How To Make Money With Blogs – DMA Session

by Jeremy Schoemaker on November 12, 2008 · 100 comments

Here is the video from our panel at the Direct Marketers Association conference last month.

In the video is Stephan Spencer, Chloe Spencer, Duane Forrester and Steve Spangler.

In my portion I talk quite a bit about how shoemoney.com went from not accepting advertising pre 2007 to accepting advertising in 2007 and to earning almost $500,000.00 in 2008.

About the author...

– who has written 2416 posts on ShoeMoney.com.

Hi I am Jeremy Schoemaker and ShoeMoney.com is my blog. 99% of the post here are done by me but you will see others occasionally make guest posts. This blog is fun to write but for my day job I run several online companies.

Images provided by ShutterStock


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{ 95 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Sohail November 12, 2008 at 10:09 am

Thanks for sharing the video :)

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2 Sohail November 12, 2008 at 10:29 am

The best thing i like about adds on your site (direct adds) is that they are kind of out of content boundaries i mean you have main content and then sidebar (to display your blog stuff) and then after that another bar for the adds. Now this design is best for readers, but do you get good click rates for this display (for advertisers)?

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3 Study Babes November 12, 2008 at 10:33 am

most likely they’re at least decent or he’d never have any repeat sales

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4 ZK@Internet Marketing Blog November 12, 2008 at 10:52 am

$500,000 from a blog is amazing

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5 Ryan McLean November 12, 2008 at 4:00 pm

I agree. If they didn’t do well then he would get repeated sales.
$500,000 per year is amazing

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6 Zurpit November 13, 2008 at 7:53 am

Yea 500k is amazing for a blog, so Im sure the advertisers are
getting good clicks or else they wouldn’t come back

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7 Ganesh November 13, 2008 at 8:02 pm

I used to wonder that too. I suppose Shoe gets a little less click through reates as the ads are totally separated from the content. But still, some of them are really relevant to the content, so they might be getting some clicks afterall. :)

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8 SEO Tips South Africa November 15, 2008 at 8:07 am

Would love to see the analytics for shoemoney. That will give us the figures we’re pondering here.

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9 Steven-Sanders November 12, 2008 at 10:22 am

Great stuff! BTW, when are we going to see answers to questions round 17?

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10 Jeremy Schoemaker November 12, 2008 at 10:40 am

The questions I thought were new and good i have been addressing in posts.

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11 Sohail November 12, 2008 at 11:49 am

So r you not writing a dedicated post to answer all questions as you always do? :(

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12 ways to make money online November 12, 2008 at 12:40 pm

Why aren’t I making the big bucks???

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13 Sell your website for free November 12, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Probably because your not working hard enough or not into the right things.

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14 Goran Website November 13, 2008 at 3:42 am

Great post as usual. I’m also in the beginning of starting a money making blog. So this site has been a library of great info to me. Thank you Shoe!

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15 teraOm November 12, 2008 at 10:30 am

Thats a lot of money. I am more interested in learing how to start making more money rather than how money is made by professionals.

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16 ways to make money online November 12, 2008 at 12:43 pm

You’ve got to think they’ve started at the lowest point also with knowledge. No one is going to hold your hand…

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17 Study Babes November 12, 2008 at 4:01 pm

wouldn’t that be the entire point of a “make money online” blog :/

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18 teraOm November 12, 2008 at 10:31 am

By the way, that was a good video..

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19 Mike Henry November 12, 2008 at 7:37 pm

Stephan Spencer is one hell of an informative guy.

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20 JohnC November 12, 2008 at 10:32 am

Try proximic.com, an emerging platform for contextual advertisement.

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21 Thai Girl November 12, 2008 at 10:33 am

Would that be revenue or profit?

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22 Robin Majumdar November 12, 2008 at 9:23 pm

Great question, Thai Girl, if it is EBITDA then it only shows that he has significant capital to invest in driving traffic and sales… but not necessarily net earnings / profit…

Suffice it to say that I’m fairly confident that Jeremy is doing ok on the net :P

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23 Seo Creations November 12, 2008 at 10:36 am

Good video, thanks for sharing

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24 Dick November 14, 2008 at 12:36 am

I agree. I always listen to such reports from conferences very carefully.

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25 Seo Creations November 14, 2008 at 10:04 am

Have you got any benefit by doing this?

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26 Printers November 12, 2008 at 10:39 am

Impressive stuff, thanks for the link to the video for those of us that couldn’t make it.

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27 ZK@Internet Marketing Blog November 12, 2008 at 10:53 am

The video is awesome ..some great learnings here

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28 Shanker Bakshi November 15, 2008 at 10:03 pm

YES its a HUGE big Money

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29 browie November 12, 2008 at 11:21 am

Great video. I know you can’t “make money” until you have traffic. Getting the traffic is tough but fun to work on.

