My college buddy, Brad Eichenlaub, gets to see race cars up close, and personal. Though Brad is a pretty shy guy, he knows it gets awfully loud when you are next to the engine of the fastest shows on wheels.
Large corporate sponsors are a given. They are needed to keep the teams afloat. What I want you to look at today are the smaller stickers. There are a gazillion of these smaller stickers splattered all over these cars. Sometimes, it’s difficult to even see paint.
How does this relate?
I want you to take a look at your website through the eyes of a casual spectator. If you are a blogger, you know exactly what I mean. It is always a delicate balance between making money from the sale of an affiliate product, versus providing some type of great content for free. Let’s face it, there is a small segment of bloggers that do it SOLELY for the good will of a passion of theirs, and that is great. For the rest of us, blogging is a business. This business is based upon providing great content and value first.
Sometimes, I visit a site, and within 3 seconds, am so turned off my the monstrosity of sponsorship stickers plastered all over the place. The concept of building a relationship goes right out the window.
Am I saying all Affiliate Banners are bad?
Absolutely not at all. They have their time and place, and on sites and blogs, those can be a good places. But please, do not allow that be the focal point of your site. Unless your site is getting thousands of visitors of traffic each day from organic search traffic, you want to focus on building that relationship with your readers and getting their email address. Do not worry about the sales first. This is a vital mistake that many new folks, and myself, have made, or make to this day.
Just like a fine wine, moderation, is the key. Gently use your Affiliate Banners, but do not rely on those for generating massive amounts of sales for your site. They may, but typically that is not the case.
If you are promoting a product, by all means, promote it. But be sure you are doing it properly. Typically, an email drawing your visitors eye to a certain solution to their problems, or a blog post explaining the product, is a much better route to take. You, hopefully, have already garnered their trust, and are working toward providing value.
photo credit: Darryl W. Moran
Matter of fact, when done properly, promotion of others’ products is a good thing. Many people will be completely unaware of how the software, course, or product may benefit them, and may just be what they needed to put them over the hump. This is especially beneficial if it is a product or service that you have already purchased. If you can show them a sneak peak of the inside of the service, so your readers and customers can make a better informed decision, the better.
There are far too many people out there pushing products that they have never laid eyes on themselves. Real, true blue, product reviews can be a great source of revenue to your site or blog. Show the people you have already done your homework, or paid for a service, and they will thank you for it.
What Does Everyone Think?
Please Comment
Please Re-Tweet, Digg and StumbleUpon
I think this article is very similar to one over on ProBlogger, not sure it was on purpose or not, but Darren wrote on this exact topic 6mos ago: http://www.problogger.net/archives/2009/11/16/does-your-blog-look-like-nascar/
Anyway, I totally agree, my sidebar is getting too full on Hot Blog Tips, but mine is still WAY less than others I see…. Don’t have any ads on ExtremeEzine yet, have only had the site a week….
.-= Keith´s last blog ..3rd Party Apps Blindsided by Twitter =-.
Hmmm…I’ll have to check it out Keith, but I can absolutely positively tell you I’ve never laid eyes on his post.
I’m not going to lie, yeah, that doesn’t make me feel great and all if people get that thought, and I’m sorry if you did.
That is pure 100% originally thought up stuff.
Brandon
=-.
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
Just went over and looked at his site.
I can’t even believe it. Darren, if you pop over here, please know in my heart and soul, this was an original thought by me over the weekend…I thought…yeah, that would make a great post topic. I guess with 17Million Blogs out there, sometimes similar thoughts are going to occur.
Oh well.
Brandon
=-.
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
There’s really nothing new under the blogging sun, Brandon. Pretty much every topic has been covered a zillion ways and there are only so many ways to look at those subjects.
I had the same thing happen to me not long ago. I’d come up with a stunningly brilliant post idea . . . The 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging . . .
I wrote the post, salivating all over myself over how creative I was and then, as often happens, ended up procrastinating on the rewrite. Meanwhile, I was goofing off over at Copyblogger one day, and guess what was in their archives? Yep. MY article. I was new to the blogging scene so had never heard of that article before.
I still don’t check my article titles because I think it might get me thinking too much about what’s already “out there” and block my creative flow. In any event, loved your article and had never seen the Problogger piece either.
.-= Jean Sarauer´s last blog ..Exclusive Blog Content: Spark of Genius or Flash of Insanity? =-.
Jean,
Thanks for the reassurances. I guess you are right that many ideas will have been thought of before.
Kind of like…have you ever thought of the best domain name in the world, knowing nobody else has thought of it.
Then you go to check out if it’s available, and the .com,.net,.org, etc are already taken. It’s a bummer.
Anyway, thank you very much for sharing your prior experience. I appreciate it.
=-.
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
Good point, some sites are hard to tell what the real content is among all the ads….but they certainly don’t shine like and go like a nascar.
.-= Mick Morris´s last blog ..Are you suffering self development overload? =-.
