Monetized American Power

Okay, at the urging of some of my readers, especially PrivatePigg, and also due to the influence of Robert Stacy McCain's "The Hustler" blogging model, I've added some Amazon links to the sidebar and here in the text here (just playing around at this point).

I've been blogging three years. I don't do it for the money, and I'm still a little skeptical about running ads. But my traffic's been good lately, and if I can earn a little extra money, I might as well go with the capitalist flow. But as I've said here on occasion: Blogging's a love of labor. It's an outlet for my expressions and my frustrations, as well as some serious reflections on politics and world affairs.

Ann Althouse has always set a high standard for me, so let me share some of her thoughts on the blogging life:

I write this blog for pure love and expression, as you must know by now, but, nevertheless, I think it's good for writers to be paid. Everyone seems to love to quote Samuel Johnson's line "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money." It's a good way to tweak writers, and, really, why not tweak writers? Most of us are full of ourselves. Why do we think the world owes us because we give verbal form to our thoughts? You've got thoughts too, and we ought to be grateful that you are reading at all.

You could hit my PayPal button and make a donation, but that rarely happens, and I can't conceive of badgering you to just give me money. I could write a book or do a photography collection and push it to you, but really, time has proved that I'm not going to do that. My energy is in writing the blog, and I'm not going to do anything that dissipates that energy.

I guess that rules out posting a PayPal link in my sidebar! (I'm not one to ask for money, in any case, although I don't begrude those who do.)

In any case, I'm checking around for some additional opportunities with advertisers, although I'm holding off on Google's Adsense for the moment (I've heard mixed things about the program).

I will of course be honored should readers keep my blog in mind as they do their online shopping for books, electronics, and other sundries. I'll be dropping link buttons right into the blog posts from time to time, especially when I write about books and academic research.