At first I was skeptical. Who wouldn't be? You get to make money from people reading Blog posts? Why not? That sounds like a lot of fun, doesn't it? Most of my 'readers' are my friends on Facebook, so they rarely ever actually visit my Blog site (blog.mcgaw.me) which is completely understandable. Why should you have to when you can read it on my wall in Facebook and then in my 'notes' (thanks to the RSS feed reader). However, because they do this, the ads never get seen, and therefore I don't get money.
So, yes, click on the ads! Yay!
But seriously, the website I am talking about is: http://www.fanbox.com
Now, before you raise your eyebrows, I will admit that the site isn't optimal, but as of today (the 19th of November 2010) it's still in Alpha. And honestly, it isn't that bad for an Alpha. This site differs in that it forces the users to go to the site directly (which can be a nuisance in some cases) to read the posts. What that then entails is that the site now has a steady visitor stream to generate revenue from ads, which a small portion is then given to the Blogger.
However, Bloggers can also advertise their own Blogs to generate more visitors to get more revenue. Also, to add the cherry on the cake, you can create a 'Premium Account' area. This is a pretty nifty feature in which only people who have paid the subscription fee can view. Let me show you.
What you could do (and this is only a suggestion) is write a Blog about taking photos of 'Nude Chicks', and then in the subscribed section put a bunch of pictures of baby chickens without any feathers on. You could also do the same with 'bald pussy', and shaved cats - I can taste the scams. However, as far as I understand it, a Premium User is a monthly subscription that gives you access to all portions of the site.
So, you get paid to have someone read your Blog, you can make more money if you attract Premium subscribers to your site, and you can also sell ads to promote yourself.
Not a bad deal. Still, I don't know if I'll make it a habit of posting there just yet. It's a pain to navigate, the format and fonts don't appeal, and the face that the entire site is in Ajax is going to be difficult for people who have slow Internet connections to post and modify. Another issue is the lack of RSS feeds. I don't want to write a blog here, then have to copy-paste it into the other side. There should be an automated feature for users like me, and there are a lot of users that write on Blogger and would like to connect their blogs to Fanbox. Maybe when they release the Beta. Who knows.
I currently run 2 Blogs there: Today's Moment of Zen and Technical Troubleshooting Blog. And yes, they're the same posts as here and there.
So in summary:
Pros:
So, yes, click on the ads! Yay!
But seriously, the website I am talking about is: http://www.fanbox.com
Now, before you raise your eyebrows, I will admit that the site isn't optimal, but as of today (the 19th of November 2010) it's still in Alpha. And honestly, it isn't that bad for an Alpha. This site differs in that it forces the users to go to the site directly (which can be a nuisance in some cases) to read the posts. What that then entails is that the site now has a steady visitor stream to generate revenue from ads, which a small portion is then given to the Blogger.
However, Bloggers can also advertise their own Blogs to generate more visitors to get more revenue. Also, to add the cherry on the cake, you can create a 'Premium Account' area. This is a pretty nifty feature in which only people who have paid the subscription fee can view. Let me show you.
So, you get paid to have someone read your Blog, you can make more money if you attract Premium subscribers to your site, and you can also sell ads to promote yourself.
Not a bad deal. Still, I don't know if I'll make it a habit of posting there just yet. It's a pain to navigate, the format and fonts don't appeal, and the face that the entire site is in Ajax is going to be difficult for people who have slow Internet connections to post and modify. Another issue is the lack of RSS feeds. I don't want to write a blog here, then have to copy-paste it into the other side. There should be an automated feature for users like me, and there are a lot of users that write on Blogger and would like to connect their blogs to Fanbox. Maybe when they release the Beta. Who knows.
I currently run 2 Blogs there: Today's Moment of Zen and Technical Troubleshooting Blog. And yes, they're the same posts as here and there.
So in summary:
Pros:
- Get paid for people to read your Blog
- Sell yourself easily
Cons:
- Cannot 'connect' Blogs from other sites
- Difficult to navigate intuitively
- Ajax site makes it hard for people with slow connections
On a side note, there is another nifty feature that plays on the whole 'Cloud Computing' concept. I think I'll just add pictures. It'll be a lot easier than me describing it (please note that I am using 'Full Screen' via Chrome in these pictures).
