I’ve been making some changes around the site with regards to the ads that get displayed in the hope of increasing the amount of revenue that ComLuv can generate. Maybe one day it’ll make enough money to justify all the time I put into it but, that’s never really been the driving force behind the site or plugin.
Google ads and Banners
Google sent me an email explaining that I could make more revenue if I followed their heatmap of the best places to put ads so I followed their advice and put some adsense above the post along with the 125×125 banners.
There’s still one 125×125 banner available as a dofollow banner. It’s visible throughout the whole site over pages from PR1 to PR6 and tend to get a decent click through rate. They’re available for a discount if bought for 90 days on the 125×125 purchase page
Go Studiopress!
Rather than pennies per day (if I’m lucky), I am going to try some affiliate ads for Studiopress. In particular, the Genesis framework which is what the site is running on using the Delicious child theme. I’ve already earned a bit of commission from clicks that turned into sales so I’m going to see if I can push that a bit more this month and see if it converts.
[edit] wooh, that little bit of commission turned into 167$ the past few days!! I’m glad they’ve moved to Shareasale!
Shareasale
The Shareasale site seems to have a lot of companies that have things to sell and are willing to give a percentage of the sale away to the people that promote them so I’ll be giving that a deeper look over the coming months. I promise I will try to keep things tasteful!
You might want to give them a look yourself. It’s only fair to disclose that if you join using the following link, get accepted, start promoting and generate a click then they will give me 1 dollar! 
Twitter: ygndblog
says:
Hello Andy, I wanted to ask your opinion on about adding ads to one’s site. How established should your blog be?. Should you have your blog running for a certain length of time or after you start getting so many unique visitors per day? I might try the Shareasale and if I do, I definitely will sign up through your link.
Karen Cruz´s recent blog post ..White Flag – SpokenWord Version
Twitter: commentluv
says:
I think you can start to add ads anytime on a site just as long as they’re not plastered all over the place. If you have a niche site then it’s a no brainer that you can have ads that support the niche you’re writing for without any trouble at all. Try to keep a balance of content and ads and I think you’ll be fine.
thanks for offering to signup through my link!
Twitter: kyle_clouse
says:
Andy, can you take a look at my sites adds and let me know. I totally agree that you should not plaster your site. In your opinion, would I be okay adding more advertisements or is less better?
Kyle Clouse´s recent blog post ..Ty Bennett and the Power of Influence
Twitter: commentluv
says:
Your site looks nice Kyle, I don’t think it would be hurt with an extra ad or two . It depends what type of ads you’re going to use. I’m no expert! I just try to put up ads that are relevant to the site if I can and keep checking on them to see if they are worth keeping.
Twitter: kyle_clouse
says:
Thanks Andy. I appreciate the feedback.
Kyle Clouse´s recent blog post ..Ty Bennett and the Power of Influence
Twitter: ygndblog
says:
Cool. Well I will definitely give it a try. Thanks Andy.
Karen Cruz´s recent blog post ..White Flag – SpokenWord Version
hi Andy,
just want to drop a quick note about studiopress; I’ve just installed it for a client and I love it, although some small issues, but the answers are available on the forum.
basically it’s the completed version of wordpress from an seo perspective; I used to install all kinds of plugins to achieve the same as what’s already build into genesis … obviously genesis is better than those plugins and saves a lot of time
I’m not affiliated … genesis is totally worth the little bit of money they ask for it – very good platform!
cheers,
Michiel
Michiel Van Kets´s recent blog post ..Manual Directory Submission Service
Twitter: barbaraling
says:
Would love to hear how this type of marketing helps you!
If you could clone yourself, you should create a free optin class entitled, How to get the most out of Commentluv and within your emailed lessons, include your affiliate inks for needed tools (ie, Studiopress, site hosting, affiliate marketing, etc.etc.etc.).
Methinks you’d get a rather good optin rate for something like that here….and you’d also build up your list inhouse as well.
Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s recent blog post ..The Captain Kirk 3 Step Guide To Slavish Customer Adoration
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
Having just returned from the ShareASale Think Tank held this year at the Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay (near San Francisco), and as someone who has watched them grow for years you are making a good recommendation above when you say “You might want to give them a look yourself”. If you do get involved and join them you will discover that in addition to having more than 3,000 merchants to choose from you might get invited to attend next year’s “Think Tank” event. They are always held in first class venues and they pick-up the tab for everything with the exception of your airfare — and no you don’t have to be a SUPER affiliate to get an invite. I recommended to a number of my bootcamp members to apply and three were accepted — and one is brand new. they spoiled us all by hosting yet another first class event.
James Martell´s recent blog post ..Affiliate Buzz 174 – ShareASale Think Tank 2010 Recap Roundtable
Twitter: commentluv
says:
wow, thanks for the feedback! I’ve been making money on the internet for years but this is the first time I’ve dipped my toes into this type of affiliate deal. I can see there is a lot to learn!
Twitter: JamesMartell
says:
My pleasure. I love your service. It really is a “service” to us all. I have been referring others to it often. I’ve also created a video tutorial for members of my bootcamp that shows how to set-up and use all comluv.com has to offer. I am thinking about becoming a guest blogger and posting the tutorial. It’s very generic. No sales pitch. If that’s good with you let me know and I’ll post it when I return from Webmaster World’s Pubcon in Las Vegas.
If I may, you may find a recent interview I did with another industry veteran from the affiliate marketing industry very helpful in your quest to monetize your site to new levels.
http://jamesmartell.com/coffee-talk/lisa-riolo/
I would also love to interview you about comluv on the Affiliate Buzz. It’s the oldest and longest running podcast in the industry (since 2003). It is hosted on WebmasterRadio.FM, GeekCast.FM and on my own personal site above. It’s also available on iTunes. I would love to help get the word out about the service.
http://www2.webmasterradio.fm/affiliate-buzz/
Let me know what you think.
James Martell´s recent blog post ..Google SEO Tip 78- Are There Any SEO Certification Programs You Are Aware Of