by Skellie
![Photography: Tunnel [Cheonggyecheon / Seoul] by d'n'c](http://www.skelliewag.org/post_images/write_a_guest_post.jpg "Filed under: Ideas & Innovation.")
Photography: Tunnel [Cheonggyecheon / Seoul] by d’n'c
Regular readers will know that Skelliewag runs no ads or affiliate links. I’ve never made a cent of direct income from this site, but I have lost money as a direct result of it. The money I lose each month is a modest double-digit sum: something I have no regrets or anxieties about.
There are countless blogs and websites devoted to making money online, yet it seems strange to me that there are no sites devoted to doing the opposite: losing money online, and doing it proudly.
In this post, I want to outline 8 ways you can begin to see that losing money online isn’t all bad. In fact, it might not be given the credit it deserves.
1.
Treat your blog or website as a hobby. Perfectly normal people pay hundreds of dollars a year to take dancing lessons, go sailing, or learn to cook. For most of us, blogging/running a website is just as rewarding as any of these tasks. Those people taking sailing lessons probably aren’t expecting to make money off it: their rewards come from the act itself.
Hosting might cost you $100 a year. A domain name maybe $10. That’s not so much to pay for an enjoyable hobby.
2.
Appreciate an ad-free space. Most corners of the web seem to be ad-supported these days. You can’t enjoy content without someone trying to sell you something. Now, I recognize that these ads can be helpful, but most of the time they aren’t. I’m often more than willing to put up with ads when I like the content (particularly if I understand why the blogger/webmaster needs to advertise), but there is something very refreshing about an ad-free space — both for readers, and for you.
3.
View your losses as overhead, contributing towards future earnings. Most blogs don’t start earning worthwhile money until they have a large, established readership. In some cases, creating an ad-free website or blog can help you get to this stage quicker. You can then start monetizing only when it’s worth it.
4.
Give your earnings away. If you’re like me, you probably feel a little bit guilty for not giving (or not giving enough) to the less fortunate. Deciding that you will give your blog or website earnings away can be a good way to assuage this guilt by doing something good. It’s easier than giving away the money you already have, because your direct online income is a bonus on top of that. An entrepreneur in the Third World will get much more use from your $5 AdSense earnings than you will, after all.
5.
Give your earnings to your kids. I know several parents who’ve expressed some worry about the time spent on blog or website-related tasks which might otherwise be spent with kids. Giving your earnings to your kids, either as pocket money or in addition to it, can be a good way to get them involved in your blogging and make it fun for both of you.
6.
View your blog or website as building the worth of your personal brand. A web designer with a big online following is more likely to be hired than a similar web designer without one. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that you can expect the equation to hold true across most professions. Creating a popular online presence will present you with a myriad of opportunities: many of them allowing you to make money through other means.
Hugh McLeod, who draws “cartoons on the back of business-cards” at gapingvoid, said recently: “One of the smartest moves I ever made was to figure out that making money indirectly off the cartoons was far easier than trying to make the money directly. If I could teach gapingvoid readers just one thing, that would be it.”
7.
Concentrate on the other rewards you get. For me, there are plenty of things to love about blogging, and I’m not sure I’d give any of them up for money. Interacting with readers, having strangers sit down, read and enjoy your words, getting interesting emails, and making connections with very different people from different places in the world have all been rewards you couldn’t put a price on.
8.
It makes honesty easier. If you’re not making money with your site, you can link to a book on Amazon, or any other product or service, without it being an affiliate link. Both you and your readers know that with every product or service you recommend or review, you’re doing so because you genuinely want to share it (or provide an honest opinion).
* * *
I should end by saying that there is nothing wrong with making money online. However, this post is written for those of you who, like me, have chosen to (or are unable to) make a direct income off their site, and might appreciate a voicing of some of the reasons why.
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19 Comments, Comment or Ping
Dana Wallert
Wow, I am truly humbled by your post! It’s very refreshing to have posts like this show up in my reader among all the “Make Money Now” posts. I’m not against making money either. I’m not really able to do so on my blogs yet anyway, so I haven’t really made those decisions. Though I will probably not be quite as noble as you’ve chosen to be, but you have given a lot of great options there and a lot to think about!
Sep 14th, 2007
Mohsin
Living in third world myself, I can tell you that little sums of money make a big difference over here. I currently make about $400 online off my web sites per month, and this is a very handsome income for a common man in Pakistan.
Though, my blog is about my passion to write and share what I have learnt in my three years of being a webmaster, and I am not really going to slap all kinds of ads all over the place, I do have a plan to monetize my blog in a way that the ads/affiliate links are the least obtrusive for the readers. Text link ads, paid reviews, and Amazon affiliate links look like good options for unobtrusive money making.
But I’ll wait till I grow big as you suggested in the point # 3.
Sep 14th, 2007
FavHost
You make many good points. I get tired of seeing ads in every nook and cranny when I’m online. I appreciate your adless post.
Thanks!
Sep 14th, 2007
skellie
@ Mohsin: $400 a month? That’s great, Mohsin! I’ve often wondered whether making money online is becoming a big thing in the Third World — the payments tend to be standardized to First World standards, and with conversion rates, this would probably be a very handsome income, as you said. I’ve no doubt that the amount you’re making will grow with time
@ Favhost: Thanks! I get tired of it too sometimes.
Sep 14th, 2007
Faye
Skellie, thank you for this post (I love the title). I think that one of your gifts is taking popular world wide web/blogosphere topics and presenting them from different angles that are interesting and thought provoking.
