There is an interesting post on Outside The Beltway regarding a recent announcement from the FTC that they plan to monitor and regulate blogs. Apparently they have decided that they are not happy with 'paid reviews' and the like, especially if in their minds, the blogger hasn't disclosed it's a paid review, or in some way perhaps misrepresents facts or something about a product. It also extends to ads placed on blogs and even, apparently, some issues about things like Amazon links for products. This could get tricky, albeit a bit foolish and difficult to control, given the enormous number of blogs and the difficulty in trying to chase down bloggers.
Just thought you might want to be aware of the plan. Naturally, the blogosphere sorts out the good from the bad anyway, and if you are giving good reviews on junk, it won't be long before your blogger word and therefore your blog, won't be much use to you or anyone, once your readers find out you are misleading them. If you are. But lets be honest, for the most part, all we do is point customers to products, whether that is through ppc ads, or product reviews, or just mentioning a product in our posts. Is that wrong? As Outside The Beltway points out, if that is wrong, what are the FTC guys going to do about things like paid product placements on television and movies? Not only that, what does that say for so called 'free speech'?
Don't stand for it bloggers.....
Make Money Blogging
Welcome to my blog. Like so many other blogs and websites this is about making money with blogs and websites....in particular this is about my experiences making money on the internet. At the time of this writing, I am the author of something in the area of 40 blogs, which keeps me pretty busy. Along the way I have learned quite a bit about what works and what doesn't. I hope my experiences help you.
Blogging...In for the long run.....
Sorry for the long time between posts, but to tell the truth, I have been pretty busy making money blogging, almost too busy to be writing about it....
This blog is not my money maker, some of the other sites I have are starting to do much better. I've been focusing my efforts on posting on those, which as I am sure you know, takes a lot of time.
The good news is, althought this is taking forever, it is starting to show some returns, abeit small returns. For me at least, blogging is not a get rich quick scheme. I know it appears to be for some bloggers, who claim big incomes from their blogs. For me, it is a lot of work night after night. The good part is, I enjoy the writing and I enjoy the comments and I enjoy the affilate sales I make. It is rather rewarding in a non-monetary way to see that you have some readers signed up through Feedburner, and to get comments, and to see that your readership is reaching the triple digits each day.
The money, well...it isn't quite a car payment yet, but it is getting there. I'm convinced that although the work is long and hard, it is going to be worth it in the long run, and I am in for the long run.....how about you?
This blog is not my money maker, some of the other sites I have are starting to do much better. I've been focusing my efforts on posting on those, which as I am sure you know, takes a lot of time.
The good news is, althought this is taking forever, it is starting to show some returns, abeit small returns. For me at least, blogging is not a get rich quick scheme. I know it appears to be for some bloggers, who claim big incomes from their blogs. For me, it is a lot of work night after night. The good part is, I enjoy the writing and I enjoy the comments and I enjoy the affilate sales I make. It is rather rewarding in a non-monetary way to see that you have some readers signed up through Feedburner, and to get comments, and to see that your readership is reaching the triple digits each day.
The money, well...it isn't quite a car payment yet, but it is getting there. I'm convinced that although the work is long and hard, it is going to be worth it in the long run, and I am in for the long run.....how about you?
Three Column Blogger Template
I think I wrote about this before, in fact I know I did, but I have to tell ya again.....In my previous post about 3 column blogger templates I mentioned that I wasn't convinced a three column template was necessary or even better than the standard two column, but I did say that I was thinking about trying a couple anyway. Well the time came today....I changed two of my blogs from the standard two column layout to a three column layout today! I have to tell you, I like it so far!
I owe a debt of thanks to Amanda at Blogger Buster for her tutorial on creating a three column template for Blogger blogs.
I followed Amanda's instructions carefully, and it was actually very easy to do. I had a couple of little setbacks but nothing drastic and nothing I couldn't figure out. In fact, by the time I finished the last one, I had it pretty much down to a science. All you need to do is follow Amanda's instructions carefully, take your time, and make sure you understand exactly what you are putting where, and you will be fine.
I now have three blogs with a three column template. My main posts are in the center with a sidebar on either side, perfect. Using the Blogger Buster instructions you can also set up your blog to have the to sidebar columns on one side of the page, which might also be good, especially if you have a lot of banner type ads. I think they work well in that type of layout.
I am going to test them for awhile and see what impact the extra column has on my Adsense and other affilate sales. So far I am very pleased with the look of the extra column. It certainly provides a great place for additional information without making the page too long. I can actually double the number of products I advertise with the addition of the extra column. That means more items shown, which should mean more items sold, which of course means more commission for me....Jack Parker....
I owe a debt of thanks to Amanda at Blogger Buster for her tutorial on creating a three column template for Blogger blogs.
