We have just revamped a video section on our blog using Revver as the source of videos. Scenes of scientists setting off 100 bottles of coke filled with mentos may not be relevant to many bloggers whose aim is to inform rather than entertain, but if you are looking for ways to monetize your site there is an interesting trend coming up – video advertising.

Big bucks in the future of video

Text ads are all well and good, but audiences need ever more engaging material to persuade them to part with their money. That isn’t just my wishful thinking for a move on from Adsense. The current figures spent on video advertising, around $400m per annum, have been predicted to rise to over $2bn within a couple of years. (I am a Pisstaker trying to be serious, so please, trust me, I read it on the internet, but can’t remember where.)

Essentially, advertisers will be moving their money out of TV and onto the internet. And that makes sense, because last year internet time overtook TV time for the first time, so the masses are attuning to on-line life. Equally important for advertisers is the fact that internet sites specialise often to ridiculous degrees. Cables to go and British Virgin Island stamps to name but two! That has to appeal to marketeers whose aim in life is to find specific audiences for as little outlay/waste as possible.

Traditional or stodgy video ads

On the front page of Yahoo finance and other heavyweights you should see good examples of where the future lies for advertisers using video on-line in a “traditional” way. That style of advert could apply equally to blogs where Adsense has got old already and there is a decent width sidebar available.

Viral video ads

On Revver, like Youtube, you will see more companies displaying products in entertaining adverts that go “viral” ie popularity of a product explodes through the word-and-mouth process that seems to flourish on social websites. Music and movies are a good example of that phenomenon. Scion, one of our pet topics on the Pisstakers, and a horrible butt ugly box of a car, was launched on-line without much humor, and sadly is quite successful.

How to make money from video ads

So how do video adverts, Revver and bloggers combine to make money? Like millions of bloggers on a budget, along with millions of companies on a budget, we aren’t going to prepare video adverts. Far from it, we want to entertain our visitor with mindless fun clips made with someone else’s money. Revver provides that opportunity for nothing! The even better thing about Revver is that they enable cheapskate advertisers to get on popular videoclips by association ie a simple display ad at the end of a videoclip. The even more phenomenal thing for cheapskate publishers like us bloggers is that we can earn some revenue by hosting those videos – the ones made by other people, with other people’s ads stuck on the end.

In proper English, the Revver busness model is based on sharing the income from a click-through ad placed at the end of every videoclip. The advertiser pays Revver an unknown sum per click and then 20% goes to the site hosting the video, 50% goes to the maker of the video and 30% for Revver. We have made 65 cents so far and rising. It is a start and the future is looking promising – we think – so we are happy to be in on the act at this early stage.

Merry Christmas and join the millions watching fun videoclips on-line, and if you see any good ‘uns, add the faves to the Pisstakers collection too. It beats TV.

Over at my blog, WordUp, I have been blogging about some personal development musings that are the result of a vision I had more than a decade ago. You can read up on this series of posts if that sounds interesting to you by clicking here.

This vision I recieved has been going through my mind a great deal, and never moreso than as of late. It wasn’t until recently that I was able to understand it more fully. One of the things that has resulted from this recent blogging is the development of my new blog, No Other Rock.

Beginning January 1, 2007, I will begin posting about personal spiritual development issues in tandem with the daily devotionals found in J. Sidlow Baxter’s Awake My Heart. I highly encourage you to follow along if you feel so moved.

I had a nice surprise – a cheque (check) from the Friend Finder Group for US$107. It was a surprise because I didn’t think I had earned nearly that much. I’ve published a copy of the cheque (with personal details omitted) just to show I’m not telling porkies!

So who are the Friend Finder Group? They have some 19 million plus members worldwide and operate 25+ websites, mostly within the friendship and contacts market. A few titles are: Friend Finder, Adult Friend Finder, Asia Friend Finder, Big Church, Filipino Friend Finder, Gay Friend Finder and then there are the German, Italian, French, Jewish, Korean Friend Finders plus one for Seniors. There’s a full range to cover most interests.

By becoming an affiliate it’s possible to promote all 25+ sites, or just one, the choice is yours. You can also choose the commission plan that suits you best. For example, some have: Pay Per Click or Per Order Payouts or a Percentage Program with Recurring Bonuses. There are also additional earnings available for introducing new affiliates. The commission is normally 10% of what they earn. So there’s lots of potential and choice. Payment is made to affiliates once US$50 has been earned.

