Monetization for Bloggers in the New Era (Audio)

Summary

In this broadcast, hosts Ileane Smith and Deborah discuss the evolution of monetization strategies for bloggers in the modern era. They explore various methods, from traditional affiliate marketing and product reviews to emerging platforms like PodPage and Buy Me a Coffee. Guest Martin shares his experience since 2002, highlighting the shift in blogging landscape due to Google's updates. The conversation covers the importance of adapting to changes, leveraging AI-generated content, and utilizing new monetization opportunities like microtransactions and e-commerce within blogging communities.

Takeaways

• 📢 The discussion revolved around monetization strategies for bloggers in the new era, highlighting the evolution of blogging and income generation over the years.
• 🔍 Co-hosts Ileane Smith and Deborah covered various classic and modern methods for monetizing blogs, including affiliate marketing, email marketing, and product reviews.
• 😯 The speakers reminisced about the early days of blogging where it was easier to generate income quickly through simple blogging contests and Google AdSense.
• 🚀 The conversation touched on the impact of Google updates on blogging monetization, with some strategies becoming less effective over time due to policy changes.
• 💡 Ileane shared her personal experience with affiliate marketing, emphasizing the benefits of promoting products she genuinely used and believed in.
• 🤔 Martin mentioned his experience with blog advertising networks like BlogAds, which were popular in the early 2000s for serving niche-specific ads to bloggers.
• 🆕 The script introduced new platforms for blogging and monetization, such as Buy Me a Coffee, PodPage, and the potential of using LinkedIn and Twitter for blogging.
• 🔗 The importance of utilizing RSS feeds for automation and reaching wider audiences was discussed, especially in the context of PodPage's capabilities.
• 💻 The discussion also hinted at the potential of AI-generated content as a future monetization avenue for bloggers, although it wasn't explored in-depth.
• 🛍️ E-commerce was highlighted as a monetization method, with suggestions to sell physical merchandise, digital products, and utilize platforms like Substack for email marketing.
• 🔗 The script concluded with a plan for a follow-up discussion to delve deeper into topics like online learning, subscription models, and community building for bloggers.

Q & A

What is the main topic of discussion in the broadcast?

The main topic of the broadcast is monetization for bloggers in the new era, discussing various methods and opportunities for bloggers to earn income.

Who are the hosts of the broadcast?

The hosts of the broadcast are Ileane Smith and Deborah.

What changes in the blogging world were mentioned in the broadcast?

The broadcast mentioned changes such as the impact of COVID-19, economic changes, and updates from Google that have affected the way bloggers can monetize their content.

What is the significance of the blogging contest Ileane mentioned?

The blogging contest Ileane mentioned was significant because it was her first experience making money online with her blog, winning $500 for a post that got the most shares and comments.

Why did Google take action against blogging contests?

Google took action against blogging contests because they involved buying links and lacked a genuine relationship between the bloggers and the sponsors, which went against Google's guidelines for quality content and authentic backlinks.

What are some of the classic monetization methods for bloggers mentioned in the broadcast?

Some classic monetization methods mentioned include affiliate marketing, email marketing, affiliate text links, product reviews, and freelance writing and ghostwriting.

How has affiliate marketing evolved according to the broadcast?

Affiliate marketing has evolved to include not just text links within blog posts, but also banners in sidebars, footers, and headers, as well as a broader approach that may not be directly tied to a blog.

What is the role of AI-generated content in the new era of blogging monetization?

AI-generated content represents a new category in blogging monetization, offering opportunities for bloggers to create content more efficiently and potentially explore new formats and styles for engaging audiences.

What are some modern platforms mentioned in the broadcast for bloggers to consider?

Modern platforms mentioned include Buy Me a Coffee, PodPage, and the use of LinkedIn and Twitter for blogging activities.

How can bloggers leverage their audience and content platform for monetization?

Bloggers can leverage their audience and content platform by promoting affiliate products, offering sponsored content, selling advertising space directly, and creating digital products like ebooks and courses.

Outlines

00:00

📢 Introduction to the Blogging Monetization Discussion

The video script opens with host Ileane Smith welcoming viewers to the broadcast and introducing her co-host, Deborah. They are joined by guests Tom and Sam to discuss the topic of monetization for bloggers in the new era. Ileane reflects on the changes in blogging over the years, including the impact of Google updates and the COVID-19 pandemic. She expresses concern over the decline in blogging income and the common question of whether blogging is dead. The conversation aims to explore new and creative ways for bloggers to monetize their content.

05:05

🔍 Exploring Monetization Strategies for Bloggers

Deborah and Ileane delve into various methods of monetization, including affiliate marketing, email marketing, and product reviews. They reminisce about the early days of blogging when it was easier to earn substantial income through simple blogging tasks. The discussion highlights the evolution of blogging and the need to adapt to new strategies, such as incorporating affiliate text links and leveraging the power of guest blogging, despite the challenges posed by search engine algorithms.

10:09

📈 Classic Monetization Methods and Emerging Opportunities

The conversation continues with a focus on classic monetization methods like affiliate marketing and product reviews, which Ileane excels at. They also touch upon the importance of freelance writing and ghostwriting as viable income streams. Martin joins the discussion, sharing his experience since 2002 and the use of blog advertising networks like BlogAds. The speakers emphasize the need for creativity and adaptation to stay relevant in the blogging world.

15:10

💼 Navigating the Shifts in Blogging and Monetization

The discussion moves to the challenges and opportunities in blogging monetization, including the impact of Google's policy changes on contest blogging and the rise of advertising networks. Ileane and Martin share their insights on the importance of aligning with quality content and avoiding practices that lead to penalties. They also explore the potential of advertising spaces, sponsored content, and the evolving landscape of monetization strategies.

20:17

📊 The Impact of Ad Networks and Google AdSense on Bloggers

The speakers discuss the role of ad networks, particularly Google AdSense, in monetizing blog traffic. They mention the changes in ad formats and the challenges posed by tracking restrictions, especially on mobile devices. The conversation highlights the effectiveness of AdSense in delivering targeted ads and the importance of being strategic about ad placements to avoid annoying readers.