I followed Amanda's instructions carefully, and it was actually very easy to do. I had a couple of little setbacks but nothing drastic and nothing I couldn't figure out. In fact, by the time I finished the last one, I had it pretty much down to a science. All you need to do is follow Amanda's instructions carefully, take your time, and make sure you understand exactly what you are putting where, and you will be fine.
I now have three blogs with a three column template. My main posts are in the center with a sidebar on either side, perfect. Using the Blogger Buster instructions you can also set up your blog to have the to sidebar columns on one side of the page, which might also be good, especially if you have a lot of banner type ads. I think they work well in that type of layout.
I am going to test them for awhile and see what impact the extra column has on my Adsense and other affilate sales. So far I am very pleased with the look of the extra column. It certainly provides a great place for additional information without making the page too long. I can actually double the number of products I advertise with the addition of the extra column. That means more items shown, which should mean more items sold, which of course means more commission for me....Jack Parker....
Making Online Money In Tough Financial Times
Tough economic times are upon us, as folks are losing their jobs and their homes and savings. What is that going to do to those of us trying to make some income from our blogs and websites. Is this economic downturn going to hurt the e-commerce business? Is it going to have a negative impact on advertising?
No doubt the answer to both is yes, it will have an negative impact on both sales and advertising. But..it might not be all bad...
With tough times, people still need stuff and they still buy stuff, they just become a bit more discerning about where they spend their money, making it important for us to offer the best deals possible in our affilate sales and other offerings. Maybe it's time to look at the products you offer and see if there is a way to either bring the cost down, or offer more for the same money. This is particularly easy with e-books because you can throw in another book for the same price, and hopefully encourage your customers with the idea of a good deal.
For sales of other products, no time is it more important to make sure the items you sell, either yourself or through an affiliate program like Amazon are the best value you can find.
Adsense...well...who knows that depends on the ads and the price advertisers are paying, making it even more important to keep an eye on your keywords etc.
On the other hand, the financial slowdown might mean that more folks have more free time, free time which they might spend reading blogs....your blog and mine....
No doubt the answer to both is yes, it will have an negative impact on both sales and advertising. But..it might not be all bad...
With tough times, people still need stuff and they still buy stuff, they just become a bit more discerning about where they spend their money, making it important for us to offer the best deals possible in our affilate sales and other offerings. Maybe it's time to look at the products you offer and see if there is a way to either bring the cost down, or offer more for the same money. This is particularly easy with e-books because you can throw in another book for the same price, and hopefully encourage your customers with the idea of a good deal.
For sales of other products, no time is it more important to make sure the items you sell, either yourself or through an affiliate program like Amazon are the best value you can find.
Adsense...well...who knows that depends on the ads and the price advertisers are paying, making it even more important to keep an eye on your keywords etc.
On the other hand, the financial slowdown might mean that more folks have more free time, free time which they might spend reading blogs....your blog and mine....
Internet Marketing Fundamentals
I have worked at several enterprises in my life, several of them related to sales and marketing, and always found it to be an interesting occupation. I can say the same for internet marketing, with a twist. Although the premise is the same, selling something to somebody, so much internet marketing and sales, are one kind of one sided. Sure, there is email, and blog comments, and so on, but you don't have the one on one personal side of sales, that moment when you look the customer in the eye and ask for the sale.
That used to be the cornerstone of good sales and marketing, asking for the sale. You could make the best sales pitch in the world, but if you didn't end up by asking the client for their order, most of the time, the sale didn't happen. These days, in the time of big box stores and department style stores like Walmart, the importance of the sales person has lessened, the sales pitch is made by the product itself and the packaging, and a large reliance on advertising, pre-selling the product through TV, print, radio ads etc. The difference is, no one askes for the sale. But in sales situations where capturing the sale is not based on price as much as convincing someone that your product beats the competition, like car sales for example, sales persons still dominate, and still ask for the sale.
It's been my experience, that when it comes to internet marketing, asking for the sale is important. Granted, the customer is not looking you in the eye, and can say no just by clicking the back button, but you still have to ask. You wouldn't think it necessary, but it is....I have found that when I write a pitch page for a product, and end it by asking the customer if they would like me to send them one, etc, I sell more than if I just leave the product info make the sale, or perhaps just a link to the product page.
Customers are people, and people are the same, in many ways. If you spend time teaching someone about a product, it's benefit to them, etc, and then ask them to buy one, it's amazing how many will. The "ask" as it is called in popular culture today, is the last thing you do, in fact, for most of the pitch, you should be emphasizing the product and it's benefits, almost like you are not concerned about selling it as you are about telling your readers about it. By the time you get to the 'ask' you already have them sold, they are just looking for the way to do it. That's where your 'click here to purchase yours' link comes in, at the end, just in time for them to be wondering where to get one.
