Got the traffic. Please help brainstorm how to monetize it!

[Economica]

Blackwater and I have the site Celebrity Types which garners well over 1,000 visits a day. With inspiration from advice from these boards, we've improved the design of the site and now we are seeing great stats in terms of bounce rate and time spent.

Our current focus is therefore to monetize the traffic and we're pretty clueless, so we could really use some help!

Sources of income

We already have AdSense. We've got individualized ads for each page (the same code is duplicated three times on most pages). Might there be something we can do to improve these earnings?

We're considering writing content to sell rather than give away for free. In particular, we're considering writing our own portraits of the 16 personality types. What do you think of this idea, and how would you recommend we deliver the content once paid for to protect it from leaking all over the net?

We already have one affiliate to whom we link on the page Learn your type. The affiliate is one who sells the official MBTI personality test. Lots of clicks, but no purchases yet. We can kinda understand why, since we wouldn't dream of paying money for the test ourselves since the online tests are almost as good. Still, might there be something we could do to realize these affiliate sales?

We already have Amazon text links (in the bio sections on our 16 in-depth pages where we name one or more books an individual has authored). These garner a few clicks, but no purchases as yet. Might there be something we can do to improve these earnings?

What else might we consider? More affiliates/products, but which?

Pre-selling

I've read enough about SBI to understand that preselling is important. Feedback about how we are doing here and advice on how to do better would be very much appreciated!

My feeling would be that we have a decent amount of goodwill in our visitors' minds due to our content. But for some reason I can't figure out, hardly anyone clicks onto our About page which is where we introduce ourselves a little bit. Do we need to impose ourselves more on the rest of the pages - and if so, how?

---

[Edit: Deleting less important extra questions so as not to overwhelm you!]

---

These are the questions I know to put out there - but any feedback/advice is welcome!

[Sandstone]

Have you checked out some of the larger psychology websites to see how they are managing monetization? It may give you some ideas.

[Economica]

Originally Posted by Sandstone

Have you checked out some of the larger psychology websites to see how they are managing monetization? It may give you some ideas.

Thanks for the suggestion. Of course, one can always try to look at other successful sites for inspiration, but I'd really appreciate specific tips tailored to our site, which is rather unique in the form of content we deliver.

[gigamasterhammer]

Originally Posted by Economica

We already have AdSense. We've got individualized ads for each page (the same code is duplicated three times on most pages). Might there be something we can do to improve these earnings?

Test different positions to find out which one gets the most clicks. It's really all about testing and finding out what works and what doesn't. A search on Google might help as well.

If you are not happy with the results after you tested everything, simply remove it.

Originally Posted by Economica

We're considering writing content to sell rather than give away for free. In particular, we're considering writing our own portraits of the 16 personality types. What do you think of this idea, and how would you recommend we deliver the content once paid for to protect it from leaking all over the net?

Is this something your potential customer wants? Be careful with creating products nobody really needs or wants. (It would just be a waste of time.)

Maybe put a survey on your site and ask your visitors what they want or need.

Originally Posted by Economica

We already have one affiliate to whom we link on the page Learn your type. The affiliate is one who sells the official MBTI personality test. Lots of clicks, but no purchases yet. We can kinda understand why, since we wouldn't dream of paying money for the test ourselves since the online tests are almost as good. Still, might there be something we could do to realize these affiliate sales?

Make a new page and write a review or your thoughts about this official test. Honestly tell your visitors who should do this test and why you recommend it. Answer all potential questions an interested visitor would have.

Take a look at Steve's products page: Products and Services. And see how he writes his reviews and what exactly he covers.

Originally Posted by Economica

What else might we consider? More affiliates/products, but which?

1. Again: Find out what your visitors want. If you know their need, you can create a product or find good affiliate products. So connect with them as often as possible and ask them questions.

2. Change your "learn your type" page. Everything is on there. Make a new page for the official test and a new page where you tell people about your service.

3. After someone knows their personality type, you could offer unique t-shirts. I think if you are really creative this could be very interesting. What do you think about it?

4. Maybe create your own test (of course it needs to be better than the already existing ones).

Originally Posted by Economica

Pre-selling

I've read enough about SBI to understand that preselling is important. Feedback about how we are doing here and advice on how to do better would be very much appreciated!

