Make money blogging in South Africa

So you have started your blog, chosen a niche topic to blog about, used a number of my SEO tips and have got the hang of RSS. Now you asking – show me the money!

Being in South Africa, and not being able to use PayPal, does limit the number of advertising and affiliate options that are available on the net. But it definitely doesn’t stop us!

Choosing the right monetizing option to suit your blog

There are a number of different ways of monetizing your blog. Some types of advertising will do brilliantly on your blog, and others will perform horribly. It’s about finding what is right for you and more importantly, what works for your readers/visitors. First lets get into the nitty gritty. What options do South Africans have when it comes to monetizing their blogs?

Top advertising networks for SA bloggers

• Google Adsense – CPC network
• Kalahari.net e-traders – CPA network
• Offerforge Affiliate Network (aff) – CPC and CPA/CPL network
• Traffic Synergy (aff) – CPC and CPA/CPL network

Newbie alert!
CPC – Cost Per Click. Visitor clicks on an advert, you get cash.
CPA – Cost Per Action. CPL – Cost Per Lead. Visitor clicks on advert, buys a product, fills in an application form or signs up for a newsletter etc, you earn either a % of sales or a fixed amount per action.

I know this list looks small, but don’t get ahead of yourself and sign up for every single advertising network that you can find. Start small and become a master of the advertising options you have chosen. Then once they start to take off, then you can investigate alternatives.

Google Adsense is by the easiest form of advertising for websites. There are a number of different types of banners, text ads and image ads to place on your blog. The placing of the different ads also affects how well they perform. Adsense tips is a whole topic on its own (more on this in later blog posts), but for now, sign up for Adsense and start playing around with it.

Kalahari.net has an affiliate program whereby you can earn up to 6% of all sales you send their way. I have found that just pasting links to Kalahari.net does not perform very well, but having a post dedicated to a single or a small number of products that you have read or tried – or even just a review on a product – works a lot better. Books will never go away, so whenever you read one, write a decent review and link to the book at Kalahari.net using your affiliate link. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how many people will buy a book after reading a detailed review of a product.

Offerforge and Traffic Synergy essentially offer the same thing. They act as a broker between advertisers and you. They sign up advertisers, and you then choose which adverts you want to run on your site. Most of the advertisements are CPA/CPL, but there are a few CPC campaigns. Watch out for the spammy advertisement campaigns like herbal medicine, insurance and home loans – except if your niche website deals with these topics exclusively. Having these type of campaigns on a website not directly linked to the type of adverts makes your site look “cheap and spammy”. Having said that, there are some decent campaigns that these networks offer, so don’t let my “spammy” words get you down!

Focus on 1 or 2 revenue streams

When starting out, try not to spread yourself to thin with advertising options. Focus on 1 stream first, get the hang of it, and then expand. Also, changing your blog from an advert free site to tons of ads in one swoop will make your site look cheap. Gradually introduce advertising options, and explain to your readers why you are introducing ads to your site. Don’t alienate your readers, as they are your potential advertisers customers!

For those interested to know how many different advertising options there are, read this post from John Chow. Now imagine having all those ads on any site on the web. Would you even put foot on that homepage? Never.

Heres to your advertising success
Jason Bagley