25:20

🛍️ Monetization Through Microtransactions and E-commerce

The script explores the concept of purchasing power, including microtransactions and the sale of physical merchandise related to the blog's theme. It suggests leveraging platforms like Buy Me a Coffee and PodPage for monetization, emphasizing the ease of setting up memberships, selling merchandise, and automating social media posts. The discussion underscores the importance of adapting to new platforms and tools to enhance monetization efforts.

30:21

🎓 New Era Blogging and Monetization with AI and Subscription Models

The conversation turns to the future of blogging, with a focus on AI-generated content and the potential of subscription models for monetization. It highlights the use of platforms like PodPage for podcasters and YouTubers, which automates social media posting and offers features like voicemail integration for audience engagement. The speakers discuss the benefits of these platforms in simplifying the blogging process and enhancing monetization opportunities.

35:28

🌐 Expanding Blogging Horizons with LinkedIn and Twitter

The script concludes with a look at non-traditional platforms for blogging, such as LinkedIn and Twitter. It suggests using LinkedIn's newsletter feature as a blog and exploring Twitter's new article feature for potential monetization. The discussion acknowledges the SEO value of LinkedIn and the growing presence of thought leaders on Twitter, indicating new avenues for bloggers to reach audiences and monetize their content.

40:30

🤝 Wrapping Up the Blogging Monetization Discussion

In the final paragraph, the hosts and guests wrap up the conversation by summarizing the key points discussed and expressing gratitude to the participants. They highlight the value of exploring new monetization methods and adapting to changes in the blogging landscape. The hosts also provide information on where to find them online and invite viewers to join them for the continuation of the discussion in a follow-up session next month.

Keywords

💡Monetization

Monetization refers to the process of generating revenue from a digital platform, such as a blog. In the context of the video, monetization is the central theme, with the hosts discussing various strategies bloggers can employ to earn money from their online content. Examples from the script include affiliate marketing and product reviews, which are presented as classic methods for bloggers to monetize their work.

💡Bloggers

Bloggers are individuals who regularly publish content on a website or blog. The script discusses the challenges and opportunities that bloggers face in monetizing their content in the 'new era'. The term is used to refer to the primary audience and subject of the video, highlighting the need for bloggers to adapt to changing online landscapes.

💡Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where an individual earns a commission by promoting another company's products or services. In the script, it is mentioned as a traditional and ongoing method for bloggers to generate income, emphasizing the importance of bloggers endorsing products they believe in and have experience with.

💡Product Reviews

Product reviews are written or spoken assessments of a product's quality, performance, and value. The script identifies product reviews as a monetization strategy where bloggers can share their experiences with products and potentially earn commissions through affiliate links included in their reviews.

💡Google AdSense

Google AdSense is a program run by Google that allows website publishers to earn money through displaying targeted ads on their content. The script discusses how AdSense has evolved and the impact of changes in online advertising, particularly with respect to user tracking and ad placements.

💡Content Monetization Platforms

Content monetization platforms are services that enable content creators to earn revenue from their work. The script mentions 'Buy Me a Coffee' and 'PodPage' as examples of newer platforms that offer integrated monetization features, such as memberships, merchandise sales, and automated social media posting, which simplify the process for bloggers.

💡RSS Feed

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a web feed format used to publish frequently updated content, like blog posts. In the script, the hosts discuss the importance of RSS feeds for automating content distribution across various platforms, emphasizing the efficiency gains for bloggers in managing their online presence.

💡AI-Generated Content

AI-generated content refers to content created using artificial intelligence technologies. The script briefly touches on this as a new area for bloggers to explore, suggesting that AI can be used to enhance blog posts with graphics or other elements, indicating a future trend in content creation.

💡E-commerce

E-commerce involves the buying and selling of goods or services using the internet, and it is mentioned in the script as a way for bloggers to monetize by selling physical merchandise related to their blog's theme. This strategy allows bloggers to capitalize on their audience's interests by offering relevant products.

💡Subscription Models

Subscription models are a type of business model where customers pay a recurring fee to access content or services. Although not deeply explored in the script, the concept is introduced as a potential monetization strategy for bloggers, hinting at the growing trend of offering exclusive content or services to subscribers.

💡Online Learning

Online learning refers to educational content delivered via the internet. The script suggests this as another avenue for bloggers to monetize their expertise by creating and selling courses or educational materials, reflecting the increasing demand for digital education.

Highlights

Introduction of the podcast with hosts Ileane Smith and Deborah discussing monetization for bloggers in the new era.

Deborah introduces the topic and welcomes guests Tom and Sam to the discussion.

Reflection on the significant changes in blogging monetization over the past decade, including the impact of COVID and economic shifts.

Nostalgia for the 'easy money' days of blogging, where writing an article could easily generate substantial income.

Discussion on the challenges faced by bloggers post-Google algorithm updates and the perceived death of blogging.

Ileane's personal experience taking a break from blogging and her recent return, focusing on improving content quality.

Deborah's research on current monetization opportunities for bloggers and the creative approaches needed.

Listing of classic monetization strategies such as affiliate marketing, email marketing, and product reviews.

Ileane's insights on affiliate marketing as a favored method, emphasizing its benefits and personal success stories.

Martin's experiences with early blogging advertising networks like blog ads and the evolution of monetization strategies.

Deborah's mention of new platforms for blogging and monetization, such as Buy Me a Coffee and PodPage.

Discussion on the automation of social media posting through PodPage and its benefits for bloggers.

Ileane's perspective on the importance of RSS feeds for bloggers and their role in content distribution.

Mention of alternative platforms for blogging like LinkedIn and the potential of Twitter's new article feature.

Deborah's suggestion of using tools like Zapier for automating social media cross-posting.

Final thoughts on the importance of exploring new monetization avenues and the value of adapting to the changing digital landscape.

