Should Blogs Be Monetized?

I feel a little like the husband who came home too late. He fully expected to find an angry wife, poised at the door, holding a baseball bat...she might demand, "Where have you BEEN?"

Like that husband, I have an excuse: This blog has been severely neglected in the past few days because I have been diligently preparing a gift for those of you who declared, "Yes. I want goodies" and entered your info in the box at the upper right hand corner of this page. It's just lucky for me you've been so patient. It is in the works and should be available very SOON.

I've also been learning more about blogging; hence I've posed the question, "Should blogs be monetized?" I'm sure you have seen ads on this very page; they are on the pages of most of the blogs you have ever visited. There are banners, there are messages with text and there are links. AdSense Ads by Google are very popular and work with your niche and the material that is written on your blog.

There are gadgets, plug ins, themes and features to consider. Google's Blogger has one set of features; WordPress has another collection.

There are so many way to express your creativity, your products, your passions and your business with a blog. I am finding that some people still do not understand what a blog is, so I am happy to share with you that a blog is simply a WEB LOG. It's like a journal, of sorts. Blogs can be intensely personal; they can be political; they can be serious or comical. They can even instruct. SIDEBAR: Ahem, we hope this is one of those! END SIDEBAR

I was able to "eavesdrop" on a conversation not so long ago where there was a long discussion about "PLUG INS"-features to make a blog highly functional for both blogger and visitor. Here is a partial list I heard about:

1. Back Up for the data base. I can only imagine the devastation if one's blog suddenly vanished in cyberspace!
2. All-In-One SEO pack. This makes Search Engine Optimization easier for the Google spider. If nobody can find your blog, what good would it do anybody?
3. Google Analytics. A free program, this allows the blogger to better understand his traffic pattern.
4. Twitter applications. These are proliferating like newborn kittens! These are the social network connectors that assist people all over the web to enhance their messages and help them be connected to other people.
5. A statistics counter. I have a good pal whose visitor count has surpassed 11,000! She would not know this if it were not for her counter.
6. A spam detector to deter those cranky, evil messages designed to fill all of cyberspace with meaningless drivel, or worse. Everybody hates spam.

Blogging is a wonderful outlet for expressing oneself. It is a way of reaching out to others and there are so many other good things to be said for blogging. I do believe blogging has replaced the pot-belly stove at the general store and the water cooler in an office. With blogging there are no geographic barriers.

Blogging is certainly here to stay. And yes, by all means, you should monetize your blog.

Rapid Cash Marketing

Connie Baum