My Thoughts on...Funding Blogs
Monetizing on blogs is a great way to help earn money when you need it, and especially when you put money into your blog or into the readers of your blog. Recent times have even lead to renting space on blogs. But with that, comes an advertisement. Currently, I don't rent. Not saying I never will. But that's not really the point in this post today. Because all those things listed above are great ways to earn money for your blog, as I'm sure there are many others if you want to put money back into it without it coming out of your pocket. With that being said, I was on a blog the other day, and they had a paypal link up and were asking for donations if you liked their blog. They wanted donations so that you could help keep them going.
Not even two days after that, I was on a different blog, and they had a giveaway going. One of the giveaway bonus entries was to 'donate funds' to their blog. Now, as far as I'm concerned, blogging is a choice. If you can't afford to then DON'T. Why would I send you money to win a book? Why not just buy it myself? Why would I send you money to design your blog when I can put that into my own? Why would I send you money to send you to some book expo when I can take that money, buy books and donate them to a library? Excuse my rant, but I just find this extremely rude and had to share. Feel free to offer your opinions.
Yeah I agree with hat you said. I've never seen anyone ask for donations on a blog, myself. What I have seen though is Amazon has a "business" account that you can sign on with and put an Amazon button on your sidebar and if someone uses your button to go on Amazon and checks out a book, you get 10 or 15% of the sale! I plan to do that eventually. I think TBD has one as well.
ReplyDeleteGiselle
Xpresso Reads
I totally know what you are talking about. I think I was planning on entering that same contest and I had many of the same thoughts as you. On the flip side I went to a book blog and it was so overrun with advertisements that I couldn't even read the content of the blog. I won't be going back to that blog either. I don't have a blog and there is a reason for that. I don't have the time or energy to put towards a blog. I'd rather just visit other people's blogs. But I am totally with you that if you can't afford to have a blog, don't have one, if you can't afford to give books away, don't do it, if you can't afford to go to a book expo, oh well, get your ARCs somewhere else. Plus I like blogs that review "older" titles as much as those that review upcoming books. Final thought is that between Net Galley and Galley Grab, I know I have more book options to read than I have time to read them, and I am only a librarian, not a blogger.
ReplyDeleteI think I'm on the same boat as you.
ReplyDeleteBlogging is a choice and a hobby. If you need to get paid... Well, every blogger would love to get paid. I blog when I can because I love it but not because I'm out for free books or a few dollars from others.
I have no donated and will not donate. I usually move on to the next blog where I know the blogger is just excited about the book.
MS
http://madsteampunkery.com
I have thought about selling enough ad space to cover my monthly cost to run my blog. Eventually I may do that. I'm self-hosted on WP so there is a cost for me to run it but it's not a huge cost. If/When I decide to start doing advertisements though, I want it to be book-related things I support. I currently do use Amazon Affiliates on some things, but I use it so rarely that I've only actually made about $4 this year - not even enough to cash out.
ReplyDeleteI have seen people ask for donations - I don't think it's cool at all. I refuse to enter giveaways or do events in which people are asking for money for themselves. I've seen one blogger recently emailing everyone who'd ever commented on her blog asking for money to fund events. I've seen bloggers begging for "presents" of books and/or money even.
I haven't seen people ask for donations for an extra entry, that definitely seems wrong. I've done extra entries for donations to charities but I don't think I'd ever do that again anyway (though I did get them several boxes of books, so I wouldn't say it was a bad idea...). I have seen the paypal thing on sidebars for donations and I haven't really given it a lot of thought. I do agree though, if you can't afford to give books away then don't. No one says you have to. Shipping costs are expensive and sometimes I have to raise money on my own by selling books that I bought or cutting costs in other areas. But that's just me.
ReplyDeleteAs far as ads go, I have one on my sidebar that I recently put up. It's just one and I thought I'd see if it goes anywhere. So far it hasn't made me any money but if it brings in a little then that would be used for shipping costs of giveaways. I do use my amazon affiliate account once in awhile but I don't even have it on my sidebar anymore. I've considered putting a new one up for the holiday's but I figure it won't even bring in enough to make it worthwhile to have the clutter. I don't mind a few ads but I hate when they fill their blog with them. A few is fine. I know I would love to make a buck but so far nothings ever been worth it.
Well, I don't mind the donation buttons on other blogs. It's not as though I'd have to pay to be able to get onto the blog ;-) !
ReplyDeleteAdding a donation as an entry for a giveaway as extra option though is *cough* wrong wrong wrong! I mean, come on!?
Well I've never done the advertising, monetizing, paypal button donating thing but I don't think its rude to have a little donation button on the side of your blog to help you out with giveaways, I think its kind of forward to have it as an extra entry in the giveaway itself because as you say "why would I donate money to help me win a book if I could just buy the book myself?" but having a button in a sidebar doesn't bother me. Giveaways can be very costly especially if you're an international blogger like myself, currently all of my giveaway prizes are shipped directly from the seller because I can't afford to ship out prizes myself so this limits the kind of giveaways I can do. If I got donations though then maybe I could make actual prize packs with swag as well as books and send out more personalized prizes.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know I don't have to do giveaways, they aren't required to run a successful blog but I like giveing away stuff especially books, its just a step further than recommending them.
I had talked about ads awhile back. I understand while people have them, but to me, if I wanted to be bombarded with three or more ads I wouldn't be visiting a book blog, I'd just go to a publisher's site. I know it's expensive to run a blog, so one or two ads that are appropriate to the blog (like for books or publishing) I don't mind. But I don't want to see ads for rototillers or Craftsman tools.
