Year of the Blog

On 16 Nov 2006 I became a blogger by uploading 'The World's Ugliest
Toolbox'

http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/2...t-toolbox.html

....in response to Google's offer of free blogging space. Since then
I've uploaded 264 others from a file of a thousand or so digitalized
articles accumulated since about 1992. The material covers a broad
range of interest and includes articles submitted for publication,
successfully in a few cases but mostly rejected, especially so for the
aviation-related material.

To provide this 'free' service Google attaches advertising to your
material. When someone clicks on one of the ads, the advertiser pays
Google, who shares a bit of the wealth with you. You are allowed to
limit the number of ads and to block ads from companies you deem
unsuitable. Of course, the more restrictions you impose on your site,
the lower its potential income. And the thing has to generate SOME
income or Google will simply kick you off.

Over the past year the blog has been visited 97,305 times. Those
visitors clicked on 862 of the ads, for which Google paid me $292.
That's about 266 visitors a day and two clicks worth eighty cents, a
tad shy of Minimum Wage even for a writer :-)

As soon as my blog appeared I got a few friendly jabs from fellow
writers about getting rich through blogging. This message should lay
their fears to rest :-) At the same time, a number of other folks
asked if creating a blog was worth their time. I didn't know. I said
I would give it a year and tell them how things were going, which is
what I'm doing here.

Over the course of the last year the blog has generated a fair number
of comments, some of which I've posted. A lot of people have urged me
to submit a particular article to various magazines, unaware that in
most cases, I already have. If you want to see a particular type of
article in your favorite magazine the person to talk to is the editor,
not the writer.

Has the effort been worth-while? If you mean financially, no. But as
a means of disseminating information, I think the blog has been a
success.

-R.S.Hoover
-18 Nov 2007

"Veeduber" > wrote in message news:a90a68de-816b-49fa-9c1e-

> Has the effort been worth-while? If you mean financially, no. But as
> a means of disseminating information, I think the blog has been a
> success.
>

sorry the income part has not been up to snuff, but the world surely
appreciates the information you are sharing freely....come on folks click a
link and give Bob something for all his time and experiences...

Thanks for the effort Bob.

I visit your blog regularly and had I made the connection that you got a
cut (albeit small) of the click thru ad revenue I would have made it a
point to click on the ads (even if I might not be interested in what
they were selling). Now that I know I will do so. Doesn't take much
time or effort on the part of the reader and if enough people do it it
might make the Google check a bit more significant.

Once again, I enjoy the blog, appreciate the effort, and please keep up
the good work.

> ..come on folks click a
> link and give Bob something for all his time and experiences...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the thought is appreciated I would prefer you did not. Such
false click-throughs are not only unethical, they're prohibited by the
Blogspot TOS. That would turn me into another Mario and the world
seems to have too many of them as it is.

-Bob Hoover

Veeduber wrote:
>
> On 16 Nov 2006 I became a blogger by uploading 'The World's Ugliest
> Toolbox'
>
> http://bobhooversblog.blogspot.com/2...t-toolbox.html
>
> ...in response to Google's offer of free blogging space. Since then
> I've uploaded 264 others from a file of a thousand or so digitalized
> articles accumulated since about 1992. The material covers a broad
> range of interest and includes articles submitted for publication,
> successfully in a few cases but mostly rejected, especially so for the
> aviation-related material.
>
> To provide this 'free' service Google attaches advertising to your
> material. When someone clicks on one of the ads, the advertiser pays
> Google, who shares a bit of the wealth with you. You are allowed to
> limit the number of ads and to block ads from companies you deem
> unsuitable. Of course, the more restrictions you impose on your site,
> the lower its potential income. And the thing has to generate SOME
> income or Google will simply kick you off.
>
> Over the past year the blog has been visited 97,305 times. Those
> visitors clicked on 862 of the ads, for which Google paid me $292.
> That's about 266 visitors a day and two clicks worth eighty cents, a
> tad shy of Minimum Wage even for a writer :-)
>
> As soon as my blog appeared I got a few friendly jabs from fellow
> writers about getting rich through blogging. This message should lay
> their fears to rest :-) At the same time, a number of other folks
> asked if creating a blog was worth their time. I didn't know. I said
> I would give it a year and tell them how things were going, which is
> what I'm doing here.
>
> Over the course of the last year the blog has generated a fair number
> of comments, some of which I've posted. A lot of people have urged me
> to submit a particular article to various magazines, unaware that in
> most cases, I already have. If you want to see a particular type of
> article in your favorite magazine the person to talk to is the editor,
> not the writer.
>
> Has the effort been worth-while? If you mean financially, no. But as
> a means of disseminating information, I think the blog has been a
> success.
>
> -R.S.Hoover
> -18 Nov 2007

