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Few people are more highly regarded in the blogging-for-business world than Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net. He has essentially set the blueprint for how to turn a blog into a business, and is one of the go-to sources for tips on how to do as much. He had a chat with WebProNews at BlogWorld last week, after speaking in one of the more popular keynotes at the event. 

Rowse discussed with us how people can get started blogging, and eventually turn their blogs into moneymakers. "You need a blog to start with, then really my first priority would be getting some useful content on there – some content that’s actually going to solve some problems for people," he said. "So if you’re blog’s a how-to type blog, you want to start thinking ‘what’s a beginner in this topic need to know?’ and start writing that type of content that you can be referring back to later, so that when you start promoting it, you’ve got content there that they’ll find, that is engaging for them. So that is probably the first step, and then, it’s about putting yourself out there, and trying to find some readers."

Have you been able to turn your blog into a business? Let us know. 

If the how-to path is the one you’re interested in traveling, I’d reccommend reading this article, discussing ways to create effective how-to articles, with tips provided by John Hewitt, who has written technical manuals for companies like IBM, Intuit, and Motorola. 

Either way, "First you want to know who you want to attract, because it’s kind of easy to get noticed on the Internet, but if you do it in the wrong way, you could actually 1. take yourself further away from your goals, but 2. find the wrong readers," noted Rowse. "You could get..readers from a place like Digg or StumbleUpon…some of these social bookmarking sites, but they may not actually be the type of person that you want to journey with for the whole long term. So define who you want to reach, and ask the question, ‘where can I find them online?’" 

"Answering that question, for me, on my photography site led me to Flickr. Flickr’s a place where people have cameras, and not everyone takes great photos, so it was a place for me to develop a presence. For other blogs, it may lead you to Twitter or Facebook or another blog or a forum that is related to your particular niche."

Forums can actually be great for your brand (in some cases, maybe even more so than Facebook or Twitter). Forums are a good source of relevant discussion to your niche, provided you engage in the right places. They can help you establish yourself as an expert (not unlike Q&A sites), and they can be particularly good for building a search presence. Forum threads do really well in Google for certain queries, particularly when someone is looking for help with something. 

"I think a lot of bloggers treat their blog as a hobby, and I mean, that certainly is the way I started out," Rowse told us. "I didn’t realize you could make money from blogging when I started. But my wife kind of gave me an ultimatum after a while. I’d began to dream about my blog becoming a business, and certainly was moving in that direction…one day, she kind of said, ‘you need to do it’. Then she gave me six months to get it done."

"Once I had that ultimatum, and that deadline in mind, it just switched in my mind and started making me thinking of it as a business now, and really that was the turning point for me, because I began to think more strategically about who was reading my blog, what they needed, and products that I could launch to them," he continued. "But also, I got on the phone for the fist time and started ringing advertisers to create a direct relationship with them."

Rowse recently discussed using temporary blogs as stepping stones for your broader goals:

"A temporary blog is a blog that I suggest some new users would start," Rowse told WebProNews. "A lot of people say you have to choose a niche, and get a domain name and that, but a lot of bloggers find that so overwhelming that they don’t know what they want to write about yet, they don’t know what their voice is, they don’t know what to name their blog as…so perhaps for some people, it’s more appropriate just to start up any blog – just to start learning about blogging, and start getting into the rhythm of writing, and to find what they actually enjoy about blogging and what topics they enjoy. Get some reader feedback on that."

"That’s kind of how I started," he added. "My first blog, I don’t actually write on anymore, but it helped me to build a bit of an audience, but also refine what I wanted to write about, and learn the tools as well. So, just jump on a WordPress.com blog or a Blogger blog. It doesn’t matter what the platform is if you’re not gonna be there for the long term, and just start blogging for a while, and then you’ll begin to find your ideas are refined."

