In this two hour super-session, monetization experts offered the secrets of their success! Led by Jim Kukral, the speakers included Anita Campbell, Darren Rowse, Jeremy Schoemaker, and John Chow.

Jeremy Schoemaker (ShoeMoney.com) provided us with details on how he began making money and grew his income to over a million dollars annually.

Getting Started:

• Don’t Expect to Make Money!
• What’s Your Passion?
• Focus on Building Your Content!
• You Don’t Need Google!
• Don’t Kill Your Site Before it Starts!

John says that he thinks his success is due to his connection with his audience by being open about his personal life!

Ways to Monetize:

• Contextual Ads: Use Adsense as a starting point
• Donations: Many people ask for/accept donations for hosting, etc.
• Subscriptions: He collects emails and provides premium content/videos
• Physical Goods: Selling products, books, e-books, etc.
• Affiliate Marketing: Jeremy uses Amazon for any book/video links and a variety of other affiliates depending on the topic or email.
• Direct Ad Sales: How do you determine a price for your ads? Jeremy says to start off by just charging $1! Nobody wants to be the first advertiser. If a site already has advertising, others are more apt to join. If you know who your target advertiser should be – just grab their banner as an affiliate marketing link.
• Text Links and Paid Posts

ShoeMoney.com Income:

• 30% Direct Ad Sales
• 50% Affiliate Commissions
• 20% Misc

Jeremy’s blog income for 2010 (as of October 1st) 1,832,342.23!!

Recommendations:

• Prepare a media kit
• Make it easy for advertisers to contact you
• Follow up with everyone who is interested in advertising
• Provide as many sizes and pricing as you can handle!