Ads/Sponsors, Donations
Yesterday I put up a donation banner on my blog page for folks who are not in the market for jewelry at this time but still appreciate all the hard work that goes into these posts and want to support me by donating. In that banner I state that I do not have ads nor am I sponsored by anyone. I want to elaborate here why it’s a big deal that benefits you, the readers, not so much me, the creator.
Were you ever looking for how to make chicken soup (as an example) and click on a website to see the full recipe to only be blinded by pop up advertisements, banners, boxes, videos, etc.,? Some even targeted locally showing your zip code (happened to me while writing this post)? I know I have, and I immediately leave the site, because it presents to be a source information that I'm looking for, but actually turns out to be a sales bazaar for google ads, each ad paid for some random company, each paying for the potential of you clicking on it. And these "blogs" are hosts & facilitators for this mess. I personally despise it.
I emphasize getting to the point and limiting my opinions, because even if I push through all the ads while looking for the recipe, I don’t care about the 1000 word essay about an opinion of someone I don’t know and who's site it is, that I'm just seeing/reading for the first time.
I also do not have/use any sponsors. The reason this is a big deal is because I have all my creative freedom and am not restricted/limited on the topics I want to discuss, nor do I need to turn my blogs into sales pitches that pay me every time one of you makes a purchase. This morphs over time for many creators. Typically sponsors can give you a sum of money to mention their name, add links, etc. Then they notice that some topics get less money than others, and some cannot be sponsored at all. So to maximize profits, creators make content within the sponsors perimeters and not what's close to their heart. That’s what I'm not doing.
As always, there is a place for everything and everyone, and that applies to ads/sponsors as well. It's not all bad, they're not all bad, it's just a choice I am making and this explains why I'm making it.
Besides the donation option, I also created a form that you can use to submit your ideas, topics, or even concepts to be featured in my blog. I really am so excited to see what you're thinking about and what topics you want me to cover.
Thanks for reading, drop any comments you have below.
Below are some screen captures of a recipe blog as visual examples of ads (advertisements)