On the biggest problems Rowse sees from others that are blogging, he said, "I find a lot of bloggers is, their biggest problem is they don’t start. They’re convinced that they should have a blog, but they don’t actually do it. And they can do that because they feel overwhelmed by the choices in setting it up, or they can feel nervous and not worthy to really write, but you can’t let that hold you back. You’ve got to actually start. And then another thing – a lot of bloggers just regurgitate what everyone else is writing, and they don’t actually have anything unique or useful to say to people."

"So really, it’s about identifying human need, and problems that people really have, and build something that matters to people," he concluded. "Even if it’s basic stuff that you think is too basic, a lot of people out there need to know that stuff. They’re asking those questions."

What are the biggest issues you face in your blogging efforts? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Watch our past interviews with Rowse here for even more helpful advice.

That does not mean it can’t be done. It’s just going to take some work. We talked to Darren Rowse, one of the most famous people in the Blogosphere for making blogging profitable (he runs ProBlogger), who shared some tips on how to do it.

Have you been able to make your blog profitable? Tell us about it.

It’s Going to Take a While

As Rowse notes, a lot of people jump into blogging thinking they’re going to start earning quickly. That is very likely not the case. He says it’s about finding a good niche – something you’re passionate about. Ask yourself what your interests are, and if your topics are things you can see yourself writing about regularly for years.

When looking for a niche to take on, Rowse suggests doing  some  research on how many people are searching for that type of content. Use tools like Google Trends. Look at how many people are advertising on this type of content. Is there enough content to write about on the topic or will you eventually run out of things to say?

Frequency

As Rowse says, there’s no rule for how often you should blog. People have been successful writing a post a week or less. Still, your chances of growing success are increased along with your frequency. Think about it.

"Every post you write is a doorway into your site," says Rowse. "If you’re only writing 52 posts a year, that’s 52 places people can connect with you through Google or through Twitter. If you’re writing 365 (one a day), then you’ve exponentially increased the amount of places that people can find you."

Despite the beliefs of some, blogging is not dead, and it’s not dying by the hands of social media. Social media can be the blogger’s best friend for sharing content, and attracting more readers.

Guy Gonzalez of F+W Media made a pretty good point in that session at SXSW: "Anyone who thinks Twitter is a substitute for a blog probably wasn’t a good blogger to begin with."

Last year, we looked at some polls that Rowse conducted, finding that more people preferred to have more blog readers, as opposed to more Twitter followers. Granted, Twitter use has grown significantly since then, but I don’t know that the outcome would be much different now. A lot of bloggers are using Twitter simply to drive traffic to their blog posts.

Either way, when it comes to content, it shouldn’t be about the format (blogging vs. Twitter). It should be about what you have to say, and whether you can convey that to the right audience. More on that here.

Share your own tips for an effective blogging strategy.

This is not entirely surprising, since generally, much more effort is put into a blog post than a 140-character or less tweet, but there is certainly a gold-rush for Twitter followers. Jason Calacanis for one is willing to pay a pretty penny for them.

Rowse polled both his ProBlogger audience (which is presumably comprised mainly of bloggers) and his Twitip audience (which is made up of Twitterers). As expected, the Twitip crowd favored Twitter followers slightly more, but there was still a very clear majority wanting more blog readers. Rowse provides the following graphs:

There are certainly arguments for the value of both categories, and Rowse covers them pretty well here. There are some pretty obvious ones for blogs:

- they require more time/effort

- they provide more info

- they are most likely not going anywhere, while Twitter may be hot right now, but who knows where it will be in the future?

- the more blog readers you have, the more times your posts are likely to be linked to on Twitter anyway

There are obvious benefits to having Twitter followers too though, particularly for marketers.

- More followers is a good indication that there is demand for what you offer as a business, and that people are interested in your product(s)

- relationships easier to form (yes blogs have comments, but typically not the real-time conversation factor, and people are at Twitter to talk…they’re not necessarily at your blog to do so)

Of course people who both blog and tweet know they don’t have to choose between one medium or the other. They compliment each other, and ideally can work to each other’s benefits. Twitter can gain you more blog readers, and a blog can gain you more Twitter followers.