Lately I have been experimenting with the page my customers land on when they do click the link to buy. I am finding that it is best if they end up directly at the point where they put in their credit card info etc. If your link takes them to another pitch page, you run the risk of them either losing interest, changing their mind, or reading something that changes their opinion of the product. It's better that you customers who click to purchase a product go directly to the page where the sale is finalized. You have already asked for the sale through your post or pitch page, they have agreed by clicking the link, put them where they can complete the purchase.
Think about it this way, a car salesman sells you a car, you agree to the sale, the next thing you are in the business office, and they writing up the contract and taking your money. Good sales people don't want you back out on the sales floor wandering around looking at other models, because you might change your mind, or you might see another model you prefer and they have to start the sales pitch all over again. It's a form of manipulation, or control of their customer. They have your agreement to purchase, the next thing to do is get your money. In your internet marketing endeavors you need to do the same thing.
Try it yourself. Pay attention to your landing pages, make sure that the sales page is the final page your readers see, don't over do it with additional sales hype after the sale is made. Let me know how it works for you.
One final note about this. I believe the ideas I expressed above are related to the sale of products like Amazon sales for example. If you are selling online products like e-books for example, where there is usually a very indepth sales page created by the publisher, you might want to approach it a little differently. There your goal is to get your readers to their pages and let them do the sales pitch. In those types of sales, you are more an advertiser than a sales office. Your job is to bring people to them, and let them make the sale. That is similar to the Walmart model I mentioned at the beginning, Walmart gets you into the store and infront of the products that then do the sales pitch.
Let me know what you think. Does this make sense?
That used to be the cornerstone of good sales and marketing, asking for the sale. You could make the best sales pitch in the world, but if you didn't end up by asking the client for their order, most of the time, the sale didn't happen. These days, in the time of big box stores and department style stores like Walmart, the importance of the sales person has lessened, the sales pitch is made by the product itself and the packaging, and a large reliance on advertising, pre-selling the product through TV, print, radio ads etc. The difference is, no one askes for the sale. But in sales situations where capturing the sale is not based on price as much as convincing someone that your product beats the competition, like car sales for example, sales persons still dominate, and still ask for the sale.
It's been my experience, that when it comes to internet marketing, asking for the sale is important. Granted, the customer is not looking you in the eye, and can say no just by clicking the back button, but you still have to ask. You wouldn't think it necessary, but it is....I have found that when I write a pitch page for a product, and end it by asking the customer if they would like me to send them one, etc, I sell more than if I just leave the product info make the sale, or perhaps just a link to the product page.
Customers are people, and people are the same, in many ways. If you spend time teaching someone about a product, it's benefit to them, etc, and then ask them to buy one, it's amazing how many will. The "ask" as it is called in popular culture today, is the last thing you do, in fact, for most of the pitch, you should be emphasizing the product and it's benefits, almost like you are not concerned about selling it as you are about telling your readers about it. By the time you get to the 'ask' you already have them sold, they are just looking for the way to do it. That's where your 'click here to purchase yours' link comes in, at the end, just in time for them to be wondering where to get one.
Lately I have been experimenting with the page my customers land on when they do click the link to buy. I am finding that it is best if they end up directly at the point where they put in their credit card info etc. If your link takes them to another pitch page, you run the risk of them either losing interest, changing their mind, or reading something that changes their opinion of the product. It's better that you customers who click to purchase a product go directly to the page where the sale is finalized. You have already asked for the sale through your post or pitch page, they have agreed by clicking the link, put them where they can complete the purchase.
Think about it this way, a car salesman sells you a car, you agree to the sale, the next thing you are in the business office, and they writing up the contract and taking your money. Good sales people don't want you back out on the sales floor wandering around looking at other models, because you might change your mind, or you might see another model you prefer and they have to start the sales pitch all over again. It's a form of manipulation, or control of their customer. They have your agreement to purchase, the next thing to do is get your money. In your internet marketing endeavors you need to do the same thing.
Try it yourself. Pay attention to your landing pages, make sure that the sales page is the final page your readers see, don't over do it with additional sales hype after the sale is made. Let me know how it works for you.
One final note about this. I believe the ideas I expressed above are related to the sale of products like Amazon sales for example. If you are selling online products like e-books for example, where there is usually a very indepth sales page created by the publisher, you might want to approach it a little differently. There your goal is to get your readers to their pages and let them do the sales pitch. In those types of sales, you are more an advertiser than a sales office. Your job is to bring people to them, and let them make the sale. That is similar to the Walmart model I mentioned at the beginning, Walmart gets you into the store and infront of the products that then do the sales pitch.
Let me know what you think. Does this make sense?
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Thanks for reading Making Money Blogging, I hope you found something helpful here that you can use to increase your earnings from your blog or website. I appreciate your visit.
