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Whens the right time to monetize?

by Tonylee93
25 replies
Is there a right time to start adding ads, affiliate programs, memberships, email marketing and more to your website/blog or should you just get them going right away? Some advice would be great!
#monetize #time #whens
  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    I would highly suggest getting a good autoresponder right away. Your list will quickly become your greatest asset.

    As for general monetization, it really depends on what methods you plan to use. Pick one or two to focus on so you don't go overboard with your ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tonylee93
    Guess, the plan from here will be affiliate amazon program. I have an account there but never got any sale from it. I don`t know if I set the account of wrong or if I just haven`t been good with making sales. I know that I can try a lot more and try harder because I wasn`t putting that much effort into it. Now, I might have a chance. Thank you Amanda for your support! and you write the best PLRS! Just saying

    Also for an autoresponder I am using the wordpress Newletter plugin, I felt like that would be enough for now, or is there a better plugin in to use? I would like to stay on the free side of email marketing for now since I am so new to this whole project and Don`t want to open up to widely and not stay Focused! Staying focused seems to work the best! honestly! anyways now I am just rambling.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by James P View Post

      It is well documented the Google hates Affiliate marketers and so care has to be taken especially in the first few weeks that they do not 'blacklist' your site.
      I promise I don't mean it rudely, James, but if you imagine that Google is somehow going to "blacklist" a site for having affiliate links in it, you're living on a different planet from the rest of us ... besides which, if they were going to do that, why wouldn't they just do it a few weeks later, anyway, if you did it then, as you suggest?!

      Originally Posted by Tonylee93 View Post

      I would like to stay on the free side of email marketing for now
      There's a problem with this approach, Tony.

      And the longer you do that for, potentially, the bigger the problem becomes.

      You're building a "list" of sorts that you may have great difficulty importing into a real autoresponder in future, and may end up (as so many other Warriors have done) wasting most of it. The reasoning is the same as what's explained in this post: http://www.warriorforum.com/internet...ml#post4171256

      Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

      My own advice about the 'right time' is "before" your website is 'live on the internet'.
      This ^^^^ exactly ... is what I've always done, myself, and will continue to do so with new sites. The answer is "before".
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    I would suggest getting a paid autoresponder as soon as possible... simply because when you are ready to switch, everyone will need to confirm again when you import your list. You are likely to lose most of your list at that point. Aweber is $1 for the first month and $19 after that. It is the most highly recommended around here.

    Amazon is a great way to get started, especially in that niche. When you have more content and are more settled in, you may want to learn about CPA.
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  • Profile picture of the author meltingwaves
    Hola,

    It's really a delicate balance. On one hand, when you start a site and are trying to collect an audience you don't want to be blasting them with ads. But at the same time, if people have not experienced a ton of monetization elements on your site then you don't want to suddenly expose them to a ton. You have to release something, see if they like it, test it, tweak it, get it right, and if it works, that's cool, now go add another.
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    • Profile picture of the author Tonylee93
      Originally Posted by AmandaT View Post

      I would suggest getting a paid autoresponder as soon as possible... simply because when you are ready to switch, everyone will need to confirm again when you import your list. You are likely to lose most of your list at that point. Aweber is $1 for the first month and $19 after that. It is the most highly recommended around here.

      Amazon is a great way to get started, especially in that niche. When you have more content and are more settled in, you may want to learn about CPA.
      Thats true! I hear so many good things about Aweber on the WF! and I think I will look into that as well! Now for CPA Cost Per Action? that seems like something good to learn, if its like getting refferals or something like getting people to click on something I should be able to do good with it. I guess my next step in this process is to keep posting content and valuable content! stuff that is going to get people talking! in the comment section and stuff to fill up the blog!


