Money Money Money
Firstly, thanks to every one that wished me to get well due to my KaaaaaPOOOOOFYness. It has been in a subdued state pretty much since Tuesday so it’s not far from being completely kicked out of my system. Woo! Oh, but someone else has the sniffles…
And now, secondly… on to what this post is entitled… money!
All the things I could do
If I had a little money
It’s a rich man’s world
Er no, I’m not going to be talking about Abba’s song ‘Money Money Money1‘, no need to fear (just yet)…
But yes, all the things I could do if I had a little money… which is why I’ve been (and still am) slaving my arse off at work.
Sure, everyone wants money, and everyone wants a nice piece of the “rich man’s world”. Generally, like me, people go out to their jobs providing their labour in return for some cold hard cash (OK, it’s rarely cash anymore) and this provides enough for comfortable living, but doesn’t touch the barrier of the “rich man’s world”.
Pants. No riches. No fortunes. No poofy lions2. At least we do have our own poofy selves and ‘normal’ poofy houses and foodstuffs3 still.
Which (really-doesn’t-but-I’ll-pretend-it-does) leads me on to what I actually want to talk about. Monetizing your blog.
As said, generally people go to ‘normal’ jobs to provide a ‘normal’ living, but, and I’m sure you are all aware, recently people have been using their little corners of the web to make money – and desperately try to have enough moolah4 for some poofy lions.
What what what?!? *Gasp* *Horror* *Snap* *Crackle* & *Pop*5. Exploiting their little corners of the web for money! Gah!
*Emz goes to pick up readers that have fallen on the floor in pure horror – then realises, no one has fallen…*
Stupid Emz! This is an old argument that everyone’s already blogged about – we don’t want another blog post about this poofyness!
Well excuuusssse me. (No, I didn’t fart6). May I share my opinion? No? Oh…. hmm…
Wait – yes I can! This is my site! Gah!
So yes, this is an ‘old’ thing to talk about, but I have yet to actually discuss or even take a side to this argument. It is also worth saying that monetizing websites is hardly a new thing, but the amount of personal blogs and websites that are getting monetized is quite alarming in my opinion.
There are a great many things people can do like, Google AdSense, Yahoo! ads, Text Link Ads and general other advertising things but…
… you knew this was coming…
it’s the ‘blog and get paid’ schemes that have got me tickled. Mainly because they are everywhere, and everyone seems to be doing it.
So who/what are these schemes?.. (the ones I know about are:)
BlogToProfit, Payu2blog, and the one and only, the ultimate poofy lion achiever, PayPerPost.
Yes I’ve seen plenty of sites that are under said schemes, and from what I’ve read, I’m not the only one that has seen what could be hundreds of reasonable or even amazing sites turned into piles of poofy lion ash. Not nice 7.
Why? Well, firstly, sites under said schemes have a tendency to plaster every visible pixel with banners, which just isn’t the way to do things. Ever. Secondly, posts are split between ‘normal’ churned out content (“I just bought a new poofy lion”/”My mom is SUCH a poofy lion”/”OhMyLemons did you see that DUDE’S poofy lion?????”/etc. etc.) and spewed out random linkage to sites I would never visit under my own influence. Oh, and spewed out linkage may be surrounded by a nicely churned out description to make it not sound so… poofy.
Great. That’s exactly what I want to read.
Or not.
So whilst I start judging a site harshly and evil eye8 it, I wonder… is it all worth it? It is worth depreciating your site for money that will mean you can own a poofy lion? Really?
Where people have said what they’ve made, I haven’t been too impressed by the totals. Only Sean’s has actually amazed me. (But to be fair, a number of sites haven’t said their totals – so I’ll never know). He made $373.02 in the month of July just via PayPerPost. Wowzar9.
Now, when I saw that, I thought that was some serious money (and it is) but I don’t know… the whole thing just doesn’t bode well with me.
The only site I’ve seen that I actually like, and don’t care that it’s got PayPerPost things and the like on it, is Mari’s. I actually adore this site!10
So maybe this whole turn-your-blog-into-a-money-tree business isn’t so bad. There is obviously money to be made out of it… but now’s the ultimate question…
How does Oceanus-Anima.com stand with these schemes?
