Monetize This!: A Note on Ads

Over the last couple of weeks, you might have noticed ads on Postcards of the Hanging. I resisted this idea for years, mostly because I didn't want this to become a job or something that I felt that I had an obligation to do. I blog because it's a fun (most of the time) intellectual exercise for me. And to be perfectly honest, I was concerned about content and how mine might make advertisers unhappy.

There was a situation recently that led me to seriously start thinking about asking you good folks for donations, which is something that I always swore to myself I wouldn't do for the reason listed above. That's not to take anything away from the many bloggers that do take donations, particularly those in need for whatever reason, but it would be an untenable situation for me personally.

I know myself well enough to know that I wouldn't want to offend or antagonize someone that has just given me their hard-earned money, especially when I would feel that I hadn't done anything to really deserve it, and particularly in this economy. The problem is that I also know myself well enough to know that I would eventually antagonize or offend everyone that has given me money. What can I tell you, it's part of my charm. I decided that I would rather quit entirely than ask for your money under circumstances.

Anyhow, that situation was resolved, but the idea of monetizing this place, if only a little, stuck with me. I know a few people who do okay with their blogs and there are folks out there who actually make a living doing this. I have no delusions that I'll get there, but it would be nice if I could pick up some pocket change for the amount of time I put into it. I reliably draw about 300 people a day here, so I can assure you that this isn't going to make me rich.

And that's where the ads came from. Every time you click one, a couple of cents comes my way. If you see a book, movie or product hyperlinked to Amazon, I get a cut of the sales that come through this page. The vast majority of the time, if a book is linked through here, I've read it, used it as a reference tool and would recommend it to you. If I'm not recommending it, you'll be able to figure that out pretty quickly. Even though I can't imagine it ever happening, if anyone wants to market through my posts directly - which would be insane for any number of reasons - I'll be upfront and tell you that. I'm not going to lie to you, especially not for the nickles and dimes that I'd get out of it.

Again, there's virtually no possibility that anything that can really be described as an "income" is going to come of this, but it might put a few bucks in my pocket. And these posts are taking longer and longer to think through and write. After nearly eight years, I think I deserve to get the odd bottle of booze or a book for the effort. Just because I'm such a scamp.

Think of it this way, some of you have probably thought about how much fun it would be to buy me a drink. Well, now you can! And you won't even have deal with me in person, which I'm told can be exhausting.

So, go ahead, click an ad or buy some cool books through me. You know you wanna. And if you don't, that's cool, too. I know things are ugly out there.