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30 uwak November 13, 2008 at 10:34 pm

sometime…not enough patient to wait till the traffic up….yes that’s my problems….always hurry for getting money

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31 sruthin November 12, 2008 at 11:48 am

see these famous ebooks sites

http://www.way2books.com

http://www.ebooksrar.com

for your all ebook needs

thank you

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32 BookDoodle November 15, 2008 at 11:42 pm

Free Books:

only at: http://bookdoodle.com

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33 Dfunda November 12, 2008 at 12:25 pm

you started making good money after started accepting advertising

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34 ways to make money online November 12, 2008 at 12:49 pm

This is a good question, I would like to know if he didn’t have a single monetization method before that point.

Basically what I get from this is that he built up a strong website with no ads no nothing coming in…Then BAM through up the ads after his site was reputable and saw instant cash flow.

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35 ways to make money online November 12, 2008 at 12:46 pm

I’m about twenty-five minutes through this video, so far I haven’t learned a thing…I think this is a good thing…

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36 uwak November 13, 2008 at 10:31 pm

so…what should we do to reach success like shoe….any idea….with simple and easy?

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37 Önder November 12, 2008 at 12:51 pm

good stuff thanks…

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38 Pat with SPI November 12, 2008 at 1:36 pm

Jeremy, you are truly an inspiration. Thank you so much for this.

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39 stefan November 12, 2008 at 2:55 pm

Thanks for the video, i guess the best monetization tip is adsense.

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40 Ryan McLean November 12, 2008 at 4:04 pm

Is it just me or did the guy talking at the start bore you to death???
He made everything sound so boring when really it shouldn’t be boring….
Made me not want to watch the video

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41 Dick November 14, 2008 at 12:35 am

The man who stands from the podium, should have the gift of the speaker. – )

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42 Michael Henry November 17, 2008 at 4:16 pm

Its not the man, its the content. Sometimes there isn’t sexy way of saying it.

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43 Peter Venkman November 12, 2008 at 4:34 pm

I knew almost everything they talked about, but ShoeMoney’s note to pick and blog about what you are passionate about is the most simple, most important point for anything. If you are passionate about something, you will surely succeed.

I agree the moderator was horrible. Typical tradeshow moderator.

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44 teamray November 12, 2008 at 4:58 pm

Very good listen as always.

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45 BusinessX November 12, 2008 at 5:09 pm

Enjoyed your idea of increasing pricing progressively based upon previous sale.

Chloe seems to be pushed by her father as some expert. A teenager making money blogging may have been cool two years ago, but now we have moguls still in or barely out of high school. Having her on a panel like that is insulting with her talking about $10-40 a day. Her neopets site hasn’t been updated in months, at least not the two before she spoke.

Harrison Gevirtz or Collin Lahay would be someone worth paying conference registration, spending time listening, and travel expenses to hear from as young gun. I am sure others could name some teenage gurus.

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46 MMA City November 12, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Nice video. You are quite inspirational Shoemoney.

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47 StudentPilot November 12, 2008 at 5:57 pm

Shoe, at the risk of this sounding like a rookie question… when you say 1,000 visitors, you mean 1,000 (unique) visitors a day, right? Not 1,000 total visitors?

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48 BlogAngry November 12, 2008 at 6:39 pm

Kinda boring interview

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49 Peachy Jay November 12, 2008 at 6:44 pm

Making money with blogs is so hard!

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50 uwak November 13, 2008 at 2:13 am

for the beginner like us….the answer is yess…yess…. absolute yes

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51 Önder November 13, 2008 at 12:28 pm

i am with you.

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52 BlackAdTalk November 12, 2008 at 7:56 pm

Nice video you have there… Still I can only imagine every reaching the 500,000 mark… Yeah like others have stated it’s hard making just alittle with the one Blog I have… Anyway, keep up the good work Shoemoney…

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53 VlogHog November 12, 2008 at 8:31 pm

All of the coughing is annoying.

Other than that, nice video.

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54 seogis November 12, 2008 at 8:50 pm

I really enjoyed it all – especially Chloe – we have to put the spot light on the lil’tikes once in a while!
I thought they were all inspirational and well done.

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55 River Girl November 12, 2008 at 9:28 pm

God video.Stephen Spencer is always on message.

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56 Bryn Youngblut November 12, 2008 at 11:11 pm

Some good info. The last guy with insta snow was pretty funny.

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57 jobucks November 12, 2008 at 11:21 pm

really superb, 500,000 dollars is a big amount of money, how I wish I could earned at least 20 percent of that amount

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58 Önder November 13, 2008 at 12:30 pm

10 is enough for me:)

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59 uwak November 13, 2008 at 10:29 pm

10 in real is more better than 500.000 but only dreams…
.wakakak..!!

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60 Kim November 12, 2008 at 11:55 pm

Thank you for idea.I’m interesting make money with blog.

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61 w3ak.com laugh it off November 12, 2008 at 11:57 pm

This was definitely worth the 30 minutes I spent watching most of it. Even though I probably won’t meet the level of success you have its nice to dream…..

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62 Benito November 13, 2008 at 12:09 am

Great video, thanks! AdSense all the way baby!

