When I switched over to WordPress from Blogger I wanted to explore the option of private advertising. I have explored, and continue to do so, other means of advertising on my blog, but have never really tried private advertising.
To start this venture I needed a template that could support advertising, and a means of managing the ads. Luckily I found both. In this post I’ll explain the different advertising methods I have used and how private advertising is different.
My Current Advertising Methods
I have ventured into different aspects of making some money on my blog for some time. I currently use Google Adsense and affiliates to make some money from my blog, and have briefly ventured into private advertising. Google Adsense is by far my largest money maker, although nothing to brag about, and I have just started to have success with affiliates.
For those who are new to making money, Google Adsense is probably the most popular method of making money. You simply sign up with Adsense, add the code to your site, or blog, and ads are displayed on your site. You get a certain amount for each click on the ads. This is a form of cost-per-click (CPC) advertising.
With regards to affiliates, many companies offer an affiliate program, where you get paid if someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase. The amount you get paid is usually a specific dollar amount or a percentage of the sale.
Each method has its pros and cons. For example, you get paid for each click on a CPC ad, but those clicks may only total a few dollars. For affiliates, you can get a larger payout, but the visitor must make a purchase.
While the above two methods can net you some good money, a third method is through private advertising.
Private Advertising
With private advertising, you charge a specific amount for a time period (day, week, or month) that someone will need to pay to display a link on your site. The link can be a simple text link, or it can be a banner ad. You specify what type of link you will display, and where it will be located on your site.
You need a site with a fair amount of traffic for private advertising to be effective. You also need to ensure that you don’t charge too much, or you won’t get any takers.
While there are sites that do provide methods for you to offer private advertising on your site, they may take percentage as a fee. If you prefer to handle the advertising yourself, there is a plugin you can get for WordPress blogs that can manage the advertising for you.
OIOPublisher
Possibly the easiest ways of offering private advertising on your WordPress blog is through OIOpublisher. There is a one-time fee of $47 for OIOpublisher (see promotions page for information on how you can receive a discount).
After buying OIOpublisher, I had it up and running on my blog very quickly. You install the plugin the same way you do with any other plugin. Once it is installed, you will noticed a OIOPublisher tab when you access your WordPress dashboard.
From the tab you can then setup the types of ads (text, inline, banner) you will sell, as well as other settings, such as how much you will charge and for how long. Once the ad is created, you simply paste the code into your template to start selling.
When someone purchases an ad, you are notified and you can manage the ad directly from that dashboard tab. You can view the ad’s banner and link to ensure that the ad is appropriate. Once you want the ad to run, you simply confirm the ad, and also confirm if the owner of the ad has provided the payment. The start and end dates of the ad are automatically handled for you. Best of all, you keep 100% of the profits that the ad generates.
The six ad slots to the right (below the Entrecard widget), are the slots that I am providing. The code for all six is generated and managed by OIOPublisher. Now I’ll have to wait and see how it performs compared to my current methods of making money.
Have Your Say
- Do you currently have methods of making money from your blog or web site?
- Do you provide private advertising?
- If you don’t offer advertising, have you thought about using it?