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How I Reward Good Blog Posts

I sometimes come across a blog post that makes me want to reward the author a little more than the normal Digg, Reddit or Stumble voting. This is usually the case for content that enlightens or inspires me, or just makes me feel good.

I wouldn’t go so far as to pay the blogger, but since I’m willing to spend a little time there is another way. Here’s how I do it:

When I decide to reward the author, I scan the post for an ad that catches my attention. If (and only if) I find an ad that is worth spending at least 30 seconds on, I go ahead and click it. In that way the author gets a little money (usually a fraction of a dollar), I accomplish my goal of rewarding him or her, and the advertiser gets the chance to present his offer to someone who is suffering from severe ad blindness.

Please note that this is not some kind of click fraud. I only click on ads that interest me, and I do spend time to investigate the offer. In fact, my habit of rewarding good posts is every advertisers dream. Since I use Firefox with the Adblock Plus extension, I need to turn that off in order to see the advertising on the page. Nothing but the wish to reward the blogger could make me go through that procedure.

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  1. October 1st, 2007 at 18:00 | #1

    Just a little FYI on what ads pay in case you’re wondering:

    Adsense and other pay-per-click ads are highly variable in what they pay out, typically between a penny to $2, very rarely more. Usually the top 2-3 ads on the page are the best paying but which one is actually ‘top’ depends on how the page is built.

    Pay-per-action or pay-per-lead ads require a little more than just a click to pay out. Some require just a zip code or email submit for the pay out to happen. These are generally in the $1.50 range. I use the zip submit ads from time to time since they don’t require the user to give any personal info before bailing out but as long as the zip is entered I get paid. Other leads pay more but require more personal info to be entered before paying out. These may pay out up to $25 depending on the offer.

    Pay-per-sale ads require the person buy something. These usually pay out the best, even $100+ in some cases. Since they depend on somebody making a purchase, they don’t pay out as often although they can easily be the biggest money maker on a site.

    You also have per time period ad space sales that are sold for a fixed amount of time for a fixed price. Clicking on them does help the site owner sell the space to customers but the click and any other following actions don’t pay them anything else.

  2. May 23rd, 2008 at 08:59 | #2

    I like your way of rewarding the blog posts. But is it that only the post content is important..? I mean, Designing, structuring and layout are also equally important in making of a good blog post..
    Making a blog is quite simple but customising it, is what makes sense..Also writing of a content is also as easy as anything..but writing it in a proper way, with proper images, and also the content should not be that big..Only the required points and useful content is what makes the good post..

    • May 23rd, 2008 at 09:34 | #3

      Hi Milan!

      I agree with you, a big part of a good blog post is its content, but the package is also important for how you consume it.

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