Successful bloggers are able to build multiple revenue streams from blogging.
That’s because they have been able to successfully carry out the 2 main parts of blogging which are building high-quality traffic, and website monetization.
A lot goes into building high-quality traffic like creating good, quality posts, SEO optimized content, a well-defined niche, creating socially shareable content, effective use of images and videos, etc.
The other part of successful blogging is to know when, where and how to monetize your traffic. This also offers so many options for bloggers.
You can sell your own products or services, sell products for other companies while earning commissions (affiliate marketing), join ad networks, or sell ad spaces directly to advertisers.
Advertising accounts for a significant part of a blogger’s earnings mainly through ad networks or direct ad selling.
Unfortunately, direct advertising isn’t one of the most popular among the bunch when it comes to website monetization. That’s because finding direct advertisers is a painful and difficult process when done on your own.
What I’m trying to say is that there is a way around this problem. A platform that actually connects publishers and advertisers interested in direct advertising! That platform is called BuySellAds and this review is about the platform.
First of all, I would like to put our review in perspective by explaining what direct advertising is all about.
The main topics covered in our BuySellAds review include:
- What is Direct Advertising and How is it Different From Indirect Advertising?
- Overview of BuySellAds
- Main Features of BuySellAds
- 10 Powerful Reasons to Join BuySellAds
- BuySellAds Requirements for Publishers
- BuySellAds Payments
- Pros and Cons of BuySellAds
- Conclusion
What is Direct Advertising and how is it Different From Indirect Advertising?
Direct advertising is a method of advertising where consumers and end-users are directly advertised to by businesses. This paints a scenario where middlemen and their activities are eliminated from the advertising process.
Direct advertising remains the oldest and most effective means of reaching customers. This allows businesses to build rapport and get direct responses from their customers. It also delivers the best ROI on your advertising dollar.
Different forms used for direct advertising include post cards, catalogs, phone calls, sales letters, direct mails, emails, and text messages.
How is Direct Advertising Different from Indirect Advertising?
Indirect advertising is the use of channels to deliver advertising messages to prospects, customers and end-users. This form of advertising presents a middleman in the advertisement process.
Social media platforms, advertising agencies, and ad networks are some of the most popular advertising channels used by advertisers to reach their target audience.
Though indirect advertising is not as effective as direct advertising, it makes up with the ability to reach a much wider group of people. The cost of using indirect advertising is cheaper in terms of the number of people that can be reached.
While direct advertising is more effective, it costs much more to reach the target audience per head.
Both have their use and place in the arsenal of advertisers.
Direct advertising can be of great benefits to publishers who need to monetize their websites. This is made possible through BuySellAds.
Overview of BuySellAds
BuySellAds is a direct advertising marketplace where advertisers connect with publishers. Advertisers aim to achieve ad campaigns that deliver desired results, while publishers make money from selling ad spaces to advertisers.
Publishers may decide to sell ad spaces on their blogs to advertisers directly, pocketing all revenue earned from the transaction. It is however tough for most publishers seeing that the toughest part of this advertising method is finding direct advertisers.
BuySellAds provides value for publishers by connecting them with the direct advertisers. In this scenario, BuySellAds acts as mediators in the ad buying and selling process, while earning a commission for every ad slot sold by publishers.
BuySellAds offers lots of features for publishers on its platform. The next section highlights the main features to expect from using the online ad marketplace.
Main Features of BuySellAds
1. Online Ad Marketplace Connecting Publishers with Advertisers – BuySellAds is an online advertisement marketplace where publishers list their sites or blogs, allowing advertisers to check out the stats and decide if the site is suitable for advertising their products or services.
When an advertiser finds a listing that is suitable for their business, an offer is made to the publisher for the listed ad space.
The publisher then decides whether to accept or reject the offer. The offer could be rejected if it is a niche that is different from the publisher, or it has content that is unacceptable to the publisher.
Once the offer is accepted by the publisher, BuySellAds credits the publisher with the amount offered by advertiser (less their commission) and the ad goes live.
2. Free to Use for Publishers – BuySellAds is free for new publishers signing up. It is also free to list ad slots on the marketplace.
Commissions are only charged when an offer has been made by an advertiser and accepted by a publisher.
3. BuySellAds Zone Feature – Upon approval of your application to join BuySellAds, you can login to your dashboard and one of the most important information to set up is the Zone.
The zone is a term used to define the type of ad space that a publisher is providing for ads placement. Publishers can choose a sidebar, top or bottom banner or other spaces available on their site.
The amount would also be specified with the spot’s position that is needed to be placed in the zone to be activated.
4. Coding With BuySellAds – Codes in BuySellAds are snippets that are used to set up ads in the zones created by publishers. From the dashboard two types of codes can be found which are header code and zone code.
Header code is meant for the top or header of your blog and it is added just once. It isn’t meant to be added to other sections of your blog.
Zone code goes into the sidebar of your blog using the text widget on WordPress. BuySellAds WordPress plugin can be also used to add the code.
5. BuySellAds Reporting – Ideas and stats are provided for you by BuySellAds which show you the status of your ad spot. From here you can find out how good or bad the performance of the ad spot is.
