Australia Blog Advertising Network

I created a blog advertising network in the Philippines back in January 2007. I've reached the point where I have to expand, get more bloggers, and advertisers. This time, in my 2nd home, Australia.

There are three ways to earn:

1. A fee shall be paid by including an ad link in one's blog post or website article. Depending on the blog or website popularity, fees can vary from US$1 to US$10. The said blog post or website article where the link is added to should not have less than 200 words.
   
   
2. An ad link can also be posted and seen site-wide. Fees can vary from US$5 to US$85. The ad link should be immediately seen upon loading of the page.
   
   
3. Websites can also be reviewed, not necessarily a positive one. Fees vary from US$5 to US$125.

Terms:

1. The link should remain for a period of at least one year in the said blog post or website article.
   
   
2. The ad should be the only one linked in a blog post or website article.
   
   
3. Your blog or website should be active, having at least 2 post or article a week, and regularly promoted.
   
   
4. Billings are received every month and payouts are released within 5 to 7 days thereafter through Paypal.
   
   
5. The more active your blog or website is, the more assignments you'll receive. Your rate increases as well in due time.
   
   
6. These ad assignments can be about our websites, our clients, SME club members, and corporate club members.

I'll be setting up a website for this in a few weeks and hope to start placing ads from those who will join from Australia this September.

Adelaide Bloggers Meetup June Edition

I attended the Adelaide Bloggers meet-up event last night with so much enthusiasm. Since the first one last April, I believe we got the chance to know each other more through various social media tools.

Vino Ristorante (Unley Road) was a cozy place and enjoyed a nice plate of pasta cozze (black mussels). No one was able to come along with me and thanks to the Adelaide Metro hot line, I received information on buses that I must take to get there from Findon.

The nice thing about the group being small is that we can easily get cozy to each other. It felt like a family as touch base with what everyone has been up to based on their blog post, facebook posted items and updates, twits, plurks, among others.

The folks who attended last night includes:

• Shai Coggins
  Main group organizer. Thanks Shai and family for the ride home! Also for making it even though though she is not feeling well. Check out her write-up about this.
  
• Kay Walker
  Co-organizer of the meet-up and will be showcasing some of her photography at the FlickrSA event.
  
• Steve Davis
  Cheers to the new baby!
  
• Bridie Gallagher
  All glow last night. Great that she also tagged along Michael Gallagher who is getting into US stock / money market trading.
• Jim Manning
  Active in promoting the Australian wine industry.
  
• Steve Thomas
  Who brought a very nice wine and shared info on the newest social media tools.
  
• Charlie Helen Robinson
  Her blog series on interview the experts are of valuable read. I'm a fan!
  
• Melissa Williams
• Marcia Burgmann
• Stephen Mitchell
  Who attended the event for the first time and wrote a post about it.
• Richard Pascoe
  

We agree to meet again after 2 to 3 months. If you want to be kept posted and get to know this small community, join the group in Facebook.

Australia has low record in Wave 3 report

This according to the Universal McCann Report Wave 3 report (March 2008) that tracks social media growth. The following are the snapshots it gave in so far as blogging, social networking, and social media growth in Australia is concern:

• There are 5.1 million active Internet users
  
  
• 62% or 3.2 million read blogs
• 55% in 2007 (June)
  
• 21% in 2006 (September)
  
  
• 24.6% or 1.3 million subscribed to an RSS feed.
  
  
• 29% or 1.38 million have started their own blogs
• 17.9% in 2007 (June)
• 18.3% in 2006 (September)
  
  
• 50.2% or 2.6 million created a profile on a new social network.
  
  
• 47.4% or 2.4 million uploaded photos in a photo sharing website.
  
  
• 28.2% or 1.5 million have uploaded videos on a video sharing website.
  
  
• 77% or 4 million watch video clips online.
• 57.5% in 2007 (June)
• 25.2% in 2006 (September)
  
  
• 40.2% or 2.1 million have downloaded a podcast
• 21.7% in 2007 (June)
• 14.4% in 2006 (September)

I've done a similar chart for the Philippines and the result surprised me. Right from the start, I always thought Australia will have much higher figures. I can't help but wonder if there's a digital divide, lack of interest to encourage new players, or the restrictions being imposed on Internet use has somehow affected the adoption of social media.

This I say knowing also that there are prominent social networking and blogging professionals / experts in Australia who get to speak in various conferences, here and abroad, promoting its use, adoption, and growth. Suddenly, it just all seems to be hype. Oh well..

Why is it low? Maybe I'll realize the answer soon enough.

Challenges in Creating and Maintaining a Top 100 List

Maintaining a top 100 list imposes the burden of keeping it up-to-date that includes:

• Blogs to be tallied.
  
• Criteria for ranking.

As of today, I maintain Ratified Australia, Top 100 Blogs by Blog Juice, Australia A-List Bloglebrity, and Aussie Blogs in Entrecard.

What's in it for me?
Being new in Australia (moved in August 2007) and a natural marketer, I realized that creating such lists will help me understand the current state of the Aussie blogosphere. It is also an easy way to introduce myself to the community, especially to those who appreciates such an effort. No financial reward has been gained yet from these efforts although my plate is already full serving club members mostly from the Philippines.

The challenge
With so many blogs out there, I face these concerns:

• Lagging behind in finding new players and those who post comments for inclusion helps a lot.
  
  
• Replying to questions about the ranking parameters. Anyone who gets to be listed or not in a top 100 list has the right to voice concerns.
• Especially if more and more decision makers are relying on the list.
  
• I realize that those who count on their blog or website to properly position themselves, perception (that lists tends to generate) matters a lot.
  
  
• Finding new metrics. I'm excited of coming up with another ranking list especially when I spot a tool that will be perfect for that purpose. I'll be adding a new list when I get back soon to provide another perspective in analyzing the Aussie Webosphere. (Yes, the upcoming list will be bigger and will have one for non-blog sites)

That's all for now. When you have time, I hope you can join the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs 2008 writing project.