Transcripts

hello hello everyone thank you so much  for listening to today's broadcast my  

name is Ileane Smith and the first  thing I want to do is introduce you  

to my co-host for today Deborah hey  there good to see you or good to hear

you yes it is it's been a month I can't believe  how fast time is going yeah yeah Deborah I'd  

love for you to introduce today's topic and get us  started with the discussion and welcome to uh Tom  

and Sam joined us welcome glad to have you guys  here yes so our topic is monetization for bloggers  

in the new excuse me I can't believe I choked  on ice is that even a thing but anyway um let  

me start again monetization for bloggers in the  new era oh and uh Martin joined us hello Martin  

hey Martin so you know I've been thinking so many  things have changed in like just going back let's  

say 10 years maybe 15 years so many things have  changed we've had covid we've had economic changes  

we've had I mean the world's always changing but  do you remember the days where it was pretty easy  

to say hey I need to pay this bill let's go out  there let's write an article and you could make  

$100 $600 just writing do you remember those  days yes I do but it's hard it's yes it just you  

know and it could have been before a lot of the  um updates that Google was making that may have  

changed some of those things yeah but I've heard  more and more people in coming to me and say hey  

I can't make money like I used to make and and  what's happening and is blogging dead and and a  

lot of even myself I kind of took a break from  blogging I've come back to it the last month  

and I'm cleaning out the deadwood I'm finding  articles that are like wow did I classify that  

as an article that was like what 300 words is  that really a blog post so I've been I've been  

deleting a lot of stuff off my own blog but  it it's reminding me how much fun we had back  

in oh I don't know like 2013 2014 into like  2016 back in that those days in the blogging  

Community back before Google took a dislike to  what Ann Smarty was doing you remember remember  

back her her blog post to stick a fork in it and  uh Google Matt Cutts did not like that yeah I was  

gonna say the days of Matt Cutts yes yep yep so  uh so I went out and I tried to find you know  

how much has has stayed the same are there still  opportunities for bloggers and I I think there  

really are if you get really creative I think  there are still a lot of possibilities so I have  

like 30 different options I confess some of them  like blockchain stuff like that I don't do and  

I'm not as familiar but some maybe some people  are and so there are some options there and I'm  

putting together an article I don't have it done  because I was actually like working all night to  

come up with the list so I'm looking forward to  maybe having that by next month's topic actually  

having all the resources and the links and having  this all fleshed out but at least I have the the  

list so we have something to work from on that  one but we start we have like the classics the  

stuff that we were even doing 10 years ago for  instance affiliate marketing um email marketing  

affiliate text links which is kind of you know  the same category as affiliate marketing the  

difference between affiliate marketing straight up  and affiliate text links the text links would be  

when you're putting links in your blog post and  you're just focusing on you're a blogger you're  

focused mostly on writing your blog articles  but then you're making sure that you're putting  

affiliate text links within your writing on your  blog post or maybe your guest blog post you're  

putting on other people's um as invited on other  blogs but the versus affiliate marketing may be  

that you're mostly doing and and this is where  I would love to hear your thoughts we come back  

around after um two more items and hear your  thoughts Ileane as far as affiliate because  

you're an awesome affiliate marketer so that's  that's like the bigger the broader that you do  

maybe not even with a Blog I know you have a  Blog but I mean people can do that with for  

instance Amazon so um the next one is product  reviews again another area where Ms. Ileane, awesome  

uh freelance writing and ghost writing I put that  under the classics and let's see was that all five  

product reviews that's actually all five so that  was affiliate marketing email marketing affiliate  

text links product reviews and freelance writing  and ghost writing and don't worry you guys don't  

need notes because I will have this in the article  for you worst case scenario the latest would be  

this time next month so let's let's pop back and  Ms Ileane do you mind commenting on the affiliate  

marketing and product reviews I know we've talked  about this other months but you are so awesome in  

those categories oh thank you yeah I just I also  want to just to in case they didn't notice for  

Martin and Tom I also sent you the invite to  speak so if you want to chime in on this topic  

please feel free in case you didn't see that so  I know sometimes people can be multitasking and  

they may not have saw my invite so when in terms  of um the affiliate marketing my favorite favorite  

way to monetize any of my content even the blog  as I started the blog back in my first blog back  

in 2009 and um well actually side note the first  way that I ever made money blogging was through a  

blogging contest and I don't know if you remember  those but Google put the kabash on those things  

really they came down hard but at the time when  the contest was going on it was amazing all we  

had to do was write articles that featured and in  this particular case this was run by um a website  

in Canada and it was about finances and things  like that so you had to list all of the people who  

sponsored the contest I'm when I say people I mean  all of the companies that sponsored the contest  

and the the uh post that got the most shares and  the most comments and all that good stuff won the  

contest so probably about 30 or 40 of us entered  and it was one person who won then it was myself  

and another girl had the exact same numbers so  we tied and then I think there was one other  

winner because since we tied for second place  I think they also gave the third place person  

uh and we got money I mean I remember it was like  $500 which is amazing that we could get that much  

money from writing a blog post and like I said I  forgot about those about the contest I remember  

those yeah and the only reason why I remember it  so clearly is because that was the first money  

that I ever made online with my blog but they  were fun even when you like I didn't win any  

of them but they were they were a hoot they were  a lot of fun to participate yeah and but the the  

reason why Google came down on that was basically  those people were just buying links because there  

was no relationship between myself and any of the  sponsors I wasn't even really talking about their  

topic it was just we were all all of our blog  posts were like hey everyone we're in a contest  

and if you like my content go ahead and share this  and go ahead you know so you're voting for me by  

sharing this post I didn't even we didn't talk  about Finance we didn't even have to talk about  

finance that wasn't even part of the criteria  So Okay Google's saw that you know and and in  

highsight looking back I'm glad that they did do  that because imagine if they never came down on  

that type of content that would just be a dime a  dozen now right right I mean it makes sense you  

