Segmentation has been a hotly debated subject since it rolled out. Many Posties have complained that there are “less opps” but that simply is not true. We have seen a tremendous uptick in advertiser opportunity creation and deposits, and that has grown even more since the launch of Oppapalooza. Yesterday we had our second biggest day of deposits ever and this Monday wasn’t too far behind that. In addition, we have TRIPLED the average amount earned per post since our launch in June of last year. The long time Posties know that a $10 Opp was big money back in the day.
What is true is that there are less opportunities for bloggers who have lower ranking blogs, particularly blogs that are part of hosted communities such as xanga. There is also increased activity and competition among bloggers. It used to take me a couple of weeks to fill 250 posts, now I can easily fill that overnight. Last week I filled 100 post slots in 3 hours. 3 hours!!! That is incredible.
Quick Side Note
Some of you have asked me why you should continue to spread the word about PayPerPost and “increase your own competition”. The answer is simple. The more bloggers we have the more attractive we are to Advertisers… the more opportunities that will ultimately be created. Right now we are getting RFPs for $500k media spends with big name advertisers you guys will LOVE to post about. As little as 3 months ago we wouldn’t have been able to respond to these because the inventory of bloggers was just too low. Big brand advertisers like big networks that can yield widespread exposure. I know it sounds crazy but we are competing for dollars with the likes of MySpace and Facebook. Those are massive sites with the ability to touch millions, we need the capacity to do the same.
So how do you get more Opps? Make your blog(s) more attractive to advertisers. Some of you have done a great job with this, many of you are our top earners (kudos guys!). Many more of you haven’t. You keep doing the same thing with your blog, you have decided to try to “f5” your way to opportunities with little or no segmentation. If that works for you great, but it’s a much harder way to utilize the marketplace.
The smart way to find yourself with more Opps is to separate yourself from the pack. One of the easiest ways to do this is to separate your blog from social networking sites. Get your own domain and start building your own brand. Make the site experience about you and your thoughts. (1)
The next thing I would do is niche. Advertisers like targeted blogs. Whether I am selling cars, computers or camping equipment I would rather be on a site that talks about those things regularly then a generic lifestyle blog. Every blog with major readership has a focus, what is yours? Don’t get to specific “This blog is about the nintendo wii”, but do choose a path “This blog is about video games, music and movies”.
Once you have established your brand and your voice you need to focus on the content you create. Make it compelling, keep it up to date and be sure to engage your readers to get them commenting.
After you have made it through these steps you need to go out there and let the world know about it. SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS! You can go guerrilla and take all those social network friends you have built up and point them to your new blog. Use free sites like the Bloggers Choice Awards to gain exposure. Comment on other peoples blogs and make use of trackbacks to become part of the conversation on your own blog. Heck, you can even use PPP and create an Opportunity.
So, to wrap it up:
1. Establish your brand
2. Establish your voice
3. Create great content
3. Promote like hell!
All of these topics will be covered in depth at PostieCon. The best $200 you will ever spend.
(1) To be clear I am still a big believer in blogs that are hosted on social networking sites and we (PPP) create opps for these users regularly. However, I am willing to pay a premium for bloggers with their own domains and some advertisers don’t see the same value that I do with users of these sites, excluding them all together.
