About one month ago I wrote about how this blog earns money and how I dropped the ads from my site. That sure sounded noble and I really thought I could drop the ads and not look back, but now I’ve changed my mind. By the way, I’m not just doing this because Trent went back and resumed his Google ads either. This had been on my mind for a while and I was actually working at adding them back to my site before his post went up (so yeah, he is copying me now). 
If you visited my site lately (rather than just reading in a feed reader) you may have noticed one little Google ad at the top of the right column. Yes, I guess I failed at the ‘no ads’ effort. Honestly, I still really want to go that route, but I hate that this blog costs me money. I don’t mind giving up my time to write for the site. Not only has my work here actually been helpful to at least a few people out there in the world, but it has been a huge benefit for me personally. I fully credit this blog with keeping me on track for almost six months now- both with my money and with my weight.
On the other hand, this is a blog about taking control of my money and getting out of debt. Spending over $300 a year to maintain the site is not getting me any closer to my goals. I would be perfectly happy just to break even and I think the simple Google ad spot will allow me to do that. I may still some day sell some ads on my own, but for now I don’t have the time and the Google solution is quick and easy.
I will be watching the Google ads very closely and blocking anything that I find objectionable. By all means, if you see an offensive (or just plain stupid) ad feel free to contact me and I will add it to the blocked list (send email to feedback at financeandfat dot com).
That being said, you can help this blog grow (if you think it is worth growing) by subscribing to my RSS feed and telling a friend to come by and visit. Also, you can help support me financially, though indirectly, by following this link to Amazon.com next time you go there to do some shopping - Just follow this link and I will earn a commission based on what you buy
I also take donations, but hey, I don’t want to beg - saying you don’t want to beg doesn’t count as begging right. If you happen to find yourself in a great financial situation or maybe you became debt free by reading the great material I have written then by all means toss a buck or two my way. You can rest assured that any money earned by this site will pay to maintain it first, and anything else will go straight to reducing my debt.
So there you have it, the story of a blogging hypocrite. Some day I will find a better way to monetize this site, but the Google ads will have to do for now. Please share your thoughts on my decision and let me know if you have any better ideas for making money on my blog.
February 5th, 2008 at 6:23 pm | Four Pillars said:
I think you should monetize the site - otherwise you are leaving money on the table.
As far as you or Trent or whoever being a hypocrite - all I can say is that bloggers who remove ads from their site because they are not appropriate are underestimating the intelligence of their readers.
I don’t care if you have payday loan ads or strip club ads or pretty much anything. TV shows have commercials, radio shows have commercials, magazines have commercials - even highways have commercials (billboards) - and blogs have ads.
Monetize away and don’t worry about the readers.
And why does it cost you $300/yr to run the site? You should be able to get hosting for about $10/month (that’s what I pay). Domain reg for $15 (or less). That covers my costs.
Mike
February 5th, 2008 at 6:25 pm | Mrs. Micah said:
I understand. And it’s a really tasteful ad. Trying to recoup site costs at least makes perfect sense. $300 year, though? That seems high.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:01 pm | Eden said:
@Mike - I think you make some really good points. I need to take a different approach than I have been. Thanks!
@Mrs. Micah - Yes, the costs aren’t cheap. I think I’ll write a post covering my blog expenses and income. Could be of interest to at least a few people. Thanks!
February 5th, 2008 at 10:25 pm | debtdieter said:
I have ads on my site, but haven’t been making any money off them really. I think you should do what you need to do to keep your site going, as I really enjoy reading it!
February 6th, 2008 at 7:20 am | Chuck said:
I would definitely be interested in seeing your blogs expenses in a post. $300 seems very high to me as well.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:10 am | Mr DebtBeater said:
I actually did this a few days ago myself. After a somewhat slow start (by my standards anyway) getting into a groove with my blog, I realize that six months into it I need it to at least break even on expenses for me or I really can’t justify running it.
Honestly, most people surfing the web are ad-blind anyway. I don’t even read adsense ads myself. I go straight for the content and the story on the site.
Besides, being a subscriber means that I don’t have to look at it anyhow.
I say don’t sweat it. A couple of inconspicuous ads aren’t going to hurt anything IMO.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:05 am | Early Retirement Extreme said:
For what it’s worth, I’m going to put ads on my site and I am not going to filter them for payday loans or other evil products such as American light beer that sometimes lead uninformed people down the wrong path. The only thing that I find annoying is when there are so many adds and banners to find out exactly where the content is. In other words I’m not big proponent of camouflaging the ads to get click-thrus.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:00 pm | Eden said:
Thanks all, you make some really good points. It certainly is fair to want to monetize our sites and as long as the ads aren’t obtrusive they won’t be noticed by the vast majority of readers anyway.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:45 pm | RacerX said:
There is a difference between a site that is a content first site and a MFA (Made for Adsense Site) this is first and foremost a content site…No one reasonable would have an issue with you being compensated for your time!
February 12th, 2008 at 12:40 pm | paidtwice said:
Yay for ads!
Honestly, when I moved from a free domain to a hosted domain, I put adsense up to defray the costs. And now I have quite a few more things, too. The blog more than breaks even and I use the revenue to reduce my debt. Which I think is a good goal for a debt-reduction blog - to get out of debt.
I am happy about ads, yours and mine.
February 29th, 2008 at 7:46 am | Marcel said:
Ever thought of offering Long Term Advertising to an exclusive advertiser ?
I recently found a long term advertiser for on of my websites who pays 400 a month.
Enough to find paid writers and keep the website/blog humming.