Well, I am working like a cheetah to get some money behind my wiggly ass, and as such it would be a nice relief to have an income that comes from this site.
But I wouldn’t want it to pay for day-to-day things. I need to feel I’ve actually worked for the food I eat and the bed I sleep on… so then what?
Hmm, well, it would be amazing if this site could pay for itself. Hosting is just under $120 a year, and it would be nice to know I didn’t have to worry about it, plus it seems making $120 a year with said schemes is more than likely possible.
Huh. So let’s go monetize Oceanus-Anima.com and be done with it…
*Scuffles feet*
Hmm. I just don’t know. It just doesn’t seem right to do to the site. There is the possibility of setting up a separate site for just money-making, but even that seems ethically wrong to me.
I think, for now, whilst my bones are strong, and my spirit high, I will persist in stressing my joints and muscles at work and just make money the old fashioned way. It’s working for me right now, and it’s a mistake to ‘fix’ something that isn’t broken.
Please note, this post wasn’t made to offend anyone in anyway. So don’t take any. If you use said schemes, how’s it working out for you? Same if you don’t use the schemes, how do you feel about sitting on a possible money tree without watering it sufficiently?
Tinklings:
1 – Emz secretly likes this song… but don’t tell anyone now.
2 – Poofy lions are used throughout this post, I just mean general luxury things, not actual poofy lions. Only those graced to know me offline understand why I say poofy lions so much.
3 – Emz thinks ‘foodstuffs’ is such a funny word and just had to use it, rather than plain old ‘food’.
4 – Moolah = money. No moo’s or lah’s here. Usually.
5 – Rice Krispies anyone?
6 – Much. Can you smell it?
7 – It’s really not nice.
8 – Beware the evil eye!
9 – Wowzar = mega wow!
10 – Honestly, Mari rules.
She is a wee bit crazy, hyper, random and generally rather odd. But perhaps just a typical English twenty year old gal?
User
Lol. Your entry made me giggle with your ‘poofy lions’. I’m not really sure where I stand on all these blogging for profit sites. I think a few advertisements in the sidebars are fine, but I’m not too fond of the blog entries that are littered with ads.
I understand that people need to make money and I support that, but I think some ways are better than others and you should be smart when deciding which ones to go for. Some just break up the dynamics of the blog too much in my opinion.
It’s good you’re not poofying all over the place anymore. =D
It’s very sad to see a site that does PPP or something just go to crap because they can’t control the amount of opps they do.
Mari’s very annoyed that she has to do PPP at all, and has been contemplating posting a rather negative review of them.
Mari only does PPP because she couldn’t get hired by McDonald’s even if she stuck candy to her resume. Being a still-high-school-senior with an nonexistant GPA really doesn’t help you get hired anywhere. Mari is such a loser…
Mari’s only made 130 bucks with PPP since she started in June. It’s really just seeming to not be worth Mari’s time.
This has to be the single blog post to use the word poofy and lions right next to each other that much. Mari couldn’t stop laughing. XDDDD
The thing that Mari hates about PPP is that they try to make you jump through hoops like a circus dog. Mari is a rebel, and is getting pretty sick of it.
Well I’m glad to hear that you still like Mari’s blog even though she’s doing ppp now. I wasn’t too pleased to see people give her crap about it when she’s an awesome blogger and person.
Since you just commented on my blog and I do a multitude of pay to blog opportunities though I can’t help but feel a little hurt after reading this entry, though that could just be taking things personally.
I’ve seen a lot of blogs sadly get it into their heads that taking as many paid posts as possible is a good thing, and sadly their blogs have suffered for it. I know when I first started I was shocked and excited about the money I could make and went a little crazy but I wizened up fairly fast and I now only take posts that suit me and blogs.
If you’re interested in seeing bloggers’ stats on what they’ve made, which is what it sounds like you want, you’re not going to see them on their blogs for the most part. Many see this as their job, their work, and just like you wouldn’t brandish your paycheck to your coworkers, they won’t be posting their earnings on their blogs. At least I hope they don’t! lol If you really want, email me and I’ll tell you but I don’t feel comfortable posting mine.
