Snapchat is Looking to Change E-Commerce
Published by Chris. Last Updated on April 2, 2021.
Disclaimer: This Week in Blogging uses demographic data, email opt-ins, and affiliate links to operate this site. Please review our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Snapchat may not have the cache of an Instagram, a Facebook, or even a TikTok, but don't tell Snapchat users that. Snapchat, perhaps more than more social networks, has always had a devoted base of users, and that devotion doesn't seem to be abating.
In fact, particularly with the younger demographic, the devoted fanbase seems only to be expanding. For years, people have been writing off Snapchat, but it's clear that Snapchat sure isn't writing off itself.
Just days ago, Snapchat (or more specifically Snap Inc.) acquired Fit Analytics, which is a Berlin-based company that helps shoppers pick the right clothing size when they're shopping online.
From the outside, it may not seem like a game-changing acquisition, but it is, and we'll tell you why.
Dispo – Instagram's Controversial New Challenger
Published by Chris. Last Updated on March 30, 2021.
Disclaimer: This Week in Blogging uses demographic data, email opt-ins, and affiliate links to operate this site. Please review our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Believe it or not, Dispo is already the 4th most downloaded social media app. That's no small feat, as there are almost too many photo-centric social media apps to count which have launched and subsequently burned before our eyes.
That's not to say that Dispo is necessarily here to stay, but they did have a promising start. Of course, that promising start is now in jeopardy, but for now, let's back things up and talk about what Dispo is.
Niche Product Site Case Study #1 – Introducing the Sites
Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on September 14, 2021.
Disclaimer: This Week in Blogging uses demographic data, email opt-ins, and affiliate links to operate this site. Please review our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
During quarantine, we saw a severe drop in traffic on our travel blog and local blog. As we knew that these sites were not going to rebound for quite some time, rather than doubling down in new topics on these established domains, we decided to start new blogs outright.
This was done for two reasons. First, the topics we wanted to write about didn't fit all too well with the established branding. Second, we know that new sites take a long time to establish themselves such that, while they weren't going to make much money during quarantine, we would be diversifying our portfolio for the long-haul across many unique domains.
At first, we had every intention of making these sites personality-driven blogs much like our travel sites (think full social media, multiple posts per week, a story involving us somehow, etc.), but we quickly realized that would be too time consuming. In fact, when we stopped to assess how things were going, we realized that we had started three sites all were niche products focused. Our ideal monetization model was not display advertising (although we'd certainly take it), but rather affiliate sales for a few core items.
As we are approaching each of these sites just a bit differently, we thought it'd be fun to share a periodic case study here talking about the sites, how we plan to monetize, and update their progress over time. So today, let's do a quick introduction to the sites and our monetization goals!
Blog Spending Audit – Every Premium Blogging Service We Use
Published by Jeremy. Last Updated on July 21, 2022.
Disclaimer: This Week in Blogging uses demographic data, email opt-ins, and affiliate links to operate this site. Please review our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Every so often, I like to do an audit of my business expenses to ensure I'm not overpaying for services or have recurring fees for things I no longer use.
As part of this, I've come up with a list of all of the premium services we use for our blogs be it via hosting, plugins, or other third-party tools outright. As I generally think sharing information like this is helpful for others who may look to improving their blogs (like with our list of WordPress plugins we personally use), I thought it'd be appropriate to share all of the premium services we personally pay for.
My motto when it comes to blogging services is to spare no expense to do things right. That being said, I am thrifty at times and adopt an 80/20 mindset to most things. If I can get 80% of the value at 20% of the cost, I will do it, which is why I pay for things like Keysearch which costs in a year what other SEO services charge for a single month.
So when I say that I pay $3,500/year on services you should instantly recognize that I am paying for quality things, often with multi-site licenses to run my seven sites, but have sought out deals via the 80/20 mindset when appropriate. As you likely do not run as many sites as I do, it is worth pointing out that single site licenses for the below would run about $1,200/year– so you can see that scaling becomes cost-effective in the long run!
So in this one, I wanted to discuss a bit about each service, rough estimates on single and multi-site prices, explain why we pay for them at all, and also highlight reasons why you may want to skip some services as well. Some are simply worth the price far more than others. And, as with everything, your mileage may vary based on your own unique circumstances.
*Note: This guide is for general blogging programs and services we pay for. It does not include advertising nor niche-specific purchases. For full disclosure, I pay an additional $3,000 to $6,000 a year in advertising across all my sites- mostly as a means to get new projects off the ground as opposed to promoting the more established ones.
Is Google a Monopoly? When Search Giants Become too Big
Published by Chris. Last Updated on August 30, 2021.
Disclaimer: This Week in Blogging uses demographic data, email opt-ins, and affiliate links to operate this site. Please review our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
In the blogging world, Google is kind of the elephant in the room. You simply can't avoid their impact unless you've been living under a rock for a couple of decades.
In many ways, it's as if we're able to craft whatever chess pieces we want, but we're ultimately playing on their board.
And that's what we want to talk about. How exactly has that board changed over the years, and how can knowing that information help us in our blogging journey?