Thursday, January 10, 2008

On my way but off the path?

I am a third the way through the month and though I am short of making my goal of $200 in supplemental income, I can't help but feel like I could be doing a lot better. My income is trickling in a few cents here and a few cents there and I'm still looking for extra ways of gaining income that does ot involve a street corner. I have made $62.06 so far. The majority of that is still from Cash Crate. I've made about $33 there so far. Bottom line is that I need to get more referrals. I am going to head down to the university this weekend with about 25 flyers with tags on them and post them on a few boards. If I was a college kid and someone could pretty much guarantee me $50 a month, I'd shake their hand and call them friend.

I am adding a few affiliate programs to the site. You'll see some additions in the sidebar in the next few days. I have a hard time putting stuff above the fold because I know you're here to read content, not view ads. I'm going to try and combine the two by give some good details and feedback as to how the programs are working for me and what I learn along the way.

I'm in a holding pattern for two more months as my blog is still too young to be accepted to any pay per post groups. I was accepted by Blogsvertise on a probational basis but have only gotten one offer from them. I have no income from them this month. Meh. I feel much the same way about Pinecone Research. Lots of folks out there are making $20-$50 a month through them because the panel surveys are good and pay well, and though I've been approved, I haven't heard from them. I mean, really, do I smell funny?

The good side to all of this is that it is giving me a good few months to really work on content and marketing this blog. I know that a good reader base and feed subscribers can really help how well a monetized blog does. I love that in less than a month I have a good few regular readers! I'm trying to genuinely reach out other bloggers. I'm enjoying the hell out of Entrecard. I am getting a really good amount of traffic and it gives you great exposure. I'll be talking more about that in the next day or so.

I still have a lot of hope for this month. Of course it's sparked by the one day in which I had 8 clicks on my Adsense ads. That day was pretty and made me $6.24 in a snap! I have dreams about days like that. I have some serious work to do in the next three weeks. I'm up for it and I hope the work I do now makes the coming months easier. In the meantime, I'll be over here working and shaking chicken bones. Yes, folks, I am resorting to voodoo...

4 comments:

Andrew said...

To be honest, the best way you'll make money on your blog is most likely with google adsense. I've tried so many different things over the years, and you may get a little bite here and there, but adsense is super easy to put up and converts the best.

And while you prob don't want to do the effort, I'm gonna suggest something radical for you to do. Write. You have an awesome writing style and can easily make a few extra bucks writing freelance articles, either for magazines or websites. It definitely takes a bit of work to find the right contacts and then do the actual writing, but once you get in a groove, it's pretty easy and fun, assuming you enjoy writing.

C. Crowe said...

I saw your comment on khoury's blog so that's how I got here.

I've been using adsense for over a year. adsense would probably bring in more revenue for you if you put a 336x280 text ad box at the top of the page. From the figures you gave it seems like you are getting high pay for the clicks and have well-targeted keywords.

On my sites, adsense ads in the sidebar don't get clicked that often. A box at the very top of the page right about the top post, or under each posts title, however, will get a lot of clicks.

Also, text links ads might work well on your site. Those work really well somewhere toward the top in the sidebar. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

Wow! Those adsense clicks really add up! The most I've made from them in one day is $1.61. You're inspiring me!

Anonymous said...

I have just started working with cash crate and love it, I also have made a ton of money through various survey companies, I just posted my January mid-point earnings, please stop by and check it out-you may get some ideas!

http://www.mommygetspaid.com/january-earnings-half-way-point/

Congrats to you on the adsense too! That is great, I usually make less than a dollar a day and then have a five dollar day here and there.

Take Care

LJ