Content Done Better Blog is going ad-free...

When I started this blog, I envisioned it as both a promotional/marketing tool for my content writing services and an opportunity to "sound off" about issues and news in the industry. I never really perceived it as a solo moneymaker.

However, that right sidebar beckoned... I knew I wouldn't run Adsense ads (I am not interested in being a billboard for my own competition). So, I decided to install a Chikita mini-mall, a few Amazon ads, a Google search box and a couple of Google referral ads. I have experimented with a few in-post Adgenta ads, too. Once I even snuck in a link for a Blogitive client.

The result? The blog makes a little bit of moolah. Oh, and it's a wee bit overstuffed with distracting stuff that doesn't really offer much benefit to the bulk of my regular readership. I also wonder if its overtly commercial element doesn't somehow cut against the credibility of the viewpoints expressed. Money is nice, but it's not like this blog is such a great producer that it warrants that kind of downside.

So, at some point today, the Content Done Better Blog will be stripped of all third party advertising.

Don't get me wrong. I am not turning into one of those "blog purists" who despise any introduction of a commercial element into a blog. After all, this blog will continue to serve, in a way, as a means of self-promotion and I am not abandoning any of my "for profit" blogs that operate primarily on an Adsense model. I just didn't think the ads were a good fit here.

Now, I have to decide what to do with all of that extra right sidebar space!