When will you monetize your Blog?

The seventh part of 11 things to consider before you start blogging I shall be discussing when you should start to monetize a blog and what choices you have surrounding the monetization of a blog. We shall answer several questions including whether you should monetize a blog from birth or wait until you have reached a certain level of traffic as well as what choices you have for monetizing a blog and if they differ through each market.

There is a slight difference with this chapter though as it is going to be split up in to two articles the first being When you will monetize your blog and the second being How you will monetize your blog. The reason for this is because I felt the article would be too long if I wrote them both together. The second part of the article will be published tomorrow.

Lets start of with talking about when you should monetize a blog.

Monetizing a Blog

A choice you definitely need to make before you create your blog is whether your going to add adverts and other forms of monetization to your blog from the first day your blog is created or if you will wait until your blog has reached a certain threshold in traffic before any monetization methods go in to practice.

There are benefits of both choices however you need to be careful that if you do decide to wait til a certain threshold has been met that your readers will not be put of by the suprising introduction of adverts on your blog. Also keep in mind if you do decide to add adverts to your Blog after a certain threshold has been met that you still need to consider where you will be adding these adverts when your blog is being designed or when you are picking a theme. I touched upon this subject in the fourth chapter of this series have you picked the right website design.

So lets break this down in to two sections.

Choosing to use monetization methods from the Blogs birth

If you decide to add adverts and other forms of monetization from day 1 of your Blogs life then you need to ensure that you have thought about how your going to monetize your blog properly and carefully. By not taking your time to research the ways in which you can monetize your blog, where you will add the adverts and how many ways you will monetize your blog you will run a big risk of the monetization having a detrimental effect on your blogs future growth.

There are a couple of questions you need to answer in order to get the biggest benefits from monetizing your blog from day 1, firstly.

How many ways are you going to monetize your blog?

There are several ways you can monetize a blog and I like to break them down in to primary and secondary, starting with primary. Primary monetization is defined as a way in which you will profit from the customer/readers first action. So for example if a reader clicks on a Google Adsense advert you are paid automatically for the click which goes straight in to your Google Adsense account, this is the same with any advertising program. However there is another form of monetization which I class as primary yet it doesn’t stick to the “Profit from first action” rule. This is affiliate marketing where by you will add a link to a product or service and when the customer clicks on this affiliate link and purchases either of these you are paid a commission. The commission is generally anywhere between 30%-75% and its paid in to your affiliate account.

Secondary monetization is defined as a way in which you may profit but it would be a longer route to making money for example an opt in list or newsletter on your blog. Take my opt in list for example if your interested in the free SEO eBooks you are now given the option to subscribe to my newsletter list in order to receive the free eBooks. If I wanted to I could then promote a certain product through this opt in list and profit from people in the opt in list purchasing the product or service, this would be one example of secondary monetization methods.

You need to choose which you are going to use, one or the other or a mixture of both. I would advise you to use a mixture of both and definitely recommend setting up some sort of opt in list from day 1.

Where are you going to monetize your blog?

The second choice you need to make is where you will monetize your blog. I hope that you have been reading my series and have been able to make a smart choice when it came to choosing your blog’s design and considering the advertising space in the blog design. If thats the case then you should already know where your going to monetize your blog. If not then you need to figure out if your chosen design is suitable for your blog and the monetization methods you wish to use. If not then perhaps its time to take a step back and reconsider. Remember to add adverts before the fold! The fold is the part of your blog that is not visible when a reader first enters your blog, it makes sense to add your most targeted adverts above the fold so that they are visible.

These are two of the main questions you need to ask yourself when first monetizing your blog. Whether you are monetizing a blog from the first day it is created or waiting until a certain threshold is reached it is important to ask yourself these questions.

Instead of adding another section titled something like “Monetizing your blog when a threshold is completed” I am going to list the advantages of monetizing a blog from day 1 and after a certain time period.

Advantages of monetizing a blog from day 1

• Readers get used to the monetization methods from the first day they enter a blog.
• Gives you more time to experiment with different types of monetization to see which methods work best.
• Allows you to start earning money from the first day your blog is created.
• Makes the blog look complete and leaves no empty spaces.

These are just a few of the advantages that spring to my mind when I consider monetizing a blog from the first day its created. However there are disadvantages as well the main one being that readers may be scared away by the adverts because they feel you are only trying to make money from them. If this is the case then you should consider getting rid of some adverts on your blog and perhaps going for a more relaxed way of advertising products or services where readers may not feel as scared.

Advantages of monetizing a blog after a threshold has been reached

• The money you earn should be higher than it would of been when you first created the site.
• Readers feel more comfortable (at first) without the adverts.
• Your blog may grow more during the early stages due to no adverts.

Overall I think it is best to add monetizing methods from day 1 of your blogs creation. Thats because if your planning on monetizing your blog at some point then letting your readers get used to it from day 1 would be better than having them get used to it at a later date when they are already used to having no adverts. However it all depends on your own choices and the blog your creating, if you do decide to wait to monetize your blog make sure you don’t over do it as this could have large negative effects on your current readers and community.

When did you monetize your blog? Did you monetize your blog from day 1 or did you wait til you reached a certain traffic level or goal?

Enjoyed this, why not download the 11 part series as an E Book at 73 pages long I am sure you will find it helpful. Subscribe and download right here.

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