This is the first of a new weekly series where I give advice on how to promote and monetize sports blogs. Read it every Saturday to have blog success.

MITCHELL BLATT

How do you make money sports blogging? Through advertisements, of course. But, you need to know how to sell ads on your own and what networks to join.

First off, though, is the idea some people have that you shouldn’t have advertisements on your site. It’s just something that has to be done to pay for the server space and the time and effor that goes into each post. I won’t put up any ads that are too annoying–not only is it bad for my readers, it’s bad for business–but I don’t think banners and sidebar ads are too annoying. I did have people who wanted to run audio ads here, but I declined that.

Now how do you make money with ads? I explain in the full article.

The easiest way is to use advertising networks, but they always take a cut, so it’s best to sell ads on your own. I will start by introducing some networks, though, to get you started:

Google Adsense

Everyone knows about Adsense. I have it at the top of my sidebar and occasionally in posts. You get paid per click, in the sports niche, usually $.10-.30 per click. You need to put it somewhere where it will get clicks. Usually close to the content works. And blend the colors with the site background. One mistake I see a lot of sports bloggers make, especially on Blogger, is to put a banner up top above the content. That won’t work because no one will click it, and most of the time, the ads up there will also be not related very well, because it’s so far above and away from the content that their keyword spider has a hard time finding relevant keywords.
Sign Up for Adsense

Adbrite
As with Adsense, Adbrite also offers CPC ads, but they also offer CPM ads. You can’t run both Adbrite text ads on the same page as Adsense, though.

However Adbrite also offers individual word ads. Those are ads that take individual words in your post and turns them into ads, then when someone clicks on that word, you get paid. It’s a good non-obtrusive way to make a little bit of extra money.
Sign up for Adbrite

AdToll
AdToll is the best program in my opinion. They offer weekly payment programs, meaning you don’t have to rely on people clicking your ads or even people visiting your site. You set a fixed price then have companies purchase. AdToll helps with sales, but unlike other companies that sell ads on your site, they pay you 75% of the commissions, compared to 50% with most networks. They also let you chose from every single accepted internet advertising size.
Sign up for AdToll

Yardbarker
Yardbarker at Yardbarker.com offers banners in three formats: leaderboards (big banners), 300×250 squares, and sidebar banners. You don’t need clicks or sales, you get paid per visitor. It’s the easiest one just to stick up and make money. Most sports blogs use it. They pay $1+ per thousand visitors, but they only pay 50% of that.

Now what will really make you money…
Private Ad Sales
If you don’t want to give up 50% of your revenue to a network, sell on your own. But, it selling on your own also takes more time to find buyers. I have made some sales this way. Here’s how I do it.

Search for other sports sites or blogs that have ads of relatively small companies on them (a big company won’t pay a small blog), then go to their site and offer them your pitch in an email. What makes you a great place to advertise? Loyal visitors who will look at the ads? Lots of search engine traffic (some advertisers like this)? Great ad placement? Also mention your traffic. (It should be 10,000+ hits a month to sell.)

Give them stats to prove it. If you use hit tracking, most trackers have pageviews per visit and time per visit. Use those numbers (if they’re high, like 2+ pageviews for a sports blog) to prove your visitors are loyal.

Don’t ask for money in the first email. If they are interested, the advertiser will reply asking how much it will cost? You should set your prices based somewhere around $1-$2 CPM (per thousand) depending on placement and side. A banner should be more. A 125×125 pixel sidebar ad, less. The sidebar ads are good because you can fit a lot of advertisers in a small space, and companies that are affraid of paying big money will feel safer.

You can also call the company instead of emailing them. This will probably increase the likelihood that they buy because it sounds like you are more interested if you call them. Just make sure to have your pitch ready.

Some advertisers will want proof of traffic. If you have publicly viewable stats, that’s easy. If they are only accessable to you, you can send them a screenshot, or, depending on what system you use, email them your stats.

Hope this helps you. Check back next Saturday for more ideas about promoting your blog, or read some more now at the Sports Blogger Forums.

I’m running a contest there now offering Free Advertising for a Year for your sports blog to anyone who joins and starts posting.

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