Blog Tipz

During slow-downs, it can be particularly frustrating when no new advertisers seek an advertising space on your blog. It can be even more of a let down when all other earnings drop, such as those through per-click or per-impression networks (AdSense, for example). During the lifespan of your blog, think about it as though you won’t be able to re-live each day – you want to be able to maximize the time spent trying to optimize your blog, rather than waste that time focusing on activities that might not be as beneficial in the long-run.

Therefore, a tip that many suggest you looking at is to seek out advertisers yourself. There are thousands of sites out there that advertisers and media companies do not see, but fill their specifications and have an ideal target audience, especially advertisers that aren’t making bulk purchases, but selecting space on a smaller scale and selection of blogs. By directly marketing your blog to these site and media owners.

Here’s the best approach:

• Be respectful when you contact your potential advertisers. You want to be as professional as possible – you are essentially marketing your blog to them, while trying to get them to purchase advertising space.
• Give them the details (more than what is available on your advertising page) and be sure that they know the focus of your blog. There is nothing worse than going through the work of working out an advertising deal and having to think twice about it after you realize you didn’t target the right advertiser(s).
• Don’t be disappointed if not all advertisers will respond or accept the advertising rates you send them. Naturally, only a very select few people will respond, if it is within their budgets and your site appeals to their potential customers/readers.
• Give the advertisers a chance to respond – do not send an email every day. Don’t force these people to respond quickly; they may need time to think over the purchase and whether it is good for their bottom line.
• Be selective. Not only will it take more time to send out more invitations, but success rate might go down if you target smaller blogs versus larger blogs. The simple fact of the matter is that these smaller blogs don’t have the budget or capital behind them to grow through non-natural methods (search engine traffic is typically “free”).

Where to Find Advertisers

The best place, by far, is by seeking out other bloggers who are in your niche and advertising on the same sites that your blog is in. For example, with this blog, if your main focus is on a particular subject, you’ll want to stick with that area when looking for advertisers. It is obvious, but other bloggers, no matter how small or large, may be already looking at your blog as a potential advertising venture, but need a last bit of confirmation or confidence level before they throw in some funding to grow their own blog and advertise on your site.

This method can also be tied into the process of creating a Contact page – if you don’t have one, other people won’t be able to contact you about advertising on your site or for subscriber/statistics (figures) requests. People will be looking first for your Contact page, then for an Advertise page to begin advertising on your blog.

• Other Blogs - As previously mentioned, the best place to start seeking out advertisers is through other blogs. Sometimes, if you appear desperate enough, they will advertise on your blog even if the trade-off isn’t that great and they lose money. However, in most cases, they will look for blogs with more traffic than they have to see at least some return on their advertising investments.
• Forums - Forums can be a great place to request advertisers. You have to do it in a way that makes others find your “ad” as unique, not blending in with the others that have been posted. Become active and respected at the forum, and you’ll be able to target select groups of people even more effectively.
• Advertising Marketplaces - Similar to the forum idea, there have been a few popular ad marketplaces that have launched within the past several years, which make it easier to connect your blog with new advertisers, who may not have otherwise seen your blog. Again, when advertisers look through these sites, they will often target the top ten to twenty blogs that have the highest readership and daily visitors versus those that have a cheaper price and lower subscriber/traffic level.
• Companies Advertising on Other Blogs - If a company or other blog is advertising on another site, it is more likely that they will be looking for additional sites to advertise on. Although this may not be true in all cases, it works if you pursue this method correctly.

Why Direct Advertising is the Preferred Method

Unlike the average form of advertising placed on your site/blog (typically contextual ads), direct advertising leaves you with more options and potentially more income.

Let’s say you have an average number of daily visitors (ex. 500 per day). When you reach this level, you can easily receive a few advertisers, who will likely be paying more than you would receive with (even) hundreds or thousands of clicks through other programs. It is more of a quality than quantity issue when you look at advertising from this sense.

The key is that you must first appeal to your reader, then by seeking them out, you will be able to offer a service for them (new readers/customers), and then you will be able to accomplish a win-win situation should everything work out.