put it that way yeah yeah but you know remember  we were all naive and wet behind the ears it's like word  

stuffing that we doing like 25 years ago now I'm  embarrassed that I ever did that yeah exactly you  

know it so the that was the first way I made  money so after that and actually during that  

time period like that wasn't the only thing I was  doing that was when I was building my audience and  

actually started affiliate marketing and there  were products that um unlike what I just said  

about the contest products that I actually used  that I actually found benefit from and I would  

write about them and you know use the affiliate  links like you were saying uh about the text links  

put those text links in my blog post and also  it was very popular and I guess still is today  

to put the banners in your sidebar you know that  linked back to the affiliate product or in your  

footer and even in your header you know it just  all depends upon how you the aesthe Aesthetics  

of your blog and if you don't mind having uh  an affiliate Banner there next to your title  

of your blog or or what have you and and back  in those days didn't popups weren't a thing as  

much as they are now and so yeah I I always  enjoy affiliate marketing because here's the  

benefits of affiliate marketing you don't have  to create a product you know you're the person  

who has the audience or you're the person who  has the content platform being your blog and  

the the product is created by someone else so you  really don't own anything and you also don't have  

to worry about being the support although some  people may try to bug you for support yeah you  

wrote about this thing and I tried it and  now I'm having this problem but technically  

um hello no don't ask me about that problem  you got to go back to the vendor or the you  

know whatever usually it was software and things  like that that I would be an affiliate for so it  

once you deflected all those those um complaints  what have you really your only job was to to be an  

advocate for something that you already believed  in and used and you know like I said there's no  

you don't have to have stock or inventory or  anything like that if it just happened to be  

a physical product you just shared your uh also  you mentioned review you shared your review and  

you encouraged people to consume that product or  sign up for that service love love love affiliate  

marketing for that reason and I see Martin has  taken the mic Martin did you want to chime in

here uh yes please so thanks for inviting  I I saw it it came quickly and I couldn't  

react but then thanks for reminding me uh so  I could ask for talking so I started blogging  

in 2002 and uh back in the day it was a Blog  advertising Network called blog ads that had  

ads specific for bloggers and specific for  certain niches and categories of bloggers  

so you could have as me like a philosophy  blog and then had your ad on other blogs  

and you could then also have like products and  services in in your on your your blog so that  

I did and also created my own advertising that  was Rel related to to the topic for example a  

philosophical book for an water that had it for  a certain period of time so and also affiliate  

the links for books that was related to the  topic so that I have used back back in the

day that's excellent I was going to say so  

basically your blog was an ad and  that's why it was called blog ads

y now was that was that the network was blog ads  or that was your blog okay the network was blog  

ads so it was an entrepreneur that started it  he saw that advertising was only for the big uh  

guys and the site networks and the newspapers and  the mainstream media and but not for the smaller  

bloggers so he created these ads that could rotate  on a certain amount of blogs uh and then you could  

decide what Niche and what categories you were  in and then you would will get served and you  

could accept then what kind of ads you wanted  to have uh on your blog and put the price on  

it and so on so that was was he was trying to do  back in the day blog is he still doing that that  

sounds really familiar I feel like I participated  in that he's moved forward and doing other things  

like that but this was really early in back in  that day and it was when it was this blog Network  

I was for example in a blog Network called pajamas  media that lots of bloggers that joined uh so that  

that then they they saw interest in that so but  then yeah maybe that model didn't work anymore or  

something happened or he moved on to other other  things so but that was early in the beginning and  

he was from America but then he had programmers  and others in in Hungary because he had Hungarian  

um Heritage so it was interesting how how that he  how he created this business and how he developed  

this this a blogos fair in that way right right  that's one of the things that Google didn't like  

is what they were calling Ann smarty's um my blog  guest a blogging Network or something which yeah  

she didn't agree with I didn't agree with either  I felt like it was a community yes but yes but  

not necessarily a network I mean it was kind of  what's your definition as far as I felt like it  

was where we could meet each other to be able to  collaborate more like a joint venture as far as do  

I want you to guest post on my blog and vice versa  but um Google deemed it a network yeah like like  

blog rolling and and guest blogging and blogging  carnivals and all these kind of good stuff was  

positive things I think yeah I forgot about blog  Carnival wow there's so many so many fun things  

back in the day but it it's up to uh Google to  redefine it and it's like we need to bow down to  

their rules but as as Eileen pointed out the um  that makes sense that they shut down the contest  

as much fun as contests were yeah it'd be kind  of a lot of slush out there on the internet if  

if Google had allowed those to continue that makes  sense is far as having quality content and um I'm  

glad you brought up advertising Martin because  that was another category that I had here as far  

as advertising opportunities whether you're coming  or going on that one so there's like four of them  

I had here there's the advertising networks which  is I think where blog ads comes under well also  

you can you know monetize your website traffic  through ad networks like Google AdSense that's  

another option as far as monetization um sponsored  content you can collaborate with Brands to create  

content you know to promote their products or  Services which is you know somewhat related to  

similar concept as far as affiliate marketing  but it's it's directly like sponsored content  

um you can sell advertising space on your blog  directly to companies and there's this RSS feed  

monetization now I don't do this maybe because  I'm lazy I don't know but I haven't looked into  

actually doing this directly um but monetize your  blogs RSS feed through advertisements or sponsored  

content again related to that sponsored content  content so a lot of these opportunities could  

almost have one foot in two different categories  because they're related but it's just different  

options for getting creative but again related to  what Martin was talking about as far as ad Network  

so there are still even though our gentleman that  had blog ads has moved on to other um other things  

in his life there are still options available  any other Miss eileene Martin Tom any other  

options as far as advertising actually I wanted  to talk a little bit about about AdSense because  

um AdSense was one of the other ways that if  you had a lot of traffic you could you know  

do reasonably well with AdSense now AdSense has  changed a lot over the years but um and by that  

