May

Revenue Sources for Thoughts From My Life

Written by Neil Galloway

I like to have some transparency in a website so that others can see how things are done. This page is about how I earn revenue with this site. Basically a history of who I am using or have used for making a bit of money on this site.

Note: This has not been updated since 2008. I have decided to leave the existing figures up as an indicator of where I have legitimately seen returns.

I will also update the total amount I have made from each since I started Thoughts From My Life. I will still do the monthly recaps like I have always done, but this is a better summary.

Revenue Sources

Sorted by greatest to smallest for last month's revenue. The date I started with them is in brackets.

Link Worth (September 2007)

Total So Far: $40.19

I just signed up. They offer a variety of ad services and other tools. Their website is very, very impressive actually. Tools to help set up your meta tags and they have been very prompt with their reviewing of sites and such. Check them out.

Google Adsense (November 2006)

Total So Far: $1,767.83

Good old Google. The one everyone signs up for and uses (until the get banned for click fraud). You have seen it on a lot of sites, the banners and "Ads by Google" line written in the corner.

You only get paid when you have an account balance greater than $100 so this isn't a steady stream unless you can clear a hundred every month. They mail you a check the following month.

Kontera ContentLink (February 2007)

Total So Far: $329.44

I like these guys. You put a snippet of code into each page and it searches for keywords in the article and double underlines them. If a user hovers their mouse pointer over the keywords, a little ad pops up. They click, you get paid. Simple.

There are the same rules as Adsense. You need $100 in your account before they will pay you out. They have some simple features you can use to make sure some text does not have the keywords highlighted (like menus and titles).

Chitika (March 2007)

July 2007: $0.15

Total So Far: $2.00

This hasn't done very well, but I think it is my site. It is geared towards selling products and I don't write a lot about consumer items. Anyways, I leave it at the bottom of each article and if it collects a few cents then that is fine.

PayU2Blog (March 2007)

Total So Far: $1,170

The first paid posting company I started with. They were just getting started. I get an email every week or two with a list of links and keywords. I have to write a posting 60 words in length including the link and that is it. $5 a posting. A good way to pay your hosting bills when you first get started.

They pay you every 2 weeks through paypal as well, so you don't have to wait for a certain account balance.

PayPerPost (March 2007)

Total So Far: $43.45

Same thing as PayU2Blog except these are the mainstream guys. You write a post, it gets reviewed to make sure it is acceptable, it stays up for 30 days, they check it again, and you get paid through paypal. The posts vary from $5 and up depending on the credentials of your site. I have had postings that paid me $12.50 and qualified for a $15 one once.

AuctionAds (February 2007)

No longer using

Total So Far: $1.00

This is similar to Chitika, except they are affiliated with eBay. I didn't earn a single penny from them after a month so I just dropped them. They display current eBay items related to the posting. The user can click them and go view the item. If they place a bid, you get paid. My site isn't geared towards products so I think that is why it didn't work very good.

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Category: Blogging

2 Comments

RichardP Says:
2008-05-03 05:16:21
Really cool of you to publish this stuff - it gives an idea of the $ generated, considering the traffic you get (which could also appear on this page...). I've been considering blogging for money, and this is true market data.

Jonathan Says:
2010-03-20 11:20:00
You could probably do well by including some applications for the credit card comparisons you've done. That's great information that people are looking for, and they'd likely be willing to apply through your site. Search for affiliate program + whatever credit card you're talking about, and you'll likely find something. They'll often pay $35 to $50 per application.