Why You’re Obliged to Make Money from Your Blog February 7, 2007
Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Entrepreneurship, Productivity, Purpose, Studies, Assets, Blogging , 58 comments
I bet this statement doesn’t resonate very well with some bloggers, but this is how I view it. If you’re not making any money from your blog, then you’re not being true to your own value. Before you bash me for being an evil capitalist, hear me out and you’ll come to understand why I want to see ads on your blog.
I’ve been holding a weekly carnival to help people get some exposure to their blogs and in the process I’ve had the privilege of reading plenty of excellent articles and finding promising blogs that I’ve enjoyed browsing through. However, some of them will undeniably be gone or idle by this time next year and the main reason is that they do it part time and generate very little income from their blog - if any.
These are the people that update their blogs at snail pace and publish a new post 2-4 times per week. If they had the common sense to do their best in realizing their blog’s true potential and make some money that they rightfully deserve, they would surely last longer and probably write 1-3 posts per day instead.
And that’s what I want to see above all else. If more bloggers realized how valuable ideas they’ve got, they would have a much greater chance to reach the positive spiral of working as a full time blogger - for everyone’s benefit. But since many decide not to untap their revenue stream, I again lose another good read because they give up. Or then the blogs don’t get updated enough because they’ve got a “real job” to deal with.
So to provide you with some details, I took a look at 50 blogs that are familiar to me and categorized their income potential into four groups.
To the right is the percentage breakdown of how well the bloggers are using ads on their websites. Only two showed that they had thoroughly thought about how and where to place their money magnets. They also understand to use more than one ad format (mostly banners and text ads) to add a more diverse mix to their blog. And most of all, the ads fit perfectly and are sure to reach nearly maximum potential.
The blogs that I considered doing a fairly good job were the rest that used more than one ad format, but had either placed them in cold spots, picked slightly off-topic ads or made them stand out too much. They are on the right track, but could use some additional tweaking or blending.
Bad results are definitely seeing those who decided to rely on only one ad format and who also placed very few ads, in poor locations or that fit very badly in the overall layout of the blog. For those 36 out of 50 blogs that use ads, 22 use only one ad format and 14 use more than one (of which the majority relies on two formats).
However, the blogs that I’m most sceptical about were the 14 that didn’t (yet) run any ads or other forms of income generating means. And some of them are downright excellent reads. There are of course a few valid points that counterattack this small study/observation.
Firstly, these are mostly upcoming blogs that only have a few months of experience under their belts, so a couple of the bloggers may still be in the phase of contemplating how to make their monetizing move. Secondly, as they still don’t have a great reader base, the really good advertising programs aren’t available because of the low traffic. But there are plenty of options to choose from even if nobody has heard of your blog yet. There will be a future entry specifically outlining how to choose, use and place ads later on in this blog. So stay updated.
If you’re concerned about losing readers by putting up ads then think again. There are plenty of visitors like me who hold an advertising blog that supports its blogger in much higher regard than a blog that gets updated twice a week because it doesn’t pay a single bill. Another good reason to put some ads on your blog is that you’ll get another indicator for yourself of how valuable you and your entries are to the world. I’m hard pressed to write a review of a blog if it doesn’t indicate that it takes this work seriously, because nobody likes dead links or obsolete posts on their blogs.
All work, even if it doesn’t feel like work, should be paid for. So would you please start making (more) money from your blog so that you free up time to write more entries?
(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
10 Most Misspelled Words in Blogs January 30, 2007
Posted by The Probabilist in : [Articles], Communication, Productivity, Studies, Words, Work, Writing, Blogging, Reading , 230 comments
Ok, so technically the following words aren’t misspelled. They’re misused. The reason you should review this list is because a spell checker won’t correct these for you. Make sure that you’ve got foolproof control over them (especially if you tend to write around 3:12 AM like I am now). Extensively misusing them throughout your posts may actually cost you a visitor or two every now and then because some folks do get caught up on these, which means they won’t focus 100 % of their attention on your incredibly valuable content!
1. Your - You’re
As mentioned above, your message might lose impact if you’re not paying attention to this number one word maltreatment. If you find it particularly difficult to separate them from each other, stop using ‘you’re’ altogether and notice how you are starting to improve your spelling.
2. Then - Than
The next step is then to tell yourself that it’s better late than never to get that vowel placement in order. Then your readers might find something more useful to comment on than your apparent spelling impediment.
3. Its - it’s
It’s best to write an article and its words properly for optimal reader engagement. Again, if you still fail to tell the difference without effort, just write how great it is not having to worry about misusing or misspelling words.
4. To - Too - Two
To write two posts per day, or not to write two posts per day. That too is the question.
5. Were - Where - We’re
Where in the world were you? We were at Billy’s and we’re staying for another day. Make sure your blog visitors do that too.
6. There - Their - They’re
They’re moving their cursor over there. By focusing more attention on proper word use, your visitors won’t highlight and pinpoint your mistakes.
7. A - An - And
A flawlessly written article serves as an eye-opener and should provide lasting value. Remember also that an abbreviation like SUV starts with a vowel pronunciation and requires an ‘an’ in front of it.
8. Off - Of
Of all the mistakes you could prevent from appearing, start off by checking out this common mix up. You should have paid attention at school when they told you not to write ’should of’. Or off your visitors go.
9. Here - Hear
Hear ye! Hear ye! Here is a blog worth reading. You can almost hear the distant clicks of new visitors finding their way over here this very moment.
10. Lose - Loose
But if you’re too loose on your writing discipline, you will end up losing those readers after a while. You’d have a bolt loose if you don’t apply these 10 writing rules from now on with greater care. You win some and you don’t lose anyone.
Can you find the misused or misspelled word in this article? 
(63 votes, average: 3.78 out of 5) 
