on that idea of helping…you can make huge strides in creating an online community that breads repeat visitors.

So how long does it take if you are on the right path?

Honestly…success is often a byproduct of the effort put forth. While it can differ depending on competition and market saturation, I have found that the hardest working (when it is a planned, thought out attack) get ahead the fastest.

Image by R’eyes

Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Generating Cash, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Bridging The Blogging Gap Between A Hobby And A Business

August 24, 2010 By 1 Comment

Blogging is a wonderful thing. This same medium that can be used as an online diary can also be the source of a lucrative online business. Personally, I can not think of any other medium in the world with that kind of flexibility. However, this same flexibility creates some interesting gray area when you start talking about generating income as a business and just having a couple of extra bucks to throw around for another meal out during the month. The story about the city of Philadelphia requiring any blogger making over $50.00 per year to pick up a $300.00 business license should have some beginning bloggers thinking. At what point do you bridge the gap between a hobby and creating a business?

First…Is Becoming A Business Even Your Goal?

Let’s just get one thing straight. If you really want to generate a profit and create a business with a blog, you are going to have to take that mindset from the very start. There are very few “I started this hobby that just took off like crazy” bloggers out there that were hit with a business out of the blue. 99% of bloggers that generate enough income to quantify it as a sustainable business started day 1 with the premis that their corner of the web was going to achieve that end goal. It’s a mindset thing and without it…you are just spinning your wheels with a hobby.

Ok…off the soap box…let’s get at it…

When you are planning for the future with your blog, you need to have an idea of where you want to head. As mentioned before, blogging is a beautiful online medium in which you can release your creativity in any way you see fit. There is no right or wrong way to do things…it is all just a product of your goals. The vast majority of blogs online make next to nothing, but they allow the blogger to release their words on the web. For some bloggers, that is worth its weight in gold.

For others…we need something more. We want the freedom that having an online business provides. However, we need to be ready for the responsibilities that come along with business ownership at the same time…a part that many beginning (and experienced) bloggers are not ready for…

Bridging The Gap: Blogging As A Business

When you make the decision to make more than just a nice evening out with your blog, you are making a decision to run a business and not a hobby. You are changing you mindset from that of a hobbyist to a business owner and that can be trying for some bloggers looking to keep the fun in blogging and making money at the same time.

So what differentiates blogging as a business?

There are several things you are going to have to start doing as you start to build your business online.

  • You will have to come up with an actual name for your business (I am oneninety8, LLC)
  • You will have to file taxes and apply for a business license with your local and federal governments.
  • You will have to start keeping track of earnings, expenses and other necessary record keeping.
  • You will have to start watching statistics and look for new and unique ways to promote growth in those areas.
  • You will have to look into producing your own products and diversify income streams.
  • You will have to listen to the needs of your customers (readers and subscribers) to start filling their wants and needs through products and services you create or promote.
  • You will have to create goals and steps to achieve those goals.
  • You will have to be accountable to other bloggers and businesses in your niche.
  • You will have to figure out how to generate income outside of just publishing content (newsletter through Aweber, your own products, offline promotions)
  • You will have to be able to hire out work to freelancers and employees (the days of doing everything yourself are gone).

Long story short…you are going to have to start treating your blog like a brick and mortar business to be successful. There are a lot of bloggers that want the monetary success, but want it without the work of actually owning a business. Did you know that most successful bloggers have their own accountant, virtual assistants and designers? Did you also know that most of these successful bloggers started spending money in these areas way before they hit it big?!

This brings me to my next point…and probably the most important.

If you are not willing to reinvest back into your blog, you are making the decision to stay small time.

The #1 thing that allows you to bridge the gap between an hobby and a business is the willingness to take your own money and earnings from your blog to reinvest back in and promote faster growth. Blogging…like any business…can not grow quickly without capital reinvestment. The low barriers to entry in blogging create a mass entrance of eager bloggers looking to make it big, but the bloggers that are willing to look past the low cost of entry and start infusing money back into their blogs (design, new products, advertising, etc.) are the ones who make it big. The hard part…you as the reader never see that reinvestment but you are a product of that action.

Reinvesting Without Capital

Now…I know what you are probably thinking. I don’t have any money to put back into my blog and things are tight around the house right now so I need anything I can get to stay afloat. Guess what?! You are not alone and their is one way you can reinvest into your blog and create a business that will not cost you any money at all…just time.