      Originally Posted by meltingwaves View Post

      Hola,

      It's really a delicate balance. On one hand, when you start a site and are trying to collect an audience you don't want to be blasting them with ads. But at the same time, if people have not experienced a ton of monetization elements on your site then you don't want to suddenly expose them to a ton. You have to release something, see if they like it, test it, tweak it, get it right, and if it works, that's cool, now go add another.
      Your very right about that as well. I find it true that you have to work with it a little everything is a trial and error process, but once you have it right you can go far with it! than rinse and repeat! I think Ill start off with some basic and good recommendations. Maybe make a post series on products that gamers need or enjoy for their gameplay!
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    I'd start with Amazon and including links in your articles. Do reviews of games with links and a little bit about why they should buy from Amazon. Maybe add an Amazon widget on the side. Once you get some content and traffic rolling, start looking into adding CPA into the mix.

    Aweber is really great. Feel free to email me about it if you have questions or concerns... I've been using Aweber for quite a while now.
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  • Profile picture of the author dunshster
    First off it depends on the type of site.

    If its a site built so sell a specific product I always start sites with no ads, I just work on providing good content and making good links. Once I start to rank well in the search engines and get traffic I put up the ads.

    If the site is built to get repeat readers you will want to hold off on the ads for much longer. Such as a niche news website.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Q
    Banned
    Yes there's a right time to it. If you are planning to monetize your blog, you can start putting affiliate links to your blog posts. I would highly suggest that you should do product reviews, because the traffic you are targeting are real buyers. Just take time to setup the website well to please your visitors very well.
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  • Profile picture of the author Melvolio
    I would suggest straight away for Amazon product sites.

    "Why's that?" you're probably not asking. Well, if I visited a site about a particular product and they didn't have some way I could purchase said product I would feel that I'd been given poor customer service.

    A friend of mine has a music review site and he was loathe to add Amazon links to his reviews because he thought it looked spammy, but say you read a review, wanted to buy the album and then had to close the site, go into Amazon, look it up and then purchase it direct. You might not go back to a site that doesn't provide options.

    You want your offers to scream value and be tempting. No matter how old your site, if your customers think that you're too salesy that's a mistake. You're providing a service. I hope.
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  • Profile picture of the author James P
    Personally I would first of all wait until google has indexed all your pages before I added any affiliate links etc. It is well documented the Google hates Affiliate marketers and so care has to be taken especially in the first few weeks that they do not 'blacklist' your site.
    Concentrate on adding value to the reader rather that monetizing at first. I would agree with Amanda T on the use of Aweber for your autoresponder as it will do no harm to have an optin at an early stage, and concentrate on building your list.
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    • Profile picture of the author PatriciaJ
      Originally Posted by James P View Post

      Personally I would first of all wait until google has indexed all your pages before I added any affiliate links etc. It is well documented the Google hates Affiliate marketers and so care has to be taken especially in the first few weeks that they do not 'blacklist' your site.
      I always add affiliate links to my new sites as soon as I add content and Google has indexed the pages and hasn't blacklisted any of my around 40 sites. I think that the blacklist idea is just another myth.

      If I wanted to become an ebay affiliate I would build with content only to comply with what ebay wants before they accept you to their affiliate programme.

      For membership sites I would make sure that there was enough to offer to get people to join and enough ongoing material.

      I think the same as the others for autoresponders, free can lose you money later on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
    Originally Posted by Tonylee93 View Post

    Is there a right time to start adding ads, affiliate programs, memberships, email marketing and more to your website/blog or should you just get them going right away? Some advice would be great!
    My own advice about the 'right time' is "before" your website is 'live on the internet'. Personally I always create a strong and proven website foundation "before" the website is "live" on the internet. This involves a "business plan" and a "technical plan" wherein both plans start with the basics, so that they are easy to modify (beyond the basics) when the market changes. Very important!

    Noticed that you did not mention "Traffic" and in my own experience I have learned to make 'traffic' the number one emphasis in both my Business Plan and Technical Plan. The black ink in my businesses is primarily owed to 'traffic' regardless if the traffic is targeted or not.

