More and more people trying to earn money online using their blogs. Its a fact that doesn’t seem to be dying out as fads do. I’ve read time and time again bloggers saying that blogs that succumb to the lure of money is a “blog gone bad” or that its the “death of the blogosphere”.
People refer to writing paid posts as “going over to the Dark Side” and they complain about blogs having advertisements.
Why?
Why this introspective post? Because I don’t like it when people say one thing and do another. People say that blogs “gone bad” are proliferating the “blogosphere” and that writing paid posts are “going over to the Dark Side”. Then, 3 months down the road, you see that they too have succumbed. A week ago I would have thumbed my nose at them and said “Eat my shorts!” ala Bart Simpson. But this week I won’t because I’m trying not to be a devil. :)Â
They may start with the little oh-so-innocent advertisement. Then, they may may say oh, a little Adsense wouldn’t hurt. A month later, they do their first Payperpost paid post, but “Its only the odd one”. Another month down the road, and they are no different from the people they criticised just over 4 months ago!
So, don’t say it, if you aren’t ready to live it. Don’t tell others off and piss everyone off and then hope everyone forgets your rant 3 months down the road when you too succumb to “the Dark Side”.
Me? I say, blogging for money isn’t a bad thing. In fact, its a good thing. Who else will pay you to exercise your writing skills? Well, unless you are a copywriter or something. It earns you a bit of pocket money on the side and it can be fun, if you enjoy writing, which I do and I also enjoy getting paid to write.
- You may earn enough to stop working, or to supplement your household income or your kids’ education - kudos to you!
- You may earn just enough to buy you that branded bag you’ve been coveting - kudos to you!
- You may earn just enough to buy a good meal in a fancy restaurant - kudos to you!
- You may earn enough to go on a little holiday - kudos to you!
Whatever you do, kudos to you! If you write well enough, whether for your sponsored posts or non sponsored posts, people will come by and they will read your blog and they will come back and read more of it.
Its true that some blogs are absolutely killed, nay, murdered by sponsored posts and advertisements. Others are killed for me because the writers keep telling us how much they are earning. What do you do? Skip them. Its a free world. You don’t have to read it if you don’t want to.
Ah but those who write sponsored posts aren’t angels too. I would happily draw and quarter and string from their toenails people who ping directories with their sponsored posts. Please, we know you are earning money from it. But the same way you don’t ping adsense ads, don’t ping your paid posts. You are only polluting the environment.
And this is something I will say and will stand by. 
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11 comments ↓
i recently signed up wif nuffnang. no particular reason. thot of trying it out. my blog is my personal space. i blog for myself, not so much for traffic/hits. altho i do notice dat many r turning to ads, then again it’s a personal choice. but i won’t plaster my blog wif ads, later my blog macam rojak XD so ugly summore, ads all over the place. haha!
PB says: Nuffnang ok lah… Buy Malaysian and all LOL… But true I guess as everyone says, balance is the key. Keep up your good work.
I think the trick is to keep a healthy balance between blogging and doing PPPs. And a little ad or two (tastefully done!) is alright too. There was this blog I once read that had 10 - 15 sponsored posts for each short personal blog entry - there wasn’t anything there to keep me interested in the writer and his / her writings.
But do, do, do tell me if my blog is going overboard with the making money bit, ya?
PB says: Yeah balance like yin and yang. And don’t worry about your blog. I know where to go to for the meaty posts
I have “selective reading” turned on in my brain too, LOL! skippity-doo-dah to those PPP, and I do enjoy the other more personal posts thoroughly. if it earns your keep, hey, go all out for PPP! buy me a teh tarik too, yea? *wink*
PB says: By all means I’ll buy you a teh tarik!
And selective reading is a good plugin lol!
I am standing neutral on this, because it matters not whether your blog is PPP or PPP-free. It’s what you write, and how you keep fansees interested. There are some fierce PPP blogs I still frequent because they are remain interesting, and there are PPP-free blogs which I have totally lost interest in.
PB says: Yes fully agree. However, its the people who say no to ads/ppp then later do it. I cannot stand that lah… and I guess I’m honoured you are still coming by
well i guess it’s pretty much a personal choice, and i can see you balanced it pretty well in your blog. there are many out there who condemn bloggers who earn money, but well why not?? i don’t see anything wrong with that, you’re earning xtra income for yourself. @-ooo
and yeah i’m like may, automatially skips off the PPP and get onto the personal posts. lol
PB says: Thanks. Its the people who condemn then go ahead and write PPP. Those I cannot stand.
of course la have to keep a balance…its just like watching tv with the ads mah…
PB says: LOL You said it! Sometimes on tv ads are longer than the actual show
I personally think that writing sponsored posts isn’t a bad thing. UNTIL you litter your blog with paid posts all over. And yeah, like you said, all of us DO have the choice to click the X button, and that’s what I’ve been doing a lot of recently.
In fact, I unsubscribed from a blog because the blogger writes as though (s)he’s got experience in everything under the sun!!
*s(he) is used to protect the blogger’s gender. LOL.
PB says: LOL Its true. I dare not even show my paid blog anymore LOL!
I absolutely agree with you PB! Where in the world would we get paid just for writing?! I try to maintain a healthy balance too…because I like to put myself in people’s shoes…
See? I still keep coming back for more and more on your blog, although it has paid posts…and it is because of interesting posts such as these!
PB says: Aww… thank you GT! *hugs* and I love that we get paid doing what we do best - writing!
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Getting paid can never be a bad thing. If a blogger has got a large fan-base, then better be careful with the extent of the ads lor. Otherwise, I say if people wanna give you $$$, why the hell not, man!!!
PB says: Yeah! Money is always a good thing eh?
I took full advantage of the recent PR3 and hentam the blog with paid posts like crazy, that’s coz i hv other agenda, i want to use the money to buy a domain and a hosting plan and plan not to write paid posts there. I did it. Not only that, also make enough to buy some classroom materials and to pay for a couple months of rental for the preschool premises.
The way I see it, writing paid posts is just a game, most of the below $10 posts are just for links (unless otherwise stated i.e. full review/critics) and they paid you for that.
Do I care that drive the readers away? I explained to them and asked them to bear with me till I moved to a blog without paid posts. But I think the new comers who just happened to drop in will be turned off by all this paid posts.
PB says: I did the same when I had my other blogs and I tell you, totally died from non traffic LOL. I just let them be my money spinners for now. Your regulars will understand and if new ones don’t, well they will when they too get bitten by the bug - good luck