I’ve been tracking my Adsense profits every day for weeks now, at the suggestion of several people on the forums. I’m not sure if this is what they were hoping I’d notice, but the single biggest thing I’ve observed is that the niche of each site strongly influences profitability.

Let me emphasize that point again. Strongly! First, click through. One blog has a CTR averaging literally 25 times the CTR of a web app site I run. The EPM is likewise 20 times higher on that blog. So, the web app which gets thousands of hits a day earns less than a tenth of what the blog which only gets a couple hundred hits at best.

I guess I know which one I should be spending time boosting!

Technorati Tags: adsense, earnings analysis

OK, I admit it, I chose todays gem because I love the title. Once again I am drawing from the wisdom found in The Wizard of Ads by Roy H. Williams.

This one is from the chapter "The Song of the Weasel" and it talks about something all people trying to make money online have faced. The subtitle of this site is "Making money online with Style and Ethics" because I need reminding of this from time to time. The world has enough seedy money-grubbers. I don’t need to be one to make a great living.

Well, the truth of the matter is, there’s a little weasel in all of us, and that weasel needs to be slapped. When your ears hear your lips start to sing the song of the weasel, you must learn to immediately slap the weasel within.

Everyone admires teh hardy individual who can look into the mirror of his soul and give the weasel within the cold, hard slap known as "remembrance of obligation." If the first slap doesn’t subdue the weasel, a second slap "loyalty," will get him every time.
[…]
Everybody loves a weasel slapper, but nobody likes a weasel.

Technorati Tags: advertising, ethics

Today’s gem is from "The Wizard of Ads" by Roy H. Williams.

Roy’s book is made up of one or two page essays which get to the point quickly, hammer it home, and move on. I appreciate the style, and it is a very quick read. I find myself flipping back through it, rereading my notes, using it as a mental shakeup when I am feeling blocked.

On page 79, Roy lists "Twelve Most Common Mistakes in Advertising"

1. The desire for instant gratification.
2. Trying to reach more people than the budget will allow.
3. Assuming the business owner knows best.
4. Unsubstantiated claims.
5. Improper use of passive media.
6. Creating ads instead of campaigns.
7. Obedience to unwritten rules.
8. Late-week schedules.
9. Overconfidence in qualitative targeting.
10. Event-driven marketing.
11. Great production without great copy.
12. Confusing reactions with results.

All of these mistakes are ones I see every day, online and off. Good book with chewy thoughts.

Technorati Tags: Wizard of Ads, Row Williams, marketing, advertising