I think I'm leaving money on the table

Hi,

I run Straight Razor Place, and I sell ads privately. I used
adsense about 3 years ago, but it never made much money. The ads for
my site weren't quality ads, and had an extremly low CTR rate.

Last month I showed 3 million impressions at 57,000 clicks. I bill
$1CPM. Had I been using CPC with google, it would
have been a ton more.

I can't raise my rates with current advertisers more then 50%, without
them going away.

So I'm looking for advice on other advertising methods, or on how to
get more quality ads with adsense.

A competitors site uses adsense and the ads
that they show still have the same problem of low quality, low
interest ads (At least to the niche market we're serving ads too)..

Thanks
David

At $1 cpm, you're screwing yoursslf pretty bad. 3-4 is common, and for direct selling (no 3rd party to take a cut) i've seen $5-8 cpm more and more common.

I would raise the rates, but give them one last change to buy in bulk now at current prices (ie, in 2010, state new rates, last chance to buy in at 2009's prices). It will likely hold you off for a year from losing most of your advertisers, and meanwhile, you can scout new ones at new rates.


You're definitely in a unique niche. I'm honestly shocked that there's 14k people who use straight razors enough to be on a forum for it
Direct selling will always be your best producer. You just need to the find the balance of what your advertisers are willing to spend VS the money you make.

Brian,

Thanks for the confirmation. It's good to hear..

What about billing CPC versus CPM? What's the difference in the strategy, or what might be the conditions to bill in one versus the other? I'm having a hard time finding an article, or information on the thinking behind each billing method.. My CTR rate is 1.5-2%. And I do roughly 2.5million impressions. Is the choice between these methods strictly a ROI choice based on what I can get the most money for? Or are there conditions which favor one or the other?

Again, thanks for the information.

dw

I've found CPC is a LOT harder to 'sell' to the advertisers. cpm, they know roughly what/how long their ad will show for. CPC, it could run out in a day or a month especially if it's pre-paid. Ultimately, it's up what works for your particular advertisers and your pocket.

I'd suggest if you're going to switch, to do a 'beta' run with a client you are close with moving them from cpm to cpc. Record what happens, make up any differences with them and see if you want to move forward with that method or not.

Brian,

Just wanted to say thanks for the post. I've worked up a list of questions for my advertisers, and am offering them different possibilities to see what they like best.. Thanks again for your time, and your great product.

Thanks
David

no problem good luck!