I’ve been blogging since 2004 (internal to Sun then) and externally since September, 2005. It’s been an interesting way to share among a community (most of whom I don’t personally know.)
This blog has had stints of innovation, business, Ohio State football, politics, religion, humor, renewable energy, and rants – people seem to like the blog and keep coming back. But one thing this blog hasn’t done is crystalized in anyway where it’s monetizable.
My hypothesis as to why it’s not monetizable is that there is no real prevailing topic, there are time periods where one topic may emerge for some period of time, but then the focus shifts to something new. While there has been some commentary and discussion posted, many of you choose to continue to interact directly with me via email (that’s OK, but I’d love to see more comments.) I like sharing different topics and statistics indicate that you like reading what I produce (this site gets around 2k visits per day, with just under 1k of them unique.) That means there is on the order of 60,000 visits per month – but, not many people comment, click links, or visit for long. That tells me there’s something wrong at the core – lots of visits, little “stickiness,” little community interaction.
So, I’m now considering what I want to do with this platform. Should I consolidate topics here and publish more frequently? Should I segregate topics into discrete sites that only focus on say, Ohio State football? (I’m about to start posting on that topic frequently again as the season is about to start…) Do you, the people who visit this blog have any suggestions for what you’d like to read more of, less of, different than, format, etc? What would make you visit more often? What would cause you to share links with others? What might prompt you to link to this site? What would prompt you to reference material from this site?
Should I blogsolidate (consolidate content into this single site with more frequent updates?) Should I blogversify (separate the topics into discreet blog sites like I’ve already done for rewnewable energy?) Should I bloggregate (separate the topics into discreet sites and also aggregate the content on this site from the satillites?) Is there a different approach I’m not considering that I should consider using?
Change is in the wind, and I’m asking what you’d like to see – that could help me out as I decide what to do here. The status quo won’t stand for long…let me know your thoughts.
I’ve seem the same thing and have a similar problem. I’ve had various Adsense ad layouts for over a year and it still hasn’t generated enough to issue a 1st check. My site actually seems to do better (from a visits standpoint – data via Google analytics) when I remove banner ads. I’m planning a shift in mine as well, to focus more on the cycling. Good Luck.
Doug, thanks for the comment and for sharing your experience. Somehow, it makes me feel a little better to know I’m not alone in experiencing it. Maybe there is broad appeal in discussing how to “fix” the situation?
In relation to the ads, I’ve attempted to integrate them into the template in such a way that they “belong” – is that working? They’re not the obnoxious blinking banners, but there is advertising content here. Is it distracting and/or offensive I wonder?
Good luck to you too, I’ll share whatever I learn…
Hi Mike, I don’t know that my comments will help at all, but just to let you know, I have really enjoyed the variety of your blog and keeping up on your life, ideas and perspective about so many things. Guess it’s because you’re my kid and you live so far away. I read all of your posts and check in on your business website from time to time as well. Good luck on figuring out what works best for you.
Thanks Mom…what can I say? It’s nice when your family reads your blog.
Hi Mike:
I think some active bloggers (like John Hagel, author of “Net Gain” and other books http://edgeperspectives.typepad.com/edge_perspectives/) use their blogs as platforms to establish credibility, extend their reach, interact with others to debate ideas … but ultimately make their money thru consulting.
Others form collectives and bill themselves as “blogger / analysts” (like RedMonk at http://redmonk.com/) with similar attributes (gain credibility and have interesting conversations via blog, perform as analyst hired-guns with brains, insights, and attitude for rent).
Other bloggers seem to use their blogs to attract an audience for events (like Future-of-Communities at http://www.futureofcommunities.com/), at which they make money from the sponsorships and registration fees.
Others (like Dan Farber and Larry Dignan’s at http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/) are attached to publications such as ZDnet where advertising and sponsorship are key revenue-generators.
Still other bloggers form collectives (like Social Media Today at http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/) where the group is greater than the sum of the parts in attracting wider readership and…?
This isn’t the full scope of business models, but it’s a smattering of some I’ve seen.
Mark Y.
Mark, thanks for the enumeration. I’m still thinking about which way I want to go. Right now, I’m leaning toward bloggregation where there are specialty sites ala Montara Energy Ventures and the content also appears here in a central fashion.
The examples you cite are great. Thanks.