Blog advertising brings in revenue for thousands, perhaps millions, of bloggers. But few bloggers can command $54,000 for a single ad. Mario Lavandeira has been the blogger behind Perez Hilton since 2005, and those prices are just the beginning of his fortune made through blogging.
Lavandeira originally began a blog called PageSixSixSix.com, a name that parodied the famous New York Post gossip column "Page Six." This resulted in a lawsuit against Lavandeira and a change of name for the blog.
Celebrity Gossip Blog
PerezHilton.com began as an acerbic blog that posted constant gossip about celebrities. Under its new name, the blog soon became visited by millions of readers each day. The site was one of the earliest of the gossip blogs and is considered by many to be one of the most vicious. Perez Hilton, Lavandeira's pen name and alter ego, minced no words when cutting down celebrities, commenting harshly on celebrity photos and outing celebrities he knew to be gay.
He laced his blog with celebrity photos that featured his trademark, child-like scrawling across them, sometimes with profanities added. Mincing no words, his outspoken celebrity blog earned him a huge following within its first year, allowing his blog to earn money quickly.
Making Money Through Blogging
As PerezHilton become one of the top blogs in terms of visitors, Lavandeira began to expand the available advertising on the site. While the blog once advertised with banner ads and small text ads, Perez Hilton soon branched out into large-scale wallpaper ads that covered the space behind his blog posts.
He also began selling advertising posts that were wedged in between the gossip posts as well as a right-hand column full of large, colorful ads. For the largest ads on the site, PerezHilton.com now commands $54,000 per week. Other ads go for varying amounts based on their size and where they are located within the blog. The least expensive ads are on the third page and further back. These are currently sold for $2,700 per week.
The number of ads and the amount that Lavandeira can charge for them has made him perhaps the first person to become a millionaire by writing a blog. And in addition to the ad revenue, the blog has made the blogger behind Perez Hilton a fortune with other related ventures.
Celebrity Blogger
Lavandeira has become so well known for his celebrity blog that he is now a celebrity is his own right. His notoriety has led to a clothing deal for Hot Topic t-shirts of Lavandeira's design. He has also starred in four VH1 specials, dished gossip on the air through ABC Radio and is now launching a small record label with the help of Warner Music.
Like a handful of other successful bloggers, PerezHilton.com has also led to a print book deal. Red Carpet Suicide: A Survival Guide on Keeping Up With the Hiltons was released in early 2009. It chronicles his experiences with celebrities and details how anyone can become a celebrity by engaging in enough attention-getting antics.
PerezHilton.com has been toned down slightly since its beginning, most notably in early 2008 as Lavandeira turned 30 and changed the overall tone of the blog. He began scrawling fewer images on his celebrity photos and began writing longer posts than the short, quick comments he had used before.
He also began a conscious effort to use his celebrity to be a better role model to his younger readers. Sandwiched in between posts about Britney Spears and the latest celebrity DUIs there are now regular posts about worthwhile charities and appeals for his readers to donate to his featured causes.
