Some Explanations
I’ve been thinking about a couple of things for awhile now and I feel like I should share with you some of the reasons why I am doing things the way I am.
First, the switch to Flickr from the galleries, that will be taking place bit by bit over the next few weeks or months. One of my main motivations for signing up with Google Analytics was to see what kind of traffic was being generated by the photo gallery and other non-blog areas of the site. I use StatCounter on the blog, and didn’t want to add that to all the other pages and skew those numbers, and I really wanted to see what Google Analytics had to offer.
I learned that the galleries, themselves, really weren’t getting much attention, or traffic at all. In fact, I really wasn’t seeing much for all the work I was putting in to getting the photos on-line, and as much as I enjoy taking the pictures anyway, sharing them is part of the whole deal for me. So, I decided to make the upgrade to Pro on Flickr and get some more exposure simply by having them available on the service. I’m also looking forward to using some of their tools to really get a feel for what people like, what they’re commenting on, etc. So, keep an eye on the Flickr, you’ll be seeing batches of new photos every few days!
The other things I’ve been thinking about, because I really felt like Mark Cuban nailed the problem exactly last week when he wrote Blog Pimpin:
“It’s all about Big Pimpin for traffic baby. Welcome to trying to make a living in the Blog Game.”
That right there explains exactly how I feel about the idea of putting advertising on my blog. I simply don’t want to be that guy, the guy who’s constantly scouring TechMeme or Scoble’s sites to try and get noticed and get traffic. I want to write about what I want to write about. I want to talk about working in IT, about neat technology, about things I really like, and if you happen to find that interesting and come along for the ride, great. If what I write about doesn’t interest you, good luck finding a blog that does. Now, I’ll devote some time and energy to trying to get new readers, and have more of an audience to use as a resource. Like I said about the photos, sharing is part of the whole deal for me, but having money involved changes everything.
Putting ads up, or doing anything that changes that simple dynamic, just doesn’t interest me. It would change what I write and how I write. I’m honest enough with myself to know that. I would spend what precious little mental energy I have to spare concerned with getting traffic and getting click-through’s, etc. That’s not why I started this, and it doesn’t really interest me right now. It’s simply not a concern I want to add to my life.
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I agree, Mike. I didn’t start my blog with the intention of making money, I started it to write about what I want to write about, share ideas and learn from others.
I have tried google ads from time to time but it always makes me feel like I’m cheapening what I’m doing, plus the one time I left them on for long enough to see the effect, I earned nothing.
As you said, if people want to read my blog and it interests them, then great, if not, no big deal.
By the way, I like your blog and appreciate your insight, I’ve read for quite awhile, even back to your 1 man IT shop days.
It takes me a (long) while to get to the point where google gives me some money, but its enough to pay for my hosting. I don’t think about the advertising when writing content, and I’m grateful to the people who click on the links on the site but like you, I don’t want to rely on the adverts to fund the website and then have to worry about my click through rates.
Don’t blame you on the flickr account move although zooomr would have been cheaper (but without the added exposure though – they still have a long way to go with that and the usability)
Thanks Jim I’m glad you’ve found enough to stick around here. 🙂
Andy, I don’t know that I could have even the Google ads and not pay a little attention to what was coming in, and what sort of posts draw traffic and click-throughs and eventually it would start to creep into my writing decisions. Can’t help it, it’s my “tweaking” and analytical nature. Give me something statistical like that and I’ll want to tweak it! I thought about using Zoomr but I really like the community aspect surrounding Flickr right now, and the tools that are available right now. Plus they had the biggest advantage, inertia. I already had a free Flickr account and my wife already has a pro account. Moving to Zoomr would have meant even more work than this project is already going to be!