I’ve been turning this question over in my head all morning. Generally speaking, I write because I have to. It’s just what I do. I’ve been writing for longer than I can remember. It’s just what I do.
The question is whether or not I want to try to make any money doing this. By moving my site to a host that permits advertising, selling ad space in my sidebars, and doing the occasional sponsored post. There is no harm in it, I know. Extra money is always a good thing, I know. But as someone who actually pays NOT to have advertising on her site, listens to The Age of Pursuasion, has read Noam Chomsky, and who worked for nine years in an ad-based publishing firm….
I’m just not sure it’s what I want.
I actually buy relatively few products. I happen to believe that living simply is the answer to so many global problems, and that spending a little more to support an ethical company will pay big dividends later. So, there are severe limits on the types of advertising I could accept, in good conscience. Or the sort of sponsored posts I could write, in good conscience. It’s not that I think blogging for money is a bad thing. It’s not! But I can’t write you all a post from my heart about how much I value the planet and the people living on it, alongside a banner advert for disposable training pants.
Of course, extra money is always a good thing….
A long time ago, I felt like I was selling my soul to pay the bills. For a long time after the bills were paid, I justified that feeling every day against other people’s less ethical behaviour. Because, you know, as long as I was selling my soul for a lower price I was somehow virtuous. Like a martyr who wore $150 leather boots and dined out four nights a week.
I don’t want to be that person, ever again.
(I know. I have issues.)
Anyway, it comes down to whether I want to move my site over to a self-hosted platform . At this point, I’m thinking I’d rather spend the time getting my front-yard garden boxes built and maybe washing some windows….
What do you all think?
I’m no help here: if I had any monetary sense, I might actually have had some money as a result. But let’s be real . . . I got my degrees in art and education, both famously Big Moneymakers, and then married a musician/educator on top of it. ‘Nuff said. I know you’ll figure out what’s best in your situation, as you do! I say, what suits you for now might be different from what you would once have chosen, and far different from what the future may bring–and that’s all quite okay. Very little is un-changeable or truly static. And nobody I know rolls with life’s weird quirky punches better than you do, Desi. I’ll shut up now and let someone more money-wise than me chime in here! ;)
Mmmm. I do forget that decisions can be revisited, revised or reverted later. Really, I do! And I’m sort of allergic to money, in that I prefer exactly the same Big Moneymakers you’ve chosen, and married a man who works for a non-profit university…. My simple life is good, beyond good. Maybe I just need to wait for a better opportunity or just a better fit :-)
If you want to write for money and you advertise on your blog be sure to consult a lawyer and protect yourself by copyright. Go for it, Desi. You definitely have the talent to be a successful writer…
Wow, Lindy Lee. What a compliment! I’ve got bits and pieces of stories rolling around in my head…. Maybe it’s time to do something with them. *panic* *PANIC* Thank you so much for making me feel like this is such a safe and welcoming place to share. I really, really appreciate it!
If it doesn’t feel right – don’t do it. A little extra money won’t even come close to the therapists bill over past regrets.
*fist bump* Good advice well said, t. I’ve got enough baggage!
This is tough girl. I want to make a living writing, but I want my short stories to speak for themselvse, I want my novel to have readers and to sell, not because of anything extra, but on its own merit. At this point, given an opportunity to make money on my blog, I’d be hard pressed to decline, but I would also have to have one hundred percent control over the content, advertising yoga mats I acutally use, coffee I really drink. Good luck to you on this decision, whatever you do will be correct, steeped in wisdom.
You’ve nailed it. If I’m selling a story, I want it to be my story, not supported or supplemented by product placement or advertising. I have no beef with either of those things, it’s just not my thing, if that makes any sense. Wisdom and money are in short supply around here, these days. Time to get back on the mat!
I don’t have an answer to your question. Right now, a lot of people I know are thinking about their specialty or expanded talents to replace income should they lose their job. It’s obvious from your writing, you definitely could parlay it into income in various fields. Best of luck and success whatever you decide.
Thanks, TexasJune :-) Extra income would be so valuable around here, right now. I would love so much if my writing could help with that. I’m about 95% convinced that blogging isn’t the way for me to do it, though. I don’t think I have enough free time to really make it work. Thank you so much for your kind words. You gave me such a smile!
Hi Desi, sorry I haven’t been around much lately. To monetize or not to monetize, that is the question.