As for the why behind how I got started. Initially I just wanted a way to pay for my hosting and domain and if I got a little extra spending money the better. Then when summer rolled around I decided for the first time in nearly eight years I would have a free summer to myself, especially since I graduate this semester. lol
I think it’s fine to have some little text adds and stuff on your site as long as you had your site first. If you made a blog simply so that you can make money, then that’s not okay. But if you have small text adds and stuff that you added to make a little extra dough, then more power to you!
I agree with Kelly, I had my site for over 2 years before I started making money with it. I mean if you have content, then people are willing to pay more than if it is just a blog. Plus if you are going to do paid posting, then I suggest taking opportunities that you actually like, don’t just take a $7 opportunity on paintball if you don’t like it.
I was thinking about getting ads and put them in a little corner. I think its okay .. might as well make some money out of your hobby =D
glad your feeling better!
Ooooh getting paid to blog what an idea, I have been having cash flow problems, I don’t have any but to a really want to sell my soul or posts.
I have considered PPP several times, but I always decide against it. Some people (like Mari) do it well, without the PPP posts taking over the whole blog. Unfortunately it seems that the majority of people getting paid to blog do just that; they post as many sponsored posts they can, without considering the the post any further. This is a big no-no and a major turn off
I just joined PPP. I never really wanted to do that to my site. But I really need the money.
I don’t really have a problem with it on other peoples sites, so long as they can keep it from looking like junk (in my opinion)with ads and such. (yeah, I need to make mine look a little better…working on it.)
And I agree, Mari is the awesomest
And Mari thinks Emz is the awesomest, so there. Wahaha,
Emz, your comment detection plugin kicks bootay. XD “Using WordPress 2.2.2″.
*slams fork on table* New post! New post! New post! Mari was assigned to you in Despair, so Mari feels obliged to demand a new post to comment up.
Personally, I’m not really keen on the whole pay per blog fad. At first I thought about it, even posted one and got paid for it, but I didn’t feel right.
If someone wants to pay for a spot on a personal blog, then they can have it. But to take OVER the personal blog… that’s not the same as buying a space, that’s renting entries.
That’s my take.
Holy moly I’ve got a lot of comments to reply to… GAH!
@ Mari
that just seems… well… terrible! I can understand why you do PPP.
I can’t believe McDonald’s won’t employ you
@ Joana
Your comment was a real eye opener and so I’m going to reply to you personally (via email).
@ Mari – again
Ok ok new post soon! Sowwy! Keep your fork under control!
@ everyone else
Sorry I haven’t personally replied, but thanks for all your responses!
I’ve had quite the curiosity about PPP as well, but I haven’t really looked into it much. Now you’ve resurfaced my interest. Hm. There’s no hope for any of us now!!! ACK!
Mari stuck her fork in a plate of spaghetti, but Mari’s still anxiously awaiting a new post. *on edge of her seat*
@ Sar
I know! Since I did this post PPP has been on my mind a lot more than it originally was! Gah!
@ Mari
Mari the impatient! I’m doing one right now.
Heh, this is definitely a very controversial issue. Your opinion of it (or should I say indecisive opinion) is very indepth and I enjoyed reading it a lot…spare the terrible migraine I’ve had all day.
Indeed, I am simply hosted by another host therefore I don’t exactly need money but I have quite a few friends who sprinkle their websites sparingly with a few of this and that to help them make money off their site.
Frankly, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, as long as they don’t absolutely plaster their site. They’re simply making money off their hobby…a bit like someone might paint and sell their paintings. You don’t see painters absolutely plastering their painting in a certain colour just because its sponsored to be that colour!
Too much of anything is bad…so far that quote has never proved me wrong. Unless you want to include food and water into the mix which would therefore prove me wrong but lets not open that can of worms!
Anywho, back to desired topic. I don’t think there is anything wrong with sitting on a potential money-maker poofy lion achieving goldmine, nor do I think there is a problem with sprinkling your corner of the WWW with sponsored stuff. Stuffing it full is a different story though.
Kudos! xx