Moving From Online Hobby to Online Business
So you love to tinker around online…that’s great. You have a few affiliate accounts, may have set up Adsense, but the income is not flowing like it should. This might be due to a lack of motivation to expand, or you just aren’t aware of the plethora of opportunities available online to make money. There’s nothing wrong with Adsense – millions, probably billions have been made from this program. You simply need a little more guidance and instruction. Let’s jump right in.
I want to address the people who are motivated to build up their site…but are running into problems monetizing it. If you’re still dealing with the wherewithal to set down the PS3…please read my previous posts first:
Set Time Aside to Ask the Right Questions: Assuming you’re dedicated to your site…no matter what the theme is, it’s time to put the business hat on. Take 15 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour – whatever you prefer – to start asking yourself how much income you need and expect to earn from your hobby (website). If you want to pay yourself hourly, than total up how much time your currently putting into it and agree on a total. It doesn’t really matter. The decision is yours.
Set Deadlines & Obtainable Tasks: Instead of being open ended on how much time you spend working…start allocating your day towards important jobs. Remember your running a business now, Ok? 
For example, let’s say you’re a blogger and it normally takes you three hours to post because of other distractions getting in the way. Try to cut out unnecessary functions and reduce the length in half. Take the valuable time you saved and put it towards researching ways to monetize your site, contacting advertisers…etc. Make a calender of what really needs to be done to your site…and important tasks that need to be completed every day.
Build a Monetization Plan: Again, this involves asking the right questions. Who is viewing my site? Are they spending enough time to view advertisements? Is my site ad compatible (how will you place the ads on your site.) Let me build a mock up plan for you:
Task # 1: If you’re using Word Press (or another CMS) make sure you have the right plug-ins and widgets installed to handle ad placement. In the case of a custom site, get with your programmers (if you didn’t code it) and let them know what your plans are. Basically, make sure the house is ready for guests.
Task # 2 – Determine where you want to place the ads. In the case you are using a CMS, most of them are flexible in allowing you to change ad positions rather seamlessly. Make sure your decision is based on research of what placement is best. The advertiser will most likely have an opinion on this.
Task # 3 – Finding the right advertisers means you need have a solid knowledge of whats happening on your site. What visitors have you been targeting? What are the demographics of your traffic base? Most of these questions can be answered, you just need to know where to find the information. Start with getting your site Quantified – sign up for an account at Quantcast.com (parts of this tool are membership based)…really cool site demographic tool. This allows you to see some deep & strategic audience data. The better information your potential advertisers have, the more likely they will make the decision to place ads on your site. You can also use Alexa.com which is a free site info tool as well.
Task # 4 – Build a list of places to look for advertisers. The best way to go about this is to sign up with a credible ad network. Some good ad networks include: TextLinksAds.com, AdBrite.com, CasaleMedia.com (if you think you’re ready to play with the big boys), ValueClick.com. Start out by Googleing “ad networks.” This should give you good list to start. Create accounts on all of these networks (sign up as a publisher) and began to understand their process of accepting advertisers.
Continue to Expand Your Site (Business): Since your website is now moving from hobby to business…you have to realize its time to keep growing. Look for other niches to expand into…if your site is a blog – leverage your existing site by starting another blog. I know this is easier said then done…but once you capture a set of advertisers, and they are happy with the results, it will be easier to entice them to partner with you on other projects. The goal is to keep growing, so you don’t be come stagnic; without spreading yourself too thin.
Using the above recommendations…do an audit of your site, and let us know here at MetaFever how things progress. I’m looking forward to hearing from you!
