Comments on: How Bloggers Should Set Advertising Rates

By: Aisleen

Aisleen — Fri, 25 Mar 2024 01:40:24 +0000

Thanks Jason,

It’s all quite daunting at the moment, but I’m sure we’ll get there in
the end!

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 24 Mar 2024 14:01:01 +0000

Aisleen, I think it is a great idea to get prepared for advertising before you actually do it. Work on a Sales page and where you will be willing to place links. This way you can speak confidently with potential advertisers.

By: Aisleen

Aisleen — Thu, 24 Mar 2024 10:34:14 +0000

Hey, thanks for this – we were just discussing this the other day! We’ve had quite a few emails requesting advertising space over the last few months but at the moment we’re not quite ready for that . We’ve got a few developments that need done to the blog first so we’ve just had to say that advertising isn’t available ‘yet’! But we’ve been racking our brains as to how much to charge when the time comes in order for both parties to be satified. It’s all very exciting and I’m looking forward to getting to the point where we are properly up and running!

By: Giulia

Giulia — Fri, 11 Feb 2024 00:15:11 +0000

I never received any advertizing offer, but sometimes I thought about it, and in case I got one I wouldn’t know how much to charge.
I will keep your suggestions in mind Thank you!

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 05 Jan 2024 03:12:43 +0000

You are right Stuart, text links are primarily based on PR, but I include PR as part of my blog’s increased performance. For many just starting out your PR can increase dramatically in the first year, as did mine. That’s where I am glad I didn’t lock in year long text link contracts at a price fit for a PR of 2. I still understand your opinion, but I think my strategy still warrants to be shared with everyone as an alternative option.

By: stuart

stuart — Mon, 03 Jan 2024 22:37:40 +0000

Sure, I’m all for bucking the standard if you can get it to work for you. It’s worth noting though, that to a lot of paid link buyers, your traffic is actually irrelevant (they’re just buying PR in an attempt to game Google), so your idea that higher traffic brings more traffic to their site isn’t even entering into their buying strategy. If a link buyer isn’t willing to have their links marked as “nofollow” then all they’re after is PR and you’re likely wearing a Google penalty for selling the links – but that’s a topic for a whole other post!

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 03 Jan 2024 17:11:26 +0000

I think we each have to apply business principles that we feel comfortable with. I am not comfortable with being content just because something is considered the standard. I wouldn’t be running a blog if I did. There are benefits to both approaches on pricing. To me, the rest is not money for nothing. An advertiser books with a blogger based on their “performance”. The pay is often determined by that performance. I continue to work hard every week to improve my blog’s performance. If our performance increases I charge more. I like to compare it to a professional athlete. If a player is hot and there are high expectations a 7-year contract might look like this:

Annual base salary – $10 million (2011), $13 million (2012), $16 million (2013), $20 million (2014), $21 million (2015), $21 million (2016), $21 million (2017). In addition there are bonus incentives for milestone performances.

My expectations are that my website’s performance will continue to grow, providing greater benefit to an advertiser over the length of the contract. I view it in terms of months instead of years. In my opinion they should pay for that expected increased performance. If they aren’t willing to pay for the increased cost, then we just stick to month to month deals, which are not too challenging for me to manage considering this blog is still small. Booking a long term contract at a cost that might bite you in the butt later can be frustrating.

My goal with this article is to offer people another alternative to pricing structures. They can ultimately make the decision themselves concerning what works best for them, but I don’t think we can just sweep it under the bed because it’s not a standard today.

By: Stuart

Stuart — Mon, 03 Jan 2024 11:30:14 +0000

Discounts for longer term contracts are a standard and I’m not surprised you’ve had advertisers walk away. Assumming the ad placement doesnt require ongoing work then, broadly speaking, the first month covers “your effort” and the rest is money for nothing. Essentially in expecting an advertiser to pay a premium for a longterm contract is akin to having your cake and eating it too.

