Wendy Piersall of EMomsathome hatched a brilliant idea when she asked readers to jump in and research topics that she and other readers wanted to know more about. I grabbed this topic from the recently posted 2nd “How To” Group Research Project and invite you to join in as I explore it.

My Own Advertising Experience

My experimentation with monetization is limited. Of my three sites, one is completely independent advertiser supported and two utilize Google Adsense ads.

While I certainly don’t cover all my son’s college expenses from their combined revenue, the one that features independent advertising was very simple to get in place, and it does cover the costs of hosting the site. The hardest part? Hitting up people to buy ads, which was done by phone, in person, and in just a couple of cases, by email.

That site (AboutPrescottArizona.com) has a local, community focus and it was a given that I not include non-local advertisers on it. Even though I suck at sales, it was surprisingly easy to get advertisers.

Here’s how I did it:

1. Created ad specs, pricing, and an advertising sell sheet: advertisers have the option of providing their own web-ready ad, but several of them have hired me to design their ads for them.
2. Devised a very simple and inexpensive pricing scheme: you pay for six months or one year, with right of first refusal on the renewal date, and came up with three different types of ads and placements.
3. Made an Excel spread sheet to track ads sold, renewal dates, and contacts made. I actually traded out a number of the initial ads for local services that I already use, while documenting the barter income for tax purposes.
4. Contacted potential advertisers and reviewed the sell sheet and provided current stats and key word rankings and projections; offered low “introductory rates”.
5. Experimented with hiring someone to sell the ads on commission, but so far, I have chosen unwisely. That’s a goal for the next quarter!

Until Wendy announced her Second “How To” Group Research Project this week, I had never considered trying direct sales to independent advertisers for my blog and biz site. Duh.

If your site has a well defined focus or niche, and particularly if it has a local flavor, direct sales could work well for you, too. By starting small and local, you get to deal with people you know. Once you gain confidence and build your advertiser base, adjust your pricing and aim higher.

Downside: it takes more time to get out there and sell ads. Allow for that in your budget, or just hire the right person to do it for you on commission.

What Experts Advise

This research project has a short turnaround time! So, after a whirlwind tour of a number of topnotch resources (they are cited below), I found general consensus on the following points:

• Use automated advertising services to get and place ads from individuals.
  
• Wait to sell ANY ads until your page rankings give you the proper cred.
• Make sure your readers actually know that you sell ad space on your site via such strategies as embedded announcements in your email responses or dedicated advertising information pages on your blog.

Robin Good recommends these advertising services:

• blogads
• crispads
• grokads
• Tagword

For text-based ad sales, he suggests:

• Textads
• The Idya AdSystem

Maki at DoshDosh says the best way to get advertisers is to just go get them! You really have to read Maki’s detailed post to get the (very simple) idea.

THEN you need to read her (oops, I mean HIS) related primer, “How to Find Advertisers for Your Site and Increase Direct Advertising Sales.” Here you’ll learn how to set your rates and create an effective advertising package.

Maki’s primer helps you quantify your blog’s worth, but so does another service: CyberWyre. This free calculator quickly factors your Alexa and Google page rankings, and scoots out to retrieve your Yahoo, AltaVista, and All the Web backlinks. Then it spits out info out how much you could be charging independent advertisers for space on your blog.

Comparing my blog’s value and rankings with that of certain other probloggers was, uh, quite humbling. According to the results, I’m lucky to be earning ANYthing from ANY kind of advertising.

But, it’s a good reminder of the work one has to do in establishing his or her legitimacy in the blogosphere before approaching advertisers.

Nate Whitehill says that he no longer participates in any CPC advertising, he suggests you think like an advertiser. Expect that anyone who considers purchasing space on your site will first scrutinize it very carefully, so make sure you’re presentation is up to par.

If you decide to take a stab at independent advertising, further research on these topics may benefit you:

How to precisely place your ads in your WordPress blog:
If you’re trying to understand how exactly you can PLACE ads on your WordPress blog once you have found advertisers, consult this codex topic.

This article also covers the various types of monetizing practices that bloggers generally choose from. The explanation of exactly where to place code for your ads is very detailed and helpful, and it includes how to place ads in your feeds as well as in individual posts. Included are references to a list of ad placement plugins.

How to boost the Alexa and Google page rankings.
Lots has been written about both topics. From sneaky, smarmy manipulations to embedding the Alexa widget, to the DoFollow vs. Donotfollow debate.

Ethically speaking, the best route may be just to mind your blogging p’s and q’s: careful study of legit traffic boosting techniques will eventually contribute to improved Alexa and Google ranking.