Easy Money, or is it?
Who wouldn't want easy money? Dangle the money carrot in front of me, and I'm going to nibble. Especially when the the means to obtaining the carrot, I mean money, is something that is easy (but not too good to be true), or is something that I'm already doing. So while I was trolloping through the pages to "take my blog to the next level" (and I'm the first to admit, this blog is currently sub-level), I spotted the juicy beta carotene enriched links that invited me to make money from my blog! Easy money.
Unless you stumble over a bag of cash, or find a dollar in the street, no money is easy money (usually). I mean, if you're going to earn it, in varying degrees, some sort of "work" is involved to get money. "What do I gotta do, and how much do I get for doin' it?" is the knowledge base for most workers. (Retirement packages, tuition reimbursement, and time-off policies... that aside. OK, why did I even mention these things? Just trying to nip the "absolute debaters" in the bud.) With the base questions in mind, I decided to follow the links and chomp down on some of the tasty knowledge dangled before me. I followed carrot after carrot, which led me to another carrot, and then five other carrots I insisted on following in their own tabs (I hate the "back" button). Before I realized it, a couple of hours went by, and I was just getting started.
What I discovered is there's a lot more involved than just coding your blog with a random ad, then cashing in. Just how much you'll be paid, if you even get paid at all, depends on the degree of work you put into it (I mentioned that before, I think).
First and foremost your website and application have to be approved by the AdSense people (if that's the route you choose, and in this context, the example I'm referring to). As a publisher you have a responsibility to uphold a level of web quality, and abide by several policies and procedures on the ethics of ad placement. Follow these guidelines, hope for site visits, and pray for ad clicks. Enough clicks and maybe you'll generate enough return to payout a hundred dollars. I must have dozed off while reading the part on how much each click credits the publisher, but I remember reading that there's no payout until at least a hundred dollars is accumulated, and only after the qualifying clicks have been legitimized.
I personally get really pissed highly irritated when I visit a site and the site practices unethical ad hustling. If I were a merchant or "whatever-person-paying-for-an-online-ad", I would certainly hope there were guidelines and policies to protect me from the hustlers (if I'm not mistaken, they're charged for the ads per click) , and so I'm not criticizing all the hoops and ladders. If I'm not doing that weird self gratifying thing by expressing my thoughts as though I'm talking to myself, and what I write is actually read by someone other than me (that would be you), and you're considering posting ads on your site for some extra cash, I'm advising you read up on it. In my opinion creating and maintaining a website (or pages) to support ads that generate enough traffic so the ads actually pay back is anything but easy. Anything worthy never is.
