Earning Big through Blogs

We have heard about how bloggers such as Markus Frind to earn as much as 3 million. Local bloggers such as Kenny Sia earns the most from Nuffnang advertising. It's not surprised to say that most of the blogger earning comes from advertising placement and sponsors. There are 2 very popular blog advertising in Malaysia known by many of us which is Nuffnang & Advertlets.

Tiah (right) and Cheo, founders of Nuffnang

(Source, The Star May 29, 2007)

The Advantages

According to Tiah (Timothy Tiah Ewe Tiam, 24 founder of Nuffnang), advertising on traditional media is very costly and passing flyers around which is a cheaper method is not effective. So he and Cheo Ming Shen came out with a system to allow international and local companies to reach bloggers.

One of the main reasons why people choose to advertise online especially in blogs is that bloggers see themselves as "citizen journalists." Rhodes University New Media studies head, Vincent Maher said that “Citizen journalism happens when ordinary people write about extraordinary events. Normally it comes in the form of eye-witness accounts or insider information that sometimes becomes newsworthy,” says Maher. The people today wants a media which does not control their content instead they want to have a full authority on their content. "They want their news on demand, when it works for them. They want control over their media, instead of being controlled by it." (Rupert Murdoch, 2006)

Almost everyone in the entire world can afford to blog now where it is low cost in writing an entry since anyone with an internet connection and computer can publish. "One can reach their clients instantly without incurring cost using traditional methods like mailing. The best thing about internet advertising is that you can measure the results." (John Rognerud, 2009) Blogging create a higher credibility since the bloggers have more ownership over their content in blogs.

Problems

Research shows that even if the blogs is filled with millions of visitors a day, unrelevant advertisements available on the blog will not be viewed by the visitors. According to Gareth Davies, only bloggers who write about very specific topics can use AdSense as the ads generated would be consistent and relevant to the content.

The blogging revolution can be found in South Africa today but the usage and availability is limited as the people there are poor and their have lower income.
Jeff Ooi also mentioned that blogger may probably earn some money with ads on their blogs, but it will not be enough to pay off their bills one day when they quit their job.

Blogging is now the trend and the future advertising media which replaced the old way of advertising online that annoyed us with pops up while surfing the net. Besides, it is also cheaper compare to publising ads in the traditional media such as newspapers and magazine that sometimes cause companies a fortune.

References

Lee, C, 2007. Blogging and big bucks. Viewed on 14th June 2009, http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.asp?file=/2007/5/29/itfeature/17847964&sec=itfeature

Matthew Buckland, Print vs Online: Interview with MArketing Mix, Viewed 14th June 2009, http://www.matthewbuckland.com/?p=13

Matthew Buckland, The Blog Phenomena, Viewed 14th June 2009, http://www.matthewbuckland.com/?p=45

John Rognerud, Advantage of Advertising Online, Viewed 14th June 2009, http://www.jonrognerud.com/blog/advantage-of-advertising-online/