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Hi, I'm Jonathan George, an entrepreneur from Kansas.

Contact me by email (jonathan at this domain) or on AIM - jdgdotnet.

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You can not build a *real* publishing business (as in tens of millions of dollars in revenue) on the backs of ad networks. They simply take too much money (40-50%?!?!?! really?!?! What a waste of money… you internal sales group will cost 10-25%), they are spread too thin, and even with their absurd 50% fees they don’t have enough margin. If you’re under $250,000 a year in advertising? Sure, go for it. Break $250,000 a year, you should go for it with an ad sales person.
— Are ad networks for loser/weak publishers? | Jason Calacanis

Great advice. I think there are actually three phases:

  1. Super small (less than $1000/mo)
  2. Midsize ($1000/mo to $20000/mo)
  3. Large ($20000+/mo)

When I first transitioned from a subscription model to an advertising model for a site I launched last year, I was stunned at what I had been missing out on.

I started to look at ad networks — holy crap, they were going to take 50% of whatever I brought in. Are you kidding me??? Then I looked at Google AdSense, and the money it was going to bring in was.. negligible at best.

So I sent out a few emails. Got a few responses. Selling ads was like printing my own money. All was right in the world!

I was amazed that I could turn a site that probably had a chance of making maybe $20-$30 in its first month jump to $200 with just a few emails.

If you’re just starting out, and you have premium focused content, don’t use an ad network. Don’t use Google AdSense. Sell your own ads. It doesn’t take much time at all, and your return will be MUCH greater than with Google AdSense or using a publishing network.

You not only position yourself to make more money, you’re building those relationships that you will need to take your site to the next level.

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permalink6 months ago