I am going to attempt to monetize this blog.

[waits for the angry and disappointed to unsubscribe]

Why am I taking this step?

1. To fund various social media activities, including the blog itself. That includes better hosting, domain registration, potential graphic design/blog template changes, books, courses, etc.
2. In relation to 1, I’d like to start attending some related conferences and events (hell, any decent conference, but it would be cool to go to Blog World Expo or Gnomedex someday!). That’s kind of difficult for me to do at present and it just doesn’t fit into my day job. At all.
3. Other blog marketing/promotional stuff that I’ve been thinking about.
4. Reserving the right for other ideas that I haven’t thought of or haven’t described yet. I’m going to give myself some flexibility here.

There are some principles that I’m going to follow when monetizing:

1. Any form of monetization cannot ruin the performance of this blog in your Web browser/RSS reader/E-Mail, e.g. loading times.
2. If a monetization idea is unreasonably annoying or obtrusive, it’s not going to happen. If I catch that before it goes live, it won’t happen. If I discover these problems after it goes live, then it’s going away.
3. Any monetization projects will be done in good taste and will remain consistent to the ideals behind this blog and that I personally hold.

One thing that I’m definitely going to do is start using Tip Jar, Buy Me a Beer, or some other similar Wordpress plug in. No one should EVER feel obligated to donate, though. The option is there if people want to use it. End of story.

I will experiment with other things.

If this approach bothers you, then I’m sorry if it does. However, it’s still going to happen, so hopefully that won’t detract too much from your enjoyment of this blog.

For everyone who continues to stick around – thank YOU. I vow to continue to provide you with interesting, entertaining, and useful content.

Anyway, I just thought it would be fair to let know know that it was coming.

Also, here’s a list of blog ideas – maybe they’ll help you out.

Other posts that you might enjoy reading:

• The secret origin of blogging that no one discusses
• NASCAR drivers – the model for blog monetization