GIVE AWAY THE FARM!

Some of the most successful bloggers online took one solid idea to heart as they grew their businesses. If you do not have monetary capital to throw at your aspiring online business, give away everything you can possibly get your hands on.

When you see bloggers holding contests for free stuff, giving away free eBooks and throwing other objects to the wind, they are doing that because giving stuff away for free is the #1 way to grow your blog without a huge capital investment. All you need…time to get it done.

Here are some examples.

  • Give away product you got in to review (can grow things exponentially).
  • Give away informational products.
  • Give away services (consulting, reviews, etc.)
  • Give away your paid products in a contest.
  • Have other companies and blogs sponsor a contest.

As you can see…there are plenty of things that you can give away and grow your business…but the key here is to actually grow your business online. Everyday…I see bloggers take the “give the farm away” mentality to heart, but the execution is terrible. When you give things away on your blog, there has to be some action taken on the part of the reader that not only provides you with an asset (newsletter subscriber, twitter follower, etc.), but they also provide you with free promotion (tweet, Facebook share, etc).

The trick with great giveaways is to create incredible value and getting that giveaway to spread like crazy with minimal effort on your part. The solution to that trick? You need to figure out how your readers communicate and tap into that medium of communication. If you do that successfully, you will see enormous growth in a short period of time.

Then…you can use capital to reinvest back in.

Bringing It All Home: Business and Blogging

This article bridged a gap on its own. From talking about setting up your online business to growing your online business, there are many aspects that all play into together that you need to consider before you make your first dime online.

The good news…just like anything else…your plans can adapt and change as you see fit. It is really all up to you and your decisions. Hopefully…I just got you thinking about where you want to end up at the end of the day and gave you some ideas on how to get there.

Bridge Image by esmtll

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

2 Routine Blog Chores That Increase Traffic and Profits

July 21, 2010 By 12 Comments

When you have been blogging for several years…or even several months…there are things that happen to your articles that will decrease your traffic and make you less money over time. Old articles are going to start to drop in search engine rankings if not cared for and affiliate links will change or go away completely has companies come and go from affiliate networks or go completely out of business.

It is your job, as the blog owner, to stay on top of these as your blog continues to grow so you can make sure you continue to build a strong reputation online. While everyone might have their own strategy for handling this situation, here is how I attack each issue on a quarterly basis on my blogs.

#1 – Refreshing Old Articles on My Blogs

If you aren’t already, you should be using Google Analytics to track your blog’s traffic, entry points, keywords, etc. With Google being the largest search engine on the planet and Google Analytics being as comprehensive as it is and free…it is a no brainer.

Once, at the beginning of every quarter, I go into Google Analytics with one primary goal: Grabbing a list of my bottom 100 performing posts in search engines.

Steps: Select Date Range –> Traffic Sources –> Search Engines –> Select “Landing Page” from the drop down –> Show rows 100 –> Sort by visits increasing

From this list of 100 articles, you now have your worst performing articles in Google and other search engines online, so it is time to get to work. I start to go down the list and mark articles that I think need to get some love. Now, not all of the articles on this list need to be edited as some are ok down there and are not too important. However, as you go down the list, you will see articles that need some serious help.

What do I do with these low performing articles?

There are several things I do with these low performing articles to get them back up to speed.

  • Rewrite any of the content that needs refreshing (content and times change…you also get better at blogging over time)
  • SEO optimize the article with Scribe - Scribe is a paid SEO optimizer that you probably don’t have. I didn’t believe in it at first but it has done fantastic things for Bike198.com over the past couple of months and by using it…I have been able to jump up results dramatically in certain areas.
  • Make sure all affiliate links are setup correctly – If you bring more traffic to these articles, you better have your monetization setup correctly. Now is the time to do that.
  • Write a list of articles to link back to – After I edit up the article, I write it down on a list. This list is a selection of articles that I  need to link to in future articles to get them re-spidered and indexed more efficiently.

And that is it! When I keep this cycle going, I am in constant rotation of keeping article fresh and income coming into my blogs.

