Written on 3/30/2005 at 8:23 am by

Exponential Blogging – Part II

Filed Under: General

EarningsWhy is Blogging naturally suited to Exponential growth of earnings using the adsense program?

In my previous post I shared some of my story as a blogger who has seen exponential growth in my Adsense earnings over the past 18 months of blogging (the blue graph to the left is an illustration of my Adsense earnings). Whilst at times there are some disruptions to this growth (usually external ones) I believe that the types of blogs that I run should naturally experience this type of increase in earnings for some of the following reasons (which are both byproducts of committed regular blogging but which can also be worked on to maximise growth).

Increased Readership

TrafficThe main reason my earnings have increased since starting to blog with Adsense is simply that the readership of my blogs has grown. In fact if you compare the earnings graph above with the traffic graph (right) you’ll see the direct correlation. Increase the traffic to your blogs you increase the amount of impressions of ads served which (all other things being equal) will increase your earnings.
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Written on 3/30/2005 at 5:26 am by

9rules Network Invites You to Join Them

Filed Under: Pro Blogging News

Paul over at Work Boxers is inviting bloggers to Join the 9rules Network. He goes into details of what is involved in his post but all in all it looks a pretty good deal in comparison to some of the other blog networks that i’ve seen out there – might be a good way to get your fledgeling blog exposed to a few more readers – if you’re willing to share a little of your earnings with the 9 Rules Network team.

Written on 3/30/2005 at 4:26 am by

Are full-feeds killing comments?

Filed Under: RSS

Tris writes a good post that wonders if publishing full post feeds in RSS might be responsible for killing comments on posts as a result of less people actually surfing into actual blogs. Interesting theory – pop over and tell Tris what you think of his theory.

Written on 3/29/2005 at 11:52 am by

Making Your Adsense Earnings Grow – Exponential Blogging

Filed Under: Adsense

EarningsI’ve had a number of emails from readers in the last few days who are disillusioned with their earnings with Adsense. I can perhaps take some of the blame for their mood having posted my reality check post last week and by publishing the poll that we have running that highlights that the majority of bloggers using Adsense are only making a dollar (or three) per day.

So I thought I’d offer some words of encouragement to combat the gloom that is going around at present.

I can relate to the depression about lack of results from Adsense – my early days on the system were similarly gloomy to say the least. Growth in daily earnings from month to month was pretty insignificant. I remember looking at my Adsense statistics numerous times over the first 6 months and wondering if it was worth all the hard work for the few dollars that came in each day.

You’ll notice the graph above (click to enlarge) which graphs my earnings from Adsense (without actual figures included) since October 2003. Notice the first few months earnings – hardly a discernible rise and something that got me down a little and led me to consider stopping my use of Adsense.

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Written on 3/29/2005 at 11:27 am by

Google Withholding Taxes from AdSense Checks

Filed Under: Adsense

Reports are surfacing that in the latest payment period of Adsense that Google are withholding tax from US publishers.

Read about it at Google Withholding Taxes from AdSense Checks and Webmaster World – Tax Withholding

Update: JenSense has more information on this as well as information on a new look for Adsense checks this month.

Written on 3/29/2005 at 11:25 am by

Webinars as Blog Income Streams

Filed Under: Pro Blogging News

Jennifer Rice from Brand Mantra is exploring a new (for her) way of adding an income stream to her blog – by running ‘Webinars‘ on topics that she specializes in. She reveals her hopes for this new direction:

‘My master plan is to serve as a social-technology education platform for businesses. Included in social technologies are blogs, wikis, community forums, etc. I’ll be leading some of the seminars on big-picture issues, brand strategy implications, etc. and inviting specialists to co-host other sessions. At this point, future sessions will include Creating Community (co-hosted with Jake McKee, the Community Guy) and Business Blogging 101 (co-hosted with Jeremy Wright and Darren Barefoot from InsideBlogging).’

Jennifer is limiting seats in her webinars to between 15 and 30 and is charging between $150 to $300 per session which I think it pretty reasonable for someone of her caliber. I guess time will tell whether others think its a reasonable amount and if people are willing to pay for such a service – but I suspect its a model of adding an income stream to blogs that we’ll see more and more of in coming months.

I’ll be watching on with interest as to how it goes for Jennifer as I see some real possibilities with the model.

Read more at What’s Your Brand Mantra?: Brand Humanity Webinar Series

Written on 3/29/2005 at 11:00 am by

Google SEO Tips

Filed Under: Search Engine Optimization

If you want to spend some time this week optimizing your blog for Google then you might want to check out some of these articles on SEO for Google that came up in my RSS feeds this morning. They are good solid tips for people wanting to learn some SEO basics:

- Google Optimization Secrets From The Trenches
- How to get top placement on Google
- How Image Links Can Help Build a Better User and Search Experience

Written on 3/29/2005 at 10:29 am by

Design a Blogging HQ

Filed Under: Pro Blogging News

We’ll be moving into our new house (the one that blogging built) in about a month and I’m starting to think about my new Blog HQ. The new house has a nice room that we’ll be setting aside as my office but I’m dreaming of all the goodies I could stuff it with to make my blogging easier (and a bit more fun). So – its time for a reader question:

What would you put in your Dream Blogging HQ?

What would your set up look like? What computer system would you have? What other things are ‘must haves’ and essential tools in your HQ? How would you furnish it? What gadgets and toys would you include? Feel free to get as creative and crazy as you’d like.

Written on 3/29/2005 at 9:22 am by

New Entrepreneurial Blogs

Filed Under: Case Studies

In-Flight-BlogTwo regular stops on my RSS morning rounds have gone live with new Entrepreneurial blogs in the past 24 hours or so. Both are examples of Niche Blogging and are worth taking a look at to see what you can learn about the art of blogging for dollars.

Firstly is legendary Will Pate who has gone live with his new In Flight Blog – a blog that finds anything and everything in the news about Air Travel. It is the third blog is the GoodBasic Network that also includes the Game Blog (a blog about video gaming) and the Host Blog (a blog about Web Hosting). So far Adsense seems to be the main income stream on the new Air Travel blog from Will which is a good move as there are plenty of well paying ads on that topic (so I’ve heard) but down the track the blog will be perfect for travel affiliate programs which I’ve heard are also quite valuable.

Vancouver-Coffee

Arieanna from Blogaholics has launched a blog I’d use every day if I was living in her city – its Vancouver Coffee - a blog with reviews of cafes, coffee news and all other related Vancouver coffee news. Its a pretty tight niche topic – a small pond that Arieanna is obviously hoping to become a big fish in. Again its an Adsense blog – but they’re also using their Amazon affiliate program to monetize what they’re doing. Arieanna and her fiancee could well be the most hyperactive and wired bloggers in the world if they keep up their high rate of reviews of cafes!