Make money with Google AdSense – How about $5,000 per month?

 
Is it possible to make money with Google AdSense?  I mean, good money, make a living? The question goes beyond a how as this is a whole business and marketing topic by itself. So the question should be “How to create a business that can sell $5,000 in advertising?”

I have done it before, with a huge Blue Chip, when I was at Yahoo!, where I learned all the secrets of online advertising – and it accounted for millions of dollars in recurring revenue. Then I did it for myself. Making money with Google Adwords or the Bing / Yahoo! equivalent is harder if you don’t have the big name behind you, but still achievable. In fact, I still get recurring revenue from my online websites.

It needs a plan, a structure, and it all starts by defining the business followed by drafting a business plan, which for this purpose could be a simple but SMART document. SMART = Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely.

The Plan – How to make money with Google AdSense

First step: The idea. Obviously, it has to be something you can develop. Don’t plan on creating a legal website when your expertise is in the medical field.

The idea is there and you are sure of what you want and that you can achieve it. Now think about your target audience. Immediately afterwards, analyze the 4Ps of marketing – product, price, place and promotion.

The product is “content,” but what kind of content would be relevant to your audience? Text? Images? Infographics? Videos? Financial calculators? Podcasts?

Price. Yes, you need to understand the keyword bid price on terms related to your product. Those keywords must match what the target audience would be looking for. This allows you to understand the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User). How many clicks to get to your revenue? Then you can reverse engineer through formulas the CTR (Click Through Rate) and traffic you need. Based on this data, determine how much content you need to create and how often.

Place. Are they on Google’s search network or are you better off on the Display Network? At what times and which dates? Is your product seasonal? It all goes back to your target audience.

Promotion. Because creating content is not the only task. You need people to know about it. How? Google AdWords? Ad exchanges? Social media? Cross posting content? Syndication? Word of mouth? Sweepstakes? Business mixers? Think how many people you need to get to visit your page to reach the traffic you need for your target CTR and CXC (Cost Per Click).

Now, how much would you need to spend on creating your product? And, how much cash flow is required until you start breaking even. This is true because you would need enough resources to survive until you reach your revenue goals and eventually profit. Don’t focus only on breaking even, take into consideration cash flow needs and becoming cash flow positive.

Finally, put all in an Excel spreadsheet. If it all makes sense financially, execute the plan. Don’t forget – it’s a startup so KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

Rule of thumb: If you want a business that would return $60K per year plan on spending at least $90K that same first year (yes, your time also accounts towards this cost, and it is called, “Cost of Opportunity”).

If you plan is to make money with Google AdSense and living off those royalties, best of success with your new venture. Let me know how it goes. If you need a coach to guide you through your journey with 19 years experience in Digital Marketing, contact me!