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Monetize my blog

by Santr123
19 replies
Hi warriors,
I have a fat loss blog.

I am trying to collect emails by giving my free ebook. Getting few opt-ins but not phenomenal. My list is SMALL. I try to send them updates of my latest blog posts just to build relationship..

I am getting 300 visitors per day.

With this kind of traffic, Do you suggest any monetization strategy other than ADSENSE? I am currently using adsense and making like couple of dollars per day.

What else can I do to monetize my blog with this traffic..

I still am not sure if I can convince ppl to sell stuff online. Please help me and give some ideas.
#blog #monetize
  • Profile picture of the author Alexchan338
    300/day is 9000 a month, thats pretty decent to promote CB products. personally I would put banners of fat loss products instead of adsense, just because a click for a fat loss product would bring me more potential income than adsense, however that being said, its up to you to decide which business model to use. You could also utilize your free ebook recommending or in some form add a link of some product (along with some pictures of the product) to increase your chances of getting sales. just my 2cent though
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    • Profile picture of the author Santr123
      Originally Posted by Alexchan338 View Post

      300/day is 9000 a month, thats pretty decent to promote CB products. personally I would put banners of fat loss products instead of adsense, just because a click for a fat loss product would bring me more potential income than adsense, however that being said, its up to you to decide which business model to use. You could also utilize your free ebook recommending or in some form add a link of some product (along with some pictures of the product) to increase your chances of getting sales. just my 2cent though
      I could try CB banners and see if it converts. and compare what is more beneficial
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

        I could try CB banners and see if it converts
        It doesn't, Sandi - not without relationships, trust and respect, and especially not in this niche. The spirit of testing and comparing is an admirable one, which will stand you in great stead for the future, but I suggest that on this occasion, that particular example may be a far from ideal or appropriate usage of energy/effort (when there are other, much more important and potentially profitable things you can test!) - and there are reasons: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7110523
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        • Profile picture of the author Santr123
          Thats too bad. Because building a list and sending sales pitches to my subscribers is last thing I want to do. I guess I will have to stick with adsense for now...
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          www.fat2fitsteps.com
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          • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
            Banned
            Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

            building a list and sending sales pitches to my subscribers is last thing I want to do.
            I hear you.

            I've been doing this for a living for many years, and don't think of what I send my subscribers as "sales pitches" at all (because I'm an affiliate - I just establish trust and respect and make recommendations, and let the vendors do all the selling, choosing them according to their abilities to do so for my traffic demographics). But undeniably, if list-building isn't for you at the moment, then ClickBank-type informational products certainly aren't, either!

            (The last person here with whom I had a serious conversation about selling ClickBank products "off the page", i.e. without list-building, had had four sales from 3,000 clicks on his hoplinks, and two of those were refunded).

            Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

            I guess I will have to stick with adsense for now...
            You're doing well with that, anyway: $60 per month from a little site like this is really good, for AdSense. Maybe "creating more AdSense sites" is an answer for you, then?
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          • Profile picture of the author Marc Rodill
            Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

            Thats too bad. Because building a list and sending sales pitches to my subscribers is last thing I want to do. I guess I will have to stick with adsense for now...
            Unfortunately, if you intend to make a career out of information marketing in this niche, then this line of thinking will be prove to be one of your biggest regrets years from now. But a lot of people do make good money with CPA offers and such. It just depends on your goals.

            As far as information marketing is concerned...

            If you're going to sell Clickbank-type products, there's nothing more stable for your income than having your own list. Ask any established marketer what they would have done differently when they were first starting out, and they will all tell you:

            "I would have built my list!"

            For example, let's say you're able to monetize your site effectively with banner ads or adsense or whatever. And you're making pretty good money every day.

            Well what happens if your traffic dies off? Now you've got no income.

            But if you were building a list, not only will you keep making sales from your auto responder series, but you'll have traffic on tap. In other words, a targeted group of people you can direct to any website you want, whenever you want.

            Writing emails isn't really about writing sales pitches. It's about delivering useful content and relating with people, and then pointing them in the right direction to get more.

            Think about it!

            Marc

            PS. Alexa is right. If you remove the ads, you'll get a higher opt-in rate usually. But if you really want to jack up the opt-in rate, you'll do what it takes to write really compelling, hard-hitting headlines.

            "Sign up for free updates" worked in the 90's. There's way too much to pay attention to now. You need something more attractive.

            PPS. Here's a timely example of what I'm talking about: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post8070721
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          • Profile picture of the author Stuart Walker
            Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

            Thats too bad. Because building a list and sending sales pitches to my subscribers is last thing I want to do. I guess I will have to stick with adsense for now...
            You're looking at it the wrong way.

            Don't think of it as trying to hard sell products to your subscribers that they don't need or want.

            See it as a way to solve their problems (help them lose fat) by recommending a product that works.

            If you want to learn how to sell without selling via email then this is a good article to start off with...

            How To Sell Without Selling | Copyblogger

            As others have said if you want to make this a long term project / business that generates income you absolutely, 100%, NEED to build a list.

            It's the foundations of any online website.

            You'll be hard pressed to find any serious online site or company without a customer list.
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  • Profile picture of the author enrikm
    You could sell fat loss related clilckbank products on your blog.

    Also since it's getting quite a number of visitors, you could probably sell some advertising space on your blog as well.
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    • Profile picture of the author Santr123
      Originally Posted by enrikm View Post

      You could sell fat loss related clilckbank products on your blog.

      Also since it's getting quite a number of visitors, you could probably sell some advertising space on your blog as well.
      advertising space like buy and sell ads? Do you have any suggestions?
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  • Profile picture of the author Greedy
    Give CPA a try.

    It could work great.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      I have two quick comments to offer after only a fairly quick look ...

