Filed under: Business
Affiliates, click. Adsense, click. Google? BidVertiser? Advertiser this, and advertising that. It’s enough to make your head spin, isn’t it?
The subject that I am about to discuss, is usually not a topic that occupies my mind enough to write about. I leave it up to those whose niche covers necessary aspects. It will probably be the first and last of its kind. There are, however, a couple of underlying issues that I do find interesting. The disclaimer before you read on is a simple one, and this disclaimer is that although I state that I observe certain attitudes, I am not implying that they are the attitudes of ALL bloggers. OK? Okay. I mention issues that I pick up on along the way, and of which I observe enough people stating, so they become points of interest.
For those of you that caught my blog review of The Blog Entrepreneur yesterday, you read that this blogger is pro-active. He is busy discovering new ideas, trying them out, and writing about his experiences and opinions. His site hosts a variety of articles, and it is a real treat. Now, a few days ago he published a post about affiliate programs, and he wanted to test a couple of new ones.
I’ll warn you all ahead of time that I reeled out a little rant a few days ago. It will be published sometime in the next couple of weeks. I have several ready-go drafts, and of course, cannot publish them all at once. This little rant was about the blogging world. I am personally very fortunate with writers that I have met. However, when I have spare time I get out there, and take a look at the rest of the Blogosphere. Everyone has their own voice, and there are therefore just as many opinions as there are people writing them. So, that just is, and it is beside the point.
Outside of these unique personal voices, there is one observed aspect that I notice quite often. That aspect being the reluctance of people to partake in the creative processes and experimentation of other blogging colleagues. When I state ‘partake’, I mean really get involved. I do know that many bloggers feel that commenting is good as they link ‘love’ back to their own blog. There are now increasing complaints about Blogger as it is more difficult to link that love to oneself, and writers actually admit that they no longer like commenting in Blogger blogs. This is not exactly what I mean by engaging in the work of others.
So, where am I going with this point? Well, for people like Bill, it has got to be uplifting and exciting when others reading his site join in, and experiment along with him. Right? I will tell you all, that participating in this manner adds an additional dimension to blogging. It is SO much fun. I also enjoy the practical and technical areas, in addition to the writing. I like tweaking, figuring things out, and seeing things develop.
After reading Bill’s post, I stated that I would be bold and daring, and run this little experiment also. After 30days or so, we can compare notes, which makes it all the more fun. Goodness knows all bloggers feel it demotivating and boring when we feel that we are writing to a blank wall, or the vastness of empty space. You want to yell, “heellooooo! Is anybody out there?”. That reminds me that I have to find my Pink Floyd cd. It disappeared after the move.
Anyhow. Some bloggers have a one-sided view. The views (not the people) are sometimes a bit lopsided. Yet, I know that none of us know more than we know at any given time. When we know more, we often times do things differently. However, I do hear a lot of griping, and a lot of whining about, “what’s in it for me”? Well, nothin’ if you don’t try. I read that AdSense is poo, and affiliate programs don’t work. This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work. Blah, blah, blah. I also know that most things do have their positives.
In being new to a world of business operated on the Web, some sit on their side of the equation, viewing it only from their own shoes. The business aspect, for lack of a better term, gets blocked by bloggers themselves. AdSense, and all of these avenues become like four letter words. Money is also a four letter word for many, and ‘gasp’, everyone would like a little more. Go figure. People have got to learn to relax about these issues, as it doesn’t make you any less creative in your writing!
Another issue in the blogging world is that everyone wants everything to be free. We love our widgets, and such. Goodness knows that I like them as well. I mean just look at my sidebar! I love to tweak, and move them around. I take some off, and trade them out for others. All the while making my ‘pad’ a place where I enjoy myself. A place where I want to kick off my shoes, and stay a while in the writing process. I want to be comfortable in my own skin, and I enjoy it when other people feel that it is a comfortable haven to visit.
Sometimes when we find something we enjoy, we may have to invest in order to keep it. Take my revolving globe (and, the counter with the flying birds) down on my sidebar, for example. The beauty of that service is that you get to customize, and try it out for a couple of weeks. Many bloggers do not like to invest anything after the trial period is over. The investment is not hair-raising. Did I invest in it for all of you? No, I did it for myself. Do you want to know why? Strange as it may sound, it inspires and motivates me.
We all know those days and posts where not too much is happening. It’s that ‘heeellooo’ thing I stated. With Google Analytics we have to wait until the next day to see if we have written for readers, or if we are just shooting our fingers at empty space. There will be those posts where the comment section is barely alive. Yet, I can check into my ‘pad’, and see red lights flashing on that globe. The red lights are people that are in and reading my posts at any given time, and even if they don’t comment. Names don’t show up, so privacy is protected, but you can see where they are in the world. It’s nice to know that someone is reading, right?
