Hello all! During the creation of BenjaminCass.com, I promised myself that I would explore the treacherous and deep sea of advertising and release the truth into the wild (i.e. to you, my readers). Although I have owned multiple other sites in the past, I found myself restricted to using mainly Adsense advertising, with no experimentation of new and (possibly) improved advertising services. This is why I made this promise. I wanted to give the middle men a fighting chance.

As you may know, BenjaminCass.com is still in the “baby stages” of its life, so please take into account that I currently have an Alexa rank of 720,601 and an “n/a” PageRank status (although I’m predicted to have a 5/10 at the next go-around). Listed below are the advertising services (and other online money-making services) that I have tried during my time spent here at BenjaminCass.com:

Google Adsense: I am trying to ween BenjaminCass.com fully off of Adsense (I have other sites that use Adsense religiously), and my stats will explain why. For the 15 days that I have used Google Ads on my site, I have had over 1,800 impressions. However, accompanying those 1,800 impressions is a 0.17% click-through-rate. If each click is averaged at about $0.25, you do the math. It really hasn’t been profitable for me.

Kontera: See all those double-underlined words in my posts? Thats Kontera’s In-Text advertising program, a.k.a. ContentLink, at work. During the 7 days that I have been using it, I have received over 1,050 impressions with a 1.39% CTR. With each click a little more than $0.10, I think you may be able to figure out a range in how much money I’ve made. Almost $2. Depressing to the core.

Text Link Ads: Because my site is new and was made after the most recent PageRank update, Text Link Ads did not accept me into their sales department (when I get my PageRank, I’m pretty sure they’ll accept me). However, I am a part of their affiliate program, in which I make money on a referral basis. Unfortunately, I have made 0 referrals to date, thus I have earned a pitiful $0.00.

Chikita eMiniMalls: I recently signed up for Chitika eMiniMalls and placed one small ad on my right sidebar. During its seven day existence, I had over 1250 impressions with a .45% CTR, making me just over a dollar.

Adbrite: Adbrite seems to be the most promising new advertising service on the market. With a plethora of different ad options and super-high payouts, Adbrite lets you control what and how content is shown on your site. See that “Your Ad Here” ad on the left sidebar? That’s Adbrite. Total earnings- $0.29 with 160 impressions.

myLot: I just signed up for myLot a few days ago, and after about one hour of discussing different topics on myLot, I made $0.24. Although it’s not much, myLot offers a lot more than just monetary benefits. The myLot community is full of exciting new people, and the payout is only one of the many incentives of being a member. Check it out if you have time.

Sold-It-Myself-Advertising and Services: This was by far my biggest money-maker. I made over $80 in one week by selling my own ad space, writing reviews, and making digital graphics for other bloggers. Again, for every blogger that hasn’t tried this, be sure to give it a shot. Read more about SIYA here.

AGLOCO: After my post and video of AGLOCO, I have received three direct referrals and two indirect referrals with a total of 7.5 hours spent surfing the net. I rank in the top 27.70% of all AGLOCO users. So what is all that worth? I don’t know, and I won’t until the end. Hopefully something .

All Summed Up:

Money made during first 2 weeks of BenjaminCass.com: $88.34

Domain and Hosting Fees for BenjaminCass.com: $95.40

Money Spent on Advertising/ Other: $8.00

Root Beers Bought for Other Sites: $12.50

Hopefully I’ll eventually make some profit! I hope this helped you out if you were deciding whether or not to use one of the services above. Contact me if you have questions about any of the ad services above!

– Benjamin Cass, BenjaminCass.com, Copyright 2007

If you liked this, PLEASE buy me a [root] beer!

Popularity: 100% [?]

So who exactly is Google Adsense’s biggest competitor? The Yahoo Publisher Network? Chitika Contextual Advertising? Text-Link Ads? Bidvertiser? Adbrite? Kontera? Vibrant Media?

How about “None of the Above”?

Correct! The answer cannot be found in the first paragraph. The answer is the common publisher, the daily blogger, the professional website developer… the answer is YOU!

You may ask how a person such as yourself can have an impact on a hotshot company like Google Adsense. The answer to that probable question is SIYA (Sell It Yourself Advertising), something that is greatly overlooked in today’s Adsense-run advertising market. With SIYA, you are in total control of your advertising solutions, without Google or other advert companies dealing with your site space or compensation. Although it may take a little more effort (no more copying and pasting Adsense Javascript into your site ), the payout (not just monetarily) can be much greater, and the satisfaction received from any successful personal transaction is priceless, unlike the impersonal predetermined Google Ads that raid so many sites nowadays. I decided that I would try to designate some of my site space for SIYA, and after only one transaction thus far (with BloggingDosh.Com), I am already sold that it is a great addition to the advertising world and that SIYA is hear to stay on my site.

So how do I start selling advert space on my site?

Easy. You advertise on your site that you have areas available for adverts (See the header at the top of my page, or the sidebar ads for a demo), as well create an “Advertise” page in order to provide possible clientele with a detailed description of your advertising services. Feel free to borrow my “Advertise” page’s format for your site. After that, wait until you reach a decent PageRank/Technorati Rank/ Alexa Rank and watch the advertisers roll in.

Start the pricing low. As evident on my site, it is very wise to start out prices low and work your way up until there is higher demand. You have a much better chance of being considered a legitimate self-advert publisher if advertisers don’t have to reach into their wallets too much (I charge less than a dollar a day for a sidebar ad!

Reward repeat customers. If you have a customer who has purchased adverts from you before, consider giving them a discounted price for their loyalty to your site!

Always be courteous and ALWAYS keep your word. Never even think about shortchanging an advertiser or removing their ad before their due time is up. SIYA is based on the belief that there still are people that are trustworthy… don’t ruin it.

Return the favor. If you sold ad space to a blogger or website developer, show them your thanks. Ask them if you can advertise on their site and be sure to get involved in their blog’s/website’s discussions. Doing this will make the advertiser feel a lot more comfortable with their advertising choice, and may bring them back as a repeat customer.

 

Before you start to “Sell It Yourself,” be sure to catch up on the current rules and regulations of self-regulation advertising at the:

I hope this helped! I’d love to hear your feedback, be sure to cast your comment to receive free ebooks!

–Benjamin Cass, BenjaminCass.Com, Copyright 2007

If you liked this, PLEASE buy me a [root] beer!

Popularity: 67% [?]