This Time It’s Personal

Makin’ a buck at this thing, Issue #1

Posted by Jerry
January 4, 2007

You may or may not know that I’ve been trying out a few new methods for generating revenue on my cooking blog. Let me spell out what I’ve got going on over there and point out the benefits and drawbacks I’ve seen at this point.

(note, please excuse the less than perfect grammar on this. I’m in a hurry, and I’m sure that the writing will reflect that.)

First there’s AdSense: Most bloggers find this on their site sooner or later. It hasn’t really generated much for me, but then it may be because of placement. I’m going to test this theory later and report back, since I’m diametrically opposed to putting it where they want me to on a food blog.

The next thing I stumbled onto was blogsvertise. (Just add a .com, people, I’m not advertising right now, I’m giving you my experiences.) I was accepted pretty quickly. They then require that you post an article about them on your blog, which I did.

That article is then reviewed and either accepted or rejected. Mine was accepted, with an email telling me that they would send me another email shortly with a list of assignments for me to write about.

That list has not materialized yet… So I’ll have to get back to you on this. I am a little miffed that I haven’t heard anything, but it’s only been about 4 days. I’m not getting disgruntled yet.

Next, I tried out PayPerPost, was accepted, and have already made an approved $10.00, with $12.00 still awaiting approval.

For three reviews… In three 20 minute sessions… On a food blog, where I find I have to pass on most of the offers, because I can’t find a way to fit them in.

Not friggin’ Bad!

The jury is still out, especially for foodies. They do have the occasional food related topic, but it’s not necessarily available to everyone, since PPP lists available opportunities based on Google rank. You may not make a mint, but paying hosting fees is definitely a valid conclusion!

Then we’re off to Bloggerwave. So far, the only opportunity I’ve seen from them is to advertise bloggerwave… It may be because I haven’t done so that I’m not seeing more, or it may be because the company is too new to have any other offers, I’m just not sure. I’m planning on posting the review of their stuff later today, once I find the TOS I printed out and verify some things. I’ll let you know.

Lastly we move on to a well established force in blog monetizing, ReviewMe. They’ve just opened up a bid for review program for products and advertisers as well. So far I haven’t seen anything useful, but that’s sure to change and I’ll be watching.

The thing that irks me is that apparently advertisers haven’t fully realized the power of the food blogging community yet, so there aren’t as many options for a food blogger that wants to stay true to the food calling.

Oh, I try to make sure that I slip the reviews in as subtly as possible. I only pick stuff that really does seem interesting to me, but in the end, because it is all about the food, I’m forced to pass on more opportunities than not.

I’m working on getting a few other blogs up to snuff… This being one of them ;)

Peace Y’All, I’m out for now.