Free subscription to Growing Business Magazine

Growing Business, one of the few ‘physical’ magazines out there for UK based entrepreneurs is offering a free annual subscription via its website. I have been a huge fan of this publication for a while now as it covers a wide range of topics relevant to entrepreneurs and startups, and regularly runs interviews with top entrepreneurs such as Stelios, Simon Woodroffe and Sir Alan Sugar. Even if you’re a blogger looking to make money online, the magazine is a great source of inspiration, and may inspire you to flex your entrepreneurial streak in the offline world.

To take advantage of this offer, visit the Growing business website at http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/  and look out for their various banners posted around the homepage advertising the free subscription deal.

Popularity: 31% [?]

Make your own Facebook application to publicise your blog

I have just made my first Facebook application… and it was a lot easier than expected. I used the super-slick site widgetbox.com to first make a widget which displays the output from my RSS feed, which I then converted into a Facebook app. The process was a breeze from start to finish and could turn out to be really useful for publicising nicksmithblogs.com.

To set about making a widget to publicise your blog, you first have to sign up to widgetbox which takes a matter of seconds. You are then asked More »

Popularity: 39% [?]

Monetising a blog from Day 1 - yes or no?

I have been pondering this question for a few days now, ever since I earned my first few pounds through Adsense. Clearly I have been fairly gung-ho with the advertising on this site from quite early on, but is this a bad thing? The general school of thought amongst the blogging community seems to be that there is no point in trying to monetise your blog until you have ’sufficient’ content and a readership base to justify it. This is fairly reasonable I suppose: you’ll never succeed with Pay-Per-Click if you’ve got nobody to click your ads. There are also compelling reasons for not putting up any content-related advertising until there is enough content for Google/Yahoo/whoever to work out what your site’s about.

So why have I decided to keep up so many adverts and affiliate deals on a blog that is only just finding its feet? Here are my top 8 reasons for attempting to monetise a bog from day 1…

1. Readers are readers, whether you have 1, 10 or 1 million. If we treat blog monetisation as a numbers game, then we should also consider the fact that your first visitor is just as likely to click an advert as the 1 millionth (all other things remaining equal), so why miss out on making something from your early visitors?
2. Quality not quantity. If you are blogging in a particularly small niche, you may in fat never get more than a handful of visitors per day, but what you will miss out on in terms of numbers, you make up on with the fact that your adverts are likely to generate more revenue per click. Your targeted readership will also be valuable in terms of selling products specific to your niche through affiliates, so why wait for readers who will probably never come?
3. Getting used to all the systems takes time, and learning to optimise ad positioning etc can take years. Why not start early so that when you eventually do have the large readership you are looking for, you are already up to speed with what works/looks best on your site?
4. It’s important to make mistakes, and you don’t want to make them when you’ve got a readership to entertain. There is every chance that as a blogging virgin you will have some problem along the line with placing advertising within a template, displaying out of context ads or simply getting over zealous with your advert frequency. Making these mistakes is how we become better bloggers, so make them early and get them out of the way. More »

   Popularity: 27% [?]

   Tags: advertising, monetising a blog

A great site to get you making money online

Probably my favorite site at the moment is the fantastic blog written by Adnan and co at blogtrepreneur.com. The site is packed full of useful and insightful articles on creating great content for a blog you wish to monetise in the future. If you’re thinking about starting a blog, whether it’s for fun or as a money-making scheme, I suggest you rifle through their archives.

Recommended posts…

101 resources for online entrepreneurs

Online Entrepreneurs: Assets vs. Services

Website Buying Tips and Insider Secrets

Procrastinattion - Fighting the enemy

Popularity: 17% [?]

Free advertising on this site for a social enterprise

After briefly reviewing my advertising strategy for this page, I have decided to offer a free advertising space in a prime position for a socially conscious startup looking to gain exposure. The prime position in question is one of the 125×125 blocks above and to the right of this post, which appears on every page of this site. Although this blog is just getting going, I have ambitious readership targets, and I would love a business that does some good to share in my future success.

More »

Popularity: 26% [?]

New series of The Apprentice

For those of you living under a rock out there, the new series of the BBC’s Apprentice with Sir Alan Sugar has just started in the UK. It’s on Wednesdays, BBC 1 at 9pm. If you’ve missed it or don’t have a TV, now is a good time to get acquainted with the BBC’s amazing iPlayer service.

Popularity: 18% [?]