Everyone likes to make money, but not everyone knows how to make money with the things they like. There are many different ways to make money online, and one of the most sustainable ways is through banners. What are banners you may ask? Well, banners are simply large interactive advertisements that you place on your website along with a call-to-action (CTA) to make money. You can use buttons, text links, or graphic images to engage users and encourage them to take action. You can also use banners to promote affiliate products or services, where you’ll earn a commission if someone clicks a product or service that’s promoted on your website.
These advertisements don’t just appear on internet browsers. You can use various software tools to engage users on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. For example, if you use the free Bitly tool, you can create short custom URL’s (Uniform Resource Locators) for your Twitter and Facebook accounts which display your latest headlines on the platforms.
Why Use Banners?
Banners are a great choice for any type of business, team, or individual looking to make money online. Here are just a few reasons why you should use banners on your website:
- Sustainability – banners create additional income streams for you and your business. If you sell hemp products, you can generate income from both hemp sales and ads.
- Cost-effectiveness – banner ads are quite affordable, especially when compared to other more traditional forms of online advertising.
- Targeting – banners allow you to target an audience (based on criteria you set) with your CTA’s and offers. This, in turn, generates more leads and boosts your bottom line.
- Extensibility – With a bit of code, you can add banners to your site quite easily. You don’t need to hire a developer to make changes to your site like you do with some other forms of online advertising.
- Engagement – Some studies show that having more interactive features on a website, such as drop-down menus, interstitial pages, and videos, can increase engagement with potential customers, resulting in higher conversion rates.
- Reciprocity – If someone likes your product or service, they’re more likely to believe you when you tell them how to make money off it. One way to leverage that is by offering them a free product or service as a way to encourage them to try your products or services.
- Simplicity – Using banners on your site doesn’t require that you run thousands of dollars in ads every month to make money. You can start small, with a few ads and a simple CTA, and then gradually expand as you learn.
How Do I Make Money With Banners?
There are several ways to make money with banners. Not all of them are suitable for every type of business or individual, so think of this as a general guide rather than a rulebook. Some of the ways to make money with banners include:
- CPA (Cost Per Action) – In this type of arrangement, you’ll basically be paid per action — whether a sale or lead, or something in between. When someone clicks a product that’s promoted on your site, you’ll earn a commission. One nice thing about this type of arrangement is that you can adjust your payouts based on how many people click on the products you promote. For example, if you sell health and wellness products, you might want to pay 10 cents per action for the first 500 actions, then 5 cents per action for every action thereafter.
- PPC (Pay Per Click) – In this type of arrangement, you’ll be responsible for paying for each click on your banner. When someone clicks on your banner, you’ll earn a commission. One nice thing about this type of arrangement is that you can target the types of people that are most likely to be interested in your product or service based on a variety of metrics including geography, gender, language, and age.
- Adsense – Google AdSense is a type of PPC that doesn’t require you to run ads on your site. You’ll earn money based on when someone clicks on your ads, which appear alongside content on sites across the internet. One nice thing about this type of arrangement is that you don’t need to have a massive following to get started – you can simply set up a blog with a few articles and begin earning money.
- Affiliate Marketing – With affiliate marketing, you’ll be asked to promote products or services that are sold by other companies. For example, you might be asked to promote a website that sells health and wellness products, or a company that provides nutritional supplements. When someone clicks a product or service that’s recommended by you (based on a free trial, for example), you’ll earn a commission.
- Product Based Trading – If you’re in the market for a specific product (like food or furniture, for example), you might want to consider using a platform like Craigslist to connect with local businesses that are willing to trade.
- E-Commerce – If you run a website that’s geared toward selling products online, you might want to consider using a service like Shopify that provides merchants with a fully-functional e-commerce platform. Once you’ve established your e-commerce store on Shopify, you can create beautiful online stores for your customers to browse and purchase the products they desire.
- Freelancing – If you’re a talented designer, photographer, or web developer, you might want to consider establishing yourself as a freelancer and taking on various projects that other businesses and individuals need help with. For example, if you’re a talented photographer and you see a need for a corporate headshot, you might want to establish yourself as a freelance photographer and take on this small project for a business or team. You’ll be able to find clients and get work whenever you want by establishing yourself as a professional in your industry.
- Consulting – If you’re a business or industry expert with valuable insights and advice, consider setting up a consulting company and charging businesses and individuals for your advice and input. For example, if you’re an expert in corporate communications and management, you might want to consider setting up a consulting company and taking on small projects to help businesses establish their identities, communicate more effectively with their employees and customers, and become more compliant with corporate governance and regulatory requirements.
- Online Teaching – If you’re an expert in your industry and you feel you’ve accumulated a large amount of knowledge, consider establishing yourself as an online educator and offering seminars and courses on various topics. For example, if you have a lot of knowledge about corporate communications and you feel you can teach others what you know, you might want to consider establishing yourself as a corporate communications online teacher. Students can register and pay for this type of course in advance, and you’ll be able to continue earning money after the course has ended.
- Copywriting – If you’re a talented writer, consider establishing yourself as a copywriter and taking on small projects to help businesses and brands communicate their messages more effectively. For example, if you’re a talented copywriter and you see a need for a brand to introduce itself to the public, you might want to establish yourself as a copywriter and take on this small project to get the brand’s name out there. Once they see you can help them with their copy, they’re more likely to want to work with you.
- Product Review – If you’re a product reviewer and you feel you’ve amassed a large collection of reputable reviews, consider establishing yourself as a reviewer and taking on small projects to help businesses and brands obtain good reviews from top-notch quality sites. Depending on the size of your collection, you might want to establish yourself as a reviewer for top tier product review websites like Wirecutter, Tech Radar, and The Balance. Once you’ve established yourself as a reviewer for these sites, you can continue earning money by simply adding your rating and review of a product or service you’ve been asked to test.
- Blogger – If you’ve got a decent amount of experience writing online, consider using your skill to establish yourself as a blogger and using your blog to write about various topics. For example, if you’ve got a niche and you feel you can become the go-to blogger for your industry, you might want to consider doing so. Once you’ve established yourself as a blogger, you can take on various content creation projects for businesses and brands seeking to engage with their audiences using infographics, explainers, or other types of visual content.
These are just some of the ways to make money with banners. Not every type of business or individual will be able to make a full or part-time living off of these platforms, but, as a general rule, they can provide a steady stream of income. Keep in mind that the more you put in, the more you’ll get back, so be sure to put in the time and effort to learn how to make money with banners and other online opportunities.