30/08/2013
Ways to Reach Advertisers Easily and Make Your Website Thrive
Direct advertising sales is perhaps the best way to monetize websites. Searching and reaching to advertisers and finally getting advertisements from them is easier said than done. In the past 6 months, I have been able to get sponsorships from 10 high profile companies. You can read this article to know about my experiences and learn from it.
The Advantages
Money Making: The first and biggest advantage of direct selling is that you wipe out the middlemen and increase your earnings. Imagine, you sell or allow text links advertisements in the sidebars via a company. The company will charge a sum of money as their commission. Naturally, you lose a lot of revenue. If you can earn considerable amount of money by selling your ad space directly, then why would you share it with someone else?
Flexible Nature: For those who like to monitor their business solely, should adhere to direct marketing. Direct advertising sales gives complete control of the place in which the ads will be displayed. Google Adsense is fine, but then till the time you blend it with the right content you will not get sufficient clicks.
Power of Being Independent: It is true that large ad networks have access to larger number of advertisers. However, if you gain a little experience and make contacts over a period of time then you can easily rely on yourself and move ahead in the race. Needless to say, you will have to work very hard for the first few days, months, years or several years may be, but after that your money will be solely yours.
Credits: At last but not the least, you earn all the credits. Possessing direct advertisers and sponsors as a part of your blog aids your credibility. Adsense units can be fitted to small and poorly designed blogs too. If you have some reputable and standard companies partnering with your website then it might imply you have quality content on your blog. Your website will land up being more of a professional one.
The Disadvantages
Time Consumption: In spite of having so many advantages, direct advertising selling is no panacea. The first problem of the monetization option is that it consumes huge amount of time. This time can be spent optimizing the website for advertisements, finding and negotiating with advertisers and handling administrative measures.
Stability: It is very easy to approach clients or advertisers but it is difficult to convince them and close the deal. No matter how many direct spaces you sell, not a single month will pass where you will not look for new advertisers. However, this is untrue for advertising networks.
Lots of Things Required: When it comes to making money, Google Adsense is much better and easier than selling advertisements directly. Certainly, you will need to make your blog popular with attractive designs.
Also, you will have to optimize your website at least once every month. In case, of advertising networks, one needs to plug some codes and the rest will automatically happen. If you are a writer who writes just for the cause of passion, then direct advertisement is not your thing. You can be contented with Google Adsense only as your only motive will not be making money.
What Are The Things Mandatorily Required?
• You want to land into direct advertising deals? Keep in mind it is not a mere walk in the park! You will need to possess a website with high traffic. You should create a benchmark for yourself stating the number of minimum visitors that should be in your website. In case, the number of visitors on your website is lower than expected or desired then concentrate in building up traffic first. Once traffic in your website starts increasing, ads will automatically galore.
• It might happen that your website is not the best on the cyber space but that does not stop ads from coming. You can always keep improving your website! Try building your website with a clean mind, with fixed target audience and niche. Make sure your idea is reflected clearly through the website. This will pull in advertisements from specific groups that complement your website or blog. Having contents on 100 different topics will serve no purpose. It will only confuse advertisers and they will ultimately reject your blog. Therefore, choosing your niche, genre and target audience and then working to impress them is vital.
• This is again concerning the target audience. Your website design should complement the contents. Considering templates and themes suitable just because it is attractive would be foolish. Therefore, design the website properly to ensure advertisers get impressed seeing the ad space you want to sell them.
• Installing Adserver to serve your advertisements, rotating banners and keeping a track of statistics would be wise. In case, you are looking for something simpler, then consider WP-Ads. You can make use of WordPress plugin to serve advertisements for particular ad spaces. For a more sophisticated solution you can try OpenAds.
• Firstly, it is important to have one “Advertise Here” page. You may give a brief note about the company in this page for potential advertisers to check. Secondly, ensure to have a link displayed that takes visitors to the “Advertise Here” page. Copyblogger.com is an epitome.
Letters to the Advertisers: It is fine to believe that there will be large number of advertisers, who would directly contact you after reading your “Advertise Here” link. Nevertheless, a standard letter to communicate your proposal to advertisers is ideal. Now, there is no fixed format or number of words that you will have to pen down but surely you can follow the below mentioned guidelines to make the task easier:
1. Begin with a brief description of yours. Thereby, write about the intention of the mail.
2. Clarify why they are important to you, why did you approach them and how they can benefit from the deal.
3. Educate them about your visibility, daily traffic, subscribers etc.
4. After that, keep trying with variety of advertising options you have. The ad zone, maximum numbers of advertisers, details of monthly and annual plans etc.
That’s all! After going through your proposal conspicuously advertisers will make their mind, whether they want to connect to you or not. Ideally, you should not present a proposal consisting of more than 2 to 3 pages.
You might have everything handy, but then the task of collecting payments is a big one. If advertisers fail to make payments within the stipulated time period then chances are there that you may lose deals. Merely having a personal account will not help. Make effort to make a premier account.
Places That House Advertisers
After establishing your direct advertising program, you will start getting enquiries. In the initial stage you might require to go hunting for advertisers. If you are able to cope up with the initial stage where you will have to run a lot to earn money, then you can have a good life soon. Sooner or later, you will certainly have someone or the other asking you for ad space.
Links: When a company shows interests to get linked to your website’s contents then, he/she is looking to give money in exchange of advertisements. Keep a keen eye on this kind of stuff.
Comments and E-mails left by Visitors: The same things are applicable for visitors who leave behind a comment or mail you. Who knows, they may be an employee or a company owner. Get in touch with them as soon as possible.
One thing that would be common to most of the people you connect for advertisements is that their ignorance regarding online advertisement. The situation will be different if a company already invests in Google Adwords. But again, someone connected to Google Adwords has very less chances of connecting to a novice in the field.
Explore More Advertising Networks: Google Adwords is certainly the largest advertising group you can find on the Internet, there are several other useful options that you can try too. Nudging companies putting their money on Adbrite, BlogAds, Text-Link-Ads and SponsoredReviews.
Banner Ads: Search for companies of your level and see who are investing on them. Thereafter, try to approach them. They will surely be interested in you as they might try their luck of getting a prolific offer from them.
Create a “Potential Sponsor” bookmark folder: Every time you come across a potential company, bookmark it.
What Is The Amount That You Should CHARGE?
Ensure Delivery: Make sure you deliver what you propose. A potential advisor will see your portfolio and check if all that you say have been delivered before. Therefore, always strive to attain what you promise to clients or advisors.
Cheap Competitors: Bear in mind, that there are lots of places where advertisers can invest. Therefore, don’t go overboard with your charges. You can start with $5 CPM (CPM=cost per thousand impressions). If you are able to generate 100,000 visitors every month then you can charge $ 50 for banner spots. It is a norm for startups to charge less. Once you catch up the market and impress clients with your valuable work then you can increase your charges.
Right Charges: To check if your charges are appropriate, compare them with that of Adsense. Again, you can check the rates of companies that are of your level. Don’t be rigid. Try to indulge as many advertisers as you can. Engage customers by making them sign a monthly deal. If you find someone asking for a longer deal, then give him/her a discount!
Test Periods offer: Till the time you have a very popular website, potential advertisers would be reluctant to invest in your website. Offering test periods would help you gain the trust of advertisers.