    In summary, my best advice based on my own experiences above is to simply have everything prepared "before" your business is online. When I say 'prepared' this means everything does not have to be 'live' - rather 'ready' to go live when needed.

    Jeffery 100% :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
    About the autoresponder (AR). When an online business requires an autoresponder and the budget is too tight for a Paid AR my own advise to my clients is.. GetResponse (GR). GR has a 'Free AR Plan' that can be upgraded to the 'Paid AR Plan' and you do not lose any subscribers or money. Albeit, the Free AR Plan is limited to 100 subscribers and 500 emails monthly. Not sure if Aweber does the same, but it is worth checking.

    Personal Tip > Get real smart on the legalities of email marketing "before" you jump into email marketing.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Jeffery View Post

      the Free AR Plan is limited to 100 subscribers and 500 emails monthly. Not sure if Aweber does the same, but it is worth checking.
      This is a good deal, from GetResponse.

      It doesn't work quite the same way, with Aweber. Their "introductory deal" is limited not in numbers of subscribers but in time: it's $1 for the first month and then $19 per month thereafter. Still, it effectively gives one two months to make $20, so it ought to pay for itself by then.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jeffery
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        This is a good deal, from GetResponse.

        It doesn't work quite the same way, with Aweber. Their "introductory deal" is limited not in numbers of subscribers but in time: it's $1 for the first month and then $19 per month thereafter. Still, it effectively gives one two months to make $20, so it ought to pay for itself by then.
        Agreed because I consider that $20 monthly is a very small part of the budget when starting an online business and I also know from my own experience that my emails to my clients is my biggest money earner.. by far.

        These days I seldom need to use an AR, but that would not be possible if it were not for an AR in the early days.

        Thanks Alexa.
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  • Profile picture of the author canada94
    I would start as you mean to go on, get a good auto responder at the get go, like Aweber for instance, i feel it's really important getting it early so you can build your list, then add adsense when your page is right, but not too many that it overshadows your content.

    Hope this helps


    Kevin
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  • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
    I'm going to tell you to sign up for a real autoresponder ASAP as well (I use Aweber). Even for an amazon affiliate site, your list will be gold... create a 'product X' buyers guide, which is your freebie, and give it away to people who opt-in. Make it high quality and actually helpful, and then you can market other related amazon products to your list in addition to the sales your web pages are generating, not to mention ever-increasing the traffic to your site by letting your subscribers know about new articles you've posted.
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  • Profile picture of the author tjm2788
    I don't think there is anything wrong with monetizing from the outset, or at least have a monetization strategy.
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  • Profile picture of the author jt808
    The best time to monitize is when you find something of value that you want to give your customers that you strongly feel will help them solve a problem and better their lives.

    This will help your success tremendously.

    Cheers,
    Joshua
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  • Profile picture of the author Tonylee93
    I have another question though, instead of jumping into Email marketing right away what about adding a part of your site as a "MemberShip"? Would that be smart to add right away when building a website or blog or do you want to wait until you have a following or readers and than push the membership part of the site?
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  • Profile picture of the author hustlinsmoke
    When I build a site I will usually not monetize it for at least 3 months, sometimes six, why I want it saturated by the search engines first and see how it ranks. This is me, I do not or have not tested it but seems to work very well for me. I do not use adsense, only affiliate links when I do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gerald Arno
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Tonylee93 View Post

    Is there a right time to start adding ads, affiliate programs, memberships, email marketing and more to your website/blog or should you just get them going right away? Some advice would be great!
    I´m adding my ads a few days after I set up my Adsense site. I don´t see any problem with instantly adding your products or opt in to an affiliate site.
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  • Profile picture of the author JerrickYeoh
    Email Marketing need to start once you start your blog or website because you need to generate as much subscribers as you can while they are mostly unique visitors and followers.

    Adding ads , affiliate marketing and membership start only when your business or website start going well and expand large. Don't to rush to push everything in one time.
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