I mean the way the ads show up you know they used  to be more like static ads but I think things have  

changed recently because of all the restrictions  or limitations that Apple has put on for iPhones  

and not being able to do some of the tracking that  uh the AdSense folks can take advantage of so in  

other words if you're on um let's say you're on  Amazon and you're shopping for something but then  

you don't check out and then the next site you go  to an ad pops up and especially if you're on your  

phone you know that limitation that apple or  restriction that Apple has now is they won't  

be able to track you and know that hey you were  just shopping for a coffee maker so here's this  

coffee maker you know when you're trying to find  out what happened with the earthquake yesterday  

so so that part has changed but also like I was  mentioning earlier the way the ads pop up and I  

think at one point I got really really frustrated  with this whole idea of popups because it was like  

every time you're getting ready to read something  you're like oh this is exactly what I want to read  

and as soon as you scroll down pop up or it's  like two minutes I mean two seconds after you  

land on a page pop up and it would block what  you're reading and of course that still happens  

today but with AdSense I think it would be super  annoying because not only would it pop up at the  

top it can pop in at the bottom it can come in  from the side and literally cover up the whole  

entire screen and it was yeah and it also because  I don't know what kind of super intelligence that  

Google has that they know what it is that  you're doing on that website so they know  

how to tailor an ad to look like the thing you're  on that page for and they say click here and it's  

like no that's something about that doesn't  look right I'm not going to click there and  

lo and behold that was an ad that Google surfaced  for you and it's actually brilliant if you're an  

Advertiser oh it is brilliant I saw one of my own  ads pop up from my music site and I'm like wait a  

minute where am I why do they have my ad on there  I was like almost creepy I'm like I know I haven't  

talked to them about sponsoring me so why is my  ad there you know yeah and AdSense will do that  

for you so and there's other AD networks that you  know try to mimic um Google AdSense but AdSense is  

the best with that and also because AdSense also  is how you as a YouTuber once you get monetized  

you're actually part of what the YouTube Partner  program but it's really your AdSense it works  

through your AdSense account so all that data is  being collected together and it just depends upon  

whether you're on a blog or you're on YouTube  you know surfing the web or if you're on Google  

searching for things you're just going to get the  ad served in different formats and that's what  

makes it effective and you know those of us who  have been around for a while or or either even if  

you haven't been around for a while if you spend  a lot of time on the web it's easy for you to spot  

Those ads and sort of like put on blinders like  I'm not paying any attention to anything that's  

over there on the left hand side or the right hand  side or I'm not paying attention to anything that  

pops up over top what I'm trying to read you  know so it it take it does take some skill but  

if you've um spent you know any amount of time on  the web you'll get used to the fact that it's an  

especially if you start clicking and you end up  at a website that you really didn't want to you  

know consume so I makes sense I just want to say  that about Essence because I think they really do  

have it down to a science and it is effective and  it is it's one of the reasons why people you you  

know um invest so much in ads through the Google  ad networks is be because of how effective it is  

and the fact that they give us bloggers a cut in  that if we decide to put them on our website I  

guess it's a good thing so and I want to say hello  to Lou how are you Lou thanks so much for joining  

us and um I'm going to invite you to speak just  in case you wanted to join in the conversation  

so go glad you're doing that thank you welcome Lou  Let's see we have covered advertising opportunity  

and the classics I have some Oddball ones too but  I'm going to save those till the end so if we do  

run out of time like I said at the very beginning  I will put all these in an article and I'll make  

sure that I um I keep when I say tweet I will post  I will I will post the link to the article so um  

so that you have the links and so forth and the  information let's see what's the next category  

um one of the categories but I don't I don't have  this fleshed out a lot is just it's it's literally  

a category and a topic all in and of itself and  it could be a whole entire I think we've actually  

covered it a bit on on several of these but AI  generated content so that's a whole another I'm  

just going to say that because literally that  can be like two hours worth of chatting on that  

one it's one of my favorite topics but that's a  whole category in of itself AI generated content  

and that's that's a new one that's not something  that we were talking about 10 years ago so that is  

definitely something that's like 2024 and Beyond  another one that I have here is purchasing power  

that one's kind of a I just call it purchasing  power because I couldn't think of a creative term  

but I don't necessarily like that term but under  that one I have microtransactions and that would  

be like offering the option to buy individual  articles videos podcasts things just anything  

that you can think of on your website so you might  you'd be blogging but just offer things you could  

um you know have coffee cups anything branding so  forth on your website to your classic e-commerce  

and speaking of e-commerce that's another item on  here to sell physical merchandise related to your  

blog's theme so again those two kind of cross  over they're similar and stock photography and  

images so if you're a photographer as well as  a blogger here's an idea I mean we walk around  

a lot of times with our Androids and our iPhones  and we're taking pictures and those belong to you  

because you're taking the pictures there long as  you're not taking pictures of something that you  

shouldn't be taking pictures and you have to get  someone to sign something to a release that you  

can take a picture like a celebrity but that's  another topic um and if you can hey that's worth  

a lot of money now you should be selling that on  your blog but that's an option there and again  

related to that under purchasing power or selling  power or what you to call it ebooks and digital  

products so that one's kind of a classic we were  doing that that 10 years ago but you can compile  

your blog content and maybe you want to look at  what you published 10 years ago and update it  

use the AI and add to it add some interesting AI  graphics and so forth and compile it into an ebook  

and you don't even have to sell it for that much  but you know maybe $5 for an ebook and people can  

download it from your website and you could you  know create a funnel and run that toward another  

category that we're going to talk about which  is um courses so those are some options there  

again a classic but something that you could  breathe new life into to be a new option for  

monetization in our new world so miss Eileen yes  I have some some things I want to say about that  

and also I want to add that twist like you said  of what's new and I think when we think about  

blogging and think about even our websites most of  the time you know we're talking about WordPress or  

perhaps we're talking about blogger I don't know  people don't use blogger the way we used to back  

in the day but you know that's always an option  and you know there's a couple of other you know  

like wigs and Squarespace and things like that  but I think I also want to talk about some of  

the newer platforms that we can integrate some  of the things that you were just saying with the  

purchasing power and that is um buy me a coffee  which is one of my favorites and buy me a coffee  

you can create blog posts there but you and which  would allow you to do your affiliate marketing  

and all of that within the blog post and they also  have an email marketing uh component that you can  

add into that so what will happen is in terms  of monetization someone will buy you a coffee  

or multiple coffees and it could be a tea or or  whatever you I saw one the other day the person  

said buy me a potato I don't know why they pick  potato but oh well you can change this buy me a  

coffee to buy me whatever so they have donated  to you and people can follow you for free but  