I actually started my blog over at blogger.com, where you can have a free blog and sign up for AdSense and begin to monetize the blog. They do allow you to pick to some extent, the items you want to advertise… it was a long drawn out process and as you know, I decided to go with WordPress instead. If your fan base is large enough, it’s worth a shot. Mine wasn’t :)
Don’t be sorry! I haven’t been around much, either. I started my blog over at Blogger, too, but never did sign of for AdSense. I liked the idea of earning a bit extra, but did not like how little control they gave bloggers over ad content. There was some, for sure, but as you said it’s a lengthy process and I’ve never been one of those 100 000 hits a day sort of blogger. I like WP’s platform better. I guess as long as WordAds doesn’t want me to advertise for anyone I would consider unethical, it’s worth a shot.
I’m trying out WordAds on WordPress. Best of both worlds…don’t have to go self-hosted and I *may* get a dollar or two from it, and I can turn it off anytime, for any reason. I am in my own trial period with it. Have you considered this option? It’s the most easily reversible.
I applied to WordAds after reading your comment. It doesn’t hurt to try, rght? I hope it goes well for you!
I also am wondering the same thing. My cows need hay for the winter.. c
I need to support my education habit, and my children keep growing out of their clothes…. There has to be some kind of middle ground between living simply and living well, right? Maybe it’s time to pack up and move to Cuba.
I just came back from a culture where people do things outside there jobs for the love of it. For the shear joy of it -be it writing, music, gardening, sports or simply enjoying a vigorous consversation with a group of friends and neighbours. For the most part, perhaps to outsider eyes, life is a constant battle. To our standards, they have little. Yet they always smile, always greet friends with a handshake (man to man) or a kiss on the cheek (man to women or women to women). Many have minds that are far more exposed to literature and the arts in general than I could ever dream to attain. They will do what they have to do to survive and provide. They have for lack of better word, ‘heart’. That place is Cuba. So, if you want my opinion to your question follow your heart. Seems like that is what you have done all along.
I haven’t been to Cuba, but it is like that in parts of Jamaica, too. They work to support their creating habit, and that habit fuels their joy, and yet everyone is very, very poor – by our standards. I like my simple life. I like writing for the fun of it. And while I wish that the fun of it could also be my living, a couple of sidebar ads isn’t going to make that happen. My heart knows that, it’s true. Thanks for reminding me to listen, Hudson.
One thing that blew me away in Jamaica, I think more so than any other culture that I have known, is there unmeasured love of children and how they will do anything to protect them.
It’s amazing, I know. My husband’s family is Jamaican, and while many cultures will claim there is nothing more precious to them than their children, Jamaican families live it. It’s beautiful to see.
I agree with Megan. What, exactyly, WOULD you want to sell if you were writing for money? Ideas? Artistic grace? Would these not better be sold in a book or magazine article or newspaper column? Or do you want to do your blogs and then collect them in a book? Would you have to modify the content of your blog if you were to “monetize” it?
I would love the opportunity to sell ideas or artistry in print, and I agree with you absolutely that a book or a magazine article are a more appropriate venue. I don’t want to turn my blog into a book for the public, though since it’s basically the story of my life as a mother I do intend to have it printed for my kids to keep. I don’t think I would have to modify the content of my blog (unless I were writing a sponsored post, of course)…. Money is nice. Money is welcome, especially now that my kids are getting bigger, getting into sports, and overseas family vacations are getting to be a reality for us. I’m just not sure this is the way I want to earn it.
I’m not any help with this. Wondering the same thing about my own blog– good grief. Yes, I think I’ll plant some flowers. Good luck with your decision. You know we’ll still be reading, whatever you decide!
((hugs)) Thanks, Melanie! It snowed right after I finished this post (a sign?) so no flower planting for me =D Monetizing is really, really tempting…. I’m just not sure it’s for me. Maybe there will be better planting weather, tomorrow :P
Dammit. I wrote this long answer and the internets ate it. Short version: Forget the money for a sec and answer this question: do you see your blog as a business or a hobby?
Oh, my blog is definitely a hobby. I don’t see it as a business, at all. I enjoy writing, and I enjoy the community, full stop. But graduate education isn’t cheap, and so the prospect of making a few extra coins gets more tempting all the time, you know? Maybe I should self-publish some fiction and sell that, instead….