I Need Your Help And Advice

Posted by Hyder on December 6th, 2007

One of the main benefits of having a community that regularly reads and respects you is that you can get as personal with them as you please. I’m going to do just that and seek my communities help and advice. It’s basically your blog, without you it would not be what it is. So I would appreciate your responses.

Monetization - I would appreciate any ideas of monetization that you can give me. So far I use Google Adsense and some affiliate links with mixed success. I’ve tested extensively but I’m sorta getting tired of doing so. Can someone advise me what you think is the best method of monetizing this blog?

Content - My categories reflect exactly what I’m interested in, but I want to know if it is what you are interested in. After all there are only so many tips one can write about optimizing this and that. So what else would you like to read from my perspective?

Features - I’ve thought about adding a forum to the blog, but always act against it. Do you think a forum on this blog is something you would want to join? Also, I know I want to add a shopping specific sub domain, so let me know if that is something you would look at the first day and forget the next?

Contests - I love having contests! What kind of contest would get you excited. Do you value exposure more or prizes?

Poll - How many times a day do you access my feed?

Direct link to poll for RSS readers.

Thanks to all of you that take the time to answer these questions. I appreciate it!

Category: General

~ 6 Comments so far...have your say ~

Zach

December 6th, 2007 at 8:01 pm

Can’t really help you with the monetization stuff. For every blog it’s different. If you don’t value your page rank try widget bucks coming into the Holiday season.

For content you might want to try Skribtit. It’s a widget that goes in your sidebar and allows readers to vote on post ideas.

A forum would be great. I’d be very active in it.

As for contests, I’d value exposure, but thats just me.
Ellie

December 6th, 2007 at 9:16 pm

To answer your questions:

Monetization is different for every blog. I am exploring some options, but nothing is really looking great, unless you have high traffic and people who will click on ads and stuff.

As far as content, try having post roundups that talk about what other bloggers are talking about that you find interesting; or rewrite some of your old posts to be relevant today!

A forum will be cool and with the changes I’m making come January, I should be able to participate on a regular basis.

I like exposure better than prizes. I think I write great content, and I’d love to have more people see it!
thewild1

December 6th, 2007 at 9:30 pm

I check my RSS reader multiple times a day.. so whenever you post something I read it.

Unless every post is flooded with comments, I wouldn’t recommend a forum.
James Wilcox

December 7th, 2007 at 4:58 am

As far as monetization goes, you can look at what John Chow does which is basically selling his own advertisements and writing reviews of sites for cash. If you have the traffic that can certainly be a money maker.

For affiliate sales, I would recommend doing some active affiliate marketing like using Adwords to generate sales. Passive affiliate traffic isn’t as effective nor does it produce the same amount of income.

I blogged about this idea a few days ago.
Teejay

December 7th, 2007 at 11:51 am

I haven’t subscribed to your feed although I plan to.

Adsense earnings has dropped for me for the couple of days. I don’t know the reason why but I think it’s because of the altered clickable areas.

I would really vote against a forum. Building a community forum is such a big task. It means a LOT of hard work. If you are serious about it and trust your community here to be active, then go.

About contests, everyone loves exposure and prizes. I’d get the exposure if I was to choose.

PS. I am talking through experience and I may have a different experience from your other readers.
robojiannis

December 11th, 2007 at 8:12 pm

Contests is a sure thing i believe. Challenges the readers and draws the attention of even more.
Forum might not be a great idea. blogging alone is a way for people to communicate and exchange opinions. And I agree with Teejay it can become a big task. If it grows big, you might even need a community manager - or anyway someone to indirectly control the community.