It’s all in the execution. Write good content that Twitterers want to link to. This has plenty of potential for getting you more readers. Include chiclets on your posts, making it easy to share your content (this shouldn’t be limited to Twitter). Include a prominent link for people to follow you on Twitter (a Twitter logo here will help draw attention).

Link to good content from others when you Tweet. If people like what you’re pointing them to, you’ll likely gain more followers. Who would’ve guessed it all comes back to content? You could also mention your blog casually from time to time. This may increase awareness of it. Just because someone follows you on Twitter,  does not mean they know about your blog. That said, you probably don’t want to ram it down their throats either.

So, blogging Twitter users, would you rather have more blog readers or Twitter followers? Tell us.

Tips for using blogs & Twitter together? Share with WPN readers.

On the Google AdSense Blog (told you this guy was good), Rowse wrote, "If I had to narrow my advice on using AdSense down to a single word it would be ‘experiment.’"  Start, if you want, by changing ads’ positions.  Rowse found that people got click-happy when he placed ads towards the end of articles.

Then try to find a balance in terms of quantity.  Rowse noted, "There’s usually a ‘tipping point’ where you hit a ceiling of how many ads your users will accept — push it too far and you could hurt reader engagement, traffic, and in the long run your earnings.  On the flip side of this, don’t be afraid to have more than one or two ads on a page, particularly if you have long pages with lots of content."

(WebProNews spent the weekend in Vegas at the BlogWorld Expo and chatted up the brightest minds in the blogging business.  Stay tuned to WebProNews and WebProNews Video for updates.)

 Gregory Go

Gregory Go, About.com‘s guide to online business, started things off with a discussion of metrics.  Consistency in every respect is a key thing.  Readers will expect posts to reach a minimum length, and a certain number of posts per week will also be necessary.  Then, from the company’s perspective, there may be standards relating to page views, unique views, search referrals, and inbound links.

Both blogging employers and employees should be able to embrace another tip Go shared: "Blogging is about marketing and you have to promote your blog after you write your post."

Darren Rowse, editor of Digital Photography School and ProBlogger, next discussed the subject of how employers and employees can meet.  On a general job board or a more niche site, he applauds the use of ads with very specific headlines.  To further ensure no miscommunication takes place, the ads should include as much information as possible, and employers should acknowledge all applicants.

Will Chen, Wise Bread‘s editor, wrapped the session up by further exploring the matter of guidelines and boundaries.  All parties should benefit from a discussion of content ownership, legal statuses, representation to the public, compensation, performance expectations, ethics, and policies regarding mistakes.

WebProNews Reporter/Anchor Abby Prince-Johnson contributed to this article.

In addition to reverting to a simpler payment structure, they were also going to be discontinuing the program outside of the Americas and Japan. This meant that not only would referrals from other countries not be credited toward their referring AdSense publishers, but publishers located outside these areas would be forced out of the referral program altogether.

As you can imagine, this was upsetting for many publishers. Possibly among the most vocal was Darren Rowse of ProBlogger.net. As an Australian publisher (and A-list blogger), Darren stood to lose a major source of revenue. He announced the changes and his critiques of the new rules on ProBlogger, followed by an open letter protesting the changes. He certainly wasn’t alone in protesting the changes.

Over the weekend, however, Google made an announcement worthy of a new ‘love’ letter from Darren: they rethought some of the pending changes. AdSense referring publishers outside the Americas and Japan would still be eligible for payouts. However, only referrals located in the Americas and Japan will constitute “referrals.”

The changes are still slated to take effect next week.

via

Comments

Lets take a little look at why they might have done this.

Google Is A Business

It is actually quite a large business, and each division within a division is probably accountable for their own earnings. The Adsense referral program for new business is probably individually accountable.