#2 – Optimizing and Checking My Affiliate Links

As I mentioned before, affiliate links can change over time so you can be leaving money on the table and not even know it if your readers are clicking a link and getting no where. I optimize and check my affiliate links in a two stage process that seems to work really well.

1. Click All Of My Affiliate Links To Check Landing Pages

The only way to really find out if your links are broken or hitting the wrong page is to click them. When I first started blogging, this was an extremely cumbersome task as I had to go through each article, find the links and change them if necessary. As you can imagine, as your article count goes up, so does the amount of time and work this takes.

Luckily, these days all of my affiliate links are located in one place in a list with the Ninja Affiliate Plugin, so I can go straight down the list, clicking each link and making adjustments as necessary in an hour instead of days.

2. Optimize Monetization On Top 100 Search Engine Articles

The next thing I do is head right back to Google Analytics and sort that same low performers list as a high performers list in search engines. From this list, I go down one by one and make sure I am monetizing each article correctly. Over time, I have become better at monetizing articles, so by going back into each, I can use my new techniques to squeeze more money out of each article.

Most of my top performing search engine articles on Bike198.com center around reviews, tips and tutorials, so taking this extra step goes a long way in increasing my blog’s bottom line. You might have also picked up a new affiliate program that pays a higher commission or offers products and services that are related to that article that you did not have before. This is the time to make those edits as well.

Quarterly Cycles Insure Long Term Success

The tendency is to want to watch these items on a weekly or even daily basis to make sure you are not leaving anything on the table. However, nothing changes over night and obsessing on this will take you away from your primary goals of content production and promotion, so limit these tasks to a quarterly or bi-yearly basis to make sure you are headed in the right direction.

Products mentioned in article: Google Analytics | Scribe SEO | MaxBlogPress Ninja Affiliate Plugin

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

How I Increased My Newsletter Signups By 150% In 3 Minutes

July 19, 2010 By 17 Comments

In the blog world, your #1 resource for traffic and making money online is your list. While some are hesitant to start an email newsletter, the fact remains that if you want to be successful online, it is a necessity…not an option. Since the number of targeted subscribers to your list directly correlates to your success online, bloggers like myself are always testing new ways to get people to signup. Up to this point, a Lightbox Hover has been the highest converting method to convert casual readers into newsletter subscribers and long time readers and…as you have probably noticed…the lightbox hover on RobbSutton.com has drastically changed.

How I Increased My Newsletter Signups by 150% and Higher

It shouldn’t be surprising that people really protect their email address online. With as much spam that hits our inboxes on a regular basis, online security has become a growing problem over the years. As an online entrepreneur/blogger, it is your job to show professionalism and poise when asking for email addresses. So…your first impression is everything in converting that causal first time reader into a subscriber and first impressions all come down to design.

Unfortunately for most bloggers, design is one area that is often too expensive or overlooked in the pursuit of online superstardom and even though Aweber has made drastic strides in making lightbox hovers, you still do not have a high converting, easy to setup design process that will drastically help you grow your blog…

Until now…

A friend of mine in the blogging world, Michael Dunlop, hit me up to start testing a new plugin that is now available to the public. PopupDomination is an extremely easy to configure plugin that takes your newsletter subscription service (I use Aweber) and inserts that into a fantastic Lightbox hover that goes live on your blog. While I was going to throw up some screenshots of how I configured this plugin in 3 minutes and had it live on the sites, I thought it would be better to just show you with this short video.

Product Links: PopupDomination | Aweber

As you can see by the video…I custom taylored the Lightbox to match the site, and the conversions went through the roof.

Does that mean I recommend PopupDomination? Absolutely and I think you are going to see a lot of bloggers do the same.

The $37 dollars this plugin costs has already paid for itself and more on my blogs in only 3 days of operation.

The only thing I wish it had (which is already in development) is split testing and when that feature goes live…it is going to add an extremely strong foundation to an already fantastic plugin.

Buy You Own Copy Of PopupDomination by Clicking Here

Still not sure you need an email list? Check out this article series to see why you need to get started today: The 1 Thing Your Blog Can’t Live Without

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Riding The Big Wave Of Blog Traffic: 8 Ways To Go Big or Go Home

July 8, 2010 By 8 Comments

Watching trends is just a part of blogging. With information changing as fast as it does online, if you are not paying attention to what is going on around you, you might as well get used to being left in the dust.

