Earned USD$200 for Selling Ad Space

Managed to earn USD$200 today when an existing client decided to renew the ads on my blogs that were due for expiry.  While it was a drop from the last year's USD$250, it is still significant enough to make me happy to know that it is actually possible to monetize my blogs when I am using a completely free blogging tool and domain.

Have also been wondering whether I should start to put more focus on selling ad space which I have not been bothered to at all in the past.

If interested to put ads on my site, please contact me at sgfinancialfreedom@gmail.com
Pagerank 1-3 sites available with little outbound links.  Price and package is negotiable.

Earned Almost USD1000 from Blogging

I have earned almost 1000USD from blogging thus far. It has been a 2-3 year journey and I must say a love-hate affair with blogging. I don't have much free time so blogging is actually an on and off thing for me. Do I write well? Maybe...

The truth about blogging

There are days when I run dry. And then there are days I have like a thousand articles I would like to write about.

To me, blogging is just a fun way to express my thoughts (or sometimes even rant at life itself).

But the truth about blogging is that it is fun for me. And that is the most important aspect. If I were doing it for the money, it is seriously not worth my time as I could easily earn much more money by investing my time and energies on other things that will pay me a better per hour rate compared to blogging.

What Do I Do with My Earnings?

There was once I gave away $50 to my readers by just holding a silly contest to see who post the 50th comment on a certain post. Most times, I just bank in the money. I don't really buy anything special. It is not a lot of money in the first place.

The Future of Blogging

Will Google go bankrupt? Will blogging still be around 50 years from now? Will blogger still be operating then? Will all my efforts go down the drain? What differentiates me from other bloggers? How do I reach out to China since blogger is blocked by their censorship board? What about India? How do I reach out to a global audience?

These are the questions that fill my head.

Our world is shrinking, but our blogs shouldn't be.

6th Cheque from Google Adsense

I got my 6th cheque from Google's Adsense program. Slightly over $100USD

Some days, it just seems that I am going nowhere in life. And these cheques will then pop up in my mail box to my surprise. Then suddenly I realise that I have a virtual "life" online where I shed my office clothes and turn into a serial blogger/writer/journalist (except without the high pay and expertise)

It almost feels like this office parkour clip. Watch it for a good laugh

USD250 from Online Ads

I managed to sell some ad space at two of my sites for a whopping total of $250 per year. This is my first sales ever of online ad space. I did not find the advertiser but rather the advertiser found me.

After some haggling over the price ( I asked for $240 for the first site. This was bargained down to $150. I offered the 2nd site at $150 and this was bargained down to $100) So that is how the $250 sum came about.

The ad space was just a small one as it was mainly a text ad of less than 20 words.

Perhaps this is a start to me diversifying away from Adsense.

As a tip to bloggers out there, make sure you have a price list ready just in case advertisers start knocking on your door and you have no idea what is the "correct" price to ask for.

Adsense Earnings Stagnates

My adsense earnings have been stagnating for the longest time. For the past half a year or so, there has neither been a decrease or increase in my earnings.

Interestingly, some sites which I have not bothered updating are actually the ones that are giving me the regular stream of income. While others which I have been updating frequently are not as "productive". Perhaps the strategy I am using is wrong.

There is one particular site that I own which apparently gets the same number of visitors for the past 3 months even though I have not updated it at all!

After all, I have heard people talk about being passionate in what you do. And I guess that motivated me to throw away all the keyword research and SEO that I have been doing in the past. All the keyword research and SEO that I did in the past are probably what got me to where I am today.

I think I need to work smarter to make my adsense earnings go up.

Another $29 till next adsense payout

At 15 Mar 10, I am at $71 in terms of adsense earnings.

That means that I need another $29 for my 4th adsense payout in 2 years. In the past, making $29 in one or two months would seem like an impossibilty. Today, this has become the norm for my adsense earnings.

In fact, I hope to hit the $29 shortfall by middle of next month. That is roughly $1 per day in terms of adsense earnings and is easily achievable even if I do not update my blogs.

My various blogs draw a high number of viewers each day and somehow, the quantity of postings also keep viewers coming back for more. So even if I do not update the blogs, readers have something to read from the archives that they might not have read before. So each new posting I have is like adding on to my previous work. My blog keeps growing and the adsense earnings also keep rising.

I can only rub my hands in glee as I wait patiently for my fourth Google Adsense Paycheck.

Ad Revenue Low?

I have heard people complain that their ad revenue from Adsense is very low.

I am not too sure what that means but I guess they feel that they are not being compensated fairly for the amount of time and effort that they put in for their sites.

If that is the case, you probably need to read one of my postings about HOW MUCH IS A BLOG POST WORTH.

HOW MUCH AD REVENUE DO YOU DESERVE?

Ad revenue from online advertisers depends on a variety of factors. Different publishers pay differently for the clicks on the ads. The keywords on your site will also play a part in determining the kind of ads that show up on your site.

If anything is a guide, head to Spyfu and see how much ad revenue you could get based on a single click. From there, you will be able to find out why your ad revenue is so low. It could be simply because that your keywords are not targeted at those high paying ads.

WHICH ADS WOULD GIVE HIGH AD REVENUE?

The answer is quite simple actually. Think of the companies that sell products that deal with lots of money and who are most probably willing to spend lots of money on advertisements just to get a single customer. You will not be expecting Coca-cola to be paying lots of money for online pay per click ads.

I would like to give a rough suggestion on various high paying ads:
1. Mortgage loans
2. Insurance
3. Lawyers
4. Property

All the above mentioned deal with large amounts of money and will most probably be willing to pay good money for quality leads. So if your site's niche is in these areas, you can expect to earn a good amount of money.

SUGGESTIONS TO IMPROVE AD REVENUE

Instead of relying on adsense or other PPC advertisers, you might want to source for your own advertisers. In this way, you gain better control over both the content of the advertisements as well as the money that you can earn.

The most obvious way to improve ad revenue would be to drive targeted traffic that would be interested in the ads at your site.