Written on February 24th, 2005 at 02:02 pm by Darren Rowse
More on Making a Living Off of AdSense
Paul has just posted a second article in his Making a Living Off of AdSense series. This time he’s focussing upon choosing keywords and themes for your blog. Its not just as simple as picking a topic out of the air and writing about it randomly - it takes work to make a living from blogging (I feel like I’m saying this every second post these days). But if you’re willing to sweat a little - Paul’s advice might just point you in the right direction. Quality advice once again Paul. Here is where he starts:
‘First let me dispel the myth that you should go looking for the highest paying keywords. This works for some people, but odds are the sharks have already taken over those words. That super keyword you thought was big money (meso*) is nothing now because so many people are covering it. Advertisers pay big bucks for those rare clicks so that is what we are looking for….’
Read more at Making a Living Off of AdSense Part II » Work Boxers
Written on February 24th, 2005 at 01:02 pm by Darren Rowse
Does 1.8 million Page Views Make it News?
Nick Denton reveals Gawker media had 1.8 million page views in a day yesterday. That’s what posting pictures of Paris Hilton nude will do for your blogs.
Jason Calacanis on the other hand decided not to run with the story and warned others from doing so saying it wasn’t newsworthy.
I tend to agree with Jason on this one - although 1.8 million page views makes me think someone out there thought it was news…
Written on February 24th, 2005 at 01:02 pm by Darren Rowse
Do You Credit Your Sources?
What is your policy on giving credit to sites who pointed you to a link that you post about?
Do you for instance write use a ‘found via (insert blog who pointed you to the post you’ve written about here)’ byline or tag on your blog? (see last post for an example of what I mean).
I do this where ever possible but have noticed recently that fewer and fewer bloggers seem to credit where they get their information from. I think this is just plain bad manners and that its actually a missed opportunity also.
It is a missed opportunity because in linking to the source you found the information from you actually build your reputation and reputation with the person you’re linking to. I know that if someone gives me such a hat tip that I file it away in my mind for future reference. Its like a little deposit of goodwill goes into the bank and down the track I’m more likely to take an interest in their blog, link back or even do them a favor down the track.
I also believe that in including your source you improve your SEO of the post - providing relevant outbound links is something many believe that Search Engines value in working out how relevant your page is. In not doing so you limit your chances of a good page ranking.
In NOT acknowledging your sources you actually run the risk of doing the opposite. I know a number of sites who use my blogs as sources of information - they constantly link to the articles I link to, in the same order that I link to them, a few hours after I do, with very similar comments and reflections. Whilst imitation may be the greatest form of flattery it isn’t good blogging practice without acknowledgment of who is doing the hard work for you. In doing so its not just bad manners, but if you get caught it doesn’t do your reputation much good. Instead of putting a deposit of goodwill into the bank account you’re actually making a withdrawal in this case and run the risk of being ostracized by and even exposed for your actions.
Of course we all inadvertently fail to acknowledge a source from time to time - sometimes I have so many windows open at once that its hard to track back the line of how I found an article - but when it happens systematically and on a regular basis I think its pretty poor form.
I also acknowledge that with the advent of News Aggregators and tools like Google News Alerts that a lot of blogs in the same field come up with the same content - but sometimes the patterns of posting make it pretty obvious that some copying is going on.
What do you think? Do you hat tip your sources? Should you always? What do you do when you suspect other bloggers are riding on your coat tails?
Written on February 24th, 2005 at 01:02 pm by Darren Rowse
New Google Adsense Payment Options?
Has anyone else noticed the change in the way Adsense are reporting earnings in their ‘Payment History’ section? Its a new design which is much easier to read and get an overview of all at once.
However when you click on the ‘payments’ link for each month you get taken to a page that has a section called ‘Payment Type’ (see picture - highlighted section especially). Interestingly next to this heading is the word ‘Check’.
I wonder why they need to clarify what sort of payment we’re getting? Does this give us an indication of a change in payment options? Maybe Google have been listening to the many calls for new options for receiving monthly payments - we can only hope!
Found via Jensense
Written on February 24th, 2005 at 08:02 am by Darren Rowse
Sites that make a living from Google Adsense
What kind of site does it take to make enough to live off with Google Adsense?
This is a question that has been asked over at WebmasterWorld - Adsense Forum. It is actually a question that has sparked quite a long and interesting discussion (120 replies so far - and counting).