My own commission has mostly come from Friend Finder and Adult Friend Finder and for introducing new affiliates. I chose the Percentage Payouts with Recurring Bonususes. I’ve got to admit, though, that it is the adult market that is the biggest earner.

So that is the Friend Finder Group. It’s a massive market. As you may have read in my article Publishing Penfriend Magazines I was in the Penfriend Publishing business a few years back. It’s something that I don’t seem to be able to get away from.

Now a couple of things. Firstly I’m only mentioning how much I earn as an illustration and to indicate that it is possible. For example, if you were to become an affiliate it doesn’t mean that you will automatically do as well – but on the other hand, of course, you may do better … who knows.

Good luck,
Mike.
Mike’s Money Making Mission

P.S. Have you nominated yout blog, or someone elses, for the Blog of the year Award? Why not do it now. You’ll see a nearby post on this blog of what to do plus full details.

My girlfriend suggested 5 dollars via paypal to the winner, which is about what one of the sponsored posts get in revenue. I think that’s a great idea and that is now a stipulation to our BYAB: Blog of the Year award.

We currently have 9 entries. I will be nominating some blogs, but none of my own. I’m sure we will get the goal of 25 blogs and I’m pretty excited about it!

Here is a little snippet of it:

The winner will receive of course the title of blog of the year. All the results will be from your readers and ours, so you will need to promote for votes! I can offer possibly banner space on this blog, or some kind of featured spot for the winner. Ultimately it should drive a nice amount of traffic to your site, and a nice notch under your belt that you are doing something right! Just for participating you will get a free link from us pointing to your site.

Hope to see fellow blog about your blog authors join. It could be a cool 5$ for you as well!

It seems lately that every money making blog I read has a post about how they’ve joined MyLot, I resisted joining myself for awhile as the returns didn’t seem very high. I eventually succumbed and signed up, just to see what all the fuss was about.

What is MyLot?

MyLot is similar to a forum, you start or participate in discussions, unlike most forums though, the discussions can be about any subject. The most important difference between MyLot and forums is that MyLot pay you for contributing.

How much do you get paid?

How much you get paid depends on the quality of the contributions. Nobody except MyLot know exactly how the payments are worked out, but there seems to be some complex algorithm that rewards for quality. What this means is you get paid less or possibly even nothing for simple one word answers, and more for more thorough answers. Although even if the quality of your responses are high the payouts are still small, only a few cents, you have to do a lot of writing to make significant amounts.

You can also make money by referring new members, getting a percentage of what they earn.

Why join?

There are a couple of reasons I can see for joining, and I have listed them below.

1. If you like to participate in forums and discussions anyway, you may as well get paid something to do it.
2. Traffic to your website or blog. By adding you site address to your MyLot profile and in your responses (only where appropriate), you will likely generate some extra traffic.
3. Making money by starting and participating in as many discussions as possible and from referrals.

Conclusion

So far I have only participated in about 20 discussions and only made about $0.50, but after responding to a money making discussion and including my blog address, I did receive an extra 25- 30 hits. I think if you have time and like to participate in lots of discussions this can be a good way of making a few extra quid and maybe even generating some traffic to your own blog or website, but it won’t make you a living. Give it a try and see what you think.

To see more articles like this visit my blog My quest to make money on the internet

Advertisement: Visit my new blog on making money with adult ads.

Dear Mother,

How nice to hear you are well. Looking forward to seeing you in January. All day yesterday I heard a ringing in my ears. Then I picked up the phone and it stopped.

I was going to see a doctor, but he’s not a very good doctor. All his patients are sick.

The wife and I are on a new diet. We eat breakfast in the raw. Then we eat our lunch in the raw. For dinner we put our clothes on.

See you soon,
Love,
Son.

The above is a copy of a private letter sent to his mother by the late British comedien Tommy Cooper. He’s not to everyone’s taste but I always found him very funny, even though his jokes were corny like:

A man walks into a bar. It didn’t half hurt, it was an iron bar.

It’s strange isn’t it? You stand in the middle of a library and go, ‘Aaaaaagh!’ and everyone stares at you. But if you do the same thing on a plane everyone joins in.

I’ve got the best wife in England. The other one’s in Africa.

My dog took a bite out of my knee the other day and a friend of mine said, “Did you put anything on it?” I said, “No, he liked it as it was.”

I think inventions are marvellous, don’t you? Wherever they put a petrol pump they find petrol.

It must be getting near Christmas or something!

Good blogging,
Mike.
Mike’s Money Making Mission