Advertising?

I've got a fairly successful website and I'd like to start selling advertising space. The only problem is that I've got no idea where to start in terms of what to charge, pay-per-click vs monthly fees, etc.

The site itself is a skateboarding site, so ad space will be sold only to skateboarding companies; I don't want to use adsense or anything like that.

Can anybody share their expertise or at least point me to a website that offers some ideas?

Many thanks!

Henry

Why don't you want to use adsense or another ad aggregator? Do you think your ads would appeal to a particular geographic or is it more national or worldwide?

Even if you don't want to use Adsense, it would still be good for testing purposes.

If you're only making a few pennies with it, it could be a sign that you are lacking the traffic and/or content that would make ad space attractive to businesses you'd approach.

On the other hand, if you make a bunch of money with it, then you now have a good idea of a minimum to charge. If a business is willing to pay more for a spot on your site than Adsense is generating, there's no reason not to do it.

And if they bail, you'll know that you can pop the Adsense code right back in and still have an income while you look for a new advertiser.

Another option would be to open an account at cj.com and search for affiliate programs that are related to your content. Not just skateboarding--but other areas that skaters would also be interested in.

In the right conditions, an affiliate program can generate a lot more than ads.

I suggest to just plonk on some adsense and see how much you can make. More importantly you must go through the adsense guidelines like the bible so that your site is 100% legit so you won't face any problems.

- Simple Life -