01: Super-Targeted Blogs BETA
Summary
You will be put in charge of a Mikino Super-Targeted Blog and your role will be to make it the best you can for its particular audience. We will teach you everything you need to know, cover all start-up and operational expenses, and utilize our expertise to maximize the blog’s profits. Everything the blog makes, Mikino will split with you on a fifty-fifty basis.
The project is currently in a public BETA phase, during which we are releasing 500 blogs focusing on 5 market segments. All the BETA blogs are already live and—to help you out—we are adding new content to them on a regular basis.
What is it?
A Super-Targeted Blog is a blog like any other, except for one important thing: it’s very focused in terms of its target audience and geographic location.
Our goal is for each blog to become the center of an active community of peers and the local go-to place for information, news and entertainment relevant to the community’s needs and interests. Your role will be to make it happen. Our role will be to make sure it doesn’t cost you anything and that you get rewarded for your efforts.
All our blogs run on WordPress, the largest blogging platform in the world. It is the same technology that—in addition to millions of small mom-and-pop websites—powers some of the most popular blogs out there, sites like About.com, or blogs on large media sites such as CNN, Fox News, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and others.
Why is it unique?
Super-Targeted Blogs are unique because of their laser focus. We go further than anybody else in defining and understanding our target audiences.
Using the PRIZM® NE methodology (by Claritas, the leader in market segmentation), we recognize 66 distinct types of visitors, based on their demographics, lifestyle preferences and purchase behavior. We are also able to identify the exact ZIP code areas that represent the highest concentrations for each of the 66 types.
As a result, for each blog, we are able to advise you on the best combination of visitor type and ZIP code area. For example, if you are interested in running a blog for a particular type of visitor, we are able to advise you on the best geographical focus. Or, if you want to run a blog in a certain neighborhood, we can tell you what types of visitors are best represented, so that you can choose the one that best matches your background and interests.
This laser-targeting also allows you to create tailored blog content that is instrumental in increasing the blog’s perceived value, establishing trust with your audience, bringing them back often, making them stay longer, and getting them to interact with the site and each other. All of this positively contributes to increasing your blog’s profit potential.
Why? Because, for advertisers, gaining access to nurtured and trusting groups of customers that share the same likes, dislikes, lifestyles and purchase behavior, is a dream-come-true. It not only allows them to target their ideal prospects, cost effectively. But, it also allows them to reach these prospects with messages and products designed just for them, thus increasing the response rate. For this, advertisers are more than happy to pay a premium.
Is it for me?
Let’s find out…
Would you want to run a Super-Targeted Blog even if it didn’t make you any money?
If you answered “yes” (or “probably”), it is very likely that you would be an ideal candidate. Paradoxically, with blogging business, the less you try to squeeze the last penny out of your visitors and the more you care about meeting their needs and creating value for them, the more money you will make. In fact, in our experience, there is a direct correlation between your passion for delivering value and your income.
So, please answer the above question, honestly. I know you want to make money. But, if making money is all you care about, this project is NOT for you.
Still here? Ok, let’s move on…
Since we are focusing on only 5 of the 66 visitor types during the public BETA phase, Super-Targeted Blogs are particularly suitable for you if you fall within one of the following categories:
- People working from home.
- Stay-at-home moms and dads.
- Students (of legal age).
- Retired people.
- Employees looking for lifestyle change or career boost.
- Managers and business owners.
- Aspiring writers and journalists.
As for the required qualification, in our experience, anybody who is sufficiently motivated could make a good blogger. The following, however, certainly helps:
- Excellent understanding of the target audience’s needs and wants.
- Solid knowledge of the respective geographical location.
- Ability to write in clear, accessible style and appropriate form.
- Likeable personality and strong ethical standards and values.
- Ability to contribute at least 10-15 hours/month per blog.
If you think you would be a good fit, but are still not sure whether to apply, here’s a partial list of other benefits you could expect:
- Gain access to new knowledge and skills.
- Gain new friends.
- Create more fun in your life.
- Boost your career options.
- Raise your business or personal profile.
- Improve your self-esteem and self-confidence.
- Feel valued and appreciated.
- Make a difference in someone’s life.
- Give back.
How much can I earn?
We cannot (and won’t) guarantee you any specific amount, but we have been in the blogging business long enough to make informed estimates. In our experience, an average blog with regular postings of high-quality could reasonably expect to make:
- $100/month within 3 months
- $300/month within 6 months
- $600/month within 1 year
… just from automatically displaying contextual advertisements, such as Google AdSense (which we split equally between the two of us).
However, as the blog continue to grow in popularity and, eventually, reaches the authority status with its visitors—which could take anywhere from 6 months to a couple of years—the real opportunities start to arise. This includes various kinds of joint ventures, sponsorship agreements, selling customized advertising packages, etc., all of which have the potential to generate many multiples of the amounts mentioned above.
And, the good news is that we will be managing all monetization options for you, allowing you to fully concentrate on delivering value for your visitors. Since our goals are fully aligned (the more you make, the more we make), you can be sure that we will employ all our capacities and hard-earned expertise to maximize the blogs’ profitability and that we will do it in a way that is sustainable and doesn’t endanger their future earning potential.
Finally, it is also important to note that anytime you create a piece of content that people find interesting and useful, it has the ability to continue to generate income for years to come (forever, in Internet time). This means that each time you write something good, you are adding to your overall profit potential. When you look at it from this point of view, you are essentially building business equity, rather than earning a salary (you could easily go for a 2-week holiday and the blog will continue to make you money).
What’s the risk?
The risk is there, but—in our view—it’s minimal.
Since it doesn’t cost anything to join and you won’t have any out-of-pocket expenses (we provide for everything), your only investment is your own time and your only risk is the opportunity cost (could you spend your time more profitably doing something else?).
Is it worth your try? You have to decide for yourself. But, if you do have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
How do I get started?
- Click here to submit your application.
- If accepted, you will be given access to our training site.
- You will practice working inside WordPress user interface and write sample postings relevant to your chosen target audience.
- We will offer comments on your writing and you will be also able to see others’ work (incl. our comments).
- Whenever we determine you are ready, you will be given access to a Mikino Super-Targeted Blog. From this moment on, you are in full charge of its contents.
- As soon as you assume responsibility for a Mikino Super-Targeted Blog we will put up automatic contextual advertisements with your user ID, so that you can start making money from Day 1.