Over the last year, a switch happened in the blogosphere. People with influence have stopped working for nothing. I think this is only fair.

Looking at the signs, I initially thought this was a trend occurring within the design and women blogosphere. This way until I read two posts written by social media consultants that were saying that if you want their time you will have to pay what it is worth. Chris Brogan wrote a post about his Price points. Then, Taylor Ellwood explained Why I no longer do Free in my business.

How it Applies to the Design and Women Blogosphere?

I think that bloggers who write about products, stores and restaurants should take notes. With all the brands pitching us stuff that suit their agenda, it comes a time when we have to say “this is enough”. Otherwise, how we can expect to make a living from blogging. I think beyond the banner ads as a monetizing technique.

Take for example, the sales alerts and store events. I receive many emails every week from retailers about these topic alone. But announcing a sale or another promotional event is a form of advertisement that the retailer should pay for. Why not have a classified section or published a (clearly marked) sponsored post once a week announcing the sales?

I suggest you reexamine what you are willing to do for free and think about how much you could charge for certain services. I am talking about services like giveaways, contests, sale alerts, and announcements. These are straight-forward marketing tactics that I feel brands should pay a fee to bloggers if they want some type of coverage.

So, what do you think? Do you charge for these services?

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With the time it takes to run a blog, it is normal than more and more bloggers are looking at ways to make a living with their blog. I often meet people who asked me for advices on blog advertising at parties and conferences. To keep things simple, I will just review the basics of ad banners on this post.

The most frequent questions people asked me are: “How much traffic do I need?”, “Should I start with small advertisers?”, “Go for the big names?”, “How much should I charge?”. These are excellent questions but I will step back and ask “How much time and effort can you put on finding advertisers?”. Do you want to sell direct or to be part of an ad network? The answer is that you may want to do both initially since you probably do not have the traffic and human resources to attract big name advertisers on your own. Keep your options open by staying clear of an exclusive agreement.

Things to Consider

A fixed rate per month is the easiest way to start. Set up a rate structure based on how many ad positions you are allowing per page. Do not aim too low. A button at $50 a month is easy to sell but you will need plenty to make a living. If you prefer a cleaner look with less ads per page, this means you need to charge more per ad to make a living. Premium spots (meaning above the fold) are worth the most.

Ad sizes influence the type of advertisers who will attract. Do your blog template supports the 300×250 ad unit which is the most seeks by big name advertisers? Click here for my post on the most popular ad units. But if your blog focuses on local content, favoring local shops may be the best way for you to go. To fit their smaller budget, you need smaller ad units.

If you sell ads directly, get an ad server. Hardcoding the ads on your blog while managing the schedule is not efficient. To diminish the set up tasks, request a minimum booking of 3 months for small ads and request each month to be paid in advance through your Paypal account. If they prepay in one installment, give them a small discount.

As a publisher, I aim for ad visuals that will not hurt my brand. In fact, this is the reason I got rid of Google Adwords on At Home. The low quality of the ads on the Google Adwords inventory for my niche (home, design, food) meant that I had to constantly block ads. On the other hand, I am happier with the ad quality that Google Adwords generally delivers on On the Web. As you see, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

What to Do Next?

Make a media kit where you highlight your niche, describe your audience, give traffic statistics, and the ad positions on your site with the rates. Advertisers will request that. I also publish an Advertising with Us page on my blog with a summary of the advertising opportunities I offer and how to contact me.

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I attended the launching party of a special Webisode series last night. It is special for two reasons. First, this is the adaptation of a mom blog chronicles. Caroline Allard did not imagined when she started her first mom blog in 2006 that it will lead to an award-winning book and now a Webisode series. On top of that, her second book is fresh from the press.

The second reason is that the Webisodes are presented via the Web site of a major TV channel in Canada, Radio-Canada. It is really an accomplishment that the traditional media does an adaptation from the content of a blog. The Webisodes are played by professional actors.

The Webisode series is called Les Chroniques d’une Mère Indigne. Caroline Allard uses humor to talk about her ups and downs of motherhood. Caroline started her blog because she had enough of the perfect mother image that the society seems to impose these days.

The launch was a success. We watched 3 episodes. The series contains 9 episodes of 3 minutes each. The Web series is well-done. If you understand French, I strongly suggest that you go check Les Chroniques d’une
Mère Indigne on Radio-Canada. You do not have to be a parent to laugh or enjoy the depicted situations.

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If you are serious about attracting advertisers and sponsors, start by keeping a writing schedule. Consistency is important to build traffic. You wish to create a routine with your readers. Establish a schedule that is compatible with your agenda. The more you post, the more pages views you will get.

Ideally, you should aim to publish at set time. I am not there yet. With WordPress, you can schedule in advance the date and time a post will be published. Try to always keep a few posts in backup for when you are too busy.

One advantage for bloggers in the women and mom category is that advertisers wish to connect to women. This is because women are responsible for most of the shopping in a household. We are in the best position to attract advertisers and are often asked for product reviews.

Be Picky with Your Reviews

In fact, brands solicit women and mom blogs for product reviews at an increasing rate. That is why you should be coherent and carefully select the products you will write about. Think about what your brand stands for and if the product fits well within that identity.

Take At Home with Kim Vallee. It is a collection of things I like. Negative reviews won’t fit within my concept. Therefore, the merchants send me the products without any guarantee of a coverage. Even if I like the product, I may never talk about it. They cannot interfere with what, when or if I will talk about something. I published a simple policy on my At Home blog. I encourage you to write your own.

It is important for bloggers to maintain a separation between editorial content and advertising. You wish to preserve the trust and credibility you build with your readers. Remember that you can only be an influencer if people trust what you say. It is not just your traffic but also your power as an influencer that attracts the right advertisers to your site.

Let’s watch my session.

Learning from Two Podcasters who Monetized their Shows

Matt Campagna and Anastasia Tubanos gave an excellent session on how to be considered a legitimate media. They talked about how to make money with a podcast. One of the income sources that grab my attention is sponsorship. For example, sponsored events would fit within the scope of my At Home with Kim Vallee brand.

March 10th, 2009 update: what was original intended to be part 4 was the question period. The participants did not a micro so we do not hear well their questions, so I decided to not publish it

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The Gazette about the latest initiative of Tourisme Montreal to promote the city. They wish to hire on a part-time basis bloggers as ambassador to cover what is happening in Montreal.

This great initiative generated bad comments about bloggers being paid for hiring. Let’s make some facts very clear. The bloggers will not blog on their blog. They will publish their text, photos and videos on their dedicated page on Tourisme Montréal’s website.

I suspect Sid Lee with Tourisme Montreal wanted to reach to bloggers because we know how to write engaging stories. They also expect these ambassadors to talk about it in social media. Basically, they will be do the job of a Community Manager, which as far as I know is a real job position for which people are being paid at companies.

Blogger Recognition

What this initiative by Tourisme Montreal / Sid Lee proves is that the skills of bloggers are being recognized. Bloggers are writers who know how to navigate within social networks.

Most bloggers blogs as an hobby. This means the average bloggers earn their living doing something else. Many will like to make a living out by doing what they basically do when blogging or podcasting. Monetizing is the hottest topic for sessions at the upcoming PodCamp Toronto 2009. And yes, I believe blogging come become a profession (although my business model is based on advertising, not paid content).

But for the moment what Tourisme Montreal is looking for are Community Managers to cover 5 lifestyle scenes. They made the mistake of using the proper job designation. Something it does not work to try to be cool!

To close my argument, I invite you to watch the insightful comment by Todd Lucier.

+ More details on Marketing Mag

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