Amazing to realize that most everything put on the internet is FOREVER. Well, almost. Dang, wish I hadn’t made so many typos and spelling goofs.

First of all, I already am an Amazon Affilitate, and I promote that fact on my blog regularly.

Secondly, I used to have ads through PJ. PJ ended that arrangement with its bloggers and I looked into having ads by myself, but what had happened around the blogosphere was that ad companies had realized that, in order to make any money off blogs, it only paid if the blog had very high traffic. Mine does not, and I could probably make so very little money off ads that it literally does not pay to have them, especially because they detract from the look and feel of the blog. So I have the Amazon widgets (several of them, on the right sidebar) and twice a year I take up a collection, which gives me some money.

I have read up quite widely on monetizing blogs. It is much easier to do this with blogs that are not political, and that can more easily tie into products. The only products I regularly promote are books, which have the tie-in to Amazon. If you go around to political blogs, you will note that very few except the very high-traffic ones have ads. Sometimes there’s a space for ads that’s blank. And the blogs that do have ads and are not high-traffic probably get a total of a few bucks a year from the ads.

There’s nothing gauche about making money. Nor do I complain about not making money. I’m grateful for whenever someone buys from Amazon through this blog, or donates. But the blog is mostly a labor of love in terms of time put in versus money earned.

“A tip toe through the tulips for me. I came to your blog via ShrinkWrapped back when you, Dr. Sanity, SW, and SC&A were doing your weekly get together that was broadcast by (I think) PJM.”

That was the Sanity Squad on Blog Talk Radio. Bob from One Cosmos also sat in a few times, though he was never a regular. I’m not sure if Pajama Media even existed yet.

Bloggers routinely complain that their blogs don’t make any money, but they refuse to take the steps to actually make money. Having money is cool but making money is gauche. It’s a strange attitude that is not at all restricted to the Left. You can’t be snotty towards advertising and expect to make money from advertisers.

You are in New England. Have you ever considered being an advertising affiliate of Vermont Teddy Bear or L L Bean? You play music videos on the blog. Is it gauche to sell the song from Amazon, or is it a curtesy to the artist for using their music?

Bloggers will put an awful lot of effort into their posts, but they aren’t comfortable putting that sort of effort into the advertising. Too much advertising could certainly make a mess and alienate readers, but you can’t be this passive and expect to prosper.

I appreciate Neo’s endurance.

As other s have stated, the comments add to the entertainment.

I found Mac’s comment about Facebook taking away blog commenters to be interesting. I hadn’t thought of that.

I read in some tech venue recently that blogging in general has declined somewhat. My own very small-time blog, which I started in 2006, has fewer regular readers now than a couple of years ago, and I’m pretty sure Facebook is a significant contributor to the decline. Some of the people who used to get involved in lively discussions on my blog, but no longer do, are very active on Fb.

Hip hip hurray.
Hip hip hurray.
Hip hip hurray.

Love ya.

“Michelle had her claws out to get Ann, but it quickly backfired and Barack was livid when he heard she had secretly directed the attack,” said the source.

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/revealed-michelle-obama-masterminded-ann-romney-mom-smear

and

http://www.bookwormroom.com/2012/04/23/i-have-a-very-small-quibble-with-thomas-lifson/