Blog Monetization: Worry About Content First
If you want to make money from your blog, make sure there’s some “there” there first.
That was the advice of Jeremy Schoemaker, CEO of Shoe Money Media Group, during a session on blog monetization at DMA08 earlier this week.
Marketers first need to generate a wealth of quality content and a steady stream of visitors before thinking about making money off the operation, said Schoemaker, who operates the ShoeMoney.com blog.
“Watch your stats. They’ll tell you what works for you,” he said.
Google AdSense is a great place to start when looking to generate blog revenue. The good thing is that they take only a small percentage in exchange for finding relevant advertisers . The downside, he said is that bloggers don’t have much editorial control over whose advertisements appear on the site.
“And, keep in mind that to make money from Google AdSense, people have to leave your site,” he added.
Schoemaker said 95% of ShoeMoney’s revenue comes from direct ad sales, with the remainder coming in from affiliates.
In 2007—the first year advertising was placed on the site—Shoe Money took in about $108,000. This year, the first with the help of sales reps, it projects $450,000. Schoemaker has hopes of $750,000 in 2009.
He concluded by reminding the audience not to forget the obvious. If you want to make money off your site, have a media kit and make it easy for potential advertisers to contact you. And, as all direct marketers know, keep your goals in mind and test, test, test.
