blogging for dollars: an engaging student activity

BLOGGING FOR DOLLARS: AN ENGAGING STUDENT ACTIVITY

Presentation by: Jonathan Goodman

Silberman College

Blogging for Dollars

Web 2.0

The Internet changed from passive to interactive media.

People who used to read an article can now give their opinions or add ideas to an article.

Blogs allow for each individuals voice to be heard, and if popular enough, responded to.


What is a Blog?

A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.


Types of Blogs

Personal – Usually created by a single individual reflecting on life or politics.

Corporate – Used to enhance the communication and culture within a corporation or externally for marketing, branding and/or public relations.

Media Type – Blog, Vlog (Video), Photolog, linklog, sketchlog (artist portfolio), tumblelog (short twitter posts)

Device – Moblog (mobile phone), Genre – political, travel, fashion, education, legal

blogs, etc.


Up & Running in Minutes with Blog Software

Blogger WordPress Movable Type LiveJournal Many Web Hosting Services


Increased Advertising Dollars

In 2006, advertisers spent $16.9 billion on-line, up steadily each year from $6 billion in 2002.

According to the Internet Advertising Bureau In the first half of 2007, on-line advertising reached nearly $10 billion, a nearly 27 percent increase over the first half of 2006.


Reading the Blogs

According to 2006 survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 39 percent of Internet users, or about 57 million American adults, said they read blogs, up from 27 percent in 2004, or 32 million.


Supplementing Income

Midtownlunch.com, which focuses on the cheap lunches around midtown is just a year and a half old and gets 2,000 readers daily and nets a thousand dollars a month for the owner.


The Blog Project

Students built individual blogs.– Subjects chosen by students ranged from horticulture to

whose hotter.– Installed Google advertising application– Installed Google analytics program– Installed AddThis button for easy submission of data to

websites.– Discussed Google Alerts.

Note: Traffic from Florham, Madison, Home Towns and Teaneck were excluded.


Google AdSense

Understands the content of the Blog and delivers relevant ads back to the audience. Revenue is generated by increased visitors and actual clicks.


Google Analytics

Free service that generates detailed statistics on how visitors interact with site.


AddThis Button

The AddThis button makes it easier for students and visitors to bookmark and share information on sites.


Google Alerts

Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results based on your choice of query or topic. It allows you to:

Monitor a developing news story

Keep current on a competitor or industryGetting the latest information on a celebrity or eventKeep tabs of your favorite sports teams


Student Make Up

16 Students – 11 Seniors, 2 Juniors, 2 Sophomore, 1 Non-Matriculated

Majority Majors: Entrepreneurial Studies, Communication, Management

No Previous Blog Experience


Top Performer

Posted 31 times throughout semester Primary Focus – Hot or Not 257 Visits 673 Page Views Average Time on Site: 3:46 Bounce Rate: 55.25% - Refers to the number of visitors who only go to

home page and then leave. New Visitors: 36.19% - Momentum of interest by return viewers. $6.84 Advertising Revenue Top Five Countries: United States, Israel, Australia, United Kingdom,

Canada Top US States: NJ, NY, PA, CA, VA Top NJ Towns: South Orange, Short Hills, Livingston, Summit, East

Orange Traffic: Direct, Blogger, Facebook


Second Top Performer

Posted 20 times throughout semester Primary Focus – Student Travel 322 Visits 521 Page Views Average Time on Site: 1:55 Bounce Rate: 75.16% New Visitors: 79.50% $15.97 Advertising Revenue Top Five Countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Malaysia,

Australia, Top US States: NJ, CA, FL, IL, MN Top NJ Towns: Florham Park, Short Hills, South Orange, East orange, Newark Traffic: Digg, Blogger, Google


Comparing the Top Two Performers

Top performer had:– Less visits – 257 to 322– More page views – 673 to 521– Lower bounce rate – 55.25% to 75.16%– More returning visitors – 63.81% to 20.5%

Conclusion – even with less visitors the top performer was able to market his blog to attract repeat viewings and multiple page views.


Observations

No student met Google’s minimum criteria for payout of $100.

All Students Top State: New Jersey Hardest part of the project for students was

not the technology but instead writers block.

blogging for dollars: an engaging student activity

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