Bloggers can make money with ads by selling advertising space to 3rd party advertisers like Google AdSense and Media.net. However, once you have enough traffic and exposure, it makes sense to get direct advertisers to make money with ads.
Difference Between Direct and Indirect Advertising
Direct advertisements means that there is no one between the blogger and the advertiser. The company contacts you directly.
As a blogger, you may want to move away from indirect advertising through Google AdSense account to selling your ad directly to an advertiser. This can prove more fruitful than your Google AdSense earnings. (What is Google AdSense?)
This is mainly because you need to pay a fee to ad networks when you wish to make money with ads. They do the job of finding advertisers for helping you make money with Google AdSense.
The fee for an ad network could range anywhere between 25% to around 40%, so you’d do better with AdSense alternatives for blogger.
- You get more control over pricing, increasing or decreasing it without having to go to Google AdSense (read ad network)
- Obviously, you don’t have to pay a fee, so you get to keep the entire income from the ads. In case of Google AdSense, they keep 32% of the ad income
- You can contact advertisers directly and pitch to them directly to put ads on your website
- Quick and easy payment within three or four days
Minimum Requirements
Advertisers looking for banner ad space will be ready to put ads on your site if you have:
- Minimum 1000 page views a month
- Good engagement with niche audience
- Good search engine position
- Professional looking blog
I don’t think you need any more convincing; so, let’s move on to ways for getting direct ads for blogs.
Simple Ways to Get Direct Advertisements for Your Blog
#1. Put Up an Advertise Page
Use this page to advertise your blog and educate advertisers on the advantages of advertising on your blog. You can present details of your blog traffic and other demographics, the type of audience visiting your blog and so on.
It hardly takes much time to create such a page for online advertising, and it can be a great means of getting ads for my website to earn money.
Don’t forget to mention your Alexa rank; your Google page rank and other important stats that buyers would like to know about.
It is perfectly possible that when you make a blog, one of your own blog readers could be the marketing head of a company, looking out for advertising space for sale. All you need is to have a media kit page explaining the value you can offer, in a single glance.
#2. List in the Marketplace
Ads earn money; so get your blog listed in the marketplace to get direct ads. For instance, you can list in trusted advertising websites, like AdClerks and BuySellAds for starters, to check out niche companies looking out for ad space for rent.
#3. Check Out Competitors’ Blogs to Sell Ad Space on Website
The best place to find companies placing direct ads on your blog is to look at your niche competitors’ blogs. Approach these advertisers or sponsors for direct advertising on your blog.
#4. Meet Brands
How to make money with a blog for beginners? You can find the first advertisers for your blog from mom and pop businesses. You could meet them at conferences and expos or at mixers and fairs where bloggers and vendors meet each other.
Another option is to join a good blogger group, where you can attend events and make your pitch to companies. You can begin by writing for them and then offer advertising space in your blog.
Offer bundles, discounts and three-month packages at a lower cost. Even do a freebie or free advertising space offer, so that they get a taste of what they could earn by advertising on your blog.
#5. Using Google Search
Do a Google search by typing in your blog niche keywords. Check out the companies appearing in the search results and send them emails, offering direct advertising packages.
You can also check out the sponsored links appearing on the right hand part of search results. These are the companies that make payments to Google for a pay per click advertising, so they might like to place an ad in your blog too.
Before you approach such companies to get ads for blogs to earn money, understand their products/services and make sure that it falls within your niche.
#6. Hit the Low Hanging Fruits
Instead of trying to search for advertisers, you can make them come to you. Hit the low hanging fruit, so to speak.
Try to have a good ranking in search engines; a good readership; and advertisers will naturally be attracted like bees to the honeypot.
Don’t include pricing on the page, as it could fluctuate. You can send the pricing by email.
Making the Move
Moving from Google AdSense to direct advertising could prove daunting to begin with. For instance, you might wonder what you should charge, how to track the clicks and how to attract advertisers. You could also try a mix of direct ads as well as ad networks, to begin with.
There are many plugins like OIOpublisher and others that you can use for managing and tracking your direct ads. But once you get started, it could be a solid way of bringing in double the revenue to your blog. PPC campaigns with ads placed on your site are a great means to buy traffic as well, especially when they are well designed and placed strategically.
Begin with smaller brands for direct advertising and start low to begin with, even around $1 a month for a small ad of 125×125. It will help build your credentials. One of my friends began at $1 and then slowly moved on to a solid offer of $150 a month within a few months.
Why not start your direct ad campaign right now? You could be up and running within no time at all.