There is a rumor, perpetuated by television shows, that bloggers earn a living. By blogging. Someone in Hollywood seriously thinks people like me make money doing this. I am depressed to admit it, but not one cent have I ever made from this site — not counting the occasional free book for review.
I don’t advertise on this site. In fact, I pay WordPress to not put their advertisements here. My dream is not to monetize my site, but be such an incredible writer that the world will shower me with money — just because I’m me. I won’t have to ask, and I will owe nothing to anybody. And I could … pay the bills! Yes!
Money for nothing. It brings tears to my eyes.
Somewhere, some blogger must be making money on his or her site, but I don’t know them. I’ve been around the world, blog-wise. I have yet to see a single blogger bringing in the big bucks. A few people have tried to at least keep even by putting advertisements on their sites, but the amount of money this earns them wouldn’t add up to a good meal in a mediocre restaurant. Moreover, advertising annoys readers. Sites with spammy ads and weird pop-ups make me want to go somewhere else. Since the Internet remains one of the last, free places on earth, that’s what I do. I go elsewhere.
I don’t do this for money. I don’t even do it in the hopes that someday it might make money. I don’t run advertisements, have no connections to any organization who will pay me for anything. I get offers for free applications for an “honest review,” but between the lines I read “positive, glowing review.”
I turn them down. “Money for nothing” is a delightful dream … and that is all it is.
If for some obscure reason, you want to buy me off? You’ll have to do a lot better than any offer I’ve gotten to date. I’m sure everyone has a price, so I probably have one too. No one has come close to meeting whatever my price turns out to be. But — please, feel free to keep trying!
Meanwhile, there will be no succumbing on this blog. Not without one humongous payoff.