Web Moves Blog

There are several different ways to monetize your blog or site. In this series I’m going to discuss four methods. My aim isn’t to write an exhaustive list, but rather offer you a basic guide. You can use it to compare the proposed business models and then develop a strategy for future web projects — or modify existing ones.

Let’s start with a business model that is suitable to entrepreneurs who want quicker financial compensation for their efforts: fast money making sites.

1. What is this monetization model about?

Fast money making sites and blogs are those created to generate profits as fast as possible (yes, you guessed it). They can either be part of a short term plan or be used to generate passive income for several years.

2. Examples

• MFA (Made For AdSense) sites and blogs
• Mini sites
• BANS (Build A Niche Store) sites

3. Traffic sources

• SEO
• PPC campaigns
• Article marketing
• Paid ads on targeted ezines, blogs and sites
• CraigsList, USFreeAds and other classified sites

4. Typical content

• Superficial or incomplete articles (on MFA blogs and sites)
• Long sales letters and/or squeeze pages (on mini sites)
• Product galleries derived from eBay (on BANS sites)

5. Where does the money come from?

• AdSense (or similar CPC systems)
• Affiliate offers (from individual providers or from networks like Commission Junction and Clickbank)
• Products and services provided by the site’s owner (eBooks, scripts, courses etc.).

6. How it works

In most cases there’s no actual relationship with your visitors. You just induce them to take action — e. g., clicking on ads, buying a product, subscribing to a newsletter — as fast as possible. Hence the scarcity of informative and/or entertaining content. The reasoning behind this is that if you give your visitors everything they need, they won’t have to click on ads and/or buy anything.

In order to maximise results and eliminate distractions, all “superfluous” types of content should be avoided. For instance: a MFA blog is unlikely to need comment forms and “about” pages. Blogrolls should only be used if the links lead visitors to affiliate offers or to other money making sites owned by the blogger.

7. Advantages

• Faster profits help you stay motivated
• This business model is good for generating passive income if you choose search engines as your main traffic sources. After the initial effort put in building and optimising the sites or blogs, they may be able to attract visitors for a long time.
• If a single site proves to be effective but generates limited income, you can easily replicate its model on new sites, building a network that will give you more money.

8. Disadvantages

• These sites can give you a bad reputation. Other webmasters — and many potential clients — will see you as a scammer. Therefore, this isn’t the type of site that you’ll want to link to if you also have a more “serious” web project.
• This business model raises ethical issues. It’s often regarded as misleading and unfair to Internet users.
• Competition is wild. If your competitors find a way to harm your business, you can be sure they will do it. For instance, they could make you be banned from the AdSense program, depending on your practices.

Have you ever tried this business model on your blogs or sites? If you have, how positive (or negative) has the experience been? If you haven’t, would you do it someday? Why? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

Tomorrow I’m going to write about a monetization model that is very different from the fast money making scheme.