This reminds me of something that I read over at Steve Pavlina’s site, about creating content that would last a lifetime. About staying away from fads and gimmicks and giving advice/content that your kids would benefit from, your grandchildren could benefit from.
My thinking is that these folks who Blog For Pay are in it for purely monetary reasons, and their opinions next to useless, especially when they are being bankrolled by sponsors rather than the kind, unsolicited donations of those who read and really benefit from the entries.
I’ve started a new blog, and my only goal is to help folks become better writers and novelists, period. I’m pretty sure that limits the companies that would sponsor me in a Pay Per Post scheme
Would a blog made entirely of product endorsements even be that interesting to read? I’ve looked into these sites, and it just seems silly. You won’t make much unless all you write about are their products, and then your blog won’t be very interesting!
Are you talking about not doing this with PayPerPost, etc., or with any sort of affiliate income when it comes to GRS? For example, do you explicitly disclose when (say) a link to a book at Amazon will earn you a commission? Just curious.
Ha! I thought that was absurd, too, nickel. And great question in the first comment.
I’m talking writing blog posts for money.
I don’t note every time I link to an affiliate program. For example, I never mention it with Amazon. But, I’ve openly discussed my affiliate links a couple of times before, most notably here.
I do link to that disclosure every time I offer a Sharebuilder link, though. In my mind, people need to be reminded that I am compensated for Sharebuilder referrals, but not for Amazon. I use both companies all the time, and am happy with them, or I would not refer them.
Blog for money? I created over 300 posts for my blog last year, on my own, and so far adsense says I’ve got $3.50 in revenue. I wish I was highminded enough to say I wouldn’t do it for money, but the fact is, I would because I enjoy it. I don’t know why it is seemed to be evil to turn effort into money, JD.
I’m clueless how the average blogger “makes money” in blog cycle. The blog provider makes the money because they keep the clicks for cash data, and they made the rules. Maybe there are some blogs that do make money, but most blogs have content that is half-assed, regurgitated, generalized non-sense and really shouldn’t make any. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a happy meal to purchase with my ill-gotten gains.
I think you’re mis-reading my statements. Or perhaps I’m not being clear. I am not opposed to bloggers making money. In fact, I think it is an amazing thing, a sort of 21st century entrepreneurship. I make a great deal of money from this site. What I am saying is this: I will *not* use PayPerPost or any other similar service in order to take money for writing. It is not appropriate for this site. It would undermine my integrity. It would make me feel dirty. I do not think these services are evil by nature, but I want it to be clear to my readers that they don’t ever have to wonder if I’m compromising my beliefs for the sake of a quick buck. What I post here is what I believe. (With the exception that guest posts do not necessarily reflect my own viewpoints, but I trust that’s understood.)
Let’s see if I can explain this a bit more clearly, BxCapricorn, as I’m basically in the same boat as J.D. on this issue.
One of the aspects of my blog (and Get Rich Slowly, as well) is the “integrity factor.” Neither myself nor J.D. will sell our content to anyone, and our readers can take confidence in this. While this denies us one potential revenue stream from our blog (that of PayPerPost and the like), we both feel that it is a benefit in the long run, as readers will trust us (respectively) to write our true feelings, opinions, knowledge, and insight.
When you accept a PayPerPost-type scheme, you’re exchanging the integrity factor of your blog for a different revenue stream.
At some point, each blogger has to ask themselves which avenue is more valuable to them: the PayPerPost revenue stream, or the potential of greater sustained visitors due to greater content integrity. For me, the way of making my blog the best it can be in the long run (for my wallet and otherwise) is by never accepting PayPerPost-type schemes.
I don’t do paid posts on my blog either. Making money from ads is a nice bonus for running a blog, but for me, I am blogging for the fun of it. I tried the paid post thing and couldn’t stomach it. Even though I sure could use the money, my reputation is worth far more to me.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I did some searching on the subject and learned a bit more about Pay for Post and Pay per Click, and other arrangements. I also hit your site meter at the bottom of your blog and saw that you get 500 readers…an hour! I would imagine that you could generate an income, and now understand why you put so much effort into the site. I just started cross-referencing my categories with the new Blogger release and maybe one day will have the kind of buzz this great blog has.
January 13th, 2007 at 8:12 am
This reminds me of something that I read over at Steve Pavlina’s site, about creating content that would last a lifetime. About staying away from fads and gimmicks and giving advice/content that your kids would benefit from, your grandchildren could benefit from.