By: Wade | VagabondJourney.com

Wade | VagabondJourney.com — Fri, 17 Dec 2024 15:41:30 +0000

This is truly excellent advice. Especially when there are so many bloggers in this niche selling advertising for next to nothing, which makes it vastly more difficult for all of us to make a living.

Communication like this between big travel bloggers is truly needed, thanks for opening up this dialog.

By: eat-laugh-love-anon

eat-laugh-love-anon — Thu, 25 Nov 2024 08:15:00 +0000

Thanks again Jason! My adoring fan feelings just tripled!

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 25 Nov 2024 00:44:42 +0000

It is an incredible amount of work, but like many challenging goals, it’s always possible. rtwdave and NomadicMatt, both top travel bloggers, have shared their earnings and it’s never from 1 travel blog website and its never from just blogging. I will write our next article on this. Blogging is simply a launch enabler for other products.

By: eat-laugh-love-anon

eat-laugh-love-anon — Wed, 24 Nov 2024 04:34:20 +0000

Fantastic information. I am just starting out, am totally clueless but hoping build an online income over the next 18 months so we can travel the world with our little one. I’m so grateful to find a site that discusses the how-tos. Thanks so much Jason! (Feeling a bit depressed at disocvering your site though, it looks fantastic and very informative, which shows me how much work I have ahead of me.)

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 20 Nov 2024 23:31:23 +0000

Glad we could help Joya. I think it helps us to discuss monetizing our blogs openly, sharing ideas so we can all benefit.

By: Joya

Joya — Sat, 20 Nov 2024 19:09:43 +0000

Thanks for this post! I have had my blog for over a year and want to get started with advertising but had no idea where to start. I’m looking forward to reading more of your blog!

By: Ant Stone

Ant Stone — Wed, 17 Nov 2024 23:51:25 +0000

I would offer a cheaper monthly price for a 12-month contract.

I’d rather have the security of an upfront payment from a good customer for 12-months, than concern myself with renewals.

I see where you’re coming from, but for me it wouldn’t work out. Like most things in this world, the more you’re prepared to pay upfront, the better the deal.

Traffic growth is a fair point, but as long as you don’t sell too cheaply I think the investment from advertisers will be one of the things that drives a site’s success anyway.

By: Jason

Jason — Mon, 15 Nov 2024 16:01:49 +0000

Congratulations Lachlan, that’s what we need to be doing. It’s a tough choice, but we can benefit in the end.

By: Tawny

Tawny — Mon, 15 Nov 2024 15:37:54 +0000

Thanks for the great advice! I just started blogging and this kind of real, raw information is invaluable.

By: Lachlan McWilliam

Lachlan McWilliam — Mon, 15 Nov 2024 07:27:27 +0000

Great article. I agree. I recently knocked back a 12 month deal as they wouldn’t budge on price nor go for a monthly contract. I said i anticipate my traffic growing…
Cheers

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 13 Nov 2024 04:12:17 +0000

Hey Michael, no worries, I promise this article was not inspired by your email. As an independent travel blogger, you need market your product and network, trying to get as much free exposure as possible. I would have done exactly what you did, hoping that some people would promote the product for me.

I have decided that we won’t do any free marketing or promotion based on the unbelievable number of requests we get to do it. If there is an affiliate program tied to it, then I consider it, because the investment of my time is being paid for, hopefully. But, again, as someone selling a product, it’s their job to try to sell it. It’s my job to try to get them to pay me for my time. It’s normal business practice, that hasn’t yet become normal in the blogging world, but we are working on it. Good luck with your project!

By: Jason

Jason — Sat, 13 Nov 2024 03:55:18 +0000

Mark, you are absolutely right about there being a benefit with 12-month contracts. It’s less work, and provides more financial security. And for a mature blog that has hit a plateau, rates won’t be increasing as fast as a new blog’s rates. I am not against 12-month contracts, I just want to be sure I get paid a fair price. And that fair price takes into account, my future increased traffic.