Yeah, I think the most annoying ones are domains that are just parked with Google Links all over them.
=-.
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
Blimey Keith, you know you’re Problogger Archives!
I think there’s a growing realisation with folks that no one can expect you to do everything for nothing and I think that to some extent, the adverts are expected.
I agree you don’t want your website lit up like the Las Vegas Strip and a good way of boosting affiliate sales is through blog posts and tweets.
Balance, as always, is the key.
.-= Matthew Needham´s last blog ..Wednesday Wisdom =-.
Matthew,
Yeah, a Las Vegas Strip scene is probably not what we’re shooting for here.
I myself am just coming up to speed on twitter and hope to be really proficient, very quickly.
Brandon
=-.
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
I dont mind some ads on sites, but some people just go way over the top and you miss the article completely because of the ads, I tend to close any site with too many ads and apart from anything else, they can also slow down the page and in some cases even freeze it.
.-= Maria Muir´s last blog ..Celebrity Status – With A FaceBook FanPage =-.
Hi Maria,
Yeah, ads can be good. I just want everybody to really believe in what they are promoting or offering. Have an inside look at it yourself. OR, make sure you are very comfortable and trusting of whomever put the product together.
Brandon
=-.
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
Excellent. Great Post buddy. I totally agree, about sidebar ads, but i think putting 2 or 3 ads are good. I have seen many bloggers who had filled their sidebar, footer with ads/affiliate products.
Anyways, Thanks for sharing this great Post buddy
.
Hey Dev,
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed, though I’m still being overwhelmed with sad vibes after learning Darren made a similar post 6 months ago. I wear my heart on my sleeve, and it’s working on me right now.
Oh well, all I can do it keep on plugging and chugging, know that it can happen, and move on.
Time to grab the rucksack, throw it on the back, and keep on pressing forward with the day.
Take care,
=-.
Brandon
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
Don’t worry too much about it – you are a genuine guy and I am sure that Darren does not mind. I have never visited his blog, but will be visiting now due to this post, so he can’t hate you too much
As far as the advertising bit goes, I am attracted to shiny things. Though I do agree with you here – flashing banner ads in particular really get to me – in a bad way.
Have a great day Brandon – it is nice to see you out and about.
.-= mark´s last blog ..Is The internets Makin’ Yins Stupiter? =-.
Hey Mark,
Thanks for the words. You brought a smile to my face, for sure regarding going to visit his site, that’s awesome.
Regarding the shiny things, crazily enough, that is sort of what a video I’m going to be doing today is going to be about…sort of. It’s actually going to be on Silver Bullets. I’m sure that one has already been done before…but not with my face plastered on it, or with my views on it.
Anyway,
=-.
Thanks for the words.
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
Hey Brandon,
It’s indeed a delicate thing – you have to find the right balance. Some sites coughcough%mashable%coughcough have soo much advertising, it’s not only massively distracting, but also slows down the page load.
And making authentic reviews on services or products you actually know is another big plus. Authentic, friend-like marketing is the future !
nice to see you here, Brandon !
.-= Mars Dorian´s last blog ..What YOU can learn from these Digital Crusaders ! =-.
Hey Mars,
Agreed. the right balance is key. and yes…authentic, true blue caring for your readers.
Brandon
=-.
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..Crazy Weekend, but Traffic is Up.
Fantastic post Brandon! you know what, I’m glad you had a similar idea to Darren! Shows you are thinking right. I’m also glad you posted it because ironically, Problogger looks a little like a nascar so I tend to stay away and thus would never have seen the post.
You have a fantastic blogging attitude Brandon, its all about integrated advertising and that is exactly what you outlined as the right thing to do.
Quick note: I meant to tell you earlier, I LOVE your logo! who did it? recommendations?
is brandonburgh a bridge or a gate somewhere or other? I swear it sounds familiar
.-= Alex´s last blog ..Administration does not drive traffic! (I need your help) =-.
Hey Alex,
Thanks and I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.
Re: the logo…I got it off of one of the image sites and bought a license for it. Now, you need to modify the images to be used for logos, etc, so I added the B’s and the site to it with a simple Graphics program called Xheader.
Ummm..BrandonBurgh was just a run on between Brandon and Pittsburgh, and I had started out thinking I’d “brand” myself on Black and Gold, for the Pittsburgh colors. Actually, I know a guy also who would call me that…just kind of stuck.
Thanks for the comments.
Brandon
.-= BrandonBurgh´s last blog ..BrandonBurgh Quick Check-In =-.
I can so relate to this post, some blogs and sites just have so much going on it is hard to focus on any one thing when you hit the page, less is more I think, Sally
.-= Sally´s last blog ..Internet Marketing The Crying Game =-.
Hi Sally,
Yep, some of them are so hard to focus, you don’t even know what the site is even about.
Brandon
It used to, but you figure out quick that it does not work. Adapt or die as they say, and less is really more.
.-= Iamdavid´s last blog ..Life is Absurd? Yes, Yes It IS =-.