My thinking is that these folks who Blog For Pay are in it for purely monetary reasons, and their opinions next to useless, especially when they are being bankrolled by sponsors rather than the kind, unsolicited donations of those who read and really benefit from the entries.
I’ve started a new blog, and my only goal is to help folks become better writers and novelists, period. I’m pretty sure that limits the companies that would sponsor me in a Pay Per Post scheme
January 13th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Would a blog made entirely of product endorsements even be that interesting to read? I’ve looked into these sites, and it just seems silly. You won’t make much unless all you write about are their products, and then your blog won’t be very interesting!
January 13th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Are you talking about not doing this with PayPerPost, etc., or with any sort of affiliate income when it comes to GRS? For example, do you explicitly disclose when (say) a link to a book at Amazon will earn you a commission? Just curious.
January 13th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Hahaha…
“I’m helping decent advertisers get their name out there while helping cost-conscious consumers find beneficial products and services.”
Talk about rationalizations!
January 13th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Ha! I thought that was absurd, too, nickel. And great question in the first comment.
I’m talking writing blog posts for money.
I don’t note every time I link to an affiliate program. For example, I never mention it with Amazon. But, I’ve openly discussed my affiliate links a couple of times before, most notably here.
I do link to that disclosure every time I offer a Sharebuilder link, though. In my mind, people need to be reminded that I am compensated for Sharebuilder referrals, but not for Amazon. I use both companies all the time, and am happy with them, or I would not refer them.
January 13th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Blog for money? I created over 300 posts for my blog last year, on my own, and so far adsense says I’ve got $3.50 in revenue. I wish I was highminded enough to say I wouldn’t do it for money, but the fact is, I would because I enjoy it. I don’t know why it is seemed to be evil to turn effort into money, JD.
I’m clueless how the average blogger “makes money” in blog cycle. The blog provider makes the money because they keep the clicks for cash data, and they made the rules. Maybe there are some blogs that do make money, but most blogs have content that is half-assed, regurgitated, generalized non-sense and really shouldn’t make any. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a happy meal to purchase with my ill-gotten gains.
January 13th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
I think you’re mis-reading my statements. Or perhaps I’m not being clear. I am not opposed to bloggers making money. In fact, I think it is an amazing thing, a sort of 21st century entrepreneurship. I make a great deal of money from this site. What I am saying is this: I will *not* use PayPerPost or any other similar service in order to take money for writing. It is not appropriate for this site. It would undermine my integrity. It would make me feel dirty. I do not think these services are evil by nature, but I want it to be clear to my readers that they don’t ever have to wonder if I’m compromising my beliefs for the sake of a quick buck. What I post here is what I believe. (With the exception that guest posts do not necessarily reflect my own viewpoints, but I trust that’s understood.)
January 13th, 2007 at 11:11 pm
Let’s see if I can explain this a bit more clearly, BxCapricorn, as I’m basically in the same boat as J.D. on this issue.
One of the aspects of my blog (and Get Rich Slowly, as well) is the “integrity factor.” Neither myself nor J.D. will sell our content to anyone, and our readers can take confidence in this. While this denies us one potential revenue stream from our blog (that of PayPerPost and the like), we both feel that it is a benefit in the long run, as readers will trust us (respectively) to write our true feelings, opinions, knowledge, and insight.
When you accept a PayPerPost-type scheme, you’re exchanging the integrity factor of your blog for a different revenue stream.
At some point, each blogger has to ask themselves which avenue is more valuable to them: the PayPerPost revenue stream, or the potential of greater sustained visitors due to greater content integrity. For me, the way of making my blog the best it can be in the long run (for my wallet and otherwise) is by never accepting PayPerPost-type schemes.
January 14th, 2007 at 12:18 am
I don’t do paid posts on my blog either. Making money from ads is a nice bonus for running a blog, but for me, I am blogging for the fun of it.
I tried the paid post thing and couldn’t stomach it. Even though I sure could use the money, my reputation is worth far more to me.
January 15th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I did some searching on the subject and learned a bit more about Pay for Post and Pay per Click, and other arrangements. I also hit your site meter at the bottom of your blog and saw that you get 500 readers…an hour! I would imagine that you could generate an income, and now understand why you put so much effort into the site. I just started cross-referencing my categories with the new Blogger release and maybe one day will have the kind of buzz this great blog has.