I for the most part the the benefit of the buy me  a coffee is that they have contributed to you in  

some way and you can also set up recurring  memberships on bu me a coffee as well and  

sell merch and all these things that what Deborah  just mentioned about the uh physical merchandise  

or images and things like that and ebooks and  products courses and with within the membership  

on buy me a coffee you also can you know host  webinars and all that kind of stuff using that  

email list because you're actually getting an  email list from all those people that what you  

coffee they have to enter their email in order to  sign up for buy me a coffee sort of I'll call it  

a buy me a coffee account but they never really  have to use it other than to buy you coffee and  

to get your emails so buy me a coffee is something  that it's been around for a little while but the  

concept is kind of built around other similar  ones too like even patreon does some of those  

same things but there's another one that I want to  mention that I really like in addition to buying  

me a coffee and that is POD page because I use  both and use pod page now now pod page is a a  

platform where that you can have a website and it  was intentionally developed to benefit podcasters  

so that every time you have a new podcast episode  you would have get a blog post there and it  

would have a list of all the places people could  Supply subscribe to your blog or follow your blog  

but what they did is they also added on a Blog  component so you can blog with your pod page that  

has doesn't have to have anything to do with your  podcast uh show notes pages and they went even a  

step further which is why I really really love pod  page and you can connect your YouTube channel and  

the same thing that it does for your podcast it  does for your YouTube channel so every time you  

post a video on YouTube it generates a post you  can once again put your affiliate links in there  

and mention all of your courses and all these  other monetization things that we've been talking  

about but it's just to me the new thing about it  is that we didn't have these options you know back  

on WordPress or um blogger or or some of the other  platform Squarespace you had to kind of PEC Mill  

everything together with a bunch of plugins and  they all had different looks and feels and then  

they would uh they would conflict with one another  and your site would be down so it to me these are  

two easy options that pretty much anybody without  a lot of technical Savvy or expertise could start  

up either a buy me a coffee or a p page now pot  pages are not free but buy me a coffee is so I  

I wanted to mention those to because like I said  it's kind of like the new era of blogging where  

it's not it's not just your blog it's also a place  where you can sell your wees have an email list  

and all that stuffff together and and without the  thirdparty plugins it's all built in I feel like  

pod page um not that I wouldn't hire a virtual  assistant but because I'm still thinking about  

that too but as far as like for instance hiring a  virtual assistant you have the onboarding you you  

know teaching them everything about your company  but then you know training them all of your  

processes and so forth and and you know if you're  I don't know this for sure I'm just throwing this  

out there as a number let's say it takes at least  a week to get them at least the basics as far as  

taking over whatever function it is that you want  them to handle um even let's say basic functions  

administrative aspects to free you up so that you  can do I'll say for my in my case post- production  

work okay pod page removes that aspect because pod  page does so much of the automating it's not that  

I don't like you know posting on social media but  pod page takes care of it so I don't even have to  

think about it so I just connect you know LinkedIn  I connect Twitter account I connect all that stuff  

and every time I I put a podcast I just upload it  to Captivate and Captivate connects to pod well I  

should say pod page is checking the RSS feed and  right away it's posted everywhere so I don't have  

to go train a virtual assistant to say hey as soon  as you see that that this episode is up could you  

please go make sure you schedule a post to go  out on LinkedIn make sure you schedule a post  

to go out and you know all these things and this  is how I want the post worded and d and all that  

pod page just takes care of it for me and and  this is the sheer beauty of the RSS feed isn't  

it because you know when you talk about blogging  you talk about bloggers and of course podcasters  

you have to think about that advantage of having  an RSS feed which really automates your process in  

so many different ways and so yeah that's like I  said that's one of the reasons why I like P page  

you know and most of the time I will go in there  and clean up especially um now I'm haven't really  

podcasted in a while but of course I'm active on  YouTube and so every time a post is generated from  

one of my YouTube videos I will go over to P page  and instead of just having that automated thing  

thing that pulls in the description from my video  I go and I add more context and more resources and  

unless it's a short but if it's a regular YouTube  video I'll add and then I will add a link to that  

pod page article in the YouTube description so  that people know they could get more information  

over on the my website which is the Pod page  you know and mine is the anchor show.com just  

just putting that out there it that's beautiful  I looked at that's wonderful thank you thank you  

and um yeah so I I really really like the the  thought that we have these RSS feeds that can  

help like you said Deborah with automating all  these processes and if I wanted to I could also  

make it send out a tweet and all that but like  I said I go back and I tweet things and so I  

don't wanted to do it that way but I could I  could and having that is truly truly um such  

a timesaver and it is definitely a way to help  with your monetization because you even though  

we love YouTube and we love these other platforms  it's so nice to have this way that you also can  

collect um emails oh and the other thing about  po page is that people can leave you voicemails  

I got the loveliest voicemail the other day from  someone who and she let me know that she saw my  

video there was a video that I did where I was  comparing two different mice live detect M Mouse  

okay not the kind of run around your house the  kind you use on computer we call them M mes or  

what but anyway so that's good point yeah and she  was so lovely she said she saw my video and she  

said when she saw that there was a thing that she  could leave me a voicemail she thought why not and  

she was so well spoken you would never know that  this was probably like the first voicemail that  

she's left for somebody and she wanted to know  which one I really recommended for her and she  

gave me a little bit about her circumstances and  things and I thought I'm so glad I have that pod  

page there and that little icon where somebody  can just click on that little microphone and  

leave me a voicemail awesome awesome so handy  so handy that yeah and you know there's other  

ways you could have I could have done that with  the traditional blogging platform forms but like  

