I stopped selling banner ads on this blog over a year ago because I didn’t feel I could give the advertisers their money’s worth. The click-through rate (CTR) was always super low and it didn’t seem to matter what image or ad was displayed. That’s why this site is third-party banner free, not because I don’t want your money.

I have also been a blog banner advertiser for years now. I have advertised various sites, programs and products using banner ads on blogs and websites. For the most part, I hate to say this, they have failed miserably. I could just be very bad at banner advertising but I think blog banner advertising probably isn’t the best use of our advertising budget. Sure, it’s relatively inexpensive unless you are going after the really large sites and design and setup are a breeze.

I haven’t given up yet. I have several banner advertisements running on a few blogs right now and I’m determined to make banner advertising work. I will stop all current campaigns and try smarter ad practices.

Blog Banner Advertising Challenges

Challenge #1: There are several challenges to running banner advertisements on a blog. First of all, the layout. We all love our beautiful blog themes but most of us have become immune to the 125 pixel banners grouped in that right sidebar with one or two larger banners. Yes, bloggers get banner blindness very quickly.

Solution:
Contact the blogger directly and ask if you can advertise on a particular, upcoming blog post that will be relevant. Ask if your banner ad can be embedded into the post it’s self, the same way we do for our own ads from time to time. For example, a banner ad designer promotion would fit nicely with this post. This obviously takes more effort but I believe it will pay off.

Challenge #2: The second challenge is the ad getting stale. Most blogs sell banner ads by the month yet in the video below Mike Blinder says, “If it goes stale it will fail”. Referring to banner ads he says online ads die after nine days.

Solution:
This can be corrected if the ad image remains on your server and in your control. We can update the image on the fly without waiting to renew the ad. The links will stay the same but we are in control of the image and landing page. Weekly changes and lots of testing are the solution I think.

Your Thoughts? Do you offer banner advertising? Are they selling? Are they effective? Do you buy banner ads? Is banner advertising dead?

Ok, many of us have been fighting the same battle for a very long time. The battle… Too many projects – not enough time. We start a blog or website and just as things start getting interesting we start another. And another. The next thing we know we’re up till two in the morning everyday trying to keep up. That battle can only be won if we know what we’re up against. Below shows how a single blog post can take up to five hours or more.

1. 2 Hours: The first step to any post is deciding what to write about. It is impossible to put a time on that step. Once we have our subject we need to consider our keywords. A little keyword research goes a long way. Now we draw up an outline and begin to form the post. We sometimes go to a dozen or more sites checking details and researching facts. We also need to decide which posts are relevant enough to link out to. Once we have the outline in order it’s time to check sentence structure, spelling and punctuation. Having someone proofread your article helps a lot. Now we’re almost ready. All we need now is an image. Searching for that perfect image that we are allowed to use can take a lot of time. So we publish our post. If you are anything like me you just spent at least two hours of your time on this single post. But we are not finished investing time on this blog post.
2. 1 Hour: Now it’s promotion time. The post needs to be pinged, dugg, and tweeted. We need to add the post to our Facebook and FriendFeed. We need to add the post to the best blog directories and build backlinks. If we really want success we write a couple of separate unique articles to submit to article directories linking back to our post.
3. 2+ Hours: Hopefully we’ll get a bunch of comments to moderate and reply to. We clean up the spam and moderate the rest. We need to follow the link back to each blogger that commented and return the favor. Here’s where many of us get very distracted. Reading posts and comments, following links and commenting more. I’ve lost many hours here.

I have heard some bloggers say they can toss up a post in twenty minutes. I envy them. What about you? Do you spend a lot of time on a single post? How many blogs are you running and how often do you post?

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spaunsglo/ / CC BY 2.0

I’m happy to announce the official takeover of HotBlogTips.com by Keith Bloemendaal

Last week I posted Who Wants To Run HotBlogTips.com? and Keith decided to take the challenge and he is more than qualified. Keith has experience in business and blogging and he has the drive that most of us just think about. I’m very excited about the new HotBlogTips.com and to see what Keith does with it. He has already done more than the previous admin did in six months but that guy was a slacker

Keith has full control of the blog and can do anything he wants with it. I decided to hand over the blog and just keep ownership of the domain. Keith agreed to keep a link on the blog to my online consulting site but other than that it’s his baby.

Just as a side note, in case anyone is wondering, Keith is not going to build that blog up just to get stuck paying me a bunch of money or worse later. I agreed to sell the domain to Keith anytime he wants to buy it at the value it was the day he took it over which, as we all know, is ten thousand dollars …. just kidding. I don’t even know honestly, but I’m not going to do him wrong. He’s doing me a favor by freeing up some time and easing my stress level a bit.

