Thursday, August 18, 2011

Ways Of Making Money With Your Website.

There are several lists with “ways to make money with a website” on the Internet, but none of them seem to be complete.



Notice that ways to make money with a website are different from ways to make more money from it. Methods to increase your traffic or click-through rate will help you make more money, but they do not represent a method of making money per se.
For example, one could suggest that blending AdSense ads with the content is a way to make money from a website. In reality it’s not; it’s just a way to make more money by improving your ad click-through rate. The real monetization method behind it is a PPC ad network.
The list is divided into direct and indirect methods, and examples and links are provided for each point.

Direct Methods

1. PPC Advertising Networks
Google AdSense is the most popular option under this category, but there are also others. Basically you need to sign up with the network and paste some code snippets on your website. The network will then serve contextual ads (either text or images) relevant to your website, and you will earn a certain amount of money for every click.
The profitability of PPC advertising depends on the general traffic levels of the website and, most importantly, on the click-through rate (CTR) and cost per click (CPC). The CTR depends on the design of the website. Ads placed abode the fold or blended with content, for instance, tend to get higher CTRs. The CPC, on the other hand, depends on the nice of the website. Mortgages, financial products and college education are examples of profitable niches (clicks worth a couple of dollars are not rare), while tech-related topics tend to receive a smaller CPC (sometimes as low as a couple of cents per click).
The source of the traffic can also affect the overall CTR rate. Organic traffic (the one that comes from search engines) tends to perform well because these visitors were already looking for something, and they tend to click on ads more often. Social media traffic, on the other hand, presents terribly low CTRs because these visitors are tech-savvy and they just ignore ads.
List of popular CPC advertising networks:
2. CPM Advertising Networks
CPM advertising networks behave pretty much as PPC networks, except that you get paid according to the number of impressions (i.e., page views) that the ads displayed on your site will generate. CPM stands for Cost per Mille, and it refers to the cost for 1,000 impressions.
A blog that generates 100,000 page views monthly displaying an advertising banner with a $1 CPM, therefore, will earn $100 monthly.
CPM rates vary with the network, the position of the ad and the format. The better the network, the higher the CPM rate (because they have access to more advertisers). The closer you put the ad to the top of the page, the higher the CPM. The bigger the format (in terms of pixels), the higher the CPM.
You can get as low as $0,10 and as high as $10 per 1,000 impressions (more in some special cases). CPM advertising tends to work well on websites with a high page views per visitor ratio (e.g., online forums, magazines and so on).
List of popular CPM advertising networks:
3. Direct Banner Advertising
Selling your own advertising space is one of the most lucrative monetization methods. First and foremost because it enables you to cut out the middleman commissions and to determine your own rates. The most popular banner formats on the web are the 728×90 leaderboard, the 120×600 skyscraper, the 300×250 rectangle and the 125×125 button.
The downside of direct banner advertising is that you need to have a big audience to get qualified advertisers, and you will need to spend time managing the sales process, the banners and the payments.
Related links:
4. Text Link Ads
After Google declared that sites selling text links without the nofollow tag would be penalized, this monetization method became less popular.
Many website owners are still using text links to monetize their sites, though, some using the nofollow tag and some not.
The advantage of this method is that it is not intrusive. One can sell text links directly through his website or use specialized networks like Text-Link-Ads and Text-Link-Brokers to automate the process.
Text link marketplaces and networks:
5. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a very popular practice on the Internet. Under this system you have a merchant that is willing to let other people (the affiliates) sell directly or indirectly its products and services, in exchange for a commission. Sometimes this type of advertising is also called CPA (cost per action) or CPL (cost per lead) based.
Affiliates can send potential customers to the merchant using several tools, from banners to text links and product reviews.
In order to find suitable affiliate programs you can turn to individual companies and publishers like Dreamhost and SEOBook, or join affiliate marketplaces and networks.
List of popular affiliate marketplaces and networks:
6. Monetization Widgets
The latest trend on the web are widgets that let you monetize your website. Examples include Widgetbucks and SmartLinks. Some of these services operate under a PPC scheme, others behave like text link ads, others yet leverage affiliate links.
Their main differentiator, however, is the fact that they work as web widgets, making it easier for the user to plug and play the service on its website.
List of companies that provide monetization widgets:
7. Sponsored Reviews
PayPerPost pioneered this model, with much controversy on the beginning (related to the fact that they did not require disclosure on paid posts). Soon other companies followed, most notably Sponsored Reviews and ReviewMe, refining the process and expanding the paid blogging model.
Joining one of these sponsored reviews marketplaces will give you the opportunity to write sponsored posts on a wide range of topics. Not all bloggers are willing to get paid to write about a specific product or website (because it might compromise the editorial credibility), but the ones who do are making good money out of it.
If your blog has a big audience you could also offer sponsored reviews directly, cutting off the commissions of the middleman.
List of sponsored reviews and paid blogging networks:
8. RSS Feed Ads
With the quick adoption of the RSS technology by millions of Internet users, website owners are starting to find ways to monetize this new content distribution channel.
Feedburber already has its own publisher network, and you can sign-up to start displaying CPM based advertising on your feed footer. Bidvertiser recently introduced a RSS feed ad option as well, with a PPC scheme.
Related links:
9. Sponsors for Single Columns or Events
If you website has specific columns or events (e.g., a weekly podcast, an interview series, a monthly survey, a special project) you could find companies to sponsor them individually.
This method increases the monetization options for website owner, while giving advertisers the possibility to target a more specific audience and with a reduced commitment.
Mashable illustrates the case well. They have several advertising options on the site, including the possibility to sponsor specific columns and articles, including the “Daily Poll” and the “Web 2.0 Invites.”
Problogger also runs group writing projects occasionally, and before proceeding he publicly announce the project asking for sponsors.
10.Premium Content
Some websites and blogs give away part of their content for free, and charge for access to the premium content and exclusive tools.
SEOMoz is a good example. They have a very popular blog that gives advice and information on wide range of SEO related topics. On top of that visitors can decide to become premium members. It costs $48 monthly and it grants them access to guides, tools and other exclusive material.
11. Private Forums
While the Internet is populated with free forums, there is also the possibility to create a private one where members need to pay a single or recurring fee to join.

