Monetization Ideas for This Blog: A Reference Guide
Reliance on third-party programmatic advertising:
1. The foundational monetization approach is to embed ads from third-party advertising platforms (programmatic and code-based), such as Baidu Alliance or Google AdSense.
The primary considerations here are that smaller platforms tend to have unstable ad inventory, and they may relax content审核 standards excessively for the sake of revenue. There's also the stability of the partnership platform to consider—larger platforms are less likely to go out of business. Finally, smaller platforms typically demand higher traffic volumes (since they earn the middlemen's cut from ads), whereas big platforms like Baidu and Google have much lower requirements; you just need content to pass review. Based on this, Baidu and Google were chosen. Google presents some complications: cashing out may require a US individual taxpayer ID, and access itself may require a VPN. Therefore, domestic Baidu is the priority choice. As for Tencent, Toutiao, and others, either they don't offer website ad partnerships, or they require legitimate business qualifications that individuals simply can't meet.
2. If your traffic is relatively low, the preferable option is rebate-based affiliate marketing partnerships, such as with JD.com. It's essentially the only platform that supports cross-store distribution. As long as you drive traffic its way, you'll generally earn some revenue.
This blog hasn't partnered directly with JD.com primarily because inserting JD ad codes hasn't displayed properly, for reasons unknown. As a result, we've dropped JD ads in favor of ad networks that demand somewhat higher traffic levels.
In-house advertising partnerships:
Because this site uses the free version of a paid theme, there are no custom-designed banner placements or reserved ad slots available, so partnerships that would require self-configured banners or reserved ad positions were essentially ruled out.
3. As a result, the only viable option for in-house advertising partnerships is native content ads—essentially ads embedded within editorial content (think native advertising where the content itself serves as the ad, and the ad serves as content).
The current approach is as follows:
Users willing to run ads pay a fee, after which ad content is published to fulfill the deliverables. (In other words: paid sponsored posts.)
The pricing logic is based on UV (unique visitors). Typically, 1,000 impressions command anywhere from 15 to 25 yuan. Given that this blog's traffic is insufficient and content alone can't capture the full site traffic, the rate is set at roughly 10 yuan per 1,000 UV. For ease of calculation, this is further simplified to 1 yuan per 100 UV. Third-party payment collection is handled via a unified收款 form service; currently, a MikeCRM form is being used (Submit Ad Content). Content that aligns with the blog's existing topics will be published as regular posts (and not deleted). Purely promotional content, however, may be published for about a week before being removed, or it may not be published at all (if it's illegal, inappropriate, or its compliance can't be determined). In such cases, the advertising fee is non-refundable.
Publishing: Generally, a post (with an ad tag) will be published on the blog, along with an email newsletter insertion (marked as sponsored).
Sponsorship-based membership subscriptions:
Currently, user subscription delivery is supported by Zhiyuan (知园), which itself offers paid membership functionality. This capability can be leveraged to meet paid subscription needs. No special perks are promised to members, as that would create unsustainable delivery pressure. The initiative mainly serves as a channel for voluntary user sponsorship. At present, covering costs requires roughly 1,500 subscribers paying 1 yuan per month. (About Costs). You can experience the membership subscription capability via this link: Sponsorship Membership Subscription
That covers the primary revenue streams for now. Future summaries will be published on the About & Subscription – Li Xuehan (dajiayouxuan.com) and Advertising & Sponsorship – Li Xuehan (dajiayouxuan.com) pages, where revenue statistics will be made available as a reference for others running similar operations.