Subscribe (RSS)
Now that you know how to make sure your sites content is original, your next step as a seller should be to look for ways that will help you monetize your website. If you’re developing your website with an intention of flipping it, you should have a monetization strategy behind it. This is especially important since websites that earn a regular income will fetch a greater profit than a website that is not monetized. Even the best websites that generate a good amount of traffic should have a plan in place to generate a consistent stream of revenue. Here are a few proven monetization strategies that will help you boost your ROI (Return on Investment):
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Pay-Per-View (PPV)
PPC and PPV are two of the simplest, yet very effective monetization methods employed by millions of website owners from all over the world. As the name suggests, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is the model in which you get paid every time a visitor clicks on your ad. Alternatively, Pay-Per-View (PPV) model is based on the number of views. While PPC and PPV are very popular monetization methods, you shouldn’t expect to much revenue from these two strategies in the initial stages of a website launch. There are several pay-per-click engines on the web, however Google AdSense and AdWords are undoubtedly the best and the most reputable.
Finding Advertisers and Selling Ad Space
This monetization strategy can be comparatively more profitable than PPC and PPV, but would require you to indulge in some serious research planning and analysis. First, you would need to research your competitor websites and identify their advertisers and the ad rate of their site. Once you know how much your potential advertiser is spending on your competitor’s website, your next step should be to prepare your sales budget and an impressive proposal. Contact your potential advertisers with a good proposal, and close the deal. Last but not the least; make a constant effort to keep your advertisers.
Selling Physical or Digital Products
If you are interested in selling physical products on your new or established website, then take a few cues from sites such as Amazon. You will have to create a listing of the products you want to sell on your website and ensure the transactions are secure and that the products are shipped on time. If you are selling physical products, then you have to also take care of warehousing and distribution (unless you have a dropshipper who will take care of these aspects for you).
Selling digital products can prove to be a better bet for you. As with less overhead, digital goods have comparatively lower cost per sale sale. Moreover, it does not require you to worry about aspects such as warehousing, distribution and shipping. You can simply create your own digital products or sell digital products owned by others.
Promoting Affiliate Products
To promote other people’s products, be it physical or digital, you just need to join a merchant’s affiliate network as an affiliate marketer. Every time a potential customer is referred by you to the merchant, you are eligible for a commission. However, it depends completely on your agreement with the merchant. While some merchants pay per customer referred, others prefer to pay commission on each sale. A simple search for the term “affiliate marketing” can bring up hundreds of results, we recommend you throughly reserach which affiliate group or network is best for your website.
Monetization through memberships and subscriptions
If you have a loyal and growing customer base, then this is the best monetization option for you. You can simply charge a nominal membership or subscription fee from customers and give them access to exclusive member’s area. Make sure that the member’s area has something special or valuable to offer to the members of your site, as this will ensure that more and more people are encouraged to join the member’s area.
Services
If you specialize in a particular service area, then it’s best that you offer these services on your website to make money. Some of the most common services that are offered on the Internet are data entry, copywriting, accounting and web designing. However, offering services on the website is not easy as it sounds, the hours may be long and you generally work from one project to the next. As your site grows you may be able to outsource some of work on eLance.com or Freelancer.com and pay more attention to the finer details or running the business. Generally, these types of websites are the hardest to flip as they require specific knowledge in a service area to flip. If your concerned about the reputation of the site and it’s customer, we recommend you work with a potential buyer before accepting a bid or Buy Now offer.
So what’s the best method? Well thats for you to decide, however Justin at Flip Filter has posted a great article on his take regarding the most profitable monetization techniques.
Tweet
No related posts
12 Comments on “Best Practices to Monetize Your Flip”
Andy@PowerBlog on Nov-15-2010
The difference in flipping a site that is monetized is huge, and I understand why you mentioned it.
Even a site that just make a few dollars is worth a lot more to a potential buyer.
Andy Beveridge on Nov-15-2010
A really interesting blog. I would love to set up a membership site, but I am worried that I will not be able to supply enough value content every month.
I wonder if there is a way round this problem. Like outsourcing?
Nile on Nov-15-2010
I have found that there were a lot of people trying to spam on Freelancer. One of my own areas of expertise at Freelancer.com is writing and I find that I get invited to a lot of bad opportunities.
I do know that one of my friends says she makes great money using clickbank links, but cautions to choose good opportunities as some are real duds.
Matt on Nov-17-2010
Very informative article. Just what I was looking for. I plan on trying my hand at ppc. Still researching it though.
Paul on Nov-18-2010
I agree with the previous poster. There are many scams out there. However, a good deal of money can be made flipping these sites.
Yvette on Nov-20-2010
I am learning a lot about how to monetize my website. Thanks for the helpful tips.
Ledbetter on Nov-24-2010
Thanks. I am going to try one of these methods. I am so in need of some income from home right now.
Andy Beveridge on Nov-25-2010
As Niles say in a previous post. If your promoting a Clickbank product make sure it is a Value product. Check out the sales page. Would you be happy if your customers read it?
LoveDove on Dec-03-2010
You’ve given me food for thought! I need to analyze how I am going about my monetization and what fits best for me! Thanks!!
Arnold on Dec-05-2010
Nice easy to follow pointers, thanks!
Grace Newton on Dec-05-2010
Hi can you tell me some of the best places to start selling my own digital product. Are there others more than Amazon?
Stan on Dec-05-2010
Hey Erik how do I set-up a membership site or private membership area? I’ve been wondering the best way to do that? Thanks.