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This is a basic check list for any new publisher, blogger to sell ads directly to advertisers. Understand your audience Before advertisers sign the contract, they want to know who will view their ads. In order to provide potential advertisers this information, you need to know who visits your site, reads your blog and uses your products. Demographic data with age, gender, income, and interests are useful to match ads and your site. This information can be obtained from user registration data, surveys, polls and your own interactions with visitors. Think about relevant products and potential advertisers Your blog and website might have a strong focus in a particular industry. In such cases, potential advertisers are easy to identify. For example, a travel blog should target airlines, hotels, destinations, attractions. Some websites need more scouting than others. General social networks, portals target a much broader audience. Determine your ad rates This is one of the most frequently asked questions. Wish there was a machine that outputs a specific number for how much you should charge for advertising. Too bad such machine does not exist as there are too many variables for it to consider. However, you have several questions to answer before setting a price: • How much your competitors charge for a similar campaign? • How many visitors, pageviews, and impressions you have daily? • How much does it cost you to design, develop, operate and maintain the website, or blog? • How long is the advertising contract? Are they likely to continue their ads after the first campaign? Prepare a media kit Once you understand your audience, you can show off the value of your advertising program. The media kit should describe your website and its audience. Additionally, it should list all available ad placements and ad specifications (ad dimension, file size, animation length). Make the first contact It all begins with the first message, so do your own research and understand the advertiser's company, its products and target market. In your message, you should describe how advertising on your website will bring high quality visitors and customers to the advertiser. The message should not be from a long, standard template without any details about your website or benefits to this particular advertiser. The message should be personal, should describe your offer and should initiate an action within a specified time frame. Reply and follow up Don't wait forever for your message but don't push it too aggressively either. Your reply must address all questions and requested information. Your follow up should be polite and appreciative of the person's time. Negotiate and close the deal If you took your time to determine your ad rates ahead of time, you know your lower limit and can walk away if appropriate. A deal can be very flexible: standard rates with a standard contract, lower rates for a longer contract, and lower rates for an exchange of services or partnership. Negotiation should be a win-win situation for both parties, each get their goals, maybe not all, met. To avoid possible legal problems, make sure there is a written agreement between you and the advertiser. The agreement can be formal (signatures, stamps, approvals) or informal (email messages from both parties acknowledging the details, length, and amount involved). General tips • Don't afraid to approach potential advertisers if you believe you have a great website with quality contents and quality audience • Don't send a mass message or your messages will be marked as spam and simply ignored • Do check out your competitors or other sites in the same industry to see their advertisers • Do use an ad management/tracking system to increase your productivity and provide accountability and transparency to your advertisers AdSpeed Ad Server is a reliable and powerful ad serving and ad management solution that serves your ads, track impressions, clicks, and report ad statistics in real-time. AdSpeed combines the latest ad serving technologies with advanced web analytics to maximize your advertising revenue.
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