Monetizing your RSS Feeds

January was my best month for revenue so far. Across the board I managed to beat out all my previous totals and, as a result, began thinking about monetizing my blog a bit better.

Awhile back I spoke about using Text Link Ads to add a revenue stream to your blog's RSS feed. While I certainly enjoy the Text Link Ads service it's one that either works great or sits stagnant. There's really no in between - You either sell ads or you don't.

As a result of last month I started thinking about better ways to take advantage of some of the un-used advertising space that was reserved for Text Link Ads. The first thing that I did was add a series of Amazon text links to the sidebar. I figured by adding Text links to the site I might be able to encourage advertisers to include their links as well. I'll get back to you on their performance some other time.

While I was adding these links I was also thinking about adding advertising to my RSS feed. Besides selling links on your blog, TLA offers a system by which users can sell text links in their feeds. You can see a picture of what TLA's "Feedvertising" looks like below.

Believe it or not, Text Link Ads is very open about how you use these links. While you can offer some of these links for sale - you can also use them for your own purposes. Previously I'd been including links to my diggIntegrator plugin in the hopes of getting WordPress users to check it out and potentially link back here. After the addition of Amazon text links to my sidebar, though, it occurred to me that I could easily include some special text links in my feeds.

Before continuing I recommend carefully checking any affiliates you work with to be sure that they allow placing their links in your feed!

In an attempt to better monetize my feeds I've designated more than half of my "Feedvertising" spots for personal use. Right now their being used for referral links to Text Link Ads but, as I get permission back from various affiliates, I'll be adding other referral programs as well. I figure links to Amazon products and referral programs are a great way to start mainly because I know how their payouts work.

Since it's still pretty early with the program I'll be checking back in soon to let you know how its working.