So please, stop by and visit the new HotBlogTips.com, comment on a couple posts and don’t forget to subscribe. You can’t go wrong because it’s a great blog on it’s way to the top. You can also follow Hot Blog Tips on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Does anyone out there know of a single blog directory worth having their badge on your site? A directory that you actually get traffic from? Of all the blog directories I’ve joined over the years I can only find one back link (that Google knows about) to this blog. That directory is New-List. I joined New-List in September of 2006 and I can’t see any way to edit that outdated URL. I virtually get no traffic from blog directories – ZERO! I have removed every badge and widget from this site with the exception of Blog Engage. Blog Engage isn’t really a blog directory, it’s more of a blog article review site. It’s very cool, check it out.

BlogCatalog:
BlogCatalog is what set me off on this rant so it’s going to seem like a ‘pick on BlogCatalog post‘. My BlogCatalog concerns started a year ago when I spent $72 on two ads. The results? Total visitors = 7

Then a few months ago I was having problem with my blog freezing up whenever I went to it – and I have broadband internet and my site is cached! I could see the browser message on the bottom showing, “Waiting for BlogCatalog.com“. I had to remove the widget and put their silly code in the footer.

No big deal,  I figured, at least they still have that broadcast feature. That’s a very cool tool, right? You would think, until you ran a couple tests.

August 25th, 2009 I sent a message broadcasting to 381 BlogCatalog users promoting my blog post ‘Get Featured With Our Promotional Buttons‘. I used my tracking site to create a tracking link. The result? Zero clicks!

October 17th, 2009 I sent a message broadcasting to 385 BlogCatalog users with a fantastic subject line, ‘AdSense Site – First Month = One Hundred Dollars‘. Tracking result? One click!

I’ve been a BlogCatalog member since November 2006 and even wrote a blog post on how great blog directories are a while back. Now I think it’s time to part ways, just like Entrecard.

MyBlogLog:
While I’m at it, I’m going to get rid of MyBlogLog too. MyBlogLog has never been that great and even though they are run by Yahoo the site seems very unorganized to say the least. I’ve had thumbnails waiting to be updated for over a year – literally. Check it out.

I’m Not Alone:
I know I’m not the only one becoming discouraged with blog directories lately. See what Sheryl Loch had to say over a week ago: Has BlogCatalog Gone Down Hill? And check out what John Sullivan thinks about Blogcatalog. I love John and his subtle way of expressing himself lol Blogcatalog An open letter to you

Pulling Back To Ease The Pain:
I don’t mean to come off as blog directory basher. There may be some good ones out there. There may be hidden benefits with the ones I listed. Please let me know if I’ve missed something before I burn the bridges. I hold no grudge or ill will to any of these directories, it can’t be an easy task to run a profitable directory while staying on top of everything. Remember BlogRush? (BTW, how does BlogRush still have a Google PR of 4 when it’s been shut down for the last year? Hardly seems fair)

So I’ll ask it again…
Does anyone out their know of a single blog directory worth having their badge on your site? (feel free to leave links) Am I off base here? Are you making blog directories work for you?

I’m not going to rehash all the news today about the guidelines released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If you’ve been asleep and missed it see ‘Potential FTC Fines Raise Big Blogging Questions‘.

Most of what I’ve read today is a lot of strong concerns and objections on the matter. When it comes to the Government we tend to immediately distrust the decisions and I’m no exception. But I would like to explain why I feel hopeful when it comes to online marketing.

If the internet’s overall reputation regarding advertising is cleaned up and consumer confidence improves we all win. If old Uncle Ed decides to trust the net enough now to buy a few Christmas presents online this year every online business gets a little boost in credibility.

It’s not only the scammers that have been hurting the net and internet marketing in general. It’s all of the marketers that push products based on the profit margin and/or affiliate commission rather than the actual value it provides the customer. You see these guys blasting emails every single day offering something different with each mailing. It would be great if some of this disappears. All they have to do at this point is disclose the fact they profit from the sale. Wouldn’t it be nice if they had to actually believe in and use every product promoted? Yes, I’m a marketer and it sounds like I’m against marketing but it’s just the opposite. I love this industry and would love to see it cleaned up. I posted a little on the matter about two weeks ago ‘Brian D. Hawkins – A Name You Can Trust‘.

I usually keep opinion based posts for my personal blog but decided to share this one with my marketing and blogging friends. Speaking of friends, stop by ExtremeJohn.com and read his opinion on the subject. He hits the nail right on the head – ‘Bullshit Review Bloggers Time to Get Honest‘.

It seems that a good number of bloggers seem to be under the impression that one path to success is to follow the guru ghost. If that’s your blogging business model keep reading.

The truth is most of what you read on those mega blogs is outsourced content written by hired writers. That doesn’t mean the content isn’t worth reading and learning from. What it does mean if you are following and commenting in hopes of getting the guru’s attention your chances are slim and none. Take a look at their comments sections and notice how little they even take the time to respond to their commenters.

This post isn’t to attack the blogging gurus, I just want to clear up the misconception that your blogging success depends on them. Quite the contrary, your success depends on developing relationships with other bloggers within your niche and interest. As a blogger, success can be measured in many ways but I’m referring to traffic, comments and money earned.

