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The Stirling Faux Show

On Saturday evening I had the pleasure of being a guest on Stirling Faux's nationally syndicated radio show to talk about blogging on the Corus radio network. Stirling Faux is a consummate pro. He's a great guy, and the genuine article. It was a real treat to meet Stirling.

One of the best parts of doing the show, was the call-in portion. I think the plan was to take numerous calls, but when you get a caller like this one, who needs more? As soon as Stirling said 'it's Kate from near Saskatoon', I just knew it was Kate McMillan.

Kate brought up a very interesting point. The decision for many bloggers to place advertising on their sites is not an easy one. Will bringing advertisers on board increase the pressure to grow your traffic? Put another way, will that pressure manifest itself in blog posts that are specifically designed to be traffic magnets?

There is no question that this practice exists. No question about it. Some blogs are designed specifically to be traffic 'whores'. Celebrity, gossip blogs are guilty as Hell (pun intended - for lucky listeners who got exclusive inside info on our next blog launch) for this. But everybody involved in that scenario has to be on the same page and have the same goals. In Kate's case, I don't think she would put up with any advertiser or publisher that demanded her to grow her traffic, or blog about this, that and whatever to boost her traffic. No way. If Kate's traffic is going to grow, it's going to grow because Kate is being Kate, more people find her blog and dig it.

But there is also an overall, broader point to all of this. As the blog space matures, as the awareness and readership of blogs continue to grow, the subject of 'money' is going to come up earlier and often for bloggers. The catch-22 for most bloggers is that money wasn't a motivating factor for getting into blogging in the first place. It's an accidental perk. For many bloggers the prospect of making money from blogging means more time and energy can be made available to practice their passion, and that's where the value proposition of adorning your blog with some form of advertising hits readers in the right spot. Acceptance of advertising on blogs has grown for several reasons. I think in part due to better relevance, better presentation and integration, and because readers are aware that advertising is a direct way to support the person(s) directly involved in creating something they find useful/enjoy.

Some blogs will inevitably be more ad-focused. Readers ultimately decide what 'too much' advertising is. Whether that's sponsored posts, branding, text ads, whatever, your stats counter will never lie. But who wants to go over a cliff first, to learn a lesson? For bloggers with an established, loyal readership the stakes are even higher. Change too much of what got you those readers, and mass exodus may not be far behind.

The happy medium where advertising has an effective presence, your readers are satisfied, and you're staying true to your voice and your goals, is obviously a place where every blogger interested in generating some revenue wants to be. So is there a magic path to follow to get there?

From a network perspective, there are more advertising possibilities within a networked format. But ultimately, every blog will likely have its own marketing sweet spot. The most effective way to know for sure what your readers may or may not like is probably best unearthed by asking them directly. Take advantage of the good relationship you have with your readers, and ask them for their input either via email responses or polling. I have benefited from some unsolicited reader feedback on the subject of advertising, and have not as of yet actively sought-out reader opinions on possible future marketing directions. But I have seen this done on other blogs with effectiveness and I have participated in giving that kind of solicited marketing feedback as a blog reader. It works. I've also seen blog readers come up with amazing marketing suggestions the blogger never thought of.

Thanks to Kate, Stirling, Thor Diakow and the rest of the Corus crew for a fun evening.

TAGS: radio
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