I have come across a few company websites with external advertising. It really depends on whether or not you want the additional revenue. Web viewers are accustomed to advertising, and I see it like this: If they’re on your website, they’re interested in you; So there is not much harm in serving ads for other companies on there.

We are wrestling with these issues, too, as we consider selling advertising space in our Writing Tips for a Year service. We send writing tips by e-mail to subscribers every day for a year, and we are thinking about ad placement at the end of the tips. The points you raise are the very ones we’re considering.

You could use Paypal. Depending on the industry your advertiser is in, you will either have collected everything up front (food, entertainment), or send an invoice. Using a paper invoice, I feel anyway, is your best bet. Why?

1) You can keep track of it through the postal service.
2) You can send it certified return receipt if you must to confirm your client received it.
3) When it comes time for both you and your advertiser to file for taxes, the paper document helps to keep track.

Remember that a surprising amount of businesses are not too wired up, and they may be wary of doing financial exchanges via Paypal or other related providers.

Any information on whether blogs for companies accept external advertising?

I have a website that showcases a local area (The Tri Cities of Tennessee/Virginia).

I’m just about to start my campaign for local advertisers, but the site would also lend itself for advertisers such as Charter Communications, Dish Network, At&T and some other large companies,

Trying to find out where to contact those large companies to submit my site for review to advertise on.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Sean B. Halliday
http://www.thetricitiesbest.com
sean@thetricitiesbest.com

hope it helps!

Ying Hang,
InternetMarketeen.com

You can even get an account with Commission Junction where tons of companies will automatically approve display ads on your site and you receive a share of the sale when someone is referred through your site. I would recommend this route if you don’t have a 30K uniques a month.

Once a blog hits 30k a month, I can only imagine that the advertisers would be quite keen to get in touch.

Until that figure is reached, we, the little people shall continue in our quest to try to earn more than $1/day from blogging from our 100 or so visitors per day.

Laksh
http://tinyurl.com/5n9eby

Hopefully, with enough traffic, I can muster the courage to make a sales pitch.

This number is meant to serve as a benchmark, well documented in the media and found within my experience.

It’s a goal to strive for, but it should not act as a deterrent; It takes a very long time to hit that kind of traffic, and hard work to keep your numbers from dipping. Quite honestly, most of us will never reach that number.

Thankfully, if you have a great product or blog, you can look for advertising right out of the gate; And yes, I think you can monetize when you start if you have a good infrastructure in place.

Advertising fortune favors the prepared and the aggressive. If you wait too long, another blog or product WILL show up in your niche that may do what you do better.

@Rob: “How do you collect the advertising fees, percentage cash up front with monthly/quarterly invoice?”

A one page document is all you need. Make sure everything is in writing and do not rely on email because it does not hold up in court. Always collect your money up front, particularly if you are selling ads to those in the entertainment business or food service business. Fortunes change quickly in those fields, and a client may be broke sooner than you know it.

The one page document can clearly detail (and must) how and when future payments should be arranged. This is something you should negotiate with your customer about to meet both your needs. A standard agreement does not work.

How to reach 30k?

1. Don’t assume anything. I have been quoted on MSNBC.com, you would think that translates to traffic, but it doesn’t.

2. I write for popular websites, such as Stepcase Lifehack, you would think this translates to traffic, but it doesn’t.

3. I network and exchange links compulsively to other websites and items in my category. Think it helps? Nope.

4. Digg? Fark? College Humor? Done it all, multiple times. Temporary traffic boost? Yes, but it all goes away fast.

So: How do you do it?

I’m not an expert. I’d first tell you to listen to Darren, as he’s living proof that you can blog and make money. I don’t trust many experts online, and I don’t even know Darren personally, but I trust him and you should to.

The second thing I’d tell you?

Think about the guy doing shift work at the mill. Is he visiting your website? How about the overworked school teacher? The assistant to the Vice President at your job?

Average people. Good people. The people that don’t read ReadWriteWeb or listen to Buzz Out Loud. Think about ways to get the average person with limited time and limited resources come to your website and keep them there. How? Everyone is different, I recommend the kitchen sink approach. Find what doesn’t work quickly so you can focus on what works the best.

Does this work? I’ll prove it:

Snakes On The Plane was marketed with millions almost exclusively online before it’s release. It bombed because the studio thought marketing on the web was the way to go.

Twilight received little marketing, but built a cult following with young teenage girls, who (arguably) don’t do much online besides play on Facebook and text each other.

Another example: Ron Paul. Huge on the Internet, right? But the average person had no idea who he was beyond fleeting moments at one or two presidential debates.

Remember this: Most people don’t digg. They barely Facebook. They work, they go to school, they come home to their family. Those are the people you need to reach to succeed with traffic.

I do know the readers that are coming to my site are staying longer and taking action. I have small handful of advertisers I like to show them what they get is a key target they want to talk with.

Be open an honest with your advertisers don’t be greedy, I also like to be mindful in selecting advertisers to fit the messages on the site. Try to create partnerships with your advertisers educate them to what works and what doesn’t. Some times its more than slapping a banner up, you need to make it work for everyone.

I can recommend the google ad manager as great tool for managing your advertisers, so simple a 3 year old could drive it!

DR – This is a great list will definitely be bookmaking for reference.

James of littlenomads.com

Bruce