ok guys..

so here it is, I have been inactive on this blog and the blogosphere for about 3 weeks now, partly because I was overseas but also because I honestly do not have the desire or passion anymore. I have been working 10 hours days building and the last thing I want to do is come home and spend a couple of hours blogging - I just want to sleep!

I know this blog has a heap of potential and I would hate to see that go to waste, I mean I am sitting on about 180 subscribers, the blog is making about $80-100 a month, and in its peak was averaging 400-500 unique views a day.

I would love to see someone take this blog and really make something of it, I just know at the moment that it isn’t me who will do it.

I don’t know how I am going to sell it - whether it be just private offers from readers, or a DP or sitepoint auction, but I would love your opinions!

In regards to price I have put a heap of effort into this blog and I would like to get some compensation for the work that I have done so am hoping for high $xxx and would love about $1000 - but I guess the market will judge the price.

If anyone is interested in buying StandOutBlogger.com, or have any suggestions for me to gain the highest price for it please contact me through the contact link up the top!

thanks guys!

Tom

***Note To Max from BlogBadly*** - I am sorry your review has taken so long, I am about halfway there so thanks for your patience and I promise you will get your review.

just a quick note to mention 4 great posts that I absolutely loved from some of my top commenters.

• Blogger Venue gets a new logo! Based of my recommendation Hugo got an amazing new logo that you should definately check out.
• Revenue Reservoir give 10 fantastic tips on gaining blog traffic. These tips are fantastic and if you are serious about boosting your traffic then I would recommend reading this post.
• Melvin talks about the polluted make money online niche and looks at whether this is a problem or not.
• What does it take to be successful? This is the question Rajaie asks and successfully answers with this great post.

Thanks again to another great week guys, all you who read and comment are the ones that make this blog successful and make me want to continue researching great posts!

To make sure you do not miss a single post then please subscribe to our feed or email updates. By doing this you will be voting for StandOutBlogger.com blog in Blogging Idol!

I know a lot of you have more than one blog. I have 3 - ok 4 (I am just launching a new one).

Why Do I Have More Than One Blog?

I have read on a fair few blogs now that say the successful bloggers, the ones that are making the big dollars from blogging, are the ones that have multiple blogs.

This got me thinking about what I want from blogging, and you know what? I want to be successful. I want to be able to make a full time income from my blogging and I know that even when this blog gets to a certain level of success, I will still need more to be happy with my blogging income.

Which is why I am looking at really focusing on working on a few of my blogs that are currently very neglected, and also going to start a completely new blog as well.

Now before you get all worried that I will stop posting here, and stop being so active in our great blogging community - I won’t. I have been looking at ways to grow these blogs with as little effort as possible, because I don’t want it affecting this blog at all.

So Here Are A Few Tips On How To Successfully Run Multiple Blogs - Without Neglecting Them

1. Learn Time Management
   I think that if we all for one day decided to stop and write down where every minute of our day was being spent, we would be shocked at how much of our day was being wasted. Whether it be playing games, checking our emails to many times a day, obsessively checking traffic and affiliate stats, or msn.

   What if we could use this time better and start spending it on building our blogs - I wonder how much more successful our blogs would be then!

2. Put A Focus On SEO Traffic
   This is something I have never done, but something I will be doing from now on. SEO traffic makes sense, because it means you do not have to constantly be looking for new traffic - you already have a steady flow coming from quality keywords/phrases.

   With my blogs I will be finding quality keywords and phrases that are search a lot - yet have little competition. If I can write targeted posts to the keywords and phrases, my chances of listing well in the search engines and receiving search engine traffic daily is great. This will especially benefit my other blogs as it means that I will not have to spend much time commenting and marketing the blogs - my main traffic source will be search engine traffic.
   
   

3. Take Scheduled Breaks From Your Blogs And Your Computer
   When you are writing and promoting multiple blogs, writing a couple of posts daily - you are risking the chance of burning out quickly. Something that I am planning on doing starting next week is blogging a 5 day week. Weekends will be personal time, where I do not even turn my computer on. You might think this would be detrimental to my blogs, but I think it will have the opposite affect.I think that with the time away from my blogs and computer on a weekly basis, I will be:
   • More inspired
   • Less prone to burnout
   • More time for friends and family

So do you run multiple blogs?

If you do how do you manage it? And have you found it a lot harder than running just one?

To make sure you do not miss a single post then please subscribe to our feed or email updates. By doing this you will be voting for StandOutBlogger.com blog in Blogging Idol!

Have you ever wondered why so many bloggers start off with a bang, just to disappear as soon as it seems like they are just getting started? This is happening all to often and I think it has a lot to do with people treating blogging like a 100 meter sprint. When in fact they should be treating it more like a marathon.

