[sunnybear]

I finally took the leap into blogging, and a few parts are unclear to me...<br><br>
-- When you're ready to start selling ad space, how do you go about this? Do you put up a post that says, "Hey, here is the amount of hits I get a day and here's how much an ad would cost!" Do you use an ad management service (like OpenX)?<br><br>
-- What are the best ways of getting your blog out there? I've purchased a domain name, added my site to Google, and added it to one blog directory so far. Do you buy ad space on other blogs or websites? Do you buy space on any of the get paid to/pay per click sites? I read here that commenting on other blogs and leaving your URL is a good way to get hits, too. Do you do business cards? Promote offline anywhere?<br><br>
-- Another ad sales question, but not for my blog... A friend and I run a popular (hundreds of thousands of hits) music webzine, but we're still having trouble SELLING ad space. We do a lot of cross-promotional stuff, but that isn't making us any money and we're trying to get merch to sell, screen print our own tees, have travel money to cover out of town/out of the country music festivals, etc. I'm not sure where we're going wrong with this...I sent out a mass email to previous advertisers and other contacts and didn't get a single ad sale. Our site is very popular within our genre of music and we have support from some very famous figures within the scene (we hung out with and interviewed a member of Nine Inch Nails over the weekend, if that gives you an idea), so you'd think ad sales would come pretty easily, but it isn't...<br><br>
I had one more that I forgot at the moment...I'll update if it comes to me...<br><br>
Thanks!

 

[Jael]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>Pariah</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/15389835"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">I finally took the leap into blogging, and a few parts are unclear to me...<br><br>
-- When you're ready to start selling ad space, how do you go about this? Do you put up a post that says, "Hey, here is the amount of hits I get a day and here's how much an ad would cost!" Do you use an ad management service (like OpenX)?<br><br>
-- What are the best ways of getting your blog out there? I've purchased a domain name, added my site to Google, and added it to one blog directory so far. Do you buy ad space on other blogs or websites? Do you buy space on any of the get paid to/pay per click sites? I read here that commenting on other blogs and leaving your URL is a good way to get hits, too. Do you do business cards? Promote offline anywhere?<br><br>
-- Another ad sales question, but not for my blog... A friend and I run a popular (hundreds of thousands of hits) music webzine, but we're still having trouble SELLING ad space. We do a lot of cross-promotional stuff, but that isn't making us any money and we're trying to get merch to sell, screen print our own tees, have travel money to cover out of town/out of the country music festivals, etc. I'm not sure where we're going wrong with this...I sent out a mass email to previous advertisers and other contacts and didn't get a single ad sale. Our site is very popular within our genre of music and we have support from some very famous figures within the scene (we hung out with and interviewed a member of Nine Inch Nails over the weekend, if that gives you an idea), so you'd think ad sales would come pretty easily, but it isn't...<br><br>
I had one more that I forgot at the moment...I'll update if it comes to me...<br><br>
Thanks!</div>
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</tr></table></div>
Congratulations on getting out there and doing your thing...I love it!<br><br>
Yes, a lot of bloggers and site owners do advertise that ad space is available. However, are you also doing AdSense, Amazon or any affiliate marketing? On your music site, I'd think you'd do very well with both. Also, you may want to try cold-calling.<br><br>
Do you own a list and do you promote a newsletter? Perhaps posting an ad for ad space in your newsletter or sending an email blast would help.<br><br>
Are you a member at the Warrior Forums? I'll bet you can get a lot of useful info there (especially if you join the War Room). Sounds like you're off to a great start, but just need a little help getting to the next level and I'm sure some of the Warriors can help you.<br><br>
As for driving traffic, blog posting is good. Also, submitting to article directories (Ezine Articles, Article Base, Article Snatch, etc.). Here's a list if you don't already have one:<br><br><a href="http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php" target="_blank">http://www.vretoolbar.com/articles/directories.php</a><br><br>
Also, consider creating a hub at HubPages or even applying to be an Examiner at Examiner.com. Not only will you earn residual payments, but you'll also be able to use them for traffic purposes from time to time.<br><br>
Hope this helps and continued success to you!

 

[sunnybear]

I have AdSense and Amazon affiliation going on my blog, but not on the music site. I will mention that to my friend ASAP.<br><br>
I don't have a list or newsletter for either site...hm. I'm not sure what I would send out in a newsletter for my blog, but for the music site we could work something out. We're always updating with new reviews, blog posts, articles, etc etc...<br><br>
I signed up on the Warrior Forums last night, I'm going to spend some time checking that out today.<br><br>
Thanks for all the info!

 

[Jael]

Not a problem! If I can be of any further assistance, do let me know. I forgot to add that when you get to the Main Internet Marketing Discussion Forum is the one you'll want to read through. It's free to join (there's a cost to join the War Room, though) and everyone there is really helpful. With as much traffic as you're getting on your music site, there's no reason for you not to be making several thousand dollars per month. All that's left to do is to learn precisely how to do so and the Warriors are the best people to gather that info from. Good luck to you!

 

[sunnybear]

Ah, several thousand a month...I can only imagine what we could do for the music webzine with that sort of income. Right now everyone who works on it are volunteers...we just love it that much to keep it going. It would be so great to be able to put that sort of money back into it and maybe even get a bit of pay from it.

 

[Jael]

I am so serious about the money that you can make from your blog. Please, PLEASE visit the Internet Marketing forum on Warrior Forums and soak up everything that you can about monetizing your blog. If you've come this far by just sheer passion and your site is largely volunteer driven, you are more than ready to start seeing an income from it. I know several people who earn a full-time salary strictly from blogging or running a website. All of them are members at the Warrior Forum and a TON of information on how they do it is shared there.<br><br>
Also, check Darren Rowse out at his site: <a href="http://www.problogger.net/" target="_blank">http://www.problogger.net/</a> and definitely click on his blog for free tips on blogging and monetizing your blog. Darren is well known around blogging circles for being a good guy that makes 7 figures from blogging.<br><br>
Trust me, you CAN do this!

 

[sunnybear]

Aww, thank you! I AM so ready to make this work. I've been reading from the forums you suggested to me and I've already found lots of good ideas there. I've started using Twitter for the blog and the music site and we've figured out some new things for the music site to implement with Twitter, and that's exciting.<br><br>
I love the ProBlogger site! I think I found it through those forums. There is SO much good information on there, I've spent a lot of my spare time reading from there. I've made some changes to the blog since then and I have some others in mind, based on his articles.<br><br>
And there's a third website I'm working on and if my coding skills and patience are good for it tonight, the site will be completely done and ready to start promoting. I've been working on it for two months and I will be so, so happy when it is done. I've been taking notes on how to apply everything I've been learning to this other site, too.