I’ve created this page to explain what my policy is concerning advertising on the New Freebooters site. First, let me state my goals:
- I want this site to make money. I’m blogging about sailing because it’s my passion, but I’m also living on a reduced pension. I need another income stream. If I can’t make this blog the source of that stream, I won’t be able to spend anything like as much time posting on it. I hope you find that prospect as uncomfortable as I do.
- I want you to find this site both informative and entertaining. If it isn’t, not enough of you will visit it and I won’t make any money from ads or anything else I do here.
- I don’t want advertising to feel intrusive. That doesn’t mean I won’t place ads where they’re likely to get clicked on, but it does mean I’ll do my best not to interrupt the flow when you’re reading, listening or watching.
This means I’ll spread the ads about so that you don’t see too many at any one time as you scroll and click your way around.
I’ve had to back off a bit on my refusal to feature animated ads. One or two firms that provide things that I definitely want to offer the visitors to this site provide nothing but animated images. However, I will check what they feel like, and if necessary I’ll edit them to reduce the animation rate until I stop finding it distracting. I’m happy to show what is effectively a slow scan through a few typical products, but not flashing ‘ME! ME! Buy ME!’ rubbish.
There’s one thing I’ll never back down on, though: I will never allow popups on this site. I hate them.
Update: 20 September 2011
Some time ago I gave up on Adsense. It ruined the look of the site and brought in very little. As one of the Internet Marketing ‘gurus’ pointed out recently, the Internet is undergoing the same changes as the TV industry did as it matured. The big players, and a few governments, are muscling in – trying either to control it or to make more money out of it.
The affiliates I am partnered with at the moment are:
- Yacht chartering broker BoatBookings.com, which operates worldwide so I won’t advertise any other yacht chartering broker.
- Amazon, who provide me with the book and CD ads in the Armchair Ditty Box shop.
- A niche business called Boat Name Gear. I hope I’ll find a few more like this – companies that you are less likely to find on mainstream sites.
- The Dark Blue Book – Who’s Who of the professional yacht racing scene. Although aimed at organisations, at only £50 it is cheap enough to be a useful addition to many people’s libraries
I have also given myself the flexibility to decide, even within a single post, where I want ads and where I don’t. That means more work for me than I would have if I left it all to the Theme template to automate, but it allows me to vary the look depending on the subject.
I’m still learning how to do this, so bear with me, but don’t hesitate to comment on either my advertising policy or the way I have implemented it.
I appreciate feedback, and I promise to respond to every comment.