Another issue that bloggers have that I find fascinating, is their thinking regarding Adsense. You all see that I have them in between my posts. Bloggers tend to throw Adsense, because they are ’sick and tired’ of the whole thing. Either that, or they are bitter that they are not pulling in hundreds of dollars. Yet again, there is a lopsided perception here. To understand you really have to appreciate the larger picture of commerce. You have to let this world flooow, people.
I used to be on the advertising side of this equation. I started a couple of major campaigns for my consultancy practice and business through Google. After existing on the web for a few years, I first came on the Google advertising scene in 2005, and invested in this marketing avenue. I was extremely successful, and within a couple of months had increased my International newsletter subscriber group to an incredible level. Targeted traffic was finding me, and they were interested in my work. Back then newsletters were popular, even though spam has now turned a lot of people off to subscribing options. At that time, increasing newsletter subscribers was my goal, and it was a success. I had a practice in my city, and the purpose of my website was for people to get to know me.
When investing in advertising, you can all then understand that it is really great when your ads end up on relevant sites. It helps the flow of commerce. It allows for it to happen, and it allows for the system to work. Adsense does create win-win solutions. I know, I know. A lot of people get down on them, and Google. I don’t waste my time and energy on that negativity.
As we relocated overseas, I put my campaigns on hold. After relocating I opened my office doors over here in the USA. Unfortunately, expats will tend to experience the drawbacks of leasing, and we had to move after a few months. My new home is in a different subdivision, and the local law here is a, ‘no client traffic in homes’ policy. So, my office doors had to close for now.
At this point I went in to Google advertising again before I started up blogging, and looked at my old campaigns for my Pentad website. Well, during those couple of years, the prices had skyrocketed for my keywords. With my office closed, and therefore a decreasing income, it became temporarily too expensive. I could have used more time on optimizing tweaks, but I chose to put it aside. For now at least, because I am currently having so much fun blogging.
There you have a little bit about my own experience. Adsense is up on my blog, because commerce needs to flow. I don’t complain about not becoming wealthy from it. I think that the principle is important. If everyone wants to block everything, they will sit with nothing. Nothing will happen for everyone involved.
Complaining about clicks not happening, bloggers really have to look at their group of readers. If they are mainly other bloggers, it’s no wonder. Organic search engine traffic does utilize this service. If you are out there searching for a service or product, you search with keywords, right? Right. Well, then you end up with numerous pages of links, and many of those links will be articles. This is where many people read up and research to find the best product for their money. Yet, there are a lot of reads.
The advertisers in what we bloggers see as AdSense are the companies and business owners that offer the concrete products and services when we want to shop. Something which most of us have done. It is convenient for consumers that these advertisements are placed easily visible where we search and research. It’s a great thing to utilize, and it simplifies life a little. If you look at my header, simplifying life can mean a lot of things. So, get on Google’s case all you want, but they make our lives and searches easier. You don’t only have Google’s services to choose from. There are others also.
This little experiment I’m trying out together with Bill, is called ShoppingAds. I was a little skeptical at first, but hey. All I have to do if I don’t like it is remove it. The cool thing about it, is the customizing. The whole process took me about fifteen minutes. ShoppingAds is not contextual, so it can be used together with AdSense.
What I found really neat is that you plug in as many specific keywords as you like, so that your ads are then customized to your site, and you customize your colors. You can see it on my sidebar. I chose only three keywords for my trial run. I chose health products, cosmetics, and men’s products. I was curious to see what came up, and I have been pleasantly surprised. I’ve seen some neat menswear and gadgets. All of the cool little cosmetic things that we women love, and even books and health equipment. I’ve also seen known brandnames such as Clinique cosmetics, so they deal in quality products. Bill’s post describes the affiliate aspects, which can be read here, ‘Affiliate Marketing’ .
So, people. Get out there, and try stuff out. Relax, open up to opportunities, and allow commerce to flow. Participate, engage, and be a part of it, and the work of others. It really is exciting. If nothing else, you will learn the ropes, and you never know when that will come in handy.
I bet you all didn’t know that I knew about stuff like this.
Bill wrote, “Most people fail, because they do nothing. Proven Fact”.
It is the truth. I have to agree.
opening image; http://www.bravawebsolutions.com
middle image; http://www.hemera.com/affiliates
Google image; http://www.esselink.nu