Current (Old) System Earnings

Based upon quarterly and yearly reports, Google on average pay publishers only 29% of advertising revenue. Larger publishers probably get a larger piece of the action, so it is quite possible a new publisher only receives 25%

For every dollar earned, Google receive $4

Referrals Changes the Math

For the first $5 of earnings in 6 months, they pay a referral fee of $5, thus Google only make 50%

If a publisher earns $100 in 6 months, Google pay a referral fee of $250, thus of the $400 they receive in advertising revenues, they pay out $350… plus there is a bonus

For 25 people who make $100 within a 180 day period you get a bonus payment of $2000, that is $80 per person

In theory, Google could pay out $430 for every $400 received

This is potentially a loss leader…

In practice only a small number of people make it even to $5, and even less to $100 within 180 days. Darren mentioned in his article that he has never achieved the bonus, though if he comes close, those $250 fees for the ones that do make $100 must be reasonably lucrative.

The New System

The Adsense Team are reverting back to $100 for $100 earned in 180 days with no bonuses.

Also the countries are now restricted to North America, Latin America, or Japan – for the referrer.

What Darren and Shoemoney didn’t pick up on is that is existing referrals don’t qualify by the time this is introduced, it seems like you will only receive compensation based upon the new structure, not the old. That is significant if you were in some way paying for advertising based on anticipated earnings over 6 months based upon prior statistics.

Gaming Adsense With Referral Hydras

For me the obvious reason why they would restrict this to only partners in certain counties is fraud, or gaming the system. Google is made up of regional offices, so it would be hard to separate Eastern Europe from the rest of Europe, or Australia from others in the Pacific region.

If you look at this from the point of view of a person in a low income country, there is a potential $430 that could be earned instead of $100 for the clicks you might receive on a website you own that has reasonable traffic, all you need is new Adsense accounts.

Here is how such a system could work

1. Find 25 people who would be interested in earning $100 from Google just for providing their personal details

I can’t honestly imagine this wouldn’t be hard in many developing countries

2. Place the advertising units from those referrals on your own websites such that they will earn $100 within a month
3. The person referred gets $100 in Adsense earnings
4. You get to cash $330 instead of $100

Rinse and repeat

If you don’t want to give $100 away, you could always set up shell companies., but I don’t think it is really worth the effort, it would be easy to find people willing to earn $100 for doing nothing.

If you are just doing blackhat stuff this provides an unlimited supply of fresh Adsense accounts, and you earn everything 100% "legitimately" as just the referrer.

Can It Really Be That Many People Doing This?

If you were a slightly shady blackhat, wouldn’t you like to keep your Adsense earnings 100% clean, and earn 3x as much?

Especially if you were living in a slightly poorer country, or had contacts in one… China, Russia..

Would This Hurt Google Financially

Certainly if it got out of hand. Most of these referrals would earn their $100 and then drop off the face of the earth after they cached their checks.

Could It Be Another Reason?

I am sure growth rates outside 1st World countries are fast enough without the financial incentive for referrals, and there is always a question of scaling up support costs, and the lack of competitive advertising.
With low paying clicks outside the English speaking world, those that are active Adsense publishers are often more inclined to experiment with more grey or blackhat methods, because they don’t necessarily have to create their own content to make money.

Too Good To Be True

I always looked on the referral program to be full of holes

• You don’t know who you referred so you can’t help them, unless it is by arrangement
• You can’t honestly declare you make money by referring people, it is against the referral program terms, though they encourage word of mouth marketing.
• The reporting was always a little on the basic side
• The time period for qualification was far too long and it seems that has come back to bite people

For a negative change such as this, you would expect a full 6 months notice, or for referrals who qualify within 6 months to be paid at the old rate.
For referring publishers outside North & South America, and Japan, they are effectively being told that all those referrals they have made that haven’t quite earned $100 by the end of January will not be paid.

I am glad I haven’t promoted Google Adsense for 2 years.

Comments

*Originally published at AndyBeard.eu