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63 BS November 13, 2008 at 12:20 am

Hmm.. I have to call B.S on this one.

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64 WannaT November 13, 2008 at 12:33 am

Started listening but was falling asleep. Will watch another day.

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65 w3ak.com laugh it off November 13, 2008 at 1:00 am

theres nothing to fall asleep over this post is basically gold. Not quite as good as the local affiliate marketing post, but gold either way.

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66 Lazy Drunk November 13, 2008 at 1:23 am

Will watch it after work.

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67 uwak November 13, 2008 at 2:12 am

thanks for video info……….you are very success boss…..very great income

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68 money November 13, 2008 at 2:20 am

i like your blog’s style and color,which give a relax feel

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69 Keral Patel November 13, 2008 at 5:41 am

500,000 is tremendous earnings from a blog.

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70 seogis November 14, 2008 at 12:26 pm

I would venture to say his total earnings are/were not from blog but affiliate shinanigans – working his tail off – such as his story of local affiliate marketing.
Shake every branch!

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71 Zurpit November 13, 2008 at 7:56 am

This is a great video, its great to see how people make money on their blog

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72 Mega Champ November 13, 2008 at 10:06 am

Nice video, posted it on my blog. Any idea on how to download it?

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73 Layupdrill November 13, 2008 at 11:32 am

Great video, where was this conference at?

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74 coderbari November 13, 2008 at 1:22 pm

Thanks a lot for this great video.

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75 Thai Girl November 13, 2008 at 2:28 pm

Wow, Duana and Steve spoke really well. I’m a fan!

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76 Kenney @ Work From Home Blog November 13, 2008 at 4:06 pm

Cool post. and video. In good company there on the platform. Thanks for the tips.

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77 meethere November 13, 2008 at 8:07 pm

:eek: $500,000.00 in 2008.
man thats amazing, awesome and gr8…

Thanks for the video.

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78 Dick November 14, 2008 at 12:34 am

Yes, the amount of 500 K is fantastic. I listen carefully to all the councils. I hope to become a successful blogger. -)

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79 DilipShaw.com November 14, 2008 at 3:27 am

Jeremy,

$500,000 – and the year is not over yet.

Can you pls throw some light on how you are getting this?

I mean ad cost per month * total advertisers or anything that will give us some idea on how you are making it?

Dilip Shaw
http://www.dilipshaw.com/

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80 Takumi86 November 14, 2008 at 11:31 am

Oh wow what a great achievement to be told but to tell you honestly i didn’t watch those video only your text

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81 David Jason Parrish November 14, 2008 at 8:07 pm

Love it! Thanks shoemoney! It took forever to watch, but it was worth it.

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82 SEO Tips South Africa November 15, 2008 at 8:13 am

You’re ranking #19 on Google for this keyphrase, just for the record

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83 Shanker Bakshi November 15, 2008 at 10:03 pm

unbelievable – What we are doing is a peanuts business.

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84 Jack November 17, 2008 at 11:41 am

500K! Wow, that is over the top. What would be interesting is seeing how that revenue breaks down, advertiser, amounts, months, special offers, etc.

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85 Virgil Bierschwale November 18, 2008 at 9:59 pm

Ok, call me stupid…
But I saw the ad in SEO magazine stating how you had made 132,000 in 2005 and I looked at your picture on here.

I noticed it looked like your name was blurred out.

Then I read in this comment how you did 500,000 in 2008.

If you did 132,000 in one month in 2005, why did you only do 500,000 in 2008 ???

Thanks,

Virgil
http://www.KeepAmericaAtWork.com

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86 Fargo ND Dealer November 19, 2008 at 11:05 am

That is stellar how you earned that much from site ads.

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87 Matt Helphrey November 20, 2008 at 11:01 pm

I keep getting distracted looking at Study Babes. It makes this commenting process much longer than expected. I lose my train of thought…

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88 Matt Helphrey November 20, 2008 at 11:02 pm

Seriously though…great video. Tis my dream to be able to make my blog profit $500K. Thanks for sharing.

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89 Lee November 21, 2008 at 9:52 am

Glad to see that making money and blogging runs in the family. I agree $500,000 from a blog is a great achievement. I suppose, if you can teach your children how to make money online early on it’s got to be better than them being stuck in a job they hate when they are older. Keep up the good work on the blog and thanks for the video. Very informative!

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90 James November 29, 2008 at 2:16 pm

Is $500k just from your blog, or all your other sites put together?

great video btw, thanks

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91 Hekim November 30, 2008 at 2:13 pm

Nice video. You are quite inspirational Shoemoney.

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92 Tatil Yerleri December 2, 2008 at 8:43 am

Some good info. The last guy with insta snow was pretty funny.

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93 Linus December 6, 2008 at 9:13 am

Great inspiration for all = )

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94 Massive Traffic December 6, 2008 at 12:04 pm

Thanks for the video! I’ll be visiting :)

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95 Perry Belcher February 3, 2011 at 2:58 pm

You make it entertaining and you still manage to keep it smart.

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