In every niche, there is going to be an event or time of the year that you are going to have to be on your A game. Big name print publications are even looking to blogging as a way of providing real time information and updates for their readers, so where do you fit in as the blogger and how can you capitalize on trends in your niche to cash in big? Let’s take a look at my example and how you can apply it to your blogging.

Covering Real Time Events In Your Niche

As you can probably imagine, things are pretty busy over at the road biking side of Bike198.com this week. With the largest cycling event of the year taking place with the 2010 Tour de France, it is a jam packed 3 weeks of Tour results, information and coverage. As a blogger, I need to position myself as a reliable, return resource to capture the benefits of the largest event of the year without actually being in France. This is not always an easy thing to accomplish even if you have a vast amount of resources. As you can see by this traffic graph from Google Analytics…things are going pretty good so far.

Road Bike198.com Tour de France Traffic

So what can you do to get a 68% traffic increase on your blog and rake in the cash from this new traffic at the same time?

8 Ways To Go Big Or Go Home

So…you want to cover something big in your niche or ride the trend wave, what do you need to get done to enjoy the benefits of a drastic traffic increase over a period of time? Here are some tips to help you cash in on the increase and keep a larger percentage of those new readers as your blog moves forward.

#1 – Have Your Blog Prepared – Monetization and Conversion Items

You are going to see a sharp wave in traffic like the graph you see above, so you are not going to have much time to change and edit your blog. You need to have all of your conversion items and monetization strategies in place before the wave starts. About a week before you start your coverage, you need to make sure you have everything in place. During this time period, your main focus is going to be on delivering the content goods and not on blog design or monetization strategies. By planning ahead, you can cash in even bigger.

Money Making Note: It is also a good idea to throw in 1 or 2 extra monetization strategies for this time period. It will bring in extra income for your blog at a time when readers will not be as sensitive to the idea. Even this big publications are inserting a couple more ads here and there to cash in.

#2 – Credit External Sources

Since I can’t be in France to take my own pictures, I have to rely on the pictures and other resources of the people on the field. Because of this, you have to be extra careful about using pictures and make sure you credit the photographer and organization responsible for the shot. Unless you want to really piss people off to the point they will never work with you again, go overboard on giving credit where credit is due.

#3 – Integrate In Other Content Types

Your goal during this process should be to increase traffic to your blog but also to convert that traffic into regular readers. One of the best ways to do that is to mix in other content types with your coverage to show new readers what they can expect on your blog. Ideally, you want to mix in more pillar type articles to really feature your best of the best. For example, on Road.Bike198.com, I am mixing in in-depth how to articles and product reviews…my two “showcase” article types that convert the highest on that blog.

#4 – Be Prepared To Work Longer Hours

Right now is one of my busiest blogging times of the year, to even scrape together the precious minutes to put together this article took some planning. When you are covering realtime events or a growing trend in your niche, you need to be prepared to work longer hours than you are used to. There is time to research (or stay glued to the TV for hours in my case), write articles and stay on top of what everyone else is covering in your niche as well. All of this has to be done at the same time you are still mixing in your regular content. Tired yet?

#5 – Partner With Other Media Sources

One of the best ways you can lighten the load and have higher quality content during these periods of mass blogging is to partner with higher profile media outlets for content. For the Tour, I got together with the crew at Bicycling to use pictures, interviews and Tour stage explanations on my blog crediting back to Bicycling. This cuts down on my research time and provides Bicycling magazine with more vistors to their online real estate. It is a win/win for the both of us.

#6 – Bring Something Different To The Table

Everyone and their mom is providing the same cookie cutter information on whatever you are trying to cover. By bringing something a little bit different to the table in terms of related content, you can improve the stickiness of your blog during this time period. Since my readers are used to riding tips and product reviews, I am going to mix in articles related to the Tour from those two categories. This will differentiate my blog coverage from the typical news media coverage and bring readers back to Bike198.com.

#7 – Test, Test and Test Again

Unfortunately, the preparation you made at the beginning of the process might not be converting. If your monetization strategies or conversion items are not doing well during this time period, you need to put in the extra hours to get it right. This is your one and only shot at this, so make sure all of the extra effort isn’t going wasted.

