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Affiliates vs Adsense. and a confession.

Which is better? This month it looks like money made from affiliates will surpass money made from Adsense for this particular blog. I started tracking profit this month just out of curiosity. I am not really an advertiser, but I'm interested in marketing and the psychology of advertising. If you are focused on making the most profit from your site, then you are doomed to fail, I feel that money should not be your ultimate motivation. I feel like a hypocrite because I've become focused on the bottom line from time to time. The joy of activity is the best motivation in my experience, when it starts to be about just making money then the passion wains, greed grows, and the real creativity is swallowed by meritocracy. I have wavered between writing for fun and just posting for financial gain. When you accept assignments for cash then you are hiring out your writing ability to help someone else. My wife says that I'm "pimping myself out to the computer". I got so caught up in making a little cash that I lost the true enjoyment of writing. If you want to something special, always look to create value first, don't worry about profiting. If you have something of value that is useful to others the profit will come. It is easy to get caught up in statistics and rankings and popularity, but somethings recognition can hurt you more than it helps. My original goal with this site was to chronicle my path to 1 million (which is selfish and greedy, and useless) and share the knowledge I learned along the way with others that have a similar goal. I am consumed by this imaginary internet world sometimes and find myself obsessively checking stats and comments. I go to get back to my roots and focus on providing quality for the readers that subscribe and get them the info they need to help their own financial situations. I want this site to have an overall positive effect on those who read it and participate in discussions. If I become a millionaire by selling other peoples' products, I will become something that I despise. The most important things in life are God, family and friends. Everything else is just baggage which we can't take will us when we die. Other than making life less stressful and more comfortable having money is not that great. In fact many of the poorest people I know are perfectly happy, while those who are much better off find themselves unsatisfied and empty. I digress.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:40 AM

    Very very nice post! I too agree that the most important thing is to create value. Sometimes it's easy to get caught up in the money and that can lead to disaster.

    I read one of your old posts and saw that you were thinking about shutting down the site. Don't do it! I check your blog out all the time and I've found quite a bit of inspiration in what you write.

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  2. Thanks a lot, it's nice to know someone is reading.

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  3. Anonymous7:10 PM

    Correction..some people...

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  4. I have added you to my AGLOCO list:
    http://makemoneyonblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/agloco-list.html

    Please continue the list!

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  5. Anonymous11:47 PM

    I want to make money on my blog, but, you're right, I don't want to "pimp myself out to the computer" either. It just isn't fun anymore when it feels like a job.

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  6. That's what I'm talking about Debt Hater. It's nice to get the extra income but sometimes I have to ask myself am I writing for me or for "them"

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  7. I feel these companies always get the better deal. The can afford to shell out a few dollars here and there to readers/bloggers but in the end they always benefit the most.

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  8. true the big guys always squash the little guys

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