Here is how they differ:

• 100 Meter Sprint
  • Short term goal
  • Go as hard as you can
  • No long term vision
  • No planning
• Marathon
  • Long Term Goals
  • Pace yourself
  • Looking at the bigger picture
  • Has a strategy in place to make sure they are still in at the end

Can you see how many new bloggers take the ‘100 meter sprinter’ approach?

They race out as soon as the starters pistol is fired. Blog like crazy for the first couple of weeks, go gung-ho with commenting and marketing, take the lead as they go over the 100 meter line - only to realise they still have about 40km left to run.

This is just a short ‘pep talk’ post for you today. I just want to encourage you to lift your head up and start looking at the long term.

• Where do you want your blog to be in 2 years time?
• What are the goals you have set in place?
• What is your strategy to achieve your goals?
• At your current pace are you setting yourself up for burnout?

I have met so many great bloggers over this past 6 weeks and I really want you all to still be around when StandOutBlogger is 2 years old - and by then I expect all of you to have over 1000 subscribers!

If you want to receive more little ‘pep talk’ posts likes this one then please subscribe to our feed or email updates. By doing this you will be voting for StandOutBlogger.com blog in Blogging Idol!

This is a topic that I know a lot of bloggers have covered but it is something that needs to constantly be addressed. It seems that every blog now has 125×125 ads - those little square ones usually in a block on 4 in the sidebar. I don’t know where the trend started all I know is that they are now pretty much ‘the norm’ when it comes to blogs and how they advertise, especially in the ‘make money online’ niche.

However, I have noticed on my extensive travels through the blogging world, past what seems like thousands of blogs, that the majority of blogs sporting 125×125 ads have their adspots looking somewhat similar to this:

They usually only have maybe one advertiser and whenever I see this I have a few thoughts:

• Their ads must be too expensive because no one is buying them.
• Maybe they dont get enough traffic to make it worthwhile advertising

So we will definately tackle what you should do when you don’t have enough advertisers to fill your spots, but that will have to be in a later post as I want to have a look at a few blogs that I believe are doing well with their advertising to see:

• How much they are charging
• What their blog statistics are (to see how you compare)
• Whether they are selling all of them or not
• A quick look at what they are doing right.

Big Time Bloggers
Let’s start at the top and have a look at some of the biggers blogs that could be charging up to 100+ times what you will be, but it is nice to dream isn’t it?

Blog Name: TechCrunch

How Much:$12,000
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 907,000
• Technorati: 2 (2nd most popular blog!)
• Alexa: 2014
• Unique Page Views P/M: 2,800,000

Are They Being Sold? This is a hard one to guage, but by looking at the sidebar and seeing all 10 spots taken, it would be fair to say they are sold out.

So How Are They Doing This?
Apart from having amazing traffic, being the second most popular blog on Technorati and carrying the authority they have in the Tech world I did notice a few things that they did that really enhanced their chances of selling their adspots.

• They have a minimum term of two months for adspots. This allows you to keep your sidebar full even if you have a bad month in adsales.
• They have a great ‘Advertise’ page. Their page is filled with all the relevant information to help potential advertisers make informed decisions based off hard evidence. NOt only that but they flaunt their past advertisers such as Microsoft and Adobe to try and impress.
• Bi-Weekly ‘thankyou sponsors’ post. This added link love and exposure would be a great deal sealer considering the traffic that the blog is pulling.

Blog Name: JohnChow.com

How Much:$500
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 27,425
• Technorati: 104
• Alexa: 40,050
• Unique Page Views P/M: Over 200,000

Are They Being Sold? Well considering he made $15,140.00 from all his private ad sales (not just 12×125 adspots, I think we can conclude that he does sell all of them.

So How Are They Doing This?
I one word ‘hype’. I remember when he first started charging $500 and everyone was in shock that a ‘make money online blogger’ could charge that much for an adspot. Everyone was talking about it and I saw numerous bloggers doing ‘tests’ and writing reviews about how they went. This was promoting John’s adspots for him!

I will say that he does get good traffic, has a nice mount of subscribes and the stats to back up his price, as well as the fact that if they are selling out every month then there must be a valid reason for it.

Large Bloggers
These are the bloggers with 1000-5000 rss subscribers. Lets have a look at a couple ofthese large bloggers to see how 125×125 adspots are doing for them.

Blog Name: JohnCow.com

How Much:$100
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 3,688
• Technorati: 2,373
• Alexa: 109,764
• Unique Page Views P/M: 750,000 page views a month (no unique count)

Are They Being Sold? I noticed that one of them is a pepperjam ad so that leaves 5 - which all seem to be sold. Not a bad way to make an extra $500 a month!

So How Are They Doing This?
I have no idea! They only have a advertise page (with a click here to purchase button which just links to their home page. The only conclusion I can draw is that advertisers are so keen that they just contact ‘John’ directly through the contact page.

