BLOGGING FOR DOLLARS: AN ENGAGING STUDENT ACTIVITY Presentation by: Jonathan Goodman Silberman College

Blogging for Dollars Web 2.0 The Internet changed from passive to interactive media. People who used to read an article can now give their opinions or add ideas to an article. Blogs allow for each individuals voice to be heard, and if popular enough, responded to.

Blogging for Dollars What is a Blog? A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

Blogging for Dollars Types of Blogs Personal – Usually created by a single individual reflecting on life or politics. Corporate – Used to enhance the communication and culture within a corporation or externally for marketing, branding and/or public relations. Media Type – Blog, Vlog (Video), Photolog, linklog, sketchlog (artist portfolio), tumblelog (short twitter posts) Device – Moblog (mobile phone), Genre – political, travel, fashion, education, legal blogs, etc.

Blogging for Dollars Up & Running in Minutes with Blog Software Blogger WordPress Movable Type LiveJournal Many Web Hosting Services

Blogging for Dollars Increased Advertising Dollars In 2006, advertisers spent $16.9 billion on- line, up steadily each year from $6 billion in According to the Internet Advertising Bureau In the first half of 2007, on-line advertising reached nearly $10 billion, a nearly 27 percent increase over the first half of 2006.

Blogging for Dollars Reading the Blogs According to 2006 survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 39 percent of Internet users, or about 57 million American adults, said they read blogs, up from 27 percent in 2004, or 32 million.

Blogging for Dollars Supplementing Income Midtownlunch.com, which focuses on the cheap lunches around midtown is just a year and a half old and gets 2,000 readers daily and nets a thousand dollars a month for the owner.

Blogging for Dollars The Blog Project Students built individual blogs. – Subjects chosen by students ranged from horticulture to whose hotter. – Installed Google advertising application – Installed Google analytics program – Installed AddThis button for easy submission of data to websites. – Discussed Google Alerts. Note: Traffic from Florham, Madison, Home Towns and Teaneck were excluded.

Blogging for Dollars Google AdSense Understands the content of the Blog and delivers relevant ads back to the audience. Revenue is generated by increased visitors and actual clicks.

Blogging for Dollars Google Analytics Free service that generates detailed statistics on how visitors interact with site.

Blogging for Dollars AddThis Button The AddThis button makes it easier for students and visitors to bookmark and share information on sites.

Blogging for Dollars Google Alerts Google Alerts are updates of the latest relevant Google results based on your choice of query or topic. It allows you to: Monitor a developing news story Keep current on a competitor or industry Getting the latest information on a celebrity or event Keep tabs of your favorite sports teams

Blogging for Dollars Student Make Up 16 Students – 11 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 2 Sophomore, 1 Non-Matriculated Majority Majors: Entrepreneurial Studies, Communication, Management No Previous Blog Experience

Blogging for Dollars Top Performer Posted 31 times throughout semester Primary Focus – Hot or Not 257 Visits 673 Page Views Average Time on Site: 3:46 Bounce Rate: 55.25% - Refers to the number of visitors who only go to home page and then leave. New Visitors: 36.19% - Momentum of interest by return viewers. $6.84 Advertising Revenue Top Five Countries: United States, Israel, Australia, United Kingdom, Canada Top US States: NJ, NY, PA, CA, VA Top NJ Towns: South Orange, Short Hills, Livingston, Summit, East Orange Traffic: Direct, Blogger, Facebook

Blogging for Dollars Second Top Performer Posted 20 times throughout semester Primary Focus – Student Travel 322 Visits 521 Page Views Average Time on Site: 1:55 Bounce Rate: 75.16% New Visitors: 79.50% $15.97 Advertising Revenue Top Five Countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia, Top US States: NJ, CA, FL, IL, MN Top NJ Towns: Florham Park, Short Hills, South Orange, East orange, Newark Traffic: Digg, Blogger, Google

Blogging for Dollars Comparing the Top Two Performers Top performer had: – Less visits – 257 to 322 – More page views – 673 to 521 – Lower bounce rate – 55.25% to 75.16% – More returning visitors – 63.81% to 20.5% Conclusion – even with less visitors the top performer was able to market his blog to attract repeat viewings and multiple page views.

Blogging for Dollars Observations No student met Google’s minimum criteria for payout of $100. All Students Top State: New Jersey Hardest part of the project for students was not the technology but instead writers block.