1. Create a new page where people can contact you. Not just the mail in the footer. Show people that you are there for them.

2. Put pictures of you on the about page. First talk about your website and what's in it for the visitor and then talk a little bit about yourself.

3. Aim to create the best personality type website on the Internet. Stand out, be trustworthy and show your visitors that you know what you are talking about.

Conclusion:
Your website really has a lot of potential. Start to learn more about marketing and find out what your visitors need.

Keep up the great work.

[Economica]

gigamasterhammer, thank you so much for your feedback!

Originally Posted by gigamasterhammer

Test different positions to find out which one gets the most clicks. It's really all about testing and finding out what works and what doesn't. A search on Google might help as well.

If you are not happy with the results after you tested everything, simply remove it.

Yeah, I think blackwater has tried experimenting with the placement. We do get enough clicks that we're not about to remove the ads, at least not until this stream of income is somehow dwarfed by another one.

Is this something your potential customer wants? Be careful with creating products nobody really needs or wants. (It would just be a waste of time.)

Maybe put a survey on your site and ask your visitors what they want or need.

Good idea to make a survey, although I think the investment of time in one portrait is so little (my coadmin has already written up most of one) that we'll just go ahead and offer it up in return for, say, a $5 donation.

Does anyone have input about the best way to deliver the paid-for content? Should we just email people a PDF, or is there any way to decrease the odds of having it leak all over the net?

Make a new page and write a review or your thoughts about this official test. Honestly tell your visitors who should do this test and why you recommend it. Answer all potential questions an interested visitor would have.

Take a look at Steve's products page: Products and Services. And see how he writes his reviews and what exactly he covers.

Heh, you're right. I'll see if I can find it within myself to praise the product or whether we should just drop this affiliate.

1. Again: Find out what your visitors want. If you know their need, you can create a product or find good affiliate products. So connect with them as often as possible and ask them questions.

Yeah, we're looking into some form of social element so we can start interacting with our users. Right now we only interact with those who email us.

2. Change your "learn your type" page. Everything is on there. Make a new page for the official test and a new page where you tell people about your service.

will you spell out for me what the problem is with having these things on one page? It's not like it takes up a lot of space?

3. After someone knows their personality type, you could offer unique t-shirts. I think if you are really creative this could be very interesting. What do you think about it?

I like the idea, and I myself have thought of mugs personalized with a typing (that is, a picture of a person, their name, their type code, and a good quote). This is probably where interaction with our users would be a good idea to figure out which products people might buy.

4. Maybe create your own test (of course it needs to be better than the already existing ones).

Yes, we're already on it.

1. Create a new page where people can contact you. Not just the mail in the footer. Show people that you are there for them.

2. Put pictures of you on the about page. First talk about your website and what's in it for the visitor and then talk a little bit about yourself.

Thanks for this point. I think we're somehow shy about injecting ourselves into the site. It's good to really drive home the point that the rules are different from academia.

Thanks again for the feedback!

If anyone else has any concrete suggestions, we're all ears!

[CharlesMatt]

Have you tried CPA offers. Email submits or maybe an IQ test/survey could help with this type of site. Great idea btw

[janicelou]

I think you have the right idea with what your doing... Just focus on improving each area. When you find something that works better than everything else make that your main focus..

[Emini Trading Expert]

If you have the traffic, making money should not be that difficult. Before I can give you a decent gameplan I need to ask you a few questions.

1)Is the redirect something that is intended? When I went to your site I ended up here... Celebrity Types - Overview Is this intentional? While it gets me reading your site and may reduce bounce rate it leads to distraction. If there is a person that I am interested in more than likely I am going to read up about them. Then MAYBE I will come back.

2) You mention that you are building a relationship with those that contact you. If you are looking to make money and have the traffic, why are you essentially hoping that your traffic will contact you? Be it a quiz, a survey, you need something that will get their email early on. It seems that you site is set up that you are relying on the website to do all the work for you. This is good(passive income is always good), what do you have in the way of an email list? Are you actively marketing to them?

An easy idea, though it falls into PPC is ReMarketing. Basically it is setting up banner ads that follow people where ever they go. For those unfamiliar with ReMarketing, start noticing if you are getting banners promoting products that are completely unrelated to the site you are on. This is more obvious when you see them repeatedly directing you to sites that you have visited before.

