We haven’t featured a publisher from ‘down under’ in quite a while (our last one was back in December 06′ ). Ben Rogers is from Sydney, Australia. Ben started out tweaking CMS templates…now he’s counting his profits. Read more below about how Ben went through a number of web business models, until he landed on Zoopgames.com…and Direct Media Exchange as a way to monetize this site more effectively.This month’s featured publisher is Ben Rogers and his site is Zoopgames.com.

Vince Panero (VP): How did you get interested in web publishing originally? What were those early days like for you?

Ben Rogers: I originally started web publishing through finding a way to monetize the traffic and hits I was receiving through one of my previous websites. This started back in 2003, as the Internet was starting to take off through Web 2.0 and viral marketing. People came to realize that having a website was a necessity for any business or young entrepreneur. I realized I might as well jump on the bandwagon and start a few sites, thinking I could actually make an extra buck by having a hobby website; this visualization came true.

The early days started with having no coding knowledge and stumbling across a CMS system called Joomla, as I became accustomed to the system and how it worked, I started to design free templates and release them to the community. This gave me the experience and excitement to branch out into new areas, such as creating community based sites such as Zoopgames.

VP: Can you tell us about your website/s? How would you describe your focus/business model? And are there any particular issues exclusive to your site that you had to overcome to make the advertising model work?

As a young dreamer with aspirations of maybe getting into the web hosting market, I started small with www.mindiamhosting.com but soon realized that the hosting market is very large, and it’s tiring trying to get a stronghold in it. I then turned to designing websites for clients through www.mindiam.com. I gained more experience and knowledge from designing sites for local clients in Sydney, Australia, I am still doing this to date, but I seem to be spending more time on sites such as Zoopgames.com , which require promotion and advertising.

My focus for a business model for people looking to have a popular website is this:

Look at the guys at the top: what features do they provide, design and coding wise. Use this and apply it to something you find interesting for yourself. There are a million people copying the guys at the top, but if you can come up with something you find interesting from your own perspective, then there is the money shot. Create a site off your own opinion and ideas; get your zany, unique ideas out on the net. I saw a blog the other day about kittens and puppies with captions like “PEW PEW”, and it is ranked within the top 100 of Technorati! I am sure those guys would be making a killing through advertisements.

With the site I am promoting now( www.zoopgames.com ), the few issues I have come across are:

Link Building: Add your link around the Internet with related arcade sites with a high page rank. Use a keyword that you would like to have searched within Google. Keep at it for a few days a week, 3- 4 months later…then, you will see the results from the hard work you have put in.

Viral Marketing: Zoopgames.com allows users to copy the code of the arcade game and add it to their blog or Myspace, this in turn generates traffic and hits. It has a flow on effect and you will gain more exposure.

VP: Did you get into this with the idea that you would make ad dollars from this site? How did you initially monetize your site? What problems did you encounter utilizing these early methods?

Ben Rogers: Sure, I think everyone is looking at the dollar signs when they create a website. Starting off for the first few months, you won´t make much money through advertising, though once you get steady traffic and a high Google page rank, you can sell links or advertising space.

The early problems usually arise from finding people who will trade site wide links with your site. With a low page rank and not much traffic, most people will shrug you off. You need to keep at it. Work with social bookmarking and community sites to get your site known.

VP: Why did you start using Direct Media Exchange as your ad management platform of choice?

I saw someone post a screenshot of their earnings on a forum and it was through Direct Media Exchange. As I was looking for other revenues for advertising, I gave it a shot. Once I had signed up, it seemed easy to get started. And all of the advertising codes were integrated into one script. This saved me copying the same code from 10 different advertisers x10. It is a great time saver.

VP: What statistical changes have you seen since you started using it? For example, have your eCPM and revenue increased?

Ben Rogers: Yes, my revenue has increased, and the statistical charts allow me to view how my sites traffic is growing reflecting the revenue sources.

VP: What do you like most about Direct Media Exchange? Are there helpful parts of it that other ad management interfaces simply don’t offer? And how does it address the specific needs of your website’s unique niche?

Ben Rogers: The best feature I found with Direct Media Exchange was the user friendly and fast features it provided to sign up with advertising companies. Once your application was accepted, the results were emailed to you. The time this saved was phenomenal.

VP: Do you have any tips or tricks that you think others using the exchange might find useful?

Ben Rogers: Place your adds in attractive positions on your site, apply for all advertisers to gain the most revenue. Use the network to your benefit whilst you work to promote your site through link building and SEO.

VP: Do you have any final thoughts on this “exchange concept” (network transparency and competition, the utility of having just one login, etc.)?

Ben Rogers: I would say this [Direct Media Exchange] is the most innovative idea I have come across yet. Once you have one site, and you can see the potential, create a few more…then use this network to gain more revenue.

VP: Thanks for being a member of the exchange, Ben.