Blogs - are you making real money with them?
 

I have started maintaining 4 blogs ( update them daily ) for almost 3 weeks now and I can see a nice increase in traffic, I still don't have a lot of it to get some relevant conclusions regarding sales and conversions.

Now what I'm quite interested in...
Did any of you guys find it easier to build and maintain a successful blog than a TGP or a LL? And I mean a real blog, not one of those fake tgps that run on WP. ( whose posts consist of links to hosted galleries ).
I don't have a TGP but I do have a 2 months old LL which also grows but slower than those blogs.

I'm looking for your legit opinions as I know there are some of the biggest names in the industry posting here |waves|

Just wish I wasn't too obtrusive regarding your bussinesses asking those questions. :)

I've found I can gain more traffic over time with blogs compared to a LL. Course I believe that comes from quality posts with lots of good text and SEO. I really dont see the "tgp" type blogs getting anywhere, more importantly what type of traffic that attract, maybe others can say different.

Also depends on what kind of blog you do, can make a big difference. I've sure learned a few things.

But it does take time, no quick money, least more than a couple bucks.

Just my two cents.

ronnie

Thanks ronnie :)

I do agree it takes time no matter what you get into: tgp, LL, blog, etc. but I think blogs can do it "a little" faster since they are really easy to updated, integrated rss creation system, automated pings ( when new posts are available ).

What do you mean by "what kind of blog you do"?

Another question, along the same train of thought. Can a blog be used as an effective traffic pump for TGP's or link lists?

Ya, they do seem to do a little better than other sites. I am getting better traffic (not huge amounts) from many of my blogs with less time spent promoting, than I spent promoting a LL not long ago. But, that is because they seem to "grow" better than other sites. Of course the blog gets updated a little more, so that's probably a helpfull factor.

I dont know about easy to update, maybe as gfar as using the software. But it sure takes time to make or find quality posts. And ya the rss sure can help.

As for what kind of blog you do, well if it has a personality or a story about a person, they seem to do better. The more believable the better. My better blogs, as far as traffic, though not tons, are ones that are about a person, like a real life diary. And if you can get them to believe it, you'll do even better. Thats just my experience, comparing how all my blogs do.

ronnie

To me blog traffic can usually be better quality, I'd rather feed it to my sponsors than another site. I personally dont get into feeder anything, unless I'm trying to trade off crap traffic for better or new. Plus when you use sites to feed something else, you put another step in the process, each step you'll lose surfers. Also, as others have said in the past, it's not difficult to get mainstream traffic to a adult blog if done right, fresh blood if you ask me. They might be porn surfers, but if they are coming from mainstream (non-adult), could be ones that dont know the game, are not just looking for free porn like so many regular porn surfers are.

As always this is just my opinion, maybe others can say different.

Also, why would you want to push blog traffic to a tgp? Unless your trying to get your trades up. It's like saying, hey new traffic, why pay for porn, here's a ton for free.

ronnie

Just trying to think outside of the box, using a blog to filter traffic in a manner similar to a hub.

Did'nt mean to cut down the idea, or say it was bad. Just think blog traffic is usaully a little better quality, could be much better, rather send them to sponsors or sponsor ads, than give them a ton of free porn.

It sure never hurts thinking outside the box, could be gold..:)

ronnie

I agree with ronnie here, folks who are coming in from search engines and other blogs are looking for porn the hardway. Why show them the easy way out? I wouldnt ever consider dumping them on a TGP and giving them a sick amount of free galleries when I can instead entice them with a small taste every day and try to get them to visit sponsors instead.

but, i can see it going the other way around. If you were to use TGPs to feed a blog.... ;)

I didn't make much with TGP stuff before, so I gave up and gave blogs a try. It is much faster to make money from blog and also much more money with less work. Blogging has been my hobby now since I started a new job (working on them about 4 hours a week) I have a 3 active blogs and make about $200 - $400 a week from them. If I worked 4 hours a week on TGP, I think I would get like $30 a week lol

The "feeding a TGP from a blog" part ... I'll probably avoid it even though I'm going to open a tgp too soon.

Very well stated, thank you :)

The_Adventure, thank you very much for your post. I love when people post real facts, real numbers :D

Btw Boogie and The_Adventure, I'll contact you later today, we may be able to work out a link trade between blogs. Boogie, got your icq from your contact page, Adventure, you can drop yours here or I'll have to PM you.

My ICQ is 294373975.. yep contact me later today..hehe it's 4 am here and think I'm off to bed now :)

PS all I have are gay blogs :D

Fishy

Thanks, will hit you up later today. Unfortunately I don't have gay blogs, but at least will be able to talk a little about blogging stuff ;)

Quite impressive. 4 hrs a week and 200-400$. Just imagine fulltime 40+hrs a week.

Well, then the amount of revenue would multiply by 10 . $2000-$4000 wouldn't be bad AT ALL :D.

Though, I know it's just not that simple, as ronnie said you need good posts and you also have to do the SEO as you write.

Sure! I like talking about blogs :) I think they blogs are very important these days and we are developing a blog materials for zbuckz affiliates that run blog sites now. :)

Fishy

I invested a lot of time when I started. And to be honest, I cannot do that full time. Just like alessandro said that we have to create a good entry and do SEO which are the most boring parts of blogging imo lol and after I got a new job with zbuckz, I don't really have time for that.

Blogs if not automated are a total waste of time.
Well as much a tgp.

To be as big as the biggest free sites on the net now in 2006 is almost impossible so my point is, you build blogs and tgps and you put them on automated modes and that's it. You then move on to other things. Making galleries/submitting new projects whatever.....

The next day, you start over

Are you saying if entries aren't automated a blog is a total waste of time ?

With all due respect, I don't think they're wasting your time, if you do post quality entries regularly. Also think about WP's draft feature... it can help a lot to almost automate the posting process of the entries ( I think it can be fully automated somehow with cron jobs but I have to figure out how to do it yet ).

Well i should have said time spent per buck earned
A blog takes time to take care off unless you setup something which updates by itself

A blog takes about 15 minutes to update each day. How long does it take to build a free site?

I'm by no means trying to imply anything here, I just haven't gotten your point.

I don't think I could ever automate my blog once I start the process as the writing and character of it will be mine alone. And it will actually contain honest, real posts like some of the guys here post. I guess that's why they are at least somewhat successful.

TGP's on the other hand are different. Using a primitive AI you could easily automate one with virtually no input from the owner. I mentioned it on another thread but no one responded|huh I can barely understand basic code so advanced programming is kinda outa my league right now.

Different webmasters will find it easier to do one or the other. The rewards can be just as good or bad for each too. I personally find it easier to setup and maintain a blog. Like anything though, it comes down to more than just hardwork and creative thinking. You need to know all the legit white hat tricks and hope competitors in your niche don't know them as well as you. I did a course in seo, read everything I could find on the subject, and I'm lucky enough to be friends with some popular bloggers in the mainstream world who gave me tips. Education is really the key.

If you like blogging, then I say keep at it. It's as good a way to make money as any. Couple of tips : Be niche-specific and conscious of appropriate keyword density, and get good backlinks (blogs of your niche, then sites of your niche, with anchor text of the keyphrase you are targetting for site, and only link to sites who are operated by honest webmasters, and so on).

Wanted to highlight that one...I had to learn it the hard way!

Thank you kristian, I've learned the same few years ago when I started reading about SEO and implementing it on my sites. These tips are the most basic IMHO but sometimes webmasters forget them in their hurry after MORE. Always keep linking to related resources ;)