**warning, no knitting or spinning content in this post**
Those of you who actually know me know I'm in the throes of trying to plan my way out of a corporate career and have been for quite some time. Unsuccessfully so far. I dream of the day that I can make a living doing things I actually enjoy - and it doesn't even have to be a big living - I live simply. I don't thinkI ask for too much. While I am fond of food, I don't gravitate towards expensive delicacies.
I've got ideas brewing. Some of my hand crafts are already up for sale (*sniff* sadly, with no takers). I try to price according to material cost and labor, but there's one of the kickers. I don't have wholesale sources for things like fiber for my spinning, or for those magnets either. I've got thoughts on shirts, notecards, calendars and the like - but I'm fussy when it comes to quality...which is one of the reasons that part is moving so slowly...And as far as labor goes, anyone who sells crafts should be valuing their time higher than minimum wage. It's skilled labor after all! But talk about minimum wage is something that will get me going on a completely different tangent so I'll stop while I'm ahead.
I'm all for earning an honest buck, and earning the buck by passive means is even better - which brings me to the crux of this post. This blog does not see nearly the visitation of one of my domains. The domain in question does not earn any money, and is a labor of love. Yeah, we plan on doing something with the content eventually, publishing in various formats come to mind (but that also is a completely different discussion). So far, the domain has remained ad free. But recently, because of its high traffic, we've been approached by companies looking for adspace...not to mention the possibility of putting up other ads - adsense is the first that comes to mind. While the money brought in by advertising will help defray costs, and may actually bring in a very very tiny income, the internal struggle remains, and results in turmoil. I don't like being bombarded by ads. I think the United States culture is ridiculously wasteful and consumptive...but at the same time it could put me a few cents closer to my dream...so tempting, yet repugnant at the same time. See the dilemma?
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1 comment:
Ok...I think I know what you are refering to with the sites.... My two cents: putting ads on a site it a tough call... they are annoying, ulgy and who really pays attention to them...
So you can charge for content - but this world tends to think that if it's on the internet it should be free - so that might not work.
So if it's a choice between the two - I'd say put the ad there... just make sure that YOU control the design of the site and where they go - and you can make it tasteful and fun to still read your site content.
AND I think you should publish it as well! I'd love to see it in print!
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