Welcome, Chitika!

Yesterday I temporarily locked viewers out of this site so that I could experiment with advertising. There was no way I would allow a repeat of my first monetization attempt, but even without Amazon Associates and Google Adsense, surely I could find something that worked!

Yesterday I tried Bidvertiser first. It says it does targeted advertising, and even though it was a disaster last time there must be a way to adjust the settings and limit the kind of ads shown! I searched through the site and double-checked all of the ad options to make sure that everything was just right, and then I applied it. It didn't last long! As soon as the first pornographic ad popped up on the side, I realized my mistake and was relieved that I had locked the site from views for that experiment. Nope, Bidvertiser won't do the job for me.

After that I started scanning the web for Adsense alternatives. Even though Bidvertiser seems to be the next biggest, there had to be something less dangerous. And I think I might have found something. I say think because I've only had it for a day and can't speak for its success. Chitika is considered one of the closest things to Adsense there is. I was incredibly relieved when I not only had to specify the nature of my site for ad sifting (which Bidvertiser already did) but also had the option to select what kinds of ads I wanted and what kind I didn't want. Text, image, or both? How flashy was I ok with? And, most importantly, what keywords did I not want in certain ads?

The results are dry. The ads don't perfectly match up to the site, though every now and then something interesting pops up. But so far, Chitika has proven itself to be reliable and honest, and I hope it will continue to be so in the future. I also hope I get more specialized ads than a list of related keywords. But hey, it's a start. Now I just need to wait and see the long-term results and effects. Hopefully they'll be positive!

Eww... It's An Ad!

I tried to reactivate my Google Adsense Account and had mixed success. Yes, they will let me set up a new account so I can use it, but no I can't use it here because I have links to PTC's. I also can't use it on my Wealthy Affiliate site because it's on a sub-domain. Ugh. Fortunately, I might use it for another blog in the future. I've also applied for a Yahoo Adsense-like thing, but it will be a couple weeks before they get back to me.

On top of that, my Amazon Affiliate account has been locked because apparently the State of Maine (where I recently moved to) doesn't like it and won't allow it. Yeah....

In the mean time, I hesitantly decided to see if I could maybe to Bidvertiser again. Mind, I still stand by what I said earlier about only advertising things that I approve of and respect--and Bidvertiser is very questionable. So I'm sticking with a little column by the side that so far hasn't advertised anything too suspicious, and I sent in a request to use only text ads instead of graphics, since in my experience text ads are both more pleasant to look at and have better things to advertise.

I do care about this site and want it to succeed, and fortunately I have been getting traffic that I could only have dreamed about a year ago. Hopefully these little adventures and mishaps of mine are amusing, if not educational, to everyone reading this! And I will be keeping an eye on that ad to make sure it doesn't get too out of line. The memories from my previous attempt still hurt my mind when I think about them!

Wealthy Affiliate: The Good, The Bad, and The Unfair

First, an update: looks like blogging take #3 isn't going to happen. Ugh. Maybe I should try PPC ads again?

I was messing around the other day and came across a program called "Wealthy Affiliate." It wasn't like other affiliate programs--instead of just trying to sell the same site you just joined, WA equips people to start their own home business based on anything they like. And a starter account is free.

How could I resist? I looked around the site and joined up, and in the next couple days had watched all ten of the starter videos. They were very well done. WA is built around a strong community atmosphere, and you can work alongside other people in your same position as you get step-by-step help setting up your own Wordpress website. I was loving it... and then the free lessons ended. They had covered basic setup of the website and everything was all set to happen, but then what? There were no instructions on where to go from there, other than to sign up for a premium account to learn just how to publicize your site and how to profit from it. Basically, you're just left with an empty shell of a website with an "about me" and a "privacy policy" page, with no traffic, no domain, and no profits. Ugh... foiled again.

I'm trying to patch it up and get it set up to actually make a profit, but it's hard without everything they had implied they would provide as needed. I can scope out the WA site to find conversations, but I can't ask questions without a premium account and I can't access any new "classrooms" to learn about a topic.

Yep, I feel pretty cheated. Google Adwords won't even accept the new site because it's using a subdomain, and I'm really reluctant to go back to Bidvertiser after what happened last time.

So for now I'm going to skulk back to paid surveys and article writing and keep my eyes peeled for something that could actually help. I'll keep you posted as to my results!

Make Money Blogging: Attempt #3

Yeah, I just can't seem to leave this idea alone. Making money with my own blog would be totally awesome. My latest gig is freelance article writing, and before that website owning and list building. You'd think I would have stopped once I realized I could make money with surveys, but I just don't like how uncontrollable they are. It's completely unpredictable whether I'll get long or short surveys or whether I'll qualify. Sure, I could spend all day at it and count on making at least some money... but writing is what I love. I want to be able to write an article and know people will read it and like it and know that I'll earn something from it.

Here's a summary of my monetary blogging attempts:

1. Last May. That's how this got started. I read a handbook that guaranteed that I would be making money blogging within thirty days, so I followed it as closely as possible. I got tons of views, kicked out of a Reddit section for "blog-spamming"--which I totally didn't intend!--and really turned off some people with some Bidvertiser ads that were way out of hand. And guess what? I actually did make money by the end of it. It just wasn't coming from the blog. It was coming from things I had decided on while writing the blog, often ideas and inspirations that I decided to explore. So I left the blog and happily settled down with Survey Money Machine.

2. Sometime last summer or so. I heard about companies that pay you to review products on your blog. I do lots of reviewing here, so I thought it sounded like a good deal. I signed up with a bunch of companies... and none got back to me.

3. A repeat of #2, but hopefully with a better outcome? Also maybe some more of #1's experimentation (sorry if some of it backfires!)

So here's a code I need to verify myself to one site:
2fa89d3910ca979a67a82f9cb4be76f28c2d34b72b5f264fe6

I'll be back soon... maybe...

Day 4.1: What I've Learned about Monetization

If you've been following this blog for several days, you have probably noticed how I keep changing the ad/monetization format. When I started, I thought it was simple: I'd go with Google Adsense. But I also decided that I should take a look at the alternatives, especially since the process of becoming monetized through Adsense can take a while. After scourging the Internet, I found a site called BidVertiser. The premise of BidVertiser is intended to be a win-win. Other companies bid to put their ad on your site. You get the money both from the bidding and from clicks. It's a free and easy service, so I decided to go for it.

Two things I've learned about monetization is this:

1. If visitors are annoyed, they won't click your ads.
2. If I'm annoyed at my own site, it won't stand a chance against visitors.

Off the bat I was suddenly bombarded with pop-ups and flashing ads and everything that I hate: most of all, ads for the very scams that I've already warned against. I was not happy, and of course, didn't make a cent. These ads were in direct opposition to what I'm saying, and there's no way that it could work.

Today, I'm trying a new approach: only advertising for things I personally use and recommend. Amazon's been there from the start, a fabulous way to buy anything online at a good price. I've had those widgets there this whole time and am going to keep them because it really is that awesome and I want you to see what I recommend.

The other ads? Clixsense is a site that I joined recently, the best PTC site that I've found so far. I haven't  made much from it, but in addition to viewing ads you can play games and enjoy yourself. Even if you didn't make money it would be a fun site, so I decided to support it. I also left one more of the Bidvertiser ads running, just in case. But one thing I do not want to do is to force things on visitors that I myself won't support. I want to help you avoid scams, not lead you to them.

That being said, if I support something that turns out to be a scam, I'll be getting scammed first. I am sorry if the old ads annoyed you as much as they annoyed me, and hopefully you're still willing to give me a chance!