#8 – Pre-Write and Plan Content

Do you have other blogs or already know what you want to mix in during your coverage? Pre-writing and scheduling content the weekend before you are covering a large event is the best way to lighten the load during periods of high blogging stress. If you have other blogs that are going to take up precious time needed to continue your coverage, schedule those posts ahead of time or get in some guest posts to lighten the load. The worst thing you could do for yourself is sacrifice your hard work in other areas just because your focus as shifted temporarily.

Stressed Yet?! It’s better than you think…

While this may seem like a stressful time in a bloggers life, it can also be one of the most rewarding. During times of extreme blogging, you can make the biggest gains and get over that plateau of traffic and earnings that you have been hopelessly sitting on for months. If you put in the extra effort with content and planning, you will see the increases and enjoy the fruits of your extra labor for years to come. You just have to go after it! Do large spikes due to special events last for forever? Of course not, you are going to see a decrease in traffic after the event is complete, but the idea here is to leave with more traffic and conversions than you came in with. If I am seeing a 68% traffic increase during the Tour de France, I would expect to retain a 20% increase on the backend with new readers and subscribers.

And remember…as the blogger, you have the unique ability to adapt and change on the fly unlike the big print publications.

Wave Image by mikebaird

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash, Tutorials/How To Tagged With: , , , ,

The Top 12 Success Killers In Blogging (with Solutions!)

June 23, 2010 By 17 Comments

We all want to be successful. As we pine away at producing content into the wee hours of the night, we do not hit that publish button hoping that no one will read what we have to say so that we can make $0.00 per hour…we hope that it takes off like a viral masterpiece so we can enjoy the fruits of our labor! However, there are certain aspects of blogging that can completely derail your goal and keep you in the “could have been” pile for years to come. It is important that you address each of these success killers in your blogging to insure that you can be more efficient and keep the snowball effect rolling. Otherwise…you are just going to be spinning the wheels of disappointment.

Top 12 Success Killers In Blogging

So let’s jump straight into it. Here are the top 12 success killers in blogging. If you do not get these items in check, you might as well pack up the laptop now and give up. These are not in any particular order as I find each of these items just as important as the rest.

1. Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media

Yes…social media is a fantastic way to bring in traffic to your blog and establish yourself as an expert in your niche. But…social media is also an addiction that can rob you of precious minutes throughout the day that could be used for actual productivity. If you want to really see how rampant this addiction is in today’s society, just take look at how much your friends that don’t own blogs spend on Facebook and Twitter!

Solution: You can use tools like HootSuite and MarketMeTweet to schedule tweets that also update your Facebook accounts and pages. It is also a good idea to block off a small portion of time during the day to focus on social media and then close those apps to cut down on distraction while you work.

2. Your Email Inbox

If you are anything like me, that 3 (or 40 in some cases) that is in a red circle on my email app drives me crazy. I just can’t not open it up and read it! Your email can drown you as a blogger. We all want to answer our emails in a timely fashion, but if we are spending the day answering one email at a time, we are disrupting work flow and concentration on our goals.

Solution: Just like with social media, block off a period of time each day to handle your email. During the rest of the time, close your email app or window to prevent the urge to jump into it every 5 minutes.

3. Not Tracking Statistics

Watched statistics increase. Any business owner will tell you that is just a natural part of the business building process. As you start to watch your metrics and earnings, you will see trends that can help you in the future as you try to increase income and productivity. How do you know what you need to improve if you are not sure what isn’t performing well? You don’t, so watching and tracking statistics is vital to success.

Solution: Luckily for bloggers, there are a ton of free and paid tools to make this happen. For web stats, you can use Google Analytics, Mint or CrazyEgg. For the monetary side of things, I typically like to just use Excel to track earnings and trends.

4. Procrastination

“I’ll just do that tomorrow.” I can not even begin to tell you how many blogs that one line has killed. Procrastination is a hard thing to combat when you do not have a boss leaning over your shoulder asking when a project is going to be completed. Being your own boss means that you actually have to be your own boss.

Solution: Set time lines and checklists and then stick to them! By writing things down and mapping out your day/week/month/year, you make yourself accountable. You are the only one that can get the job done and no one else cares (well maybe your readers) if you do or not. So get on it and get organized.