RE: point 3…in the beginning it’s perfectly fine to resist the temptation to slap ads all over and see your work as an investment on future earnings and/or future opportunities.
Point 4 is so timely because I’m trying to figure out how to make money off my sites and just give the money away.
Good post.
Sep 14th, 2007
Tad Chef
Don’t be black and white Skellie! Why loose money on purpose if you don’t make enough? Take me: I lost money for over 10 years in online publishing. I started with poetry, went on to activism, to art, free music (netaudio) and UGC (I was the user that generated for others) and now after 10 years of loosing money out of altruistic web publishing I decided to make money online by blogging directly, because honestly writing is what I love to do, so why should I do something else for a living?
They are basically recommendations.
That’s why since yesterday, I introduced the first paid ads I ever used on a website of mine. That’s not bad, especially as I make a living out of SEO spam
But basically knowing what readers want, you can advertise useful products without too much clutter and annoyance. Just watch my ads!
Sep 14th, 2007
skellie
@ Faye: Giving away the money is a really generous thing to do. Are you considering charities?
@ Tad: I think you’ve implemented the ads on your site really thoughtfully, Tad. They look good and they will be useful to a lot of your readers.
With this post, I wasn’t attempting to discourage others from monetizing their sites, but simply looking at some of the positive aspects of not making money online.
I should reveal my hand here: I’d love to quit my part-time job and devote those extra free days I have to blogging, but I can’t afford to at the moment. My plan is to write a really big eBook over the holidays (I’m thinking around 150 pages) and sell it very cheaply. I don’t expect to sell a whole bunch of them, but I do hope to sell enough that I can leave the bakery. So I’m certainly not against making money online, but just wanted to explain why I’m not doing so at the moment.
Sep 14th, 2007
Faye
Hi Skellie,
I am considering giving to farmers and their families, not so much go through the charity orgs.
Sep 14th, 2007
skellie
@ Faye: That’s a very worthy cause. I’m considering doing some charity stuff, also… possibly fund raising for kiva.org. Still thinking about it at the moment.
Sep 15th, 2007
Tad Chef
Yeah, OK, tell me when you’re ready and I’ll put an ad up for it if the commission is right
I’m really into
http://www.doshdosh.com/earning-money-to-achieve-your-life-goals/
right now.
Sep 15th, 2007
skellie
@ Tad: I like that too. It definitely reflects my philosophy. Maki always provides very thoughtful articles.
Sep 15th, 2007
Dar
Hi, Skellie
I really enjoyed your post, and your honesty is refreshing.
I placed a few affiliate links in the early days of my blog, but more recent posts I haven’t. I just really don’t enjoy loading my readers down with ads.
It’s kinda nice not really worrying about whether I make a profit at the moment. I’d like to find a way down the road, though, to make enough that I could share it with Heifer.org That would make me happy — helping them give gifts that keep on giving — and suits my value system.
I like the idea of giving animals to families who can trade eggs for wool. Or trade a few chickens for a milk goat, which in turn can provide a family with milk, butter, cheese, etc. It’s so basic, and yet so needed…
Good luck with your ebook. I can’t wait to hear more about it!
Sep 15th, 2007
skellie
@ Dar: Thanks! :). One thing I’ve also found is that I’ve gotten a lot of indirect opportunities through the blog. I don’t make any money directly from it, but I wouldn’t be a staff writer at Daily Blog Tips without it. So sometimes not monetizing your blog can help you make money elsewhere, strangely enough!
I’m just checking out the Heifer.org website now — it looks like a great idea! I just loaned 25$ today through kiva.org, actually. Another reason to love the web, eh?
Sep 15th, 2007
Bunk
Skellie,
I noticed that you mentioned kiva. My wife and myself are looeking at signing up with them to help in their mission. I am actually in the process of writing a blog concerning kiva sometime in the near future.
Anyways, just wanted to say that you have a very quality site here and you bring about some very interesting points. Im deffinatly gonna bookmark this blog if you dont mind.
Continue the good work!
Sep 16th, 2007
skellie
@ Dana: Sorry your comment was held back, for some reason Akismet thought it was spam (no idea why!). I’m quite annoyed about it, actually.
I’m not really noble, Dana; this blog is still in its childhood so I doubt it could make much money anyway. I just think the clean, ad-free environment is worth it to lose a few cents each day.
@ Bunk: I’ve been quite enthusiastic about kiva too, and was also wondering how I could help spread the message by blogging. I think starting a blog about kiva is a great idea, and if you’d like any help with where to take it (if you do start), you’re more than welcome to ask questions and bounce ideas off me.
Thanks for your kind words, too :).
Sep 16th, 2007
Bloggrrl
Wow do I like #4!! I ask for my Christmas presents to be to http://www.heifer.org. I don’t know why it has not even crossed my mind to donate my earnings to this cause, or to the one you mentioned. I appreciate that link to the micro loan site. I think micro loans are the way to go! Another worthwhile charity in my opinion is Blood Water Mission with their 1000 wells project.
Thanks Skellie. You can watch for this idea to show up on my blog.
Sep 16th, 2007
skellie
Glad you liked it, Bloggrrl. Thanks for letting me know about Blood Water Mission, too. I’m interested to see where you go with the charity idea :).
Sep 16th, 2007
suzanne
There is a large group of people that constantly lose money online, or at least are not making it. Well, it is a lot easier to lose it than to make it. But losing money with pride or dignity is still a skill. Thanks for the great post. It chears me up! And it comes a lot closer to reality than all the make money online posts on the Internet.
May 16th, 2008
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