SEO Blackhat
 charges $100 monthly from its members, and they have thousands of them. Obviously in order to charge such a price for a forum membership you need to provide real value for the members (e.g., secret techniques, tools, and so on).
Performancing also launched a private forum recently, focused on the networking aspect. It is called The Hive, and the monthly cost is $10.
These are just two examples. There are many possibilities to create a private and profitable forum, you just need to find an appealing angle that will make it worth for the members.
List of popular forum software:

Friday, August 12, 2011

How To Build Your Personal Brand Using Google+

Don't wait for Google+ Business Profiles--use the existing platform to build your own personal brand.
Google+ may not have an official business profile capability--yet--but that doesn't mean that the platform can't be used immediately to build your own personal brand and, by extension, your company's brand.
After a recent brouhaha when Google blocked Google+ profiles that didn't represent individuals, the company announced that it is accelerating its plans to implement business profiles on Google+. A timeframe has not been announced yet, but Google says the release will be "much faster than we expected."
Given that Google+ already has 20 million (and counting) users, it seems people were just waiting for Google to come out with a Facebook alternative, especially given the integration potential with Google's other apps and the privacy and security fears Facebook has fomented over time.
There's little doubt that Google+ will play a big role for business, which is all the more reason to make sure you are making the most of the platform to increase your influence and standing as a subject-matter expert.


"It's becoming increasingly more important to monitor your personal brand and understand how to maximize social profiles such as Google+ to command the top 10 Google search results for your own name,"which specializes in creating and optimizing search engine and social media marketing strategy. "Google+ profiles rank well, if not almost always in the top 10, for a branded search, which makes it imperative for professionals to have their profile created, filled out, and optimized."

Nokia Not Just A Name.

Nokia 702T
MORE PICTURES



Nokia facing a bigger competition with other phone companies..

What do you think of this phone by Nokia. Its called Nokia 702T.


GENERAL2G NetworkGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G NetworkTD-SCDMA 1880-1920
 TD-SCDMA 2010-2025
Announced2011, June
StatusComing soon. Exp. release 2011, Q3
SIZEDimensions117.1 x 60.4 x 10 mm, 67.4 cc
Weight127 g
DISPLAYTypeTFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size640 x 480 pixels, 2.46 inches
 - Gorilla glass display
- QWERTY keyboard
- Multi-touch input method
- Accelerometer sensor for auto-rotate
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
SOUNDAlert typesVibration, MP3, WAV ringtones
LoudspeakerYes
3.5mm jackYes
MEMORYPhonebookPractically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call recordsDetailed, max 30 days
Internal8 GB storage, 256 MB RAM, 1 GB ROM
Card slotmicroSD, up to 32GB
DATAGPRSYes
EDGEYes
3GHSDPA, HSUPA
WLANWi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
BluetoothYes, v3.0 with A2DP
Infrared portNo
USBYes, v2.0 microUSB, USB On-the-go support
CAMERAPrimary8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, fixed focus, dual-LED flash
FeaturesGeo-tagging, face detection
VideoYes, 720p@25fps
SecondaryYes, VGA
FEATURESOSSymbian Anna OS
CPU680 MHz ARM 11 processor, 2D/3D Graphics HW Accelerator with OpenVG1.1 and OpenGL ES 2.0
MessagingSMS, MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
BrowserWAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML
RadioStereo FM radio with RDS
GamesYes + downloadable
ColorsBlack, White
GPSYes, with A-GPS support
JavaYes, MIDP 2.1
 - Stainless steel panels
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- Digital compass
- TV Out
- MP4/H.264/H.263 player
- MP3/WMA/WAV/eAAC+ player
- QuickOffice document editor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF)
- Organizer
- Flash Lite 4.0
- Voice command/dial/commands
- Predictive text input
BATTERY Standard battery, Li-Ion 1200 mAh (BL-4D)
Stand-byUp to 360 h (2G) / Up to 360 h (3G)
Talk timeUp to 5 h 20 min (2G) / Up to 7 h 40 min (3G)
Music playUp to 72 h
Have your say about the device.