ReplyDeleteBut as one of the comments said above, if it's overrun I just won't visit the blog again. Especially if they aren't static and the movement draws me away from the post.
I'm not an Amazon affiliate, though I don't mind those at all with the carousels. It's totally relevant and as long as people are up front that they're promoting the books for money then why not.
As far as donations. I've donated to Mundie Moms before. I don't mind a quiet donation button. If I think a blog does a great thing by constantly giving books away, I have no problem with them having that button. It's my choice to help out the blogger or not.
BUT, I haven't seen this giveaway asking for donations as extra points. I get that sending books is expensive, but it's true, you don't have to give away anything on your blog if you can't afford it. Donate those books to a library instead.
Sorry for the long comment!
I agree. I think I know what your talking about. I was going to enter and for the same reason did not. I myself blog and have people who blog enter my giveaways why would they want to fund me giving them the book. They could just buy it. I do have a donate button I don't ask for donations it's just there. No one has ever used it. Not that I care. I give away a ton of stuff OOP. It's just what I do. Anyone who would donate I would use towards giveaways but I would NEVER ask someone to do that for an extra entry. IT is BEYOND WRONG!!! I am an amazon affiliate and have used their link for almost every book I have reviewed or given away. I have made 4 cents in 2011. You tell me if it's worth it?
ReplyDeleteI found it offensive and rude to do that.
I am happy if people just comment on my reviews. Which never seems to happen. What can I do....
Mary
Thanks for your input everyone! Keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteI think it's a little distasteful to have a donation button front and center on a blog. The only reason it should say "donate" is if it's actually going to a non profit organization. Buying books for your self doesn't count. I understand wanting to make money for something that's so time consuming but that's a little much. Blogs are meant as free information to what others have to say. A way to get your personal beliefs across, or to give free info to others about a topic. Blogging shouldn't ever be about money (unless it's a finance blog of course :).
ReplyDeleteAnd asking for money as an extra entry is just plain wrong. So someone with deeper pockets has a better chance of winning something for free? If I were going to donate to get into a giveaway, I might as well buy the item myself. Free is the point of giveaways people! It's supposed to be a kindness to someone, or a way to help an author get a book in the hands of others. Everyone has already said this, but it still rings true. "If you can't afford to do a giveaway every week, or have a super fancy blog design, don't do it in the first place!"
As everyone else (it seems) has already stated, I'm okay with a couple ads on a blog as long as they aren't overwhelming, relevant to the blog, and something the blog's writer would recommend to readers. I have no idea how much they really make, but the amazon ads are a good idea. Mainly because the writer can choose what is advertised.
I know that running a blog CAN be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. When I first started up my blog I had thought about using WP and decided against it when I saw how much I would have to pay for it. I decided it wasn't worth the $100 a year (if I wanted pic and video space), and went to blogger instead. Sure I have ".blogspot.com" at the end of my domain, but in this case I think a penny saved is a penny earned.
In closing, I think it's a bad idea to ask for compensation from your readers. It's more than likely you'll lose viewership and even offend others.
Oops... Sorry it's so long. I got a little carried away.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much everyone for all the feedback, and I do understand what you are saying about the help with shipping internationally. Usually I see that included in the giveaway. I just wanted to state that the paypal link that I seen didn't state just how they would use the money. Who knows just what they would spend it on.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting discussion. I'm personally not bothered by a moderate amount of ads (though the ones with flash or sounds do typically annoy me).
ReplyDeleteThere are a few blogs that I've followed for a while that ask for donations once a year to help with bandwith costs. Both of them provide services to readers year round (connecting writers with open markets and with agents), so I'm more than happy to donate as I feel I've been given a service and should reciprocate my appreciation.
But I wouldn't do so if donations were requested/required only for a contest. I'd be curious to know if the authors of these books know this is going on and what their opinion of this is.
Smiles!
Lori
Totally understandable rant. I haven't run across blogs that are that forward but you certainly make a great point. I'm sure few people donate though.
ReplyDeleteI'll throw my two cents in. I run a blog and offer ad space as well as a paypal donation link.
ReplyDeleteI'd NEVER have making a donation be part of a contest, that's just wrong. However, I don't think there is anything wrong with giving your readers the option of making a donation if they'd like to help with the running of the blog (our monies go towards our PO Box, site hosting and contest prizes and shipping) by providing a widget. However, rewarding them for the donation isn't right.
Same with ads. We are selective in ads and cater to authors who'd like some exposure of their books. Occasionally we'll have a countdown widget, but more often than not, it's just a book cover that links to Amazon.
And yes, I use Amazon and B&N affliate links on almost all our posts. Partially as a way to give the readers quick access to purchasing the book, but it does also generate a little cash which does get funneled into the blog. And we're very clear on the site where the cash goes.
I never flat out ask for cash. The options are there if someone wants to donate. Most readers are understanding and I've not had anyone mention to me that they don't like it. I think it's all about how a site goes about monetizing that makes the difference.
Jen
Romancing the Book
http://www.romancing-the-book.com
Selling ad space on a webpage is one thing. I get that bloggers want or need money to fund their blogging activities, and the ads don't really distract me. But, I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth when a blogger asks their loyal readers for money. Only PBS is allowed to do that, folks!
ReplyDelete- Jackie