Blog Name: TylerCruz.com

How Much:$40
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 1,642
• Technorati: 10,217
• Alexa: 130,188
• Unique Page Views P/M: 23,000

Are They Being Sold? His advertising page states that his 125×125 adspots are sold out and you have to be placed on a waiting list if you wish to grab one!

So How Are They Doing This?
Tyler would have to have one of the best Advertise pages (Mark from 45n5.com agrees). He lays out all the details needed to help you make an informed decision about purchasing advertising. As well as that he is significantly cheaps than most blogs with similar statistics.

Medium Sized Blogs
These are the blogs are get getting close to hitting it big time. I have categorized medium sized blogs as those will 300-1000 subscribers.

Blog Name: TheUniversityKid.com

How Much:$35
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 559
• Technorati: 7,335
• Alexa: 106,888
• Unique Page Views P/M: 23,088

Are They Being Sold? His advertising page stats that there is only 2 of 8 spaces free. This means he has sold 6 adspots this month. No bad at all!

So How Are They Doing This?
Jason has built himself a great following by really being able to network well within his niche. He has come quite popular in the ‘make money online’ niche and also owns a blogging forum, BlogPremiere.com which I am sure has boosted his profile even more.

He has said that he does not actively seek advertisers and I guess that if you are active in your niche and well priced you don’t really need to - because they will come to you.

Blog Name: TheNetFool.com

How Much:$20
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 3,86
• Technorati: 11,980
• Alexa: 95,088
• Unique Page Views P/M: No monthly traffic stats available

Are They Being Sold? While a few of the adspots seem to be taken with affiliate links, I would guess that about 6 of the adspots are currently sold.

So How Are They Doing This?
I have a feeling that Jim just makes good use of a great Advertise page, as well as his subcribers and position in his niche.

Up And Coming Bloggers
This is for the blogs that are just starting to find their own. Their traffic and rss feed count is starting to increase and things are looking great. 100-300 Subscribers.

Blog Name: MrJavo.com

How Much:$25
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 197
• Technorati: 16,025
• Alexa: 134,350
• Unique Page Views P/M: 8,000

Are They Being Sold? While one or two of them seem to be affilaite links, it seems that the majority of the spots are in fact sold. Which I think is great considering the price he is getting for them.

So How Are They Doing This?
I am guessing he is just using his traffic and network to generate the adspot sales as he does not seem to mention them apart from his ad page.

Blog Name: MoneyBites.com

How Much:$10
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 161
• Technorati: 25,360
• Alexa: 127,947
• Unique Page Views P/M: 6,250

Are They Being Sold? All 125×125 adspots on this blog appear to be sold!

So How Are They Doing This?
Half of the 125×125 adspots as well has his banner ad all advertise MarketLeverage.com so I am not sure if this is part of a deal or what, but this would make it much easier to sell all his adspots.

As well as this MoneyBites has created a list called ‘The Ad List‘ which details blogs and how their 125×125 adspots perform based on their CPC. Although MoneyBites is not mentioned in the post I am sure it would get people thinking about advertising there.

He has said that he does not actively seek advertisers and I guess that if you are active in your niche and well priced you don’t really need to - because they will come to you.

Small Blogs
Everyone has to start somewhere and it is good to see so many small blog selling the ad inventory. Here are a couple of bloggers successfully selling their 125×125 adposts while having under 100 rss feed subscribers.

Blog Name: RajaieTalks.com

How Much:$10
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 55
• Technorati: 151,711
• Alexa: 382,355
• Unique Page Views P/M: No Data Available

Are They Being Sold? From looking at the ads it seems the MarketLeverage ads are both affiliate links (2 different ones so maybe they are sold) and the OIO ad seems to be an affiliate as well. However the other 3 adspots all seem to be sold.

So How Are They Doing This?
I would like to know how you can sell adspots on a blog where the Advertise page has no statistics! Rajaie, I am looking forward to hearing how you have sold your ad spots.

Blog Name: EliteBlogger.net

How Much:$1 -no that isn’t a typo!
Statistics:

• Subscribers: 64
• Technorati: 617,471
• Alexa: 450,489
• Unique Page Views P/M: 571

Are They Being Sold? Suprisingly not as fast as I expected they would at the price. I bought one over a week ago and it doesn’t seem like anyone has since. Seems like only one other ad is actually paid for.

So How Are They Doing This?
Instead of how are they doing this? I want to ask why are you not buying an ad? I mean if I get a couple of clicks plus some nice branding to all visitors I will be happy.

————————————–

I hope this has given you a nice overview of the current 125×125 adspot market in your niche. Now is probably a great time to look at how your ads are selling and consider what you can do to improve your sales.

I know I have learn’t a fair bit, and will be implimenting a few new ideas over the coming days. And for those of you who are interested, I only have one 125×125 adspot left of this blog as just yesterday I had 2 bloggers email me wanting to purchase - their ads will be up shortly.

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