[Economica]

Ooh, thanks for the feedback!

Originally Posted by Emini Trading Expert

1)Is the redirect something that is intended? When I went to your site I ended up here... Celebrity Types - Overview Is this intentional? While it gets me reading your site and may reduce bounce rate it leads to distraction. If there is a person that I am interested in more than likely I am going to read up about them. Then MAYBE I will come back.

I'm not sure which redirect you're referring to? The page called Overview is indeed our main page. It's at the cumbersome URL with /philosophers after the domain because that's the page that originally got stumbled. Are you referring to the redirect from our plain domain URL without the /philosophers?

Also, what's the distraction, exactly?

2) You mention that you are building a relationship with those that contact you. If you are looking to make money and have the traffic, why are you essentially hoping that your traffic will contact you?

I realize this question was rhetorical, but I'm going to answer it anyway: It's only fairly recently that we've started looking to make money with this website. For two years we were focusing on content not as a means to an end, but as an end in itself, and now that it's finally hit us that we ought to be making more money than the pocket money we get from Adsense, we're googling monetization and asking for advice here in order to figure out what we need to do to maximize the earning potential of the website. Which is exciting! Bless the long tail of the internet!

Be it a quiz, a survey, you need something that will get their email early on. It seems that you site is set up that you are relying on the website to do all the work for you. This is good(passive income is always good), what do you have in the way of an email list? Are you actively marketing to them?

Why is the email address so important for generating income? (See? I'm a total newbie! ) I guess my having to ask that question answers it; we don't have an email list and we aren't actively marketing to them. What would we put in an email?

An easy idea, though it falls into PPC is ReMarketing. Basically it is setting up banner ads that follow people where ever they go. For those unfamiliar with ReMarketing, start noticing if you are getting banners promoting products that are completely unrelated to the site you are on. This is more obvious when you see them repeatedly directing you to sites that you have visited before.

If I understand correctly, that's more about generating traffic than monetizing it, right? We're of course always interested in increasing traffic, but our main concern right now is converting visits to dollars.

I look forward to your follow-up, ETE!

[Emini Trading Expert]

am hoping that I was not stepping on any toes with some of my comments. I find myself a bit confused as to where you are looking to go with your site.I will try to answer as many of your questions as possible.

The page that I was asking about was this page. 2011-09-04_0102 - MattMacLeod's library

Ok so you site was stumbled(stumbleUpon,) great site And I think that site is wonderful. I wish most sites were created with the idea of content first and not as an after thought.

The distraction is not obvious and actually it's counter-intuitive. It the great content. It's being focused on seeing the celebs personality types and not really caring what mine is.

Really wasn't trying to be rhet. One of the biggest mistakes that I see when it comes to sales both online and offline is people making their prospects do the majority of the work. Perhaps I can say it like this. Make it easy for your visitors to give you their info. Give them a reason to want to give you it. Let me make an offline example and see if this makes sense.

Imagine that you have a business you are trying to promote and you go to a networking meeting. Now most of the people there are going to be getting tons of business cards. There is a good chance that yours might get mixed into the rest of them. Now lets say that something happens to the collection of cards, ie assistant loses yours, dropped etc. You lose the chance of them calling you. Now just by having their card, you control being able to contact them.

This is why I stressed being able to get them to contact you. From you site, it took me a few minutes to figure out where to opt-in. First time on you site I just looked over the celebs and their personality types. My thoughts are that people are going to not going to take that long to look where to find their personality type. I would be hype up to see what it was and type in Myers-Briggs and find out for myself then maybe come back to the site to see who I matched.

Email could be as simple as mailing the results of the MB personality test. The email is important if you want to monetize. The email becomes a prospect list. This is the beginning of a sales funnel, necessary for monetization.

Having traffic is 90% of the battle. Having a site that gets plenty of traffic is where most people go wrong. You have done most of the work this far. Basically you have a store at the mall that has plenty of people visiting but no cash registers. Now it's just figuring out what your prospects want to buy. That begins through interaction and engagement.

I think this answered your questions There are a few things that I can discuss with you further if you are interested. Send me an email if this is something that you would like to discuss further. Again great site. You definitely have done your work.

[Sandstone]

Thanks, Emini Trading Expert, for your replies on this thread. You have shared a lot of valuable insight.