Henry has just posted an interesting post over at BlogAds about some of the changes they’ve been working on in BlogAds 3.0 (beta). For starters they are refining their application process and introducing the idea of ‘sponsor bloggers’ who bring new bloggers into the program and help them get going (and get 5% of that bloggers earnings as payment).
‘So, going forward, bloggers will join blogads on the invitation of current network members, bloggers who, in essence, have helped beta test the Blogads idea and build the network. These “beta” bloggers will evaluate, invite and guide new blogads sellers. New bloggers (theta?) will pay 30% of ad prices to participate in the network, rather than the 20% fee charged current blogads sellers. A sponsor blogger, only a handful at first, will get 5% of her sponsored bloggers’ revenues while she remains a sponsor. Essentially, sponsor bloggers will be rewarded for doing some of the work traditionally performed in corporate publishing by both an editor and staff in the HR department. (To be clear, this means identifying, recruiting and acculturating stars, not managing!) Sponsors are doing work they are far better qualified to perform than we. (Once acculturated, new bloggers will be able to invite bloggers too.) ‘
Sounds like an interesting development that is designed to not only take some of the load of the central administration of BlogAds but that gives bloggers themselves incentive to recruit and coach other bloggers which will in turn should grow the network – both in terms of bloggers and advertisers.
I like the sound of what Henry is proposing. My only question is around complexity. One of the risks of tiers or new levels of contributers to any network is that it necessarily brings some level of complexity with it (at least initially). If I’ve learned one thing since blogging its that the vast majority of bloggers like things simple.
Adsense has boomed with Bloggers because its largely a matter of selecting a few simple options and cutting and pasting some code. BlogAds has a similarly simple interface (although initially I did find it a little more complicated than Adsense) – lets hope that BlogAds 3.0 retains and even improves upon this simple process.
Just sounds like an additional reason not to join BlogAds to me. They can dress it up however they like, but new members are charged 30%. If they didn’t seem interesting enough for me to join when I would be charged 20%, they aren’t likely to seem better now it’s 30%.
Passing the marketing of the business on to their customers is a clever move, but it’s not an incentive for me to participate.
Yeah, off the top of my head, this is the second post of yours I can think of talking about Blogads. The other was when they were going off on Volvo for buying ads on the sites of people so much less sophisticated and important and influential than they are.
So now they want to “sponsor” just the right new people into their little club and create tiers of membership and teach all the folks they’ve decided should be up and comers how to always be one level below them. I don’t know, maybe it’s my long experience of peripheral SF fandom talking, but I’m pretty sick of this whole concept. Once you’ve seen losers trying to lord it over other losers because they speak Klingon, or they’ve got a bigger collection of more obscure anime bootlegs, it’s hard to take this kind of thing seriously.
I mean if you want to get into an MLM cult and be “downline” for some guy working furiously to shore up his own artificial status faster than it decays, just join Amway. There you can be given your place in the pecking order by _real_ assholes. You don’t need to settle for this bush-league variety.
I actually think BlogAds is a great option for many blogs. Whilst 30% sounds high – I think its pretty normal.
I’m almost certain Google takes at least that much of a cut with Adsense ads. When I’ve worked with media buyers to sell me ads they generally charge something in the 25 – 35% region.
Of course you can sell your own ads and get 100% – but that means having to find your own advertisers, approaching them, negotiating a deal, providing them with statistics on how well the ad is going, helping them to design ads (sometimes), manually placing the ads on your site, remembering to take the ads off at the end, renegotiating new deals etc….
All of this takes time and expertise. I personally find BlogAds great because you can set it up and leave it – tweaking it along the way. Its very automated – yet gives you complete control over which ads do and don’t appear.
As I wrote previously its a system that many of the top bloggers are using incredibly successfully – but also one that helps the smaller blog to find an income stream.
Just my opinion
I’m not really objecting to the 30% itself, just pointing out that having increased what they charge, they’ve added nothing to justify that increase. If it wasn’t a good deal for me at 20%, simply making it 30% doesn’t make it a good deal.
The reason it’s not a good deal isn’t the % itself, it’s the nature of the advertisers they have which won’t work well with most of my sites.
I would have expected something to sweeten the pill a little, yes we’re charging 30% now, but this is how we’re going to help you…
I was excited by the fact of using Blogads, but after I heard they wanted 30% of my revenue I was turned completely turned off by them. It just seems more of a MLM enterprise now. Blogads was such a great idea at first, I really thought they had something. But now they made the process of joining such a MAJOR hassle it just takes the fun out of it. This idea of using mini-networks is so limited that it only allows “certain” websites in and excludes a large majority that have good websites that could be valuable to advertisers. They have to change thier policy and allow some diversity, if not… they will become a dinosaur, because as a successful blogger I will not even give them a second look. There is an air of elitism that I think stinks..
Guys, you’re just not real.. You talk about this sponsorship thing again and again but none of you comes to the obvious idea that some people who read all this stuff may JUST NEED ONE OF THOSE RARE SPONSOR IDs of yours in order to finally be able to join this supernetwork and see how the heck it looks from inside..
I am one of those people who NEED A SPONSOR!
I do marketing on the Internet since 10 years and I have NEVER seen someone talking about anything without adding his own referral URL or ID# related to that thing or program, not as long as COMMISSIONS are involved.. You’re just not real, guys.. and this while talking about “making money” with your blogs.. What’s wrong with you guys, don’t you want 5% of the money I may be making? If yes, then gimme that bloody sponsor ID# of yours .. you marketing noobs :)
Thanks in advance
Doge – [email protected]
http://doge.biz
http://doge.blogspot.com