Here are a few of the better quotes:
‘I know plenty of people with little to no tech skills making 6 figures a year with Adsense. The key is to make a site that gets visitors looking for something in particular. Your site should be about that subject. Your title and description should be written in such a way that they think they can get what they are looking for. Your site should provide just enough information to get you ranked for the terms you want and get ads targeted to what your visitors are looking for…. Your content should not provide any solution that will send them on their way without clicking on an ad.’ - by ogletree
‘Try to be a big fish in a small pond, not vice versa. Own a small niche. Loads of things could be profitable - if there are some affiliate programs available, and some adsense ads on related terms, then there’s the chance to make money. Picking something you know and love will make life a lot easier. So will choosing something without too much competition.’ by 7_Driver
‘I’m a proponent of multiple sites if only because, no matter how much plotting and planning you do, you don’t really know which sites are going to take off and become big money earners. Something as simple (and unpredictable) as a DMOZ link can make a site (it’s happened to me). I have a site that I spent about 20 hours working on, then abandoned for almost a year, that went on to consistently earn 2-3k a month. I have other sites that I thought were sure things that make less than $100/mo. This is a game where you can lose 9 times, win once, and suddenly be making enough to quit your day job. Once you have a winner or two, you can focus on those sites.’ - by Teshka
Found via Search Engine RoundTable
Written on February 24th, 2005 at 07:02 am by Darren Rowse
Business Blogging Award Winners
Congratulations to the winners of the Business Blogging Awards for 2005. What a great list of blogs there are in this list. Special congratulations to the team at Security Awareness for taking out the category I competed in here at enternetusers. Here are the winners:
Best Overall Blog - Security Awareness
Best Group Blog - Monty’s Bluff
Best New Blog - 800-CEO-READ
Best Law Blog - Phosita
Best VC/Entrepreneur Blog - Business Opportunities
Best Financial Industry/Investment Blog - Between the Hedges
Best Personal Finance Blog - PFBlog
Best Blog by a Small Business - The Tin Basher Blog
Best Blog About Small Business - eBizBlog
Best PR Blog - Media Guerilla
Best Tech Company Blog - Security Awareness
Best Media Blog - Fast Company Blog
Best Real Estate Blog - Tampa Bay’s Inside Real Estate Journal
Best Marketing Blog - JSLogan
Best SEO Blog - Blog Business World
Best Project Management Blog - AgileManagement
Best Leadership Blog - Leadership Now
The Picasso Award (Best Design) - Signal vs. Noise
The Peacock Award (Most Self-Important) - Inside Real Estate Journal
The Chris Pirillo Award (For Shameless Self Promotion) - Chris Pirillo
Written on February 23rd, 2005 at 11:02 pm by Darren Rowse
Interview with….Me - Part II
Susannah has posted the second part of the interview she did with me - this time she asks for my tips for new entrepreneurial bloggers of businesses looking at blogging and for my feelings on the future of blogging.
Written on February 23rd, 2005 at 10:02 am by Darren Rowse
Interview with…. Me
Having interviewed a Professional Blogger each week since relaunching this blog today I found out what it was like to be on the other side of the interview.
Susannah Gardner from Buzz Marketing with Blogs asked me about my mistakes and successes with blogging, about the tools that I use, about how I find readers and even asked me how much I earn (and I told her).
Of course wrote reams and reams of answers - so much so that she’s broken it into two posts. The first part of her interview is here and the second part will appear sometime tomorrow.
Written on February 23rd, 2005 at 03:02 am by Darren Rowse
Jason Kottke Turns Professional Blogger
Well known blogger Jason Kottke has bitten the bullet and has decided to go Prowith his blogging. He’s quit his web design job and has decided to go the route of trying to raise money for his blogging from donations from readership.
‘I’m asking the regular readers of kottke.org (that’s you!) to become micropatrons of kottke.org by contributing a moderate sum of money to help enable me to edit/write/design/code the site for one year on a full-time basis. If you find kottke.org valuable in any way, please consider giving whatever you feel is appropriate.’
Jason is resisting the advertising route but is offering those who become micropatrons of Kottke the chance of winning gifts to the value of $4800 (I guess that is a form of indirect advertising - he does link to those who have given the gifts).
The donation method of funding a blog is not an easy road to go down - but with traffic like he gets he might just pull it off.
Written on February 23rd, 2005 at 12:02 am by Darren Rowse
PodCasting
Do you listen to PodCasts? If so how many per week?
This is the question I’m asking in my inaugural ‘Poll of the Week‘ question - see side bar to vote.
You see I’m fascinated by new media like PodCasting and Vlogging - however I have a few reservations about them also which lead me to wonder how many people actually listen to them.
I regularly listen to a handful of podcasts and have done so now for a few months - but I’ve noticed a change in the past few weeks in my listening habits. I’m listening to less of them and am gravitating to the shorter ones. The main reason is that I just don’t have time to dedicate to some of the longer ones that are out there any more.
My suspicion is that most web users are like me and are lazy and don’t put much time or more importantly effort into their surfing habits. We scan websites and flick from site to site spending just a few moments in each place and only really stopping to read or interact with a site if it is super high quality, has real novelty value or if it meets a real or urgent need.
Podcasting on the other hand takes time and a little energy to get into. I’m not saying there is no value in it (I really enjoy those that I listen to) - just that I’m not sure the average web user will find it as accessible as blogging. I mean in the time that it takes me to listen to an hour long podcast I can surf 20 or 30 blogs. Sure I can do both at once, but the fact is that I rarely do.
I think it will take a significant shift of mindset for PodCasting to go mainstream where as blogging is more suited and familiar to the average web user and therefore has bigger potential reach. I believe this mainly because in most aspects blogs are not much different to an average website. Quite often people surf blogs without actually realizing that they do. Time and time people ask me what a blog is only to find that they already regularly surf them. PodCasting on the other hand is a little different.
I’m trying not to put a dampener on the PodCasting thing here - I’ll say again I enjoy them - but I wonder how far they go. Lets hope my suspicions are wrong.
Interested in your opinion in comments.
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