Blogging is a two-way street and most mega bloggers quit that game long ago. How many of these gurus have emailed you or even taken two seconds to comment on your blog? How many have clicked the link to check your site out?

I’m not going to attack John Chow but he is very well known so I’ll use his blog as an example. One of his featured posts, How I Make $40,000 a Month From a Blog, currently has 191 comments. Out of that only 10 are John Chow’s replies. I’m not saying he’s doing anything wrong, I’m saying you are more than likely wasting your valuable time commenting if it’s to rub shoulders with the Guru Ghost.

One more point on John Chow’s blog while I’m on the subject. In that same post I referred to above, John Chow wrote, “The video contain information that I have never written about before – it revealed my blog business model“. Isn’t that amazing? With all of the ‘make money‘ posts he has published why would he leave out the things he does to make money? Now do you think the video is showing the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

For all you marketers out there that have purchased thousands in ‘life changing‘ products pushed by the marketing gurus has a single purchase paid off? Do you think Mike Filsaime is such a good guy that he’s going to give away the golden goose for $97? I think not.

The Truth

You have to find your own way because the path is your own. That’s not some Kung Fu Confucius quote but the truth. You should start with your peers. People you have a common bond with and who you admire. That’s the only why to develop sincere relationships. Anything less is simply trying to take advantage of someone and no one is interested in being a victim, not even the guru ghosts.

Would you like to see who I admire and follow? Who I consider friends? Check out my friends list. Are you on there?

This post is all about blog post promotion questions and your answers. The answers will come from your comments. I want to know your immediate routine after posting to your blog. Answer as much or as little as you like. Your answers will help others promote their blog content and together we can increase our blogging success.

1. What steps do you take after posting to your blog?
2. How do you promote your blog posts?
3. Do you submit it to social networking sites? Which ones? (Feel free to link to your profile or page in your comments)
4. Do you hit the bookmarking sites? Which ones? (Feel free to link to your profile or page in your comments)
5. Do you start commenting on other blogs? What are you looking for when choosing which blogs? Friends, CommentLuv, Sez-Who, Top Commentators widget, Do-Follow, Page Rank?
6. Do you Digg it? Tweet it? Stumble It?
7. Do you shoot your friends an email?
8. Do you log into a chat room to discuss it?
9. Do you post it on forums?
10. Do you send the link to your list?

Ok, I think you get the idea. Please list every and any form of blog post promotion method you use. Don’t worry if it’s already been mentioned, list it again. That will add more weight to the tactic. Explain why you take these steps if you like.

I’m not an Entrecard basher but I have removed the Entrecard widget from every blog with the exception of my personal blog. I just couldn’t see any real benefit to it. There may have been a little traffic from Entrecard but what really increased was the amount of visits under one minute (Visits duration 0-30 seconds 57.1 %). I don’t see the benefit in traffic that stays for mere seconds just to click off onto the next site.

To be fair I really wasn’t working the Entrecard system the way it was intended. I didn’t have time to click on the widgets the way it was designed. It was pretty fun at first just from finding all the cool blogs.

I’m not going to say Entrecard is on the same track as BlogRush but clearly they are facing some problems. I had to move their widget to the bottom of the sites a while back because they were causing page load delays. That’s common with any third party content but they are very slow at customer service as well. I submitted a help desk ticket last week and it took five days to get a response.

I have a little over five thousand Entrecard credits with my personal blog and it looks like I may have to say goodbye to those as well. I haven’t been able to log into my Entrecard account all week. I’ll wait another five days to see if my account has been deleted for some reason. No hard feelings, I just don’t see the benefit in displaying their widget right now. I do wish Graham Langdon and Entrecard luck and hope the service continues to grow.

What do you think? Still using Entrecard?

It’s been said for years that we shouldn’t mix business and pleasure. That old adage has also been ignored for many years. How many business deals have been made on the golf course or informal functions?

That leads me to wonder about our online blogs. Do we hurt our brand when we publish a personal blog? What about allowing too much personality to show in our posts and comments? If you are like John Chow then I guess the question doesn’t apply because you are your brand but it is something to consider for the rest of us.

My personal views can be considered extreme, arrogant, self-righteous, opinionated and a whole bunch of other adjectives. I used to run a blog ThatsRightISaidIt.com (now off line) and those posts were designed to get people going. Some of that controversial attitude spills into my personal blog posts. I would never apologize for my opinions but I wonder if it’s bad for business. What do you think?

My list of online friends is growing very quickly. It’s getting so big that I was afraid I might loose touch with some so I decided to create a list of blogs that I like to comment on. That way when I get a few minutes I can go to my list and see what’s going on with my friends.

I just decided to add a new page to share the list with everyone. If you want to see where I go online here’s a long list of my favorites. I just started so I am missing a bunch but I will add more soon.

NOTE: This is in no way a directory or a link swap page. It’s not a list of the who’s who or a listing of gurus to please. It’s simply blogs (and eventually forums) that I like to frequent.

Am I missing anyone? Comment below and remind me.