5. Low Self Worth

You started a blog or business because you wanted to make something better for yourself. You also started it with the belief that you were actually capable of completing that goal. With time, after a couple of trolls hit your site or you do not see success right away, you start to think that maybe you aren’t good enough or it just isn’t in the cards for you. One of the worst thing an aspiring full-time blogger can do is to start lowering their self worth by not believing in themselves. Confidence is required for success.

Solution: To keep the motivation and confidence rolling, celebrate the small successes. Did you have more subscribers today? Make your first 50 bucks? Celebrate these small successes that will lead up to large ones. You will be surprised what that can do for your blogging morale.

6. Unrealistic Expectations

A lot of bloggers jump into the scene with unbelievable, unrealistic expectations about blogging as an income. Blogging is not a get rich quick scheme. If you are looking to make money fast online, take a look at pure affiliate marketing or some other form of faster income generation because blogging is about building a real business over time. If you are expecting to start a blog and be full-time in 6 months, you are just going to be disappointed and give up at the 6 month mark.

Solution: Set real, obtainable, honest goals for yourself and then start chipping off those goals one by one. The addition of small, completed goals equal the large payoff over time.

7. Not Setting Goals

Are you just winging it hoping for the best? Do you even know where you are headed? If you are not setting goals, you are just wandering in the wasteland of the Internet with the hope that something is going to hit one day. Successful business planning is centered around setting and achieving goals. Without that…you are just a blind man in a maze.

Solution: Set long-term and short-term goals. The short-term goals should add up to the long-term over time. Track these goals and cross them off as you compete them.

8. No Defined Purpose

How many blogs have you gone to that do not seem to have a defined purpose. They start off with a specific niche and then start talking about blogging, their life or some other random subject that has nothing to do with their original intent. The by-product of this behavior? The blogger starts to lose their audience, credibility and success.

Solution: Pick a niche and rock it out. No one wants to hear about blogging on your gardening blog. They want to hear about gardening! As time progresses, you can expand into other related subject matters (like tree growing), but you need to keep it related. You can kill your blog by going off topic frequently.

9. Bad Promotion Strategies

The “build it and they will come” mentality to blogging is gone. Unfortunately, there is just too much mess on the Internet today to rise above the noise without some kind of self-promotion. In today’s world of successful blogging, you have to be a marketer as much as you are a blogger to get your name out there.

Solution: Find the promotion strategies that work best in your niche. There is no “one size fits all” solution here so you are going to have to test guest posting, forums, social media and other outlets to see what works best in your niche…and then keep testing.

10. No Monetization Strategy

As I wrote in a recent article “Are you writing articles that actually have the ability to make money?“, there are a lot of bloggers that assume that traffic equals income. So…they keep writing, day in and day out, to find they are increasing their community but they are not making a dime doing it. You have to actually have a monetization strategy in your blogging to generate income. It is that simple.

Solution: Test, test and retest different methods. Whether it is PPC campaigns, having your own product, affiliate marketing, direct advertising, membership sites or a combination of all of those methods. You need to take an honest look at how your content is actually going to generate income and then test those methods to death to see what works the best on your blog.

Bonus Hint: If you do not have an email newsletter (I use Aweber), you are not going to make a significant income online. Quite possibly the biggest mistake you can make as a blogger from a monetization and growth standpoint is not starting an email newsletter from the very beginning.

11. Not Treating Your Blog Like A Business

Blogging for income is not a hobby, it is a business. If you treat your blog as a hobby…it will only ever be a hobby. You have to treat your blogging as a business if you ever want to be successful.

Solution: Treat your blog as a business by tracking expenses, income and filing the appropriate taxes. My blogs are actually under a LLC as well. When you start implementing some of these solutions and planning goals for your blogging, you are stepping into the serious end of the business. Take yourself and your business seriously if you really want to make it.

12. Sub-Par Copycat Content

Saw someone else making money on their blog and decided to do the same thing? Or did you start a making money online blog without having actually ever generated a penny online? Blogging is all about over-the-top quality content. The “go on this journey with me” content strategy does not work. Blogging is still and will always be about connecting with readers through high-quality content.

Solution: The trick to producing incredible content is writing about a subject matter in which you are passionate about or have a lot of knowledge. Your readers are going to be able to see through a fake, so by writing on these subjects, you are being honest and providing quality. Once you have done that, get on a posting schedule that works for you and allows great content…then stick to that posting schedule.