      (i) I strongly suspect you might get more people opting in if you take some/most of the advertising off the landing-page (that would also enable you to move the opt-in higher);

      (ii) I like your "about me" page a lot more than your home page, and am wondering if you might come across with a lot more credibility and interest, if you had something very like what's there as the first "welcome" post on the home page.

      Just thinking aloud, really, but those would be the first two things I'd instinctively want to try, for what it's worth (if anything).

      Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

      What else can I do to monetize my blog with this traffic..
      Build a high-quality, responsive list (by nurturing them well, especially if they're decent-quality, well-targeted traffic to start with, and giving them valuable information and not just "notifications of updates" to the site), and sell a suitable ClickBank fat-loss product, mostly by email (don't expect to sell it "off the page"), to people who already trust and respect you and will buy it on the strength of your recommendation.

      The better quality/"potential responsiveness" the people who opt in are, the better for you (the number's less important, overall).

      If that suggestion interests you, here are two posts which might help ...

      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7110523

      http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982

      Originally Posted by Santr123 View Post

      I still am not sure if I can convince ppl to sell stuff online.
      It's far easier when they're well-targeted, and they trust and respect you (without that, it's pretty difficult for anyone!).

      In this context, "relevance" applies to targeting, but the things that translate into income are all about quality and relevance.
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      • Profile picture of the author Santr123
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        I have two quick comments to offer after only a fairly quick look ...

        (i) I strongly suspect you might get more people opting in if you take some/most of the advertising off the landing-page (that would also enable you to move the opt-in higher);

        (ii) I like your "about me" page a lot more than your home page, and am wondering if you might come across with a lot more credibility and interest, if you had something very like what's there as the first "welcome" post on the home page.

        Just thinking aloud, really, but those would be the first two things I'd instinctively want to try, for what it's worth (if anything).



        Build a high-quality, responsive list (by nurturing them well, especially if they're decent-quality, well-targeted traffic to start with, and giving them valuable information and not just "notifications of updates" to the site), and sell a suitable ClickBank fat-loss product, mostly by email (don't expect to sell it "off the page"), to people who already trust and respect you and will buy it on the strength of your recommendation.

        The better quality/"potential responsiveness" the people who opt in are, the better for you (the number's less important, overall).

        If that suggestion interests you, here are two posts which might help ...

        http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post7110523

        http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post6123982



        It's far easier when they're well-targeted, and they trust and respect you (without that, it's pretty difficult for anyone!).

        In this context, "relevance" applies to targeting, but the things that translate into income are all about quality and relevance.
        HI Alexa,
        thanks for your valuable suggestions about my website. I will try to incorporate them. You see I am doing this all part time. I have come to know the drill of IM. Build a list. Send valuable updates and then sell to your subscribers... But I am just not there yet.

        Right now adsense shows I am making some bucks but I want to get a level higher. Want to find out what can be done with this kind of traffic
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    • Profile picture of the author Santr123
      Originally Posted by Greedy View Post

      Give CPA a try.

      It could work great.
      How does it work? Are you talking about Amazon? Sorry dont know much abt CPA
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  • Profile picture of the author Cobaki
    I agree with affiliate marketing. You are receiving good traffic already so you can take advantage of this by selling fat loss products.
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  • Profile picture of the author TravisO
    Hi, this is a common thing. If you are really an expert on blog making why not do an ebook to sell. Ebook has a considerable price and can be a great source of money. Maybe create an ebook for up to 80 pages.
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  • Profile picture of the author TegaD
    Hey Santr123,
    Is the blog just for a hobby or is it a business that you are working because if it is a business that you are working on a plan to rely on the income from it in the future then listbuilding is something that you should consider because that niche is very passionate, especially when their health is compromised.
    If you build a list and build a deep relationship with that list then they would practically be throwing money at you to help them solve their problem because they will have come to either know, like and trust you, and you can interact with the list with shouting buy my stuff buy my stuff focus on creating value for the readers of your blog and they will reward you for it.

    If it is a hobby then treat it as you would like. hope that helps
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  • Profile picture of the author roblawrence
    Have you considered creating a paid members area? Even if 10% of your visitors joined that would be a few hundred people at $10 to $30 bucks a month. Not too shabby!
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  • Profile picture of the author chandan_dutta
    You can easily promote any CB product. Select a good one and then write a review. Link back to that review post from all other posts.

    No worry about list building if you are not ready yet but it's recommended though. I was making around $100 per day from just one site without any list building. It was on relationship niche and I was just promoting products from CB. No double, if I had managed a good list I would have made more. But to maintain a responsive list, you have to feed them good content on a continuous basis and I was lazy that time. I was happy what it was making. Last year I sold that site for $26K. Please don't think I am showing off here. I am sharing my story just to encourage you. Without list also you can make a good money and don't worry if you are not good at it right now. Later, you can do it :-)

    With 300 visitors, you should be able to sale 1 guide at least. If you get $20 per sale, you would be making around $500 per month. (Deducted $100 considering there would be few refunds). So, around 10 times more than what you are doing now.

    But remember, converting CB product is not so simple. I mean, if you say simply - click here to buy this guide then this won't work at all. You need to tell them why they should buy it. I mean, explain the benefits they will get.

    One small advice - can you change your header? I mean, can you make it smaller than now? It's eating a lot of space currently. You can find someone who can creates attractive banner.
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  • Profile picture of the author CollegeCEO
    The copy on your site is pretty bad for one. Also, the layout looks really spammy. I would suggest putting more effort into the actual layout/look of your page. Maybe give the home page a real landing page rather than a two column WordPress page. Make that page be all about getting subscribers. You can place a link to the actual blog at the bottom of your landing page. But yea, the first thing I would do is work on your copy and design.
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