To Advertise on Your Blog or Not? That is the Question....

I have been around the blogging community for a bit of time now, and as you know, it keeps getting bigger and bigger. I am doing my best to keep giving out quality content for you all to read (I hope you agree). Although with better quality and consistent posts, I am spending more and more time on Alto's Goldish Advice.  If you are reading this as a fellow blogger, you know what I mean. For those that don't take care of a blog, let me explain:



Blogging is not easy, in fact, it's far from it. Each post I make takes quite a bit of time. From start to finish, I am usually just shy of two hours. The writing part isn't an issue, as that is fast (as you can see from other blogs, that is why they don't have the pics, the screenies, the links, etc). It's the extras. Taking screenshots, cutting them down, doing minor Picassa work, hitting up wowhead to link for easier access to more information on "X" item, keeping up with comments, etc. It all adds up, and I know you as my reader doesn't like when I just do a "basic" post. I feel your pain. I don't like to make posts like that as much as you don't like to read them.

Advertisements are something I love to hate. For one, they do generate money (love). In fact, when I am running ads from adsense, chickita, amazon, and a few others, I make $120ish a month, which is a decent amount (but I am not becoming a millionaire in RL from it, and never will).

What I hate about them is, well, seeing them. They have things that make zero sense to my readers (hate), they promote gold selling websites, they advertise for "gaming dating", and they even try to sell "real" gold, or, god forbid, you like something and click on it and get a virus (just happened a few weeks back to another blogger, just trying to help his readers with a deal- I am sure that it was unintentional, but just another reason to stay clear of ads IMO). However, they do add income, that's the reason why I have had them (and why other bloggers do too). But really I just hate looking at them, and I am sure you do as well.

What I am doing is starting up a "donation" tab, basically to keep ads from destroying your viewing pleasure, while still generating some income [for those that are kind enough to use it]. Now I know people are in all different kinds of financial digress with the economy in the shitter most everywhere, so I do not expect everyone to toss a few bucks my way, but even a buck or two helps to the bottom line (To near my current monthly "income" from my blog, it's about 4 bucks a day, so even a little bit covers quite a bit). If you happen to get alot of use out of a post, or if in the past you have made a killing from my advice, show some love and click on the donate button on the "sidebar" just below all the "socializing" circles.

Now before you say "That greedy bastard Alto is just in it for the money", I am not. I think you all know that by now. I enjoy helping people, and the money is a bonus for doing so. The income I gain from my site goes back into a few things, monthly internet fees, promoting my site elsewhere (to help on more info for you guys, by adding more comments on posts, which are becoming a bigger part of my posts each and every day), and a Monster Mean Bean every now and then. =)

Now I am not saying "you must donate to keep my blog going" or anything of that sorts. With ads, I generate around $120ish a month in revenue. I am not making a ton of money by any means. I am hoping with this tab for donations, I might be able to come near to that point without these ads all over the place. Make sense? I hope so.

I am going to try this for a bit and see how it goes, as I have a feeling there are folks out there that will donate. Once again, I am not asking for 100 bucks, 50, or even 20 (although if that's what you want, by all means, I am not saying no). I am asking to just toss a bit my way to help keep these damn ads off my site!

I do want to say thanks ahead of time for your support! Feel free to comment below, as I am interested in how you guys/gals feel about this new change to my site.