Here is an update for the second full week of my making money with a blog case study. From October 8 to 14, the blog made $161.02 from Google AdSense. That is a bit lower than the $179.16 it made in week 1. The number 1 performing ad unit continues to be the 300×250 box. This was followed by the top 468 banner and bottom 468 banner.
Blog traffic for week 2 was 61,563 unique visitors and 90,810 page views. This was significantly higher than week 1 traffic (32,799 unique visitors and 61,422 page views) because of a huge Digg done to this story. Unfortunately, the higher traffic did not translate into higher income because the Diggers hardly clicked on any ads. The eCPM for week two works out to just $1.77, compared to $2.92 for week 1.
On Friday, I installed Vibrant Media IntelliTXT to the blog. During the two days IntelliTXT was running, it brought in $119.91 to help bring the week 2 total income to $280.93, or $40.13 per day. I expect to beat that figure this week because IntelliTXT only ran for two days during week 2.
The fact that IntelliTXT made almost $120 in two days will have people asking if it’s better than Google AdSense. The answer is no. The reason IntelliTXT made more than Google is because I have a special CPM (Cost Per 1000) deal with Vibrant Media. This deal is not available to small publishers – IntelliTXT is CPC based, just like Google AdSense. My Vibrant CPM deal allows me to take advantage of Digg traffic because users don’t have to click the IntelliTXT ads in order for me to make money – the ads just has to load with the page.
You should always try a mix of CPC and CPM ads to take full advantage of blog traffic. Normally, CPC ads will make more because of better targeting, but for those times when you get a flood of traffic because of a Digg or Slashdot, the CPM ads will make you money. However, most 3rd party CPM network (like Tribal Fusion or Fast Click) have very low CPM rates and very high default rates. As a result, the eCPM you will get on a CPM network can be less than $1.00 net. The way around the low CPM problem is to get big. Big sites get special deals.
For the first two weeks of this month, the blog made $460.09. I am confident the blog will top $1,000 before the month is over. That is still not full time income but it is a something to build on. Look for week 3 update next Sunday.