A Money-Making Blog
June 6, 2008
People ask me pretty often how much money I make from pomomusings.com - it didn’t use to be much. But recently through Text-Link-Ads, I’ve been making about $100/month with another $30/month or so through Google Adsense. It’s been nice to get a money cover web-hosting and give Sarah and me a small amount of additional income. However, sometimes I wonder if I had a blog that was focused more on one specific topic, if it would help with the ad sales. I blog about so many different things here (religion, theology, web stuff, WordPress, technology, random things) - there isn’t ONE main, primary topic.
So I’ve been thinking about starting a new blog (I’d still keep pomomusings) as an experiment to see if I could make better ad sales (and thus, make more money) on a site that was focused around just one topic. I’ve mentioned this idea to a few friends to try and get ideas on what that blog should be about. Sarah has her preferred choice, and she would like me to start a cooking blog because that would be a good topic and it would get me cooking more often. So….while it may be that the cooking blog might happen….I’m still soliciting ideas from others about what a good topic for my next blog would be.
If you could choose what my next blog would be about - what would it be? What do you think would be an interesting choice but also one that would grab a huge readership that would help with ad sales?
Tags: Ads, Advertising, Blog, Money
Posted in Technology
Adam Walker Cleaveland: I am a 28 yr old 
June 6th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I like the idea of the cooking thing. You might loose some of your faithful existing traffic but then again, you might not. I’ve become very interested in the topic myself over the past 3 years as it ties in with the ideas of community and hospitality. We love having friends over so we can experiment with new recipes for not only food but cocktails as well. I’m sure I will be a part of whatever you land on but the cooking thing is a great idea in my opinion.
June 6th, 2008 at 11:36 am
well, there are actually quite a few pretty decent cooking blogs already… but what i know a ton of people are totally into is parenting blogs. there are tons of them and we all read each others. and we’re always looking for the dad (esp. stay-at-home dad) perspective. so all you need to do is have a kid (better yet, twins!) and start blogging about it. i can guarentee it would be a hit!
June 6th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
how does the text link ads work? it looks like you need a tax id# to sign up?
June 6th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Though I’ve been highly critical of people making money off of Amazon.com referrals, Powells.com has a good affiliate program. I’ve played around with Text Link and Adsense, and right now I’m trying out LinkWorth. Honestly, though I’ve had more success through LinkShare and Commission Junction.
Tyler: Generally, your tax id is your ssn.
Adam: In terms of the subject for a new blog, why not do a Cleave Design blog about design/tech. Not only would it help you with focusing on a specific topic, but it might help you gain design work. If you designed did another wordpress theme for it, the attribution would drive people to a design site instead of a theological one.
June 8th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Your new blog should further your discussion and exploration of Emergent Theology and Praxis.
Think about it: that IS kinda the whole idea behind this blog’s title, and you’ve already established yourself as a bona fide resource/target among Christian circles across the United States for it.
You focus solely on this and do some aggressive advertisement of the new blog and you’ve got yourself a nice little $$$$$ maker.
June 11th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
If you look at the demographics of the emerging church, and the demographics of the San Francisco bay area, there is a huge area that is uncovered. You have a lot more in common with the San Francisco demographic than you have in common with the emerging demographic.
Many emerging bloggers have no college education; those that do represent less-selective colleges. Your Princeton background is rare in the emerging space, I think you are the only one from a top 300/366, etc., college. Although not everyone in SF graduated from Cal or Stanford, they set the cultural standard of “education”. Plus, the “standard” here is educated women.
Lots of ministries here have a Marin/San Mateo County history. Particularly those in the city. The East Bay is new, and just getting assimilated into the SF connection. Something that connects the East Bay would be good, and you are well-positioned.
Lots of emergents are anti-modern, not post-modern. Many emergents will bash any institutiional model, but a good institutional model is a good model. Your Presbyterian connection is a good one.
You are well-positioned to tap a good demographic. And, you are about the only one there.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
I agree with Glenn. Stay with your money maker. A cooking blog sounds like lots of fun, I love cooking myself and have written a bit about it myself, but you should stick with what you are known for at present. Keep pomomusings.com as an emergent theology blog and start a new one that is more random.
June 20th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
hm…ad revenue + huge readership + bay area? Sadly, the first thought that comes to my mind that fits that equation is some sort of celebrity gossip blog. But that would be far inferior to what you have going here!
By the way, have you had a chance to read this review of Seattle area (I’m headed there in August to take an AP position) churches:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=242675
It’s fascinating, frustrating, and eye-opening.