Now you got 24Cents more :-)

J.

"Veeduber" > wrote in message
...
>> ..come on folks click a
>> link and give Bob something for all his time and experiences...
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> While the thought is appreciated I would prefer you did not. Such
> false click-throughs are not only unethical, they're prohibited by the
> Blogspot TOS. That would turn me into another Mario and the world
> seems to have too many of them as it is.
>
> -Bob Hoover
>
i see your point, Bob...sorry....okay..i'll rephrase, folks click the
sponsor links if you think you may be interested in their product....

> i see your point, Bob...sorry....okay..i'll rephrase, folks click the
> sponsor links if you think you may be interested in their product....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's just as bad. When a blog runs along for a year earning less
than a dollar a day then suddenly jumps up to twenty-five dollars a
day, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that someone is trying
to cheat the system.

Odds are, Google will simply shut down the blog.

-Bob Hoover

Veeduber wrote:
>> i see your point, Bob...sorry....okay..i'll rephrase, folks click the
>> sponsor links if you think you may be interested in their product....
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That's just as bad. When a blog runs along for a year earning less
> than a dollar a day then suddenly jumps up to twenty-five dollars a
> day, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that someone is trying
> to cheat the system.
>
> Odds are, Google will simply shut down the blog.
>
> -Bob Hoover


I suggested the same thing as Joey regarding ads on your blog but will
follow your wishes in this matter of clicking ads *solely* to increase
ad revenue generated by your blog page.

However, in the future I will look a little more closely at the ads on
your blog (by default I tend to tune out *all* ads on *all* webpages)
and if I see something that actually *does* interest me I will click on
it and check it out. I think this is a morally defensible position.
All I'd be doing is turning off my normal "filter out all ads" mental
setting and if I see something of actual interest I'd click on it and
take a look. This is in fact what Google and the advertisers want to
happen. The fact that it would help out (however slightly) a long time
VW enthusiast and resource would be just a happy convergence of
Google's, the advertisers' and your (perhaps minor) interest.

Thanks for all your contributions and help for the VW community.

Best Regards,

"Veeduber" > wrote in message
...
>
>> i see your point, Bob...sorry....okay..i'll rephrase, folks click the
>> sponsor links if you think you may be interested in their product....
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> That's just as bad. When a blog runs along for a year earning less
> than a dollar a day then suddenly jumps up to twenty-five dollars a
> day, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that someone is trying
> to cheat the system.
>
> Odds are, Google will simply shut down the blog.
>
> -Bob Hoover

hadnt' thought of it that way.... I'm in the same boat as Leopold, in that i
tend to tune out the ads... there are ads everywhere i click these
days......

Joey Tribiani wrote:
> "Veeduber" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>>i see your point, Bob...sorry....okay..i'll rephrase, folks click the
>>>sponsor links if you think you may be interested in their product....
>>
>>----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>That's just as bad. When a blog runs along for a year earning less
>>than a dollar a day then suddenly jumps up to twenty-five dollars a
>>day, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that someone is trying
>>to cheat the system.
>>
>>Odds are, Google will simply shut down the blog.
>>
>>-Bob Hoover
>
>
> hadnt' thought of it that way.... I'm in the same boat as Leopold, in that i
> tend to tune out the ads... there are ads everywhere i click these
> days......


I'm trying to get my user ID from my ISP back in Finland so I can
continue using their server... ad free. I get it for free on top of my
DSL connection THERE. Which is being used by my sister now.
After a hard drive crash, I haven't been able to log in, because the UID
and PWD were on that drive.. argh.

Jan