I’ve mentioned previously that this blog was never intended as a tool to generate advertising, sponsorship or affiliate income. I said at the time that the only way I would have any kind of paid ads here, was if it was for a product I use, love and endorse.
On review, I have decided not to take those ads either – In fact, no paid advertising of any kind!
Why?
Advertising and sponsorships can be great business models for a blog, when done correctly; but they are inappropriate for what I am trying to achieve here. Advertisers have been attracted to me because of the tremendous level of interaction here between my readers and myself. For example, my last post currently has over 200 comments.
This shows the kind of connection between a blog and its readers that advertisers love AND it is also the EXACT reason why this blog will NEVER carry paid advertising or sponsorships!
jimsmarketingblog.com IS a commercial blog, but its commercial value to me, is that it allows me to connect with more people, through my work. It does this extremely well and I get enquiries every day from people, who want to find out more about how I can help them and their business achieve great sales results.
So, whilst I am VERY pro advertising and sponsorship – as you can see, it’s just not appropriate for what I am trying to achieve with this blog.
Thanks for taking time to read this. Please feel free to let me know what you think.
Thats a good rule to follow Jim. Because you are not selling anything or provide a ton of banner ads, you will probably continue to receive feedback on your blog. Its nice to go to a post and not get his with a ton of ‘buy this’ ‘you can make millions here’.. blah blah. If I want to, I’ll visit those sites myself.
From our conversation earlier, I have to agree with you on your decision not to put ads on this site. For you it wouldn’t make sense.
I actually learned something from you that hopefully I can take with me as a fairly new blog owner. Bring Tweets into your blog. Thanks for taking the time to write this post.
John,
Thanks . For blogs that set out to deliver great free content, supported by advertisements, the model can be VERY effective. It’s just a bad mix for this particular blog.
Sales,
Glad you found it useful – thanks!
Bravo Jim! The new world of Web 2.0 is forcing everyone to reevaluate the “traditional” ad model.
Radio, TV, and newspapers are struggling to survive because their users have become overloaded with advertising messages, and have finally screamed ENOUGH!
Thank you for taking the lead by showing people that there are other ways to survive and thrive without being bombarded with ads.
Kevin,
As you pointed out, there are a number of ways to make a website or blog generate income – advertising and sponsorships are just two of them. Thanks.
As usual, you present absolutely top quality information. That is truly priceless.
Thanks Jim for key idea: to connect with more people, through my work…
Jim, you are an encouragement – thank you! I am a marketing guy and I understand the reasons for advertising. At the same time, we are so bombarded with ads that it quite refreshing to have a clean site with just pure content. Thanks for giving us a safe haven from all the clutter!
Noble of you, but some of us puppies don’t mind selling out a bit. If you get any bites of the canine variety, send them along… we’ll probably say anyway, but sure is nice to be asked!
Some great comments here – thanks!
true. its a networking site amongst itself really. no monetizing traditionally. how many paid clients have you acquired via Twitter? and or your blog?
Matt,
I acquired two new clients last week via the blog.
Oh good, so then I don’t have to pay you for this mention of (***), Jim:-)
Shameless, I know.
You’re the best!!!
Kelli,
It also means I can strip adverts out of comments!!
On a more serious note:
You know they way YOU feel about people who place spammy comments in blogs? That’s how everyone else feels too! It’s also why they not only don’t help you make sales, but hurt your reputation.
Kelli above was just kidding around by the way – She’s great!
Hi there Jim,
I consider this decision to be a very important one because ads can play a big role on a blog and it can push readers away or make them come in higher numbers and thus making you money
.
But judging by the number of comments you get you don’t have any problems with traffic and I’m sure that you have enough clients also.
Even I, who have few traffic, get at least one client at two weeks from my blog.
I support your decision on this and wish you all the best : by that I mean to create a really big and strong community and get some clients also from this.
Cheers.
I think this is great, Jim. I’m a new subscriber, but have been very impressed with your content and your ‘policies’ There’s nothing better than a clean site with useful, easy to find info. Thanks!
Kelly,
It’s interesting how many people have mentioned that this blog looks clean or uncluttered – because of the lack of ads.
I think some blogs have so many different flashing banners and boxes and gizmos that it detracts from the actual content.
Kevin, I totally agree.
Traditional advertising logic would have this blog and many others covered in ads.
Traditional = trying to create more revenue out of less space for owners of the media
Non-traditional = trying to create more engagement and value for consumers of the media
This makes a lot of sense, based on its purpose. For the blog I’m linked to here, since it’s my business blog, the only advertising I have on it is Adsense and my own products. I’ve thought about removing the Adsense, but truthfully most of the ads are things that I believe my readers might be interested in checking out, so I’m leaving it for now. Everyone has to define their purpose for their blogs. Now, my other blogs,… marketing myself silly! lol
Mitch, do you earn much from adsense? Seems like the negative branding would outway the potential earnings
No, I don’t make a lot of money from Adsense on the blog; very little, to tell you the truth. It’s not really the point of it, though. I know people who have seen something they liked while reading one of my posts, and they go there.
Mitch and Simon make some interesting points here.
I think the irony is that many blogs that have a lot of advertising actually make very little money.
The problem is that unlike Mitch, very few blog owners seem to admit it. (Kudos Mitch!)
I think if a blogs primary aim is to generate advertising revenue, you need to start off with that in mind and then find the most elegant way to get those ads used.
This means driving targeted visitors to the blog and then making it as attractive and easy as possible for people to see relevant product links.
Easier said than done; which is why you can buy ads so cheap even on ‘a-list’ bloggers blogs.
TO EVERYONE WITH A BLOG COVERED IN ADVERTISEMENTS / AFFILIATE CRAP:
People are not dumb! We not only think these blogs look cheap, we know we are being sold to and therefore we dont trust what you say.
Take a leaf outta Jims blog. No ads here yet hes making BANK and has more comments than most a-listers.
In the week where Chris Brogan sold his reputation and credibility to kmart for a five hundred bucks sponsorship, it’s nice to see someone with standards. Props to you Jimbo!
A lot of this depends on the blog, surely? Many blogs thrive on adverts and many marketing ‘gurus’ will tell you that you need to have affiliate links and ads to make it big.
Personally, they make me cringe, but someone’s obviously making a lot of money out of them.
I admire your point of view. You’re one of the few individuals who are truly using blogs as a way to connect with clients and other talented people in cyberworld, rather than selling out. One of my mentors always said to me, “Do what you love and the money will follow.” Go Jim!
I have a little owl on mine from http://www.adfreeblog.org/ that makes me happy whenever I see it. I don’t put Ad’s on mine for the same reason, and it reminds me of that.
Another fine post. Don’t mind the advertising but sometimes it is way to much.
Hi Jim: I have a couple of affiliate products on my blog but they’re products that I use and find tremendously helpful. I had adsense for awhile but I took it down about three months ago because I just didn’t feel right about having those ads on my site. Every blog has a different purpose and it’s important to take that purpose into account when deciding if and/or how to monetize.
I admire your integrity. I agree. My affiliate ads are products I use, I’ve bought, and feel comfortable recommending. I do use ads though, but I try to keep them down to a minimum. People aren’t stupid. They know the money has to come from somewhere. Done tastefully and to the minimum, ads can work–where the setting is appropriate.
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