As my blog has grown, so has the number of unsolicited link requests. Rather than only complain, I decided to treat them as a way to test a business idea.
By “spammers,” I mean people sending unsolicited emails asking for links or even link exchanges—in 2020, of all things.
It made me wonder whether I could earn money from the blog, a question I had been exploring for years.
I decided to test sponsored articles that I would write myself.
I don't really believe ads to be a good business model anymore, but native ads are an exception because they are relevant for an audience.
Native advertising is the use of paid ads that match the look, feel and function of the media format in which they appear.
The key, for me, is whether a sponsored piece offers readers something useful.
I can choose topics that suit my readers and turn down pitches that do not.
So that's what I'm communicating on the sales page.
I created two packages and set prices high enough to signal that I would be selective.
One-off
One article
€2.495
- Total €2.495
- Up to 5 outgoing links
- E-mail List sharing
- Twitter sharing
- Standard price
Double Pack
Two articles
€1.995
- Total €3.990
- Up to 5 outgoing links
- E-mail List sharing
- Twitter sharing
- Save €1.000
The sales page took ten minutes to build, making this an easy experiment to run.
Now there are two possible outcomes:
- The price discourages spammers and they stop sending me annoying e-mails and reminders.
- Some senders accept the price and become advertisers, giving me a possible new business model.
Let's see what happens.