No, I am not soliciting monetary donations for this blog! The title for this post simply represents an appeal I'm seeing on more and more blogs and websites. I'm sure some of them are bona fide requests from folks facing serious financial constraints. I suppose there is nothing wrong with asking members of a community -- virtual or otherwise -- to share in the costs of the enterprise. Still...
...most people start a blog or website because they want to. Nobody forced them into it. In most cases, there isn't a clamoring public begging specific folks to share their self-proclaimed expertise on crocheting, how to change diapers, advice for the forlorn or philosophical Taoism.
In terms of this blog, you each drop by of your own accord. Neither Scott nor I are exposing any type of secret knowledge; the insights we share are as old as the hills (heck, probably older!). We each provide our own unique spin, but that's about the whole of it.
We aren't gurus, sages or even teachers. We promise no expertise in anything. We simply write what's banging around inside our noggins in the hopes that it might be somewhat similar to those ideas and notions banging around in your head.
If you feel a craving to make a donation to this blog, leave a comment. Spend some time pondering. Meditate. Take a walk. Give your dog a bath. Laugh hysterically for no apparent reason. See if you can fart and belch at the same time. Do something nice for a complete stranger. Breathe.
It all adds up over time.
...most people start a blog or website because they want to. Nobody forced them into it. In most cases, there isn't a clamoring public begging specific folks to share their self-proclaimed expertise on crocheting, how to change diapers, advice for the forlorn or philosophical Taoism.
In terms of this blog, you each drop by of your own accord. Neither Scott nor I are exposing any type of secret knowledge; the insights we share are as old as the hills (heck, probably older!). We each provide our own unique spin, but that's about the whole of it.
We aren't gurus, sages or even teachers. We promise no expertise in anything. We simply write what's banging around inside our noggins in the hopes that it might be somewhat similar to those ideas and notions banging around in your head.
If you feel a craving to make a donation to this blog, leave a comment. Spend some time pondering. Meditate. Take a walk. Give your dog a bath. Laugh hysterically for no apparent reason. See if you can fart and belch at the same time. Do something nice for a complete stranger. Breathe.
It all adds up over time.
I like your perspective!
ReplyDeleteI don't think there's anything wrong with making money from a blog. Posts asking for donations do seem a little odd, though. If one wants to make money from a blog I'd prefer that they offer something in exchange - an e-book, X amount of time of consulting, or some other product or service.
I'd prefer that people don't try to make money from blogs. Commercial motivations seem to creep into just about everything we do and along with them inevitable half-truths and deceptions as readers are transformed into another "demographic" or "market." Rather than make our everyday speech and discussions into yet another commodity, I'd much rather see us move toward the decommodification of most of our interactions.
ReplyDeleteGot to agree with those here before me. Unless you actually work for a media company that pays you to write content for them, blogging should be a labor of love; an act of passion. Got something you care about so much you can't contain it? Put it out there and share it!
ReplyDeleteI toyed briefly with Google ads and Amazon links on one of my earliest blogs, and soon lost all desire to maintain the site at all.
My hosted site costs me less than $5 a month, not counting my DSL account, and if times get really bad, I can always use the public library for access (until the congresscritters decide to pull the plug on libraries).
The only thing you'll find for sale on my blog these days are a few paintings I seriously doubt anyone would want in the first place, and that's only because someone close to me suggested I hang a dollar figure on them until I find a regular paycheck again.
Bloggin' is free, want to make $$$? Go play on ebay.
:-D
My husband thinks it is strange that I spend so much time writing without making money at it. I am rewarded when someone comments on a post and I see that someone is reading somewhere far away. And I would love to find an agent, but I will never monetize my blog.
ReplyDeleteBlogger and Google are making money from your blogs. Even without ads a blog is valuable to them even just as a statistic to further value their Blogger product.
ReplyDeleteAs a service Google and Blogger offer a host of information available on Blogs, something they make from and we give for free.
I'd blog for nothing, as it is though I carry ads and a donation button and offer a book (plus a few free ones). From those offerings I've made over $200 in the last year. Bugger all, under a dollar a day, but 200 more than nothing and money I always use to buy books which then go to inspire more posts.
You can play flute on the street because you enjoy playing flute. It does no harm to put your hat on the ground too :)