Comments on: Amazon Store?

By: slux

slux — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:05:02 +0000

Some people complain about ads but I don’t think anyone has ever seen a traffic hit when introducing them and there’s always ad blockers for people who get annoyed.

I don’t like ones that blink & move a lot or jump in the way when you enter or ones that make sounds but other than that I think it’s ok. It’s not like the blog’s topic doesn’t involve money so I don’t really see a problem.

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:29:10 +0000

As long as there’s no flashing banner with dancing lemmings taking up half the page, I don’t mind.

By: Snafzg

Snafzg — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 14:11:34 +0000

Discreet and Discrete are abominations of the English language! :P

By: GregT

GregT — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:31:19 +0000

Oh man, I just used discretely when I actually meant discreetly. I have become the person I hate.

By: GregT

GregT — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 06:30:13 +0000

You’re welcome to put up an Amazon store; I can’t see myself visiting it, though.

On the other hand, for a site with this level of content and traffic you could do quite well out of a Google adwords placement or suchlike; it could be embedded fairly discretely under your blogroll, I suspect. I’ve gotten used to the idea that anything able to keep up a high level of quality will eventually monetize in some way. The key isn’t being unobtrusive, it’s in ensuring that advertiser content doesn’t eclipse or detract from core site content or the user experience.

By: Crimson Starfire

Crimson Starfire — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:55:55 +0000

I think it’s a great idea. I have no issues with bloggers unobtrusively adding methods of income to there blogs. It’s only ads in the articles that annoy me (/cough Massively).

Some of my fellow bloggers have had success in the past with adding a Paypal donation link on the side. It allows readers to donate at will and for an amount they feel comfortable with. Only downside is that you’ll get a big initial donation from all your current readers, but very little after that.

Another recommendation is to add a small message on the sidebar of your blog along the lines of:

“If you liked reading this blog, please use our Amazon store. It provides us with a very small benefit at no inconvenience to you. Thankyou”

This should also help out and is moderately unobtrusive.

By: Ethic

Ethic — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:34:52 +0000

That’s what we are here for!

By: Bonedead

Bonedead — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:27:09 +0000

Yay, now I don’t have to type amazon.com ever again!

By: Phil

Phil — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:11:43 +0000

It’s fine by me, I may even use it — the problem being I usually forget and end up using vanilla Amazon.

I wouldn’t even mind some Project Wonderful ads or something relevant (Massively?) in the sidebar or above or below posts. I agree that mid-post advertising is very irritating.

By: Snafzg

Snafzg — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:53:23 +0000

Yeah, I hate in-line ads, but I’m cool with everything else! Obviously… :P

The Amazon store can earn a nifty little bit of pocket change over time. People don’t even need to buy exactly what you sent them to the store for. You could send them there via a link to Warhammer Online and you’ll still earn a referral credit if they buy something completely different, like a pair of Wallabees shoes!