There you have it! The top 12 success killers in blogging. Are you doing anything on the list?!


Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Generating Cash, Social Media Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Two Groups That Are 99% Of Your Blog Income

June 7, 2010 By 9 Comments

If you are looking to make income from your blogging, you need to turn your efforts online into dollars by readers consuming either your products and services or the products and services of others that you are affiliated with (or both).

By targeting a buying public, you can maximize your profits and insure a high conversion rate on your blog. We all want to be able to turn words into dollars right?! Often wonder how some blogs can make a killing without an enormous amount of traffic? Well…you better make sure you are attracting the right audience to accomplish that…so let’s break it down for real success.

The Beginning Blogger Trap

Before we jump into the exact groups you want to target, let’s talk a little bit about a route that beginning bloggers take that is the completely wrong road. I see a lot of beginning bloggers striving for approval from the pros in their field. If they are blogging about blogging, they are trying to get top bloggers to comment on their articles. If they are blogging about home improvement, they are writing articles that would even make Bob Vila drop his jaw. This is a trap you need to avoid!

When you are jumping after the approval of top pro’s in your niche, you are tailoring your articles to a group of producers…not consumers.

For your blog to be successful, you need to be impressing a group of readers that will actually pull out the plastic and consume products and services…not ones that are creating their own.

Stop writing over the top, complicated articles to inflate your own self worth by trying to gain the approval of professionals if you want to make money with your blogging.

The 2 Groups You Should Be Targeting With Your Writing

There are two groups of people that you should be targeting with your writing style and language in your blog articles.

  1. Beginners
  2. Intermediates

Why? Because they are looking for solutions to their problems within your niche. They need to buy your information and services to bring their game to a whole new level. When you start delivering on those promises by providing high quality recommendations and products, they will become repeat visitors and consumers of your recommendations and content. See how the cycle works?

How Do I Attract That Audience With My Writing?

There are several ways you can attract the beginning to intermediate audience, but here are a couple of sure fire ways to get you up and rolling.

1. Talk Simple But Not “Down”

When I write my blog articles, I try to make sure that 90% of my readers will completely understand everything in the article. If there are terms or ideas that are on a more advanced level, I go out of my way to either explain that point further or provide a resource where that explanation can be found (most likely on my blog). When you let the ego jump in and try to sound too much like an expert, you lose your target audience. Your blog articles should teach and inform, but also be careful not to sound condescending. No one likes to be talked down to but 99% of readers love to learn something new.

2. Provide Static Resources

Are there complicated terms within your niche? Is there standard/staple content that everyone should know within your niche (even if you take it for granted)? By creating resources through blog articles or static pages, you are helping those readers that may not completely understand the concepts and ideas within your niche topic. When you solve this issue for your beginning readers, you become their resource online. As a bonus, when you need to point your reader in the direction of an explanation of complicated terms or ideas in your articles, you are pointing them to a page on your blog instead of an outside resource.

3. Provide Most of Your Information for Free

Beginner and intermediate readers of your blog are going to be gun shy of paid content and products. Chances are they have been down a bad road or two online, so there defenses are up on why they shouldn’t spend any money on what you have produced or what you are promoting. By providing high quality content for free via articles, ebooks and newsletters, you can build up your own reputation to insure that your paid products convert well in the long run. Your reputation with your new readers starts from day one. Get started on the right foot with over the top, quality content for free. The conversion down the road will be much easier.

The #1 Reason Why Blogs Make Money

They solve the problems of people within a given niche and do so in real time with a developed relationship. If you are constantly on the search to impress the pros…you will never end up being one.

Blogs make money because they fulfill a need.

When you start tailoring your blog and content with the idea of making money online, keep in mind your target buying audience. After all…they are the ones that generate the dollars.

Filed Under: Blogging, Content, Generating Cash Tagged With: , , ,

Make More Money Online By Diversifying Income Streams

May 27, 2010 By 6 Comments

Scouring the web…you are going to find everyone’s 2 cents on how they think you should make money on your blog. While there are a ton of great ideas out there, there is also a lot of crap that you have to sift through to find the good stuff…and many times…the people talking about making money online actually do not make a cent. They are just trying to make money online by talking about making money online. Kind of redundent and not credible if you ask me…but if it is your cup of tea…go for it I guess. Anyways…after that short ramble…I am going to tell you how I actually make money online and it is through a simple business principle of diversification.

