Alterneative means of profit 1(Affiliate Sells)

So I've started a blog and of course I'm trying to monitize it. I know I know what an asshole thing to do. But the truth is that I don't think that monitizingis truely evil so long as you don't bombard you readers with Ad after Ad.

So besides good 'ol Adsense I thought I might find other means. ie Affilliate sells!

Now I want to mention thatmostof you will choose amazon.com as a good place to start. It's Affilaite program even lets you create a mock store whos only link is to purchase or back to your brog and website. So what's the down side?

4% commision. Ouch, Not enough! It is still quite worth while if you want to refer to specific sections or types of products. Because Amazon is so big you can perfectly target your readers. If you do a weekly book review you can probably direct you readers to the exact book your reviewing.

Your Next Best option: Commision Junction http://cj.com you can choose multiple campaigns from thousands of companies and you should be pleased to know that many of the referal customers offer up to 20%. Thats a pretty hefty sum!

and my favorite new affiliate site: http://cj.ringrevenue.com this is a pay per call service that pays you for every call over 2 minutes to their customers. They only have several dozen companies but their are several good one's like allstate. Of course this is perfect for audio blogs or podcasts.

When's it time to give up blogging?

So I wrote about my first blog and now I want to write about my last. Okay, Okay this is not my last blog but I do think that there's a great deal of value in determining when you would give up bloging. So heres the only reason that I would give up my blog:

1. Lack of time- Lets face it if your blog becomes bi-annual it's time to let it go. Not ever blogger can blog ever day. I sure as hell can't but when it gets ridiculous give it up your readers deserve that much.

2. Lack of interest- On the part of your readers of course. If you write for you I say write for yourself forever and who cares who does or doesn't like it but if you write for money or fame you have to have a little interest or it's just not worth it. So how much is enough? It depends no your personal goals and the amount of time you have invested. So am I saying I'll quit this blog if the numbers say no? Well, I might but more than likely I will try to change the topics or focus on stronger subjects. (I can track strong subjects by Bounce Rate and feedback)

There are a host of other reasons that might make me throw in the towel but almost all of them relate to one of the two above.