I said once again it involved installing a Plugin  or copying some code you know and P page I had to  

do is click a button and turn it on and yep my  problem is I have seven podcasts and it's like  

you know you start adding that up I mean it's pod  page is very affordable but you start adding that  

up it starts getting very expensive and yes I  was going to say Martin I'm sure with podcasting  

you definitely have something to add to that but I  just just one little thing about pod page and this  

is not I'm not trying to say anything negative  because I absolutely love pod page but I'd already  

referenced how they automate this the social media  aspect and it's wonderful but if you're like me  

and you have multiple podcasts before you go buy  that or pay for that second account know that the  

social media accounts can only be connected once  there's I I don't want to explain all the the um  

technical stuff as far as how you can connect  different pages as far as through the Facebook  

account all that but for for example if you have a  a Twitter X account you can only have it connected  

to one of your pod page accounts it won't you  can't connect it to two pod page accounts so just  

keep that in mind when you're figuring out what  the value is to you if you really want both of  

your accounts to connect to X just realize that  one of your accounts isn't going to connect but  

you're still going to pay the full price it's not  like you get a discount and again this is not that  

I'm saying anything against pod page just realize  that for yourself when you're making your decision  

awesome I'll let Martin speak but I got a a um  suggestion for you on that Deborah but go ahead  

Martin if you were ready to speak yeah thanks yeah  so it's it's a great service we have it for one of  

our podcast with secular Fox and my co-host Blair  he bought for a pod page and we have a domain vers  

of secular fox. live but I have been pulling their  leg a little bit for regarding the badges because  

I think you should use a new podcast app or a new  a modern podcast app that you could when send uh  

donations or boost grams and streaming satoi and  but now they have added that to the badge how  

you say collection so you could add for example  Fountain uh podcast Guru um true fans and others  

and that's great because often on default on pages  and so on it's all the traditional podcast apps so  

so that I'm happy to to see that but I didn't know  about that regarding YouTube and that you could  

do that so that was a nice tip and also about my  co-host he has also written his own blog post so  

that over time will generate I think some traffic  and search and and so on and it's very efficient  

and and nice in in in a way so and thanks Deborah  for that if you have several ones so that's the  

thing everything is adding up if you have several  podcasts so but and very are some other services  

similar to pod page also but now I don't remember  the name but I could add that later on in the  

thread but thanks for mentioning this and also of  course buy me a coffee or buy me a tea that I have  

as my symbol um and there is some other T there  also but I see things coming but value for value  

and podcasting 2.2 that's what I'm for so thanks  for mention this uh with pod page I think that  

was great to to hear what you could play with it  and take some time because some podcasts out there  

they don't even use you know their hosting as you  said Captivate and others for certain reason that  

could be legal but but they don't have their own  website or own blog for their own podcast they  

only are on the you know yeah they're only  out there in cyberspace and that's I think  

a missing opportunity but I understand it's lots  of work with it for example for one of my my first  

podcast egonet cost I have it on we space and I  haven't updated so much extra it's only for the  

blog post and so on but and I pay for that also  that's similar amount as the Pod page but now I've  

been doing it for a long time and I'm bit proud  that I done it myself so I will keep it but then  

I have to find some other use for it otherwise I  could spend it on another pod page for example so

yep thank oh I was just going to say  thank you teaching us about satoi I  

think I'm finally coming on board with  you're doing great Deborah thank you

Martin that's a podcast in 2.0

T yes and so you know um I just wanted to ask you  Deborah I don't know you may have considered this  

already but what about using zapier or ift to  send from your Twitter that you have connected  

to po page to your other twitters or wherever  I have I have I don't use um the I have a hard  

time saying that for some reason it's should be  really easy the if TTT I mean that's so easy and  

why do I trip over that but um and zapier but  I actually have another one that's I think it's  

integrated apps there's but it's along the same  lines and i' I've thought of doing that exactly  

we're setting up some some other ones for the  other um podast cast to do exactly that so yes  

that's a great idea and that that is next on my  list my problem is I make lists that that take  

about 28 hours per day and and that removes the  sleep and it you know days early 24 hours so so  

I don't know if you already use zapier but I think  you get what they call zaps you get three of them  

and you know B basically once you set it up you  never have to worry about it again yep it works  

and I think there was like one time and it went  down and they were so apologetic and I was like  

calm down it's all right you know it happens  it happens yeah lose access at one point or  

another so yeah that that that's um another two  other things that I want to mention in terms of  

places where you could blog now I just want to  say these two things I'm not recommending them  

because I don't use them myself but I want to put  them out there because I know that they're easy  

to do and I see a lot of my friends doing them so  I'll start with LinkedIn because LinkedIn lets you  

have and I'm using air quotes a newsletter which  is really you can use that as a Blog you really  

can you know and I know people that are doing it  that way and they promote their courses and all of  

that and the reason why I mention LinkedIn because  that's totally free you have people on LinkedIn  

who are already business M minded people you know  they're usually people that um will probably have  

some type of disposable income that you could  um that would buy your courses or you know your  

higher ticket items your programs and things like  that and also because it does so well in search it  