Based on the information received from this reporting tool, you can provide another ad space to increase the ad price.
6. Available Ad Options – BuySellAds supports different ad options that publishers can choose. The choice of ad options depends on the design and layout of your site, because it determines which ad types can fit into your site.
As it’s normal with our individual peculiarities, you may find other features on BuySellAds that appeal better to you. You just have to go about this yourself.
As a publisher, there are plenty of reasons to be on the BuySellAds platform. These are my 10 best reasons for publishers to join the BuySellAds platform.
10 Powerful Reasons to Join BuySellAds
1. BuySellAds Commission is Very Reasonable – BuySellAds does not charge publishers any fee for joining or using its platform. However commissions are charged on every ad space offer that is accepted by the publisher. BuySellAds charges a 25% commission on offers while publishers keep the remaining 75%.
If you ask me, 75% is a very good amount for publishers’ take home. This makes the commission received by BuySellAds a reasonable amount to deal with.
2. Transparent System – BuySellAds offers a transparent system for publishers and advertisers to buy/sell ads. The dashboard offers tools for reporting for both advertisers and publishers to track the performance of their ad campaigns.
3. Publishers Have Direct Dealings With Advertisers – After an offer is made and accepted, advertisers and publishers can deal with each other directly.
4. Solves the Problem of Publishers Finding Advertisers – Earlier in the post it was stated that the hardest part of direct advertising is publishers finding direct advertisers. BuySellAds solves the problem for publishers by connecting both together.
5. Free to Join and Use the Service – BuySellAds is free for publishers to join and use in listing their ad spaces. There is only a charged fee when an ad space offer has been made and accepted.
6. You Set the Price for Ad Space – Publishers are at liberty to set whatever price they feel is appropriate for available ad space. New publishers are however advised to set their prices beginning from a low end and increase as they gain experience on the platform.
7. Accept or Reject Ads – As a publisher, you have the ability to reject or accept an ad space offer. Any reasons could be responsible for rejecting an ad space offer.
8. Optimize Earnings From Above the Fold Ads – Above the fold ads are ad spaces located at the header or top of your blog. Ads on this space commands the most attractive pricing as it is the most visible part of your blog. Publishers can maximize offers for this ad space.
9. Twice Monthly Checkouts – Publishers receive earnings from their BuySellAds account into PayPal accounts twice monthly. This is a reliable revenue stream that is received twice in a month.
10. Optimized For Certain Niches – BuySellAds is an advertising marketplace that is best suited for some particular niches – technology, web design and development, and freelancer. Bloggers in these niches will naturally flow with the platform, while others can build blogs around these niches if interested in earning through BuySellAds.
These 10 powerful reasons are enough to stir you up towards joining BuySellAds. But first you must be aware of the requirements for publishers so your approval process does not suffer unnecessary delay.
BuySellAds Requirements For Publishers
Publishers interested in joining the BuySellAds platform have to meet the following requirements:
- Well-Designed Site or Blog – Your site must be well-designed with a clean layout. It shouldn’t look cluttered with ads or images.
- Main Niches to Focus – BuySellAds is focused on some particular niches which it tends to favor for publishers. These niches include technology, web design and development, and freelancer niches.
- Your site should have a minimum of 100,000 monthly page views.
- Your site should be completed and hosted live before it can be approved.
- Your site should contain freshly updated content.
- Your site has to be in English as non-English websites will be rejected by BuySellAds.
- Your site must be registered with a custom domain rather than being a subdomain of a free hosting company.
- Non-targeted sites have a high risk of rejection by BuySellAds.
If you are confident that your site meets the requirements for approval on BuySellAds, you can proceed to signing up.
Here is the expected payment detail on BuySellAds.
BuySellAds Payments
Publishers on BuySellAds receive a 25% commission on any sold ad space.
There are 2 monthly checkouts by publishers and this is through PayPal.
Pros and Cons of BuySellAds
A review of BuySellAds isn’t complete without a consideration of the advantages and disadvantages.
Pros of BuySellAds
- Reliable twice monthly earnings for Publishers
- Competitive ads pricing for publishers
- Full platform support from BuySellAds
- Ad Space optimization for publishers’ earnings
Cons of BuySellAds
- No active affiliate program for referring publishers or advertisers
- Requirements for Publishers seem tough to scale through.
Conclusion
Bloggers and internet marketers looking for ways to monetize their websites through direct advertising can opt for BuySellAds.
The platform has an ad marketplace that brings publishers and advertisers together. BuySellAds also provides tools to track and monitor the performance of ads through the dashboard.
Publishers receive 75% of the total cost of the ad, paid out twice monthly via PayPal.
BuySellAds does not offer affiliate marketing opportunities but publishers can earn significantly from having good quality content and traffic.
BuySellAds is free to join and used for publishers. As a newbie on the platform, it is advisable you set your ad space prices at the minimum until you make a sale. From then, you can gradually increase your price as your earnings increase.
Do you want to start an affiliate marketing business? If yes, check my review of Wealthy Affiliate University to learn how you can receive full affiliate bootcamp training and become a super affiliate in no time.