Yes, I’ve gone to the dark side, ’cause I’m looking to score some cookies… *grin*
I spent far too much time this past year agonizing over the pros and cons of installing Ad Sense on my blog. A few days ago, I finally decided to take Nike’s advice. As you can see in one of the widgets on the left, our eldest has a YouTube channel, and is making money off her videos, so it seemed silly not to try the same here. Granted, her audience is huge compared to mine, but I figure even if I’m only able to make $13 a month between the ads here and on my very own YouTube channel (if having a handful videos with a dozen-ish hits each qualifies as a channel), I’d be able to break even on my web hosting and domain registering fees for the year. Of course, given my current numbers, even that goal seems a bit ambitious, but a girl’s gotta start somewhere, right?
I’ve gone through and tried to mute ad categories that don’t really match the tone of my blog. For example, before I started tinkering with it, the first ad I saw pop up on my page was for one of those mail order bride websites (can I get a big, HELL NO from the crowd?). If anyone has any suggestions/commiserations regarding Ad Sense, I’d love to hear them in the comment section.
Also, since I had to reword my About Me section yet again (seemed a bit incongruous to see, “My blog isn’t monetized” next to an ad for faster internet), I decided to also update my Word Cloud with all the things I forgot (seriously? I forgot to add my boys in green? They may never speak to me ever again!). Here’s the latest version –
“Come to the Dark Side (we have cookies!)!” 😉
I feel that I can cast no stones — if you want to go public with your writing, you have to fund it somehow. (My own blog is also friends-locked, so it really can’t be monetized, putting me in a poor position to pass judgment on those brave enough to embrace the broader world.)
I like the word cloud — what did you use to build it?
Thanks for the support, thinky!
I used http://www.wordle.net/ to create the word cloud. It’s pretty basic, but that’s one of the things I found appealing about it. 🙂
Good for you. Instead of calling it selling out, you can call it “supporting my site.” 🙂
Ah yes, that’s a much more positive way to look at it. Appreciate the encouragement, Mel. 😀
I like what Mel said – you’re “supporting my site.” I love wordles (word clouds) too. You’ve given me an idea for a post.
Yay! I’ve been inspired by a few of the #MicroblogMondays posts, so happy to return the favor, Mali. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Hey Traci, thanks for dropping by today… you were stressing over having ads in your website? 🙂 With the amount of effort any blogger puts in to create and maintain a site, a little remuneration should not offend anyone. Right?
I loved the word cloud… how did you make it?
You’re very welcome Ankita – thanks for returning the favor! Yeah, I think it’s a guilt holdover from the early days of blogging, when having your site covered in banner ads was considered bad form.
I did the word cloud online at http://www.wordle.net/
I love the wordle too! I have to learn how to make one. I’m going to browse around your blog for more writing challenges to join.
Thanks for visiting, Jessica – unfortunately, I’m not sure I have writing challenges here, just challenges in writing. *big grin*
Seriously, though – once you have a list of words you want to use, the creation of the cloud is easy. There are bunches of free websites, with varying degrees of options available, but the one I used is – http://www.wordle.net/
Congratulations on the “supporting my site” initiative! I go back and forth on whether or not to monetize, and one of the biggest things for me is having ads that I can’t support myself show up. If you can fix that, then that’s pretty cool. I don’t know, maybe going over to ‘the dark side’ is in my future, too… you could update and share how it’s going! 🙂 I love the new word cloud. I think that’s so cool, and I may use it with my students after checking out wordle. Could be another great way to do an icebreaker in the fall.
Appreciate the support, Jess! Wouldn’t you know – the first ad that appeared was for a mail order bride site! I was thrilled when I found a way to mute the ads I found unacceptable, and there seems to be a way to review individual ads as well. I’m planning to do an update after I feel like I know what I’m doing (so expect it some time in the next ten years or so… *grin*).
I love the idea of using wordle as a student icebreaker! I hope you blog about how it turns out, if you end up doing it. 🙂