Each week as Smallbizlady, I conduct interviews with small business experts on my weekly Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. This is excerpted from my #SmallBizChat interview with @kingsleymaunder. Kingsley is a serial entrepreneur who launched his first start-up in 2001 and his current business, Konector, is his third. Konector helps small businesses ‘konect’ with influential bloggers so that they can work together to promote their products and services to their target market. For more information http://www.Konector.com
Smallbizlady: So are bloggers making money?
Kingsley Maunder: Absolutely, more bloggers are making money today than ever before. Blogging is now mainstream and there are multiple revenue streams.
Smallbizlady: What are those multiple streams of revenue for bloggers?
Kingsley Maunder: Bloggers can receive revenue from display ads, search ads, rich media ads or through affiliates. Some bloggers also get paid to post, either on their own site or on others, and they get paid to speak at or attend events. Those bloggers who are more proactive also sell their own products and services, for example ebooks or home study courses, and they also set up shopping carts to sell third party goods. Many receive free products in exchange for reviews, although this isn’t cash in hand.
Smallbizlady: How much can a blogger expect to make?
Kingsley Maunder: Blogging is a profession, and like most professions how much you earn varies. At the top end you have bloggers like Yaro Starak who earn $20,000 to $50,000 a month. He is very open with how much he makes and how he makes it — through banner and text ads, affiliate marketing, and creating and selling his own products and services. Yaro has an ebook called ‘Blog Profits Blueprint’, which is definitely worth a look if you are interested in making money from blogging.
Smallbizlady: Is there anyone else you would recommend following?
Kingsley Maunder: A few of the other bloggers to follow are Darren Rowse, Chris Brogan, John Chow and Erica Douglas. Darren is one of the co-authors of ‘ProBlogger, Secrets for Blogging Your Way’ to a Six-Figure Income.
Smallbizlady: What about those blogs that don’t have millions of followers?
Kingsley Maunder: Through my work at Konector, I have researched and analysed hundreds of blogs. The one thing I see consistently is that the most successful blogs focus on a particular niche. You don’t have to have a huge number of visitors to make money from your blog. If you can prove to brands that you target a very specific audience, an audience that they want to promote to, then they are more likely to work with you. Also, if you focus on a particular niche, you are more likely to rank higher on Google and consequently earn more from affiliates.
Smallbizlady: Tell me more about affiliates, which network would you recommend?
Kingsley Maunder: The two big ones are Clickbank and Commission Junction. Using them you can easily find a product to write about. There are also clever affiliate plug-ins, like 123LinkIt.com, that analyze your content on the fly and automatically generate affiliate links for you. This means that you just write your content and the software helps you find the revenue. And you also have Amazon too.
Smallbizlady: You also mentioned getting paid to post. How do you get paid to post on your own site?
Kingsley Maunder: In most cases you will get paid to post about third party products or services. IZEA has a service called SocialSpark where advertisers ask bloggers to write about their brands, and the bloggers get paid for every post. How much the blogger earns varies from $7 per post to $300 per post. The average is between $15-$25 for 200 words.
Smallbizlady: Does this come into conflict with the FTC guidelines?
Kingsley Maunder: Not if you do it correctly and follow the guidelines. This is a discussion all on its own, but I recommend having a look at the FTC website to find out more.
Smallbizlady: How about getting paid to post on other sites, how do you find this work and how much does it pay?
Kingsley Maunder: One of the best places to go to find this type of work is the ProBlogger website, http://jobs.problogger.net/. It is a job board for bloggers. As a blogger you will get paid in the region of $15-$25 per post (300-400 words). At the lowest you are looking at $12 per post (300 words), and the highest is $75 per post (500 words).
Smallbizlady: You mentioned advertising as one of the main revenue streams?
Kingsley Maunder: Google Adsense is still very popular. According to Technorati, Google Adsense still has the number one advertising slot on 44% of the sites they reported on. There is however much more competition out there and the more traditional ad networks are moving into this space, which means more money.
Smallbizlady: So how much could a blogger make from their ads?
Kingsley Maunder: This varies, depending on the number of page views a month. The top tier sites have over a million page views a month. For a top banner ad they could charge $1K for 60 thousand impressions. They would charge the same amount for a smaller Blogad (150px x 200px) for 850 thousand impressions. For the mid-low tier sites, 65 thousand page views a month, a Blogad can be sold for $700. If you take into consideration that you can fit 6-10 Blogads on your site, that could be a nice earner.
Smallbizlady: What one piece of advice would you give bloggers who want to earn the most from their blog?
Kingsley Maunder: The most important thing is to find your niche. Run your blog like a business. I would go as far to say that you should have a light business plan, and I would recommend Tim Berry’s book, The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan. Find your unique selling point and make sure you are the seen as the expert in that field. You don’t have to have the most number of page impressions to attract revenue, but you must be seen as an influencer.
If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.
For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as @SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business 
experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of MFE Consulting LLC, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine recently named her one of the Top 20 women for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also the author of the national bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. (Adams Media 2010)
I have been blogging for a few months now and I love it. My readership fluctuates and now I know what to do about it. As of today I do not have a “niche” but I will figure this out so that I can keep doing what I love. Thanks for your invaluable information.
Donna
Donna–
It is much easier to talk to someone when you know who you are talking too. Niching is a great way to stand out in the crowded internet martketplace. Thanks for your comment.
To your success—
Melinda