13 replies
Hey all,

I've had a blog for two years and I'm thinking about shutting it down.

But, before I do that I'm thinking of doing one last ditch effort to get this blog moving.

At the moment I have 600 subscribers, 700 uniques per day, and make about $100 per month.

But given all the work, $100 per month is terrible ROI.

Partly I keep at it because I enjoy what I write about, and I actually solve people's problems (health niche) -- lots of thank you emails, etc.

So I'm thinking about creating a dedicated landing page so I can drive traffic to it using article marketing and Adwords. But I'm not sure if it's worth the cost of getting the landing page built and using adwords.

I just wrote and started giving away a free ebook, which gets me about 10 subscribers per day, sometimes more.

I'm trying to build a list so I can promote legit products that will solve problems.

I also realized that besides writing posts and social media, I've never actually spent money on promotion, which in retrospect seems dumb on my part.

Trying to find the best strategy to build that list and make this blog produce $500-$1,000 per month.

Thanks all. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge!
#advertising #adwords #investment #traffic #worth
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    The question I would pose....
    Are you tending to convert well?
    Once you get traffic, does it build on itself?
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    • Profile picture of the author pdooley
      Good question. I'd say yes. Since releasing the free ebook, I've added 227 new subscribers in a little over a month.
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      • Profile picture of the author genietoast
        Well, I say that you're doing very well on the traffic end already. 600 subscribers is nothing to laugh at. That's no small feat. Just keep doing what you're doing. I don't think you need to go the paid advertising route, really.

        You just need to monetize a little more.

        While you're waiting to create your own product, it wouldn't hurt to promote some affiliate products that you know your list will like. Test it out first. Don't give them junk.

        You've done the best part so far: offering them value. Continue to do that then occasionally promote an offer. Don't promote them to death or you could lose your subscribers.
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  • Profile picture of the author DireStraits
    Originally Posted by pdooley View Post

    Hey all,

    I've had a blog for two years and I'm thinking about shutting it down.

    But, before I do that I'm thinking of doing one last ditch effort to get this blog moving.

    At the moment I have 600 subscribers, 700 uniques per day, and make about $100 per month.

    But given all the work, $100 per month is terrible ROI.

    Partly I keep at it because I enjoy what I write about, and I actually solve people's problems (health niche) -- lots of thank you emails, etc.

    So I'm thinking about creating a dedicated landing page so I can drive traffic to it using article marketing and Adwords. But I'm not sure if it's worth the cost of getting the landing page built and using adwords.

    I just wrote and started giving away a free ebook, which gets me about 10 subscribers per day, sometimes more.

    I'm trying to build a list so I can promote legit products that will solve problems.

    I also realized that besides writing posts and social media, I've never actually spent money on promotion, which in retrospect seems dumb on my part.

    Trying to find the best strategy to build that list and make this blog produce $500-$1,000 per month.

    Thanks all. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge!
    Sorry, I can't answer the question about whether AdWords is worth it or not, as I really don't know the answer.

    But I just wanted to ask: how much content (text articles, specifically) do you currently have on your blog, and what is the (honest) overall quality level of that content?

    If it's of good quality and there's enough of it, have you considered submitting it to article directories in an attempt to help it be syndicated to / published on other websites?

    You might be able to drive referral traffic back to your site (and help your site's SEO / search engine rankings) that way, through resource-box links within those articles, pointing to your site and/or landing page ... and it wouldn't be a whole lot of work to just copy-and-paste those articles into article directories and write a quick resource box for them.

    Just a thought.
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    • Profile picture of the author pdooley
      I have about 310 articles of good quality. I don't write unless it solves a problem and is coherent. Good tip.
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  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Deegan
    I'll say this...The people I know making the most money online (as pure affiliates - no JV's) focus on paid traffic. I myself have made good money using paid traffic. (though its been awhile, - health issues and other projects)

    The thing with paid traffic is that you need to be the right kind of person to work well with it. Some people just don't mesh well with paid traffic because of how their wired. With paid traffic you need to be on the ball. You also have to have a certain level of risk tolerance. It helps a lot if your an analytical or mechanical type because much of your success with paid traffic comes down to numbers, testing and tweaking.

    Personally I have gotten some of the best tips and tactics by watching and studying what paid advertisers do and then reverse engineering as much as I can from their campaigns. It's way better and more cutting edge then what you'll find in most ebooks.
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  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    I really believe that the best way to make the most money is with PAID advertising.

    Everyone says that you can get a lot of sales from FREE advertising but the people who are making tons of money from FREE techniques are the people who have their own programs and have a lot of AFFILIATES promoting for them.

    Tal
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    • Profile picture of the author DylanJames
      Originally Posted by talfighel View Post

      I really believe that the best way to make the most money is with PAID advertising.

      Everyone says that you can get a lot of sales from FREE advertising but the people who are making tons of money from FREE techniques are the people who have their own programs and have a lot of AFFILIATES promoting for them.

      Tal
      Everyone pays for every advertising effort they make. There is no such thing as "Free" advertising, promotion or traffic generation. Everything either takes TIME or MONEY.
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
        If you are using your blog to solve people's problems, then that is what they will come there for. Not to buy things or click on ads.

        It sounds like a really nice thing to do, and it is, but if solving people's problems does not make you enough money, then it might be time to do something differently.

        With that many uniques a day and you are only making 100 dollars a month, then drunkenmonkey is really right about getting your site right first so that it converts.
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  • Profile picture of the author DylanJames
    I would argue that Adwords is NOT worth it in your situation. In my view, Adwords today is better used as a branding tool. You are better off going with a CPA network.

    Think about this...if you pay 50 cents per CLICK and convert 1 in 4 into subscribers, you are paying $2.00 per opt in. You can go to a CPA network and pay per opt in instead of paying per click and you will have much less of a risk. Even if you pay the same amount ($2.00 per Opt In...which is VERY high) you are still only paying per confirmed opt in. Most likely you will pay around $1.50 or $1.25.

    You do have to watch the quality of your subscriber though. Sometimes the quality of subscriber will drop but not always.
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  • Profile picture of the author entrepreneurjay
    Your on the right track just keep building that list. I would recommend joining safeswaps and doing adswaps with other marketers to speed up the process.

    Find some good Clickbank products in the health niche for you to promote. If you have a list already which you said you did do you have a thank you page in place?

    If not find a related affiliate program to put on your thank you page. A thank you page is very lucrative every one that signs up to your list will see this offer and some will buy.

    This will increase your earnings just by itself.
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  • Profile picture of the author The Great Gordino
    When I first got into IM, I had success with adwords, but I also had campaigns which lost money.

    I always think you should steer clear of paid traffic until you know *exactly* how much each click is worth.
    So you need to know how many visitors for each subscriber, and how many subscribers for each dollar you make.

    Then, you can think about the paid stuff.
    Yes, you can do well with adwords and other paid traffic, but as other posters have said, you need to have a certain attitude to the risk of losing that money.
    You would still have to test to see what converted and what didn't, and that will cost you money!
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