Make More Money Online By Diversifying Income Streams

As a blogger, you have a lot of different outlets to bring in income. In all reality, you have more options than brick and mortar businesses as you can adapt and change on the fly with very little overhead cost associated with that change. For that reason, you are seeing a lot of bloggers start to make a killing by staying on top of trends and backing their blog with solid business models. So let’s take a look at how you can make money on your blog…

  • PPC campaigns – Adsense, etc.
  • CPM – Pay per impression campaigns
  • Direct Advertising Campaigns
  • Affiliate Revenue – Get paid a percentage for promoting a product or service
  • Our Own Products – Electronic, Hard Goods, Services

Now…these are not the only ways you can make money on your blog, but they are the most popular as they typically give you the biggest return on your time investment. Most bloggers tend to lean heavily towards one method or only use the one they got to pick them up a couple of bucks. Guess what?! I believe that is a bad thing and I am about to tell you why.

Why You Do Not Want To Be Reliant On One Income Stream

When you are reliant on one type of income stream, you are crippling your chances of success if something happens to that method of making money online.

  • With PPC campaigns…payouts can fluctuate.
  • With CMP’s…you can lose advertisers or rates can decrease.
  • With Direct Advertising Campaigns…you can lose advertisers or rates can decrease.
  • With Affiliate Revenue…you can hit a soft spot in the economy or run out of products to promote.
  • With Your Own Products…you get a nice initial wave of income, but you have to create more products down the road.

Each of these circumstances can drastically change your business plan or just be a minor bump in the road. As you take a look at your blog, you need to ask yourself one quick question.

What would happen to my revenue if my #1 main income stream went away tomorrow?

If that question sends you into a worrying tailspin and makes the color leave your face, you need to take a objective look at how your blog is generating revenue and start to diversify your income streams.

Why Diversification?

My plan from day one when I started blogging was to build up as many income streams that work as possible. By having multiple sources all bringing in income, I am not reliant on one source of dollars coming into my sites. There have been times when companies dropped their affiliate programs or I needed to put my own products on hold that I was not worried about the bills because the rest of the streams picked up the slack.

When you start to take an objective look at really successful blogs online, are they reliant on one income stream or multiple? 9 times out of 10, you are probably interacting with all of their streams (or at least most of them) and do not even know it! By mixing in as many of the methods above as you can (use only the ones that work of course…and you figure this out by testing them), you can increase your chances of success for the long haul and not have to worry if something doesn’t quite go your way one day.

Bike198.com: A Personal Example

On Bike198.com, I have my own products, direct advertising, affiliate revenue and PPC campaigns that all pull their weight to achieve the ultimate goal…make an income online.

  • Ramped Riding – eBook that makes you a better mountain biker
  • Adsense – PPC
  • Direct Advertising
  • Affiliate Revenue – Heavily product based through reviews
  • Sale of Goods – All of that product I review has to go somewhere!

Each day, these income streams interact with my readers in a non-competing atmosphere (ex. I don’t promote other “Riding Tips” eBooks because I have my own.) that creates results.

I also diversify the methods in which my readers interact with my money making avenues by providing on page resources and a quality newsletter to back it up. By diversifying your income streams and the methods your readers interact with those income streams, you are creating a system that will work on its own.

Now…Look At Your Blogging…

Now, you have seen a glimpse into how I do it…how do you? It is time to take an objective look at how your blog makes money. Are you doing everything you can to insure your success? Or are you just winging it and hoping for the best?

Successful blogging from a monetary standpoint takes careful planning and testing. Far too many bloggers just publish articles and hope for the best. If you really want to make a living online, you have to attack it with a solid plan and proper testing. Once you have found one that works, continue fine tuning it while you get another revenue stream up and running…

Side Note: If you haven’t already, you MUST HAVE  an email newsletter on your blog to really see success over time. Sign up with a service like Aweber and get started with your newsletter today. It will make the difference from being successful and just another blogger who didn’t make it. Invest in your future.

Filed Under: Blogging, Generating Cash Tagged With: , , , , ,
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