I’ve noticed that some folks around the blogosphere have added ads to their pages. I need a little help deciding whether or not to take the advertisement plunge. Lets weigh out some pros and cons, shall we?
The Look. Okay yikes yikes yikes. Advertisements are so fugs. I like the fact that my blog is streamlined–you come for Lily in Canada, and that’s what you get! I hate when I click on a blog and it’s covered in ads. BUT I heard that you can choose the placement, so maybe I could hide them. But then I guess you wouldn’t want to hide them because you need people to click on them. So I’m at a bit of a standstill here.
The Embarrassment Level. What if one of my ads is for penis enlargements or some kind of mail order bride thing? I don’t want my viewers looking at such distasteful things. Plus it might remind my mom of Las Vegas and that would cause her to burst into tears. So like, I can’t really risk that, can I?
The $$$. Cash money baby. I’m totes in favor of making a little extra spending money. Especially since I don’t have a job. I’ve heard different things from different people though. I’ve heard that the amount is really insignificant. But from others I’ve heard that you can make anywhere from $30-$100 a week! And I would be super pleased with that.
So what’s the dealio? How do we feel about them? Yea or nay? Share your stories and experiences with me. I need to know the deets!
Final Note: I originally spelled it “yay or nay” because I’m mildly retarded.
Lily In Canada 
As long as they don’t get in the way, go for it.
I’m not sure if you can have adverts on these free blogs, though. I think you might need to go down the self-hosting route, which means buying your own domain, and then finding a server host.
I agree with Michael. I’ve thought about ads for my blog too and I decided against them bc the investment of self-hosting beats out the money you’d make from clicks on the ads.
If you want to make some cash on the side though, I’d look into self-publishing an ebook. My husband did this recently with some of his most popular work from his poetry blog and he was pleased with how well it did. He’s now working on his second collection which he’s going to publish thru blurb.com.
Emily: That’s crazy about his ebook! I wish I could write that much! I think I’m too lazy for that though! Haha Good for your husband! I think you’re write about the money canceling out though. Good point!
You really don’t have to write a long book; his was only like 20 pages long. You could take some of your posts and just expound on them in an ebook. It wouldn’t take too much work! I really want you to write a book because I love your writing and I would want to read it! 😉
Aww that’s so kind! Maybe I will do it just because you gave me such a nice compliment! Haha compliments go a long way with me! 😉 I didn’t realize it could be so short! That’s great! I’ll start thinking of ideas!
You can have WordAds, I see people asking about it every day on the support forums.
Yeah I think you’re right. That sounds like too much work for me though. Haha I can barely get around to checking out other blogs right now. haha
First off, how do you even get these ads? I need to know once I decide to sell my soul.
I’m still not sure the decimal point was placed correctly on how much these people are earning from ads. I don’t doubt it’s possible to make that much money. It seems very high for a blog though. I have no problem with someone putting up ads even though it is annoying. Remember if you do to place them where people will accidentally click them. I think that’s where you get the money from, each time a person clicks. It’s a lot harder to sabotage the system than you would think. Believe me, I tried it during “get rich quick scheme #37” back in 2008.
It’s not yay? People need to learn to speak more clearly.
Hahah I know! I don’t even know how to get them, I guess I’m just asking questions and hoping that everyone reveals all the answers to me.
It does seem like a lot of money for one week. Wouldn’t everyone be using them then? I’m guessing your schemes didn’t work out? Why is getting rich quick, the ultimate dream? Like, it’s the best thing ever and yet none of us can figure out how to do it.
I’ve been eating 98 cent bags of peanuts for lunch the last month. My get rich quick schemes need work.
I’m not even sure if it’s the money we like so much. I would be more happy with people thinking I was really rich. I’m going to buy one really nice suit and carry around a half eaten can of caviar from now on. The illusion will bring me joy.
I checked into Word Ads and 6 months later they got back to me telling me to set it up. I have yet to see how I’m profiting, so I’ll keep you posted. I figured, what’s the harm? I see (and ignore) them on my gossip sites, so it’s like I’m “working” or something.
Haha you were the one person who I really wanted to respond because I know that you have them! I honestly think I would get used to them if they were on my blog, but I just don’t know if it’s worth it if I’m not makin anything! Defs keep me posted girl!
Every wordpress blog will have adverts at some time, you need to sign out to see them, but they only remain for a week or so and not be back for a couple of months.
You could upgrade and choose not to have adverts.
All averts are tasteful, if you see one you don’t like click report and it could be removed.
Its not worth you while Lily because you will never make money out of it.
Oh yeah? I didn’t know that! Okay, I will trust your advice Harry. It seemed like such an easy way to make money!
I totally thought it was “yay or nay.” haha!! Guess not! Ummm I think if you can make some cash doing that, why not?! I for one don’t mind seeing ads on blogs unless they’re like everywhere, taking over the page.
Haha yeah! Why isn’t it yay or nay? Yeah, that was my inital feeling, but everyone seems to say that I wouldn’t end up making that much anyway 😦
There’s something called WordAds where people can apply to have these on their blog and when they get clicked you get some sort of commission, although for it to make any real money you’d need to be getting a high amount of traffic, like 10,000 views a month or something.
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/wordads/
http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/can-i-earn-money-through-wpcpm?replies=14
Plus you’d also need to purchase a domain name, like lilyincanada.com or something. It could take months before you even reach $100 which is the minimum payout and that’s assuming people are clicking on your ads.
Could be worth it but it could turn people off of your blog because if there’s one thing people hate, it’s ads. I don’t know whether it’s worth it or not, I know it wouldn’t be worth it for my blog because it’s not big enough/
Also our blogs already have adverts on some of the pages, we just can’t see them on our own blogs unless we log out, we can purchase a no-ad upgrade but pfff, I ain’t spending anything!
Yeah I don’t feel like paying for ANYTHING. Ugghhh I just need someone to help me figure everything out! I mean, what you gave me is helpful, but it takes me forever to figure things out. I wish I had a pc guy or a slave or something to do everything for me. Hahah. I guess the amount of money isn’t worth the paying for a domain name, right?
A domain is around $15 a year? I’m not entirely sure, then of course it can take months for you to make anything. Although you have a lot of traffic so you might benefit from it? But it’s only if people are clicking on your adverts (and you can’t click on your own) and who in the hell clicks on adverts amirite?
YOU ARE SO RITE. I can’t afford 15 dollas a year. Cause I’m cheap. I didn’t used to be cheap. But then I grew up and got married and now I’m cheap. 😦
It happens to the best of us. 😦
Ehhh… Well, if you can make money out of it, sell your soul! Or something. I seriously don’t know. I’m sorry. It’s all too confusing for me. Brain explosion in 3, 2, 1-
I know it’s confusing me too…I would love to sell my soul, but I guess it’s not worth it?
If the money is enough, heck yeah, sell your soul! I would. But, then, I’d sell my soul for a bowl of Ben and Jerry’s, so, I’m not the one to ask.
Yeah samezies. Apparently the money isn’t that much so maybe I will hold off a bit.
Lily as Pete said, everyone knows never click an avert 🙂