Making money from photo-blogs - second part

In my previous post, I had talked about some of the concepts around creating a photo-blog, and making money from that (through Ads primarily). This post will talk more on the same subject, and should hopefully help you move further on that line.
1. As part of a post on Wordpress optimization, I had mentioned that it puts less load on your server if content / scripts, etc, are loaded from a different server. So, wherever possible, put your photos on a different server, or on some reliable web hosting solution elsewhere. For example, you can put your photos on Amazon AWS, Photobucket, Flickr, or any other photo sharing site, and have the thumbnail on your own site. Thus, when somebody clicks on the thumbnail, you will get the actual photo on your own site.
2. Make sure that you have a system of analytics setup on your site. This will help you determine which photos are being viewed the most and are in demand. You could focus more on photos that seem more in demand, and get more visitors to your site.
3. Once you start getting people to your photo blog, explore whether you want to join the world of photo stock (where you can sell your photos, either as part of Micro-stock, or as Rights Released photos). Some of the more popular sites are: CanStockPhoto, BigStockPhoto, The3dStudio, Fotolia, Shutterstock. Learn more about stock photography at these locations.
4. There are a large number of photo directories on the net (you can find many of them on Google), so make sure that you enter your site on these site; these increase the chance of more people visiting your photo sites
5. Post your better photos on places such as your Twitter account, Facebook account, etc, and refer your photo blog location. This also attracts more people to your photo blog
6. There are many sites on the web that offer free photos. Don't feel in the least bit hesitant about copying the photos from these locations, and putting them on your blog (as long as you don't claim that they are your own - follow the terms of their copyright).

Making money from photo-blogs - a start

Many of us have some good collections of photos, and they live in obscurity in our computers or in the form of printed albums / collections, just idling there. Photographs are very precious in terms of attracting user attention, as long as you are able to present a good story that keeps the user interest alive. The chance is that if you have a good collection of photos, people will not stop at one, but look at more. So if you have a collection of railway engines, tracks, etc, and enthusiasts find your collection, you will start to get a good reputation with people looking to get more than one.
It is impossible to define everything related to a photo-blog in one post, so this one is a starter, with the essentials. How do you start ?
1. Well, you need to find a template where you can put your photos. So, you can either get a good photo-blog template that can be put on top of Wordpress or Blogger, or if your host (for example, Hostmonster (click to know more)) allows you to insert a photo software such as Gallery 2, you can use that. The advantage of a photo software is that it allows you more photo-centric option, but it requires some additional learning.
I have 2 different photo based sites Gallery (a specialized software), and Photo Blog, a photo blogging template put on Wordpress.
2. Recognize that photos can get stolen, so don't put very high quality, full size photos. They take the user more time to download, and there is no concept of copyright on the net, so use some standard resoulutions such as (1280 X 960) with a watermark.
3. Always make sure that you are attaching the 'Alt' tag to your photos. This helps in ensuring that Google and other search engines can find your photos.
4. Place ads such that they appear to blend in with the photos. If you can find image ads, they look more tasteful and fit better in with existing ads.
5. Mine your data to see which photos attract a bigger audience, and highlight it by a side panel that shows which photo is viewed the most.
6. Look for affiliate opportunity, so if you have travel related photos, put ads from tourist operators of that location.
Take the plunge, it is not very difficult.