LinkedIn has a lot of SEO and Google juice in fact  when I was looking up some um something earlier  

today uh there were LinkedIn articles that were  popping up at the top of search so it always has  

been one that has a lot of SEO value to it and I  I just think that it's something to consider even  

repurposing your already existing blog content  too because it may get it in front of a different  

audience and like I said the added value of search  so the other one and I don't really have that many  

benefits to tell you about this one but I just  want to throw it out there anyway is Twitter but  

you you have to have the premium account and  um you can write articles now on on Twitter I  

haven't done it in full disclosure but I just  want to let you guys know because I know that  

if you're listening to this it may well be that  you do have a premium account and because there's  

so many things that go on during the course of  the day you may have missed the fact that now we  

can write articles on Twitter not exactly a Blog  because there's kind of no RSS feed attached to  

it but it still can be monetized depending upon  your audience and depending upon whatever it is  

that you want to share in your articles so want  to put those out there because they're new now I  

didn't even know that about Twitter that's a new  one so now I wonder as far as the linking and the  

um the SEO value yeah like I said I have not done  it so I I you know I kind of preface it by saying  

that so you know I can't really answer a lot of  questions about it but and it's really brand new  

so I doubt if there would be that much SEO value  like right now but over time because Twitter does  

have you know does Rank and you will see tweets  and things on search results but over time these  

articles depending upon the quality of the people  of the content that people are putting out there  

they may end up uh ranking I don't know that they  would outrank uh LinkedIn post or a YouTube video  

or anything like that it just all depends because  Google at any given time may just say tweets about  

this topic whatever it is you're searching for  so or tweet twitter articles about this you just  

never know with Google right that's true it might  not be a thing today but six months from now you  

know especially if you have the right thought  leaders putting their content just like we're  

doing this Twitter space but literally when I  log in my work account and I never see this on  

my account but the president is always on Spaces  the vice president is always on Spaces like people  

from NASA all these things so it starts to the  valuable content starts to add up over here and so  

I just don't want people to miss the opportunity  if you're hearing this and say oh they didn't  

even tell me about that well I'm telling you but  with that said disclaimer I haven't done it myself

yeah you know that reminds me though um medium  is another option as far as blogging and possibly  

making I haven't made a ton of money but  I've heard of of people that make a good  

side income blogging on medium and I didn't  realize 10 years ago well I actually I don't  

know when medium I don't know exactly when  he started but that you could blog on your  

own blog and then copy that that exact same  article because you know I always think about  

let's not have duplicate articles out there  that's just not really what's recommended as  

far as SEO but to go copy your article over on  medium and because I thought of it as you have  

to write a separate article but now I'm hearing  that go put the same article on medium and have  

it behind a pay wall which I'm thinking  but people could just go search for that  

article on your blog and read it for free okay  I just I just told people how to get the article

so launched I looked it up that's  a good thing about sitting at my  

computer while we're doing these spaces August of

2012 medium were there haven't hasn't it oh my  goodness I would have never thought like you  

said maybe I would think 10 years but I would  never thought 11 plus years and you know soon  

to be 12 years of medium I um I've tried medium in  the past and I it's hard to say that it's not that  

effective because I gotta be honest I didn't  stick with it I wasn't consistent or and and  

I don't ever read anything on medium I just don't  but I it's still uh out there it's still out there  

so I I guess and when I search for medium people  also search for substack blogger and Tumblr see  

how you how Google just throws stuff out there  like randomly like what why are you throwing that  

in there I didn't ask about stuff that but but it  did and that's not an ad so you're right A lot of  

times I I find stuff and it's on medium and I'm  thinking I don't want to go there because I don't  

want to have to pay for the article because so  many of them behind the pay wall yeah um exactly  

and that's the same way with substack and we might  as well mention them since I since I mentioned  

that and substack is more like for emails and  we did bring up email marketing as one of the  

ways that you can monetize your blog sort of a  little bit different of monetizing your blog but  

as a blogger you can use substack in all the ways  that we've been talking about today I don't know  

if they have RSS feeds but um you can put all  your courses and uh you can't put ads I don't  

think you can do things like AdSense and things  like that on substack but it's it's just an option  

that you may want to explore and um I subscribe  to a few substacks but I'm only getting the free  

content because it's kind of like that that's  what they do on substack they give you a little  

bit for free or if you really want the nuts and  bolts you can pay and I I'm not for all that I'm  

like no I'd just go to YouTube If I really want to  thing is you can only pay for so much and pretty  

soon I mean unless you're you know Bill Gates or  our former president or you know you just don't  

have enough money to pay for everything that's out  there at some point you have to draw the line you  

know we're actually are we really we're coming up  on the hour and I think I didn't even get through  

half of these which is is fine because some of  the the final ones like we haven't gotten into  

the online learning and the subscription models  there are some really meaty topics here and I'm  

actually okay that we didn't get there because  there's a lot to share so if it's okay with you  

missen can we uh continue this as kind of a part  two next month yeah absolutely we can do that next  

time and so we don't have to worry about what  our topic is going to be but we may change the  

title a bit to cover those things that you just  mentioned because um can you just say them again  

yep we had the online learning and subscription  models so um maybe communities is another another  

word I'll throw out there and the only reason why  I said we might change the title because you don't  

necessarily have to be a blogger to use these  um these other options that you just mentioned  

so exactly maybe it'll attract some other folks to  as well and so with that said I just want to thank  

everybody for joining in the conversation today  it's been some really great topics covered where  

we talked about sort of the history of making  money with our blogs and you know Deborah myself  

have been around for a while but Martin just  blew us out the window when he said 2002 I'm like

huh oh but that is so awesome and Tom I'm  sure that you have some thoughts that you  

may share another time I'm not sure if you're  multitasking but we certainly appreciate you for  

being here listening in on the conversation  it's been such a pleasure and hopefully um  

those of you who are on YouTube listening  to this because I will post the replay on

YouTube thank you so much for listening and  I will let everyone um let's start with you  

Martin where can people connect with you and  follow your blogs yeah they could go to T party.  

media tea party. media all right great and um  Deborah you can find me at socialweb cafe.com  

all right and I'm Eileen Smith you can find me at  Eileen smith.com or the anchor show right here on  

Twitter as e and so with that said we will  be back next month on the first Saturday of  

the month at 3 pm Eastern and you can translate  that into your time zone wherever you are takes  

too long to call them all out yeah thanks so  much everyone bye thank you bye thank you very

much

e