5 Unconventional But Profitable Ways To Monetize Your Blog

There are thousands articles out there, teaching you how to monetize your blog. Register with AdSense, offer affiliate products through CPA networks like Commission Junction, place Amazon ads, sell links through TextLinkAds or similar service, etc. There are all acceptable and they do work. But why not get a little bit more creative. Here are five unconventional ways to monetize your blog.

1. Reader Ads

If your blog has a sizable audience, start offering reader ads. Reader ads, as the name implies, are a one line advertisement below a post that say something like ‘Reader Mike is looking to sell his site www.xxx.com for $YYY’. Or ‘Reader Joe is a professional SEO copywriter who charges $x per 1000 symbols’. Or ‘Reader Jane would like to notify everyone that she just started a new blog’. Or ‘Reader Mike is looking to sell his iBook for …’. The key to the success of reader ads and sizable audience and low price. Don’t ask for more than $10 per ad. And do offer two types of deals, $10 for a single reader ad vs $25 for a reader ad that will appear at the end of each post for a week. Do not accept SEO links as reader ads.

2. PickyDomains.com

PickyDomains.Com is a risk free naming and branding service. When people can’t think of domain, name or slogan on their own, they place an order with PickyDomains. If PickyDomains contributors come up with a cool name, the client is charged $50. If clients like nothing, they pay nothing. Hence, risk free naming. Where is monetization here? PickyDomains.com offers bloggers up to $30 for a single review, if it meets their criteria (your blog must have PageRank and at least 100 daily readers).

3. oDesk/eLance/Anything Freelance Site.

oDesk is a big online marketplace where freelance writers, designers and coders compete for orders. eLance is the same thing and there are many sites like that. Where’s money in that? If your blog is tech related, create a freelance section. Or ‘freelancer of the month’ – anything of that nature. Offer freelancers to get exposure to your audience for a reasonable fee. Only approach freelancers with perfect rating, you don’t want to advertize anyone who might do crappy work.

4. Sell Links/PR Directly.

There is no shortage of SEO specialists and they are easy to find. Contact them directly (once again, freelance sites are good for finding them), telling them how much you charge for a link or an article, what you PageRank is, etc. All text link services mark up prices at least 100% (meaning that if you get $10 per link per month they are charging $20 for it), so this is a win-win situation for everybody. Same thing for PR specialists – tell them how much it would cost to publish a press-release on your website and what content you are looking for. PR companies are always looking for sites where they can get publicity inexpensively.

5. Proactive Advertiser Search.

You probably have ‘Advertise Here’ section, but no one’s looking, right? Start looking yourself. Let’s say, you blog about startups. Go to KillerStartups.Com or any other site, where new startups are added daily. Find ones that you find interesting and contact them directly with a simple offer – you’d like to review their startup and it’ll cost them $X. Make sure you include all relevant information – what your PageRank is, how much readers you have, how much traffic they can expect, etc. Same approach works with software and mobile phone application developers – they always look for sites that will review their products and if your offer is reasonable, you are likely to get a ‘yes’.

David Deprice is a blogger and serial enterpreneur. He is currently involved with MyClasses.Org - world's biggest social network that connects students, teachers and schools, and BatesExpress.com - automatic bates stamping software maker.

Help, My Domains Are Expiring!

So you’ve gotten that message from your domain registrar – domain expiration notice. You are not sure if you want to renew your domain or not. What are your options?

1. Do Nothing

This, by far, is the most popular option and this is what most people do. They believe that the only choice they have is either to pay the renewal fee or not to. It’s not the only choice. But you can still do nothing.

2. Park It

The only reason why this dilemma exists is that you have to pay for your domain every year. If your domain pays for itself – problem solved. There are a lot of companies that park your domains and share ad revenues with you. Sedo is probably the biggest and the most popular one. Don’t do it. All big players simply load your page with ads. Google treats parked domains like dirt, stripping them of pagerank and organic search engine traffic. Instead, go with smaller niche players (like german startup BenePark.com) who keep adding original content and new links to your site. This way not only you’ll get paid, your pagerank and organic traffic will grow over time.

3. Auction It Off

Once again, there are plenty of domain auctions out there and in this instance you probably should go with Sedo. Another good choice is BuyDomains.com. You can list your domains at multiple locations. These auctions attract thousands of professional domainers who buy domains for parking, development or resale. The only bad thing about these ‘domain marketplaces’ is that premium domains (like SchoolSupplies.com or Horses.com) get most attention. YourFourWordDomains.com are likely to get overlooked.

4. Visit Domain Forums

Virtually every big domain forum (like DNForum.Com) has sections where you can sell your domain or get it appraised. You’ll never get much money for your domain on such forums, but you might be able to recoup your costs. And appraisals on such forums tend to be pretty accurate – if your domain is worthless, you’ll be told so in no uncertain terms. If your domain is worth something – you’ll start receiving lowball offers right away.

5. Sell It Directly/Barter

You wanted to open that online pet food store, but then abandoned the idea. So why not send an e-mail to existing stores or eBay sellers, telling them that you are willing to sell your domain for 50 dollars. Or you can offer it for free, in exchange for links or a 10 pound bag of bird feed.

Finally, you may want to give it away. And no, it’s not the same thing as doing nothing. If you do nothing, your domain will expire and go onto expired domains list. Cybersquatters will then purchase expired domains, put ads on them and offer for sale for at least $200 and as high as $1000. This means that not only you, no one will be able to register the domain, unless they are willing to pay premium prices. Why not give your domain to a person who may really need it and who can turn it into something worthwhile?

Dmitry Davydov is a serial entrepreneur and a founder of PickyDomains.com, world’s first risk-free naming service. He is currently involved with IconWanted.Com – a free icon search engine and Bates Express.Com – electronic Bates numbering software for attorneys, hospitals and courts.