Blogging for Profit: Q&A

To close out our Blogging for Profit series, here are a few questions that readers posed which I'm taking a stab at answering:

I have been trying to figure out how to get a coupons.com coupon sidebar so that my readers can print coupons from my site - how do I do this? -Sienna

Just go here and sign up. Once you've signed up, you can set up the coupon widgets as you'd like them and add the HTML to your sidebar. Do note that these coupons can cause a considerable lag in loading time for some blog pages.

Do you have a pricing policy for the ads that you solicit yourself? Or do you just price them on an individual basis? Also, how can I get those type of ads before I reach 500 visits per day on my site?  (My blog is dedicated to local deals and events.) -Gloria

I have a set pricing structure that I put together based upon my traffic, the length of time an ad runs, and where it will be placed on my page. When someone contacts me regarding placing an ad on my blog, I just copy and paste this information into an email and send it right over to them.

It's not entirely impossible to secure advertising on your blog before you have 500 visitors per day, but, in most cases, unless the company is really small and your prices are exceptionally inexpensive, most places aren't too interested in considering it. In addition, it is likely not worth your time to spend thirty minutes emailing with a company and setting up their ad on your blog for a very small payment.

That said, since your blog is a very targeted niche market, you might have more success than someone with a much broader market. I checked out your blog and noticed you had lots of ad spots open. My advice? Fill these up--with affiliate ads or free ads, if you need to. Just don't let them sit there empty or it looks like your blog is not the "hoppin' place" to advertise.

How long did it take you to build up your readership, and what specific techniques helped you in increasing your traffic? -Nisha

I started MoneySavingMom with a big advantage: I already had been blogging on my other blog for two years and had developed a loyal readership and a reputation for being a frugal zealot. Launching MSM from that springboard allowed me to quickly gain momentum without much work.

The quick growth of MoneySavingMom truly showcased the beauty of viral marketing--readers linked to me on their blogs and their readers liked what they saw and began linking to me on their blogs. Then readers began telling their friends who told their friends who told their acquaintances who told random people at the grocery store and on and on it went. I've heard quite the bizarre assortment of stories from folks as to how they first found MSM!

The traffic this little corner of the web gets continues to blow me away--and it's thanks to all of you who have helped to spread the word far and wide. It's also the result of a slow and steady build up of readership on my other blog two years before I started this blog.

My best encouragement for those wanting to build their traffic: write well, write often, and engage your audience. Keep them coming back again and again for more. A nice layout and eye-pleasing graphics to break up the monotony do help, but writing well and writing often are two of the biggest building blocks to a loyal readership.

(Please note: I'm still working on the writing well part; grammar is not my forte and I am sure there are very few English majors and English teachers who can stick around these parts for long without cringing!)

Well, I didn't get to all the questions, but hopefully the above answers touched on some things which will be helpful to a number of you! Thanks again for joining us for this series!

Comments

[Sherry]

I have really loved and appreciated this series and have taken many tips to heart since I am a very new blogger. I was hoping you could go into a little more detail about the blogging leagues. My friends are doing a great job of spreading the word about my blog and my readership keeps improving, but I'd really like to have some contacts in the blogger world to ask questions and recieve tips from. Sometimes I feel lost and don't know where to go for the answers.
Thank you very much!

[The Thrifty Mama]

Watch out the grammar police are coming for you!! LOL

I personally have benefited much from this series, and wanted to convey my appreciation! I think you are an awesome woman of God, and I use your site as a standard for mine. Thanks for all that you do, and make sure you're eating healthy for that baby!!!

[Julie]

Thank you so much for this series - it gave me the boost I needed to start my public blog. I've enjoyed learning from this series and appreciate you being honest with what works and doesn't work.

[Cheryl]

Thanks for this post. I have been having trouble with the coupons.com ad for my site and I thought it was just me but now I know it isn't--so is there anyway to fix it so it doesn't slow down the loading time of my main page??

I just started reading this blog and so far your writing is great but I noticed you wrote you want to work on it. I recently took some writing classes and one book everyone recommends is The Elements of Style by William Strunk--it is a quick read with easy to follow rules--I found it helpful.

[Yedidyah]

Thank you for these information services that you provide.

[Tiffany]

Thanks for this post. Very nice and informative of you! Tiffany

[Amiyrah]

Absolutely loved this series! I'm one of those English majors on here and you don't do too bad with the writing :o).

I'm hoping to get more traffic to my blog by being part of carnivals and mr. linky posts. Hopefully, within 2 years, I can have a great readership like yours and launch another blog about cooking(one of my passions). Thank you for the inspiration and also, congratulations on the new addition! Hope your blessings continue.

[Rachel]

Thanks for the TON of advice and tips. I appreciate it all.

[larra (creatively homemaking)]

Thanks for this series. You really helped me as I was/am working to get my homemaking blog off the ground. I've already had a great response just by following the advice and tips you gave. Thanks for all you do!
Larra

[Angela]

I signed up about a week ago with coupons.com. How long does it normally take to receive a response from them to know that you are accepted?

[Clair Boone]

Hi! I'm actually from England and your English is not bad at all!!! Anyhoo, I just wanted to say thanks for your blog, I've been tracking you for a little bit and suddenly realized I should use my journalism degree and do something online for mums in this area. So Mummy Deals was born and is growing quick. I have a question - when I get to 500 hits a day - where do I go for advertising? Is there anyone who'll pay attention to me at 100 hits? thanks heaps for your help! Clair

[Jennifer V]

Thanks for the tips!

[Beeb]

Thanks for the info on the coupon sidebar! I had been wondering about that myself.

[Stephanie]

Traffic is the hardest thing for me right now. It is a s-l-o-w process!

[Kasey]

Thank you so much for doing this series. I know I am learning a lot about blogging. I am really enjoying having a blog that helps those in my local area (SC) find bargains. You are one of my favorite blogs to check regularly.

[Stacy]

I have also really enjoyed this series. Thanks so much for taking the time to give us all these great tips.

I somehow ran across becomeablogger.com - have you heard of that? They recommend setting up a blog with your own domain name and say that a self hosted wordpress blog is the way to go. What do you think?

Wordpress seems a little complicated for people like me (Although, I'm not sure). How important is it to have your own domain name?

Thanks again,
Stacy

[Gloria]

Thanks for posting and answering my question, Crystal! I appreciate the advice and will be making some changes to my blog. I've gotten a lot of extra traffic from the link to my blog, too. I've hit 500 views the past two days. :-)Thanks! You're doing a fabulous job. Congrats on baby #3!

[Lana]

Thank you so much for all of your insight. You are quite generous to give away all of your secrets:) I enjoy visiting your sight for pleasure and to get ideas for my own.

[Lana]

Thank you so much for all of your insight. You are quite generous to give away all of your secrets:) I enjoy visiting your sight for pleasure and to get ideas for my own.

[Melodie]

On the contrary, I majored in English and have taught it for the past seven years. I rarely ever see a problem on your sight. And serious errors are very rare here. One or two mistakes every now and then is excusable as even major newspapers and journals succumb to the typo every now and then. My hat's off to you for the amount of time and effort that goes the number of valuable, professionally written posts you put out each day. Thank you for your hard work!

[Susanna (A Modern Mother)]

To clarify, for advertising, is it 500 unique visitors, or 500 visitors, or 500 page views a day?