We all want to see some sort of return on what we put time into. This would then make time an investment. Then there are those things that we all do where we don’t expect a monetary return. This of course includes mentoring, discipleship, volunteer work, etc. For me, blogging falls in between these two areas. It’s an outward expression of how I am feeling, so part of me feels like I’m just journaling. The other part of me says it takes a lot of time and effort to blog, so if I can put ads on the blog and make some extra money, why not?
Not too long ago Anne Jackson, author of flowerdust.com, announced she was going ad free on her blog. Before this I never really thought about how blog advertisements look to readers. I guess this is because every blogger I know places ads on their blog. But just because everybody else is doing it, doesn’t necessarily make it a right fit for me.
What do you think? How do you feel about blog advertisements?
I don't feel it is wrong to advertise on blogs. The only issue for me personally would be what the blogger is advertising.
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You don’t muzzle the ox while thrashing, do you?
nope 🙂
gotcha
This is something I have been thinking about myself for quite some time now. At first I felt I must not make money of blogging, since I get paid a good salary and that just seemed greedy to me. But since I left my job to pursue a fulfilling life, I have been starting to feel that I need to advertise, since I need to get some money from somewhere to at least help out with the finances in the house, but still have not gotten myself a far as to actually put advertisements on my blog.
Nope do not feel that it is wrong at all. To be honest I think a lot of people that might give you grief about it would advertise on their blog if they had the stats to do it.
I know I wold if I had the stats to do it.
You are right, you put a lot of time into blogging and I honestly think that it is fair to get paid for ads.
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Glad you brought this up. I'm chose to include ads, basically, to try to help make up some of my wife's income since she will no longer have a job starting in the summer since our state is broke and has it's priorities screwed up.
I also understand those, like Anne that decided not to put them on her site.
I agree with you that it's a personal decision. I don't feel there is a right or wrong with it.
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You write… that's part of what you do and who you are. Nothing wrong with generating income from it just as a print author would. You could write a book and sell it and no one would have an issue there.
A similar comparison would be to charge a subscription fee for your blog… and see your readership drop.
Or you can adopt the TV broadcast model and have ads that are way less invasive. And besides… the ads seems to fit with the DNA of who you are and the blog anyway so no harm no foul IMO.
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I have begun to use some 125 x125 ads on my ministry blog to see if I can generate a small income. I have found people to be receptive of the idea. My Amazon affiliate gots some real nice hits around November and December which bought a couple books for the ministry.
My future plans are to leave local church work and begin traveling and speaking and having some ads to generate income would be a plus as long as they do not get in the way of articles and material.
just my thoughts,
Chris Gallagher
As long as the site doesn't look like a NASCAR race car, I have no problem with ads on blogs. On second thought, if I could sell enough ad space on my blog to make it look like Jimmie Johnson's car, don't think I wouldn't.
I would agree with Kyle that many who shun the idea really don't have the option anyway so it's pretty easy to make that call. I respect Anne's personal decision because she actually does have a choice.
Like many things, if one doesn't like a blogger having ads on the site, simple choose not to read it.
Since I just clicked on the Chik-Fil-A leadership ad and discovered that I think this might be worth plugging into – I would say that ads definately have some value. I agree with the others philosphy; as long as it is not a "trash" or "spam" ad then why not? I don't think it becomes a greed issue at all. I would consider it an effective tool that allows you to spend concentrated time and funds to expand your blog and providing continued insights to those that wish to read your blog. Just my opinion….
nothing wrong with that. as long as it's about the blog and not the ads. some bloggers forget that content is king.
everybody actually agrees on something. throw a party