Updates on Advertising, Donations, and General Shilling

Okay so you might have noticed that there have been some changes to the blog. I thought I'd take a post here and explain what's going on, just so we're all on the same page here and there's no confusion.

I'm just gonna come out and say it, I'm trying to get paid. I don't expect to be the next PewDiePie or anything, I just put a fair bit of effort and time into running this whole online bullshit that I've got going on, and if I can work it out so that I don't have to work a day job anymore, then I will. I don't do well in day jobs. I don't know if I'm autistic, or just that anti-social, but my track record with day jobs hasn't been the best, and the only work path that seems to work out for whatever reason is being myself on the internet combined with doing audio work for commission. Now if I had my ideal situation, I'd be able to just transition from doing this on the side in addition to my day job, to this being my full time job. But we're not there yet. So in the interest of getting the ball rolling on not having to put up with normies in meatspace everyday, I've taken a couple of measures, all of which I will fully disclose and explain in this post to the best of my knowledge.

The first thing you'll notice is that I've added a paypal link on the left side of the blog. Basically what this amounts to is a tip jar. There's nothing special I have to do, according to paypal, until I'm getting over $10,000 in donations, so we're good there for a good long while. I'm doing this in lieu of a patreon, because A) patreon takes more of a cut of the donations than I'm comfortable giving them, and B) because this paypal link puts everything right in your hands. You can decide how much to give and how often. There's no commitment, and I'm not withholding content so every donation is based solely on whether or not you enjoy my content enough to throw a few shekels in the hat. I think this is a bit more amenable than patreon, mostly because I've been known to lapse in content production before, and I don't want to tie people to a commitment to my terminally procrastinating ass when they could just one-and-done it, or come back for more if I keep my shit together and they feel so inclined.

Secondly, you'll notice an Amazon ad above the paypal link. This is here because I've joined Amazon's Affiliate Program, which basically means that I put that little widget on my blog, people click on it, they buy stuff on Amazon, and I get a commission from driving traffic to their site. It doesn't cost the customer any more, it just lets Amazon know that they came from me, and they'll cut me a slice of whatever you spend for sending you over there. It's not some weird virus fake ad, it's a legit bit of html code given me by Amazon, so there's no worries about downloading something funky by accident because you want to support what I'm doing here. So, if you would kindly click that link before you do your online shopping on Amazon, I'd be eternally grateful. Now, there is a little bit of confusion as of now, since I literally just set this up today, so I'm not entirely sure whether or not you have to buy the product advertised (they rotate those around), or if you can click the link and buy whatever you want, and it'll still count. But that'll be worked out one way or another. If you see something that interests you, click the link and buy it. If you want something else, click the link and navigate to your thing and buy that. I'll bring you the updates on this as they come so we can all be better informed about how to monetize your content.

Thirdly, I've put in an application for Project Wonderful, recommended by my friend Dan Wolfgang. I'm not entirely sure how this'll work out, but apparently it's an adsense-like ad service where people who want to advertise their products will bid on the ad space that is my blog, and whoever wins pays me for the ability to host ads on my site through Project Wonderful. This is still in the application stage, and I won't hear back from them for max 4 business days. So nothing could come of this if they don't consider my site worth putting ads on or my content is too objectionable for them to host. But hopefully we'll be seeing that rolling out within the next week. Like I said, I'll bring you the updates as they come.

Fourthly, I've added a blogroll to the left side of the blog. This list isn't exactly in any particular order, though I tried to make the top 20 or so sites linked there go to people that I'm friends with, or interact with a lot in some fashion, or they direct traffic to me in some fashion. But it's not a ranking like back in the days of Myspace where you'd list your top ten friends and knock people off when they piss you off. I just added people I'm friends with and/or am interested in supporting. So if you'd go check those guys out at your leisure I'd consider it a personal favor. They're all decent people and deserve more attention than they're currently getting, so if I can do some small part to increase their traffic, I will. And that list was a pain in the ass to compile and organize, so if you're featured there you can be sure that I got nothing but love for you.

I've also properly updated my right sidebar and store to include Enjoy The Decline: Accepting and Living with the Death of the United States by Aaron Clarey. Honestly this should've been done months ago when the book came out, but I'm terminally lazy and a perennial procrastinator from hell. I have been mentioning it in the podcast, but now thankfully it has its own ad on the blog. I don't collect royalties from this audiobook, but you should still go buy it anyway. Not gonna lie, a fair bit of my current mindset comes from lessons learned from this book, and there's a ton of good information in it besides that's just useful to know, even if the US doesn't collapse under its own bloated weight.

You'll also notice another Catherine Kimbridge audiobook up there. In keeping with this theme of finally getting off  my lazy ass and getting shit done, I've put a link to that on the sidebar as well. I do get a royalty off that book, so if you're into some kickass scifi adventures I highly recommend those. I had a lot of fun recording and editing them, and I stand behind my product, so I can almost guarantee that you'll have an enjoyable experience listening to them. That's if you're into listening to my voice acting for extended periods. If that's not your bag, then I can't really help you, my dude.

So yeah, that's basically where we're at right now. Like I've said before, I'm trying to turn this audiobook/content creation thing into a career that can pay bills. This seems to me to be the best way to do it. We've all gotta live, and we've all gotta pay bills. I figure that this is the most sustainable way to do so. I don't know if I've got some mental problem, or if I'm one of those people like Henry Rollins, but a straight job working for someone else and going to the same building for the next 40 years just makes me feel dead inside. Fortunately, we're in a new world, and that doesn't have to be the case. We live in a world where I'm able to monetize my autism, and make a living making audiobooks and other content for people to enjoy. Whether they get off at laughing at me, or genuinely enjoy what I'm doing doesn't matter all that much to me. What matters to me is not having to answer to a boss. What matters to me is trying to set myself up as an entrepreneur. What matters to me is not having to inflict my bullshit on other people in meatspace, and having people choose to interact with me because they either enjoy what I'm doing or just like laughing at the fucking goober making an ass out of himself on the internet.

So whatever reason you're here, I'm glad that you are. And if me trying to monetize my ramblings, and drunken rants, and blog posts about retarded shit that nobody cares about is off-putting to you, then you're more than welcome to forget about me. Or attempt to defame me online. Gene Simmons made a very good point with the phrase, "No press is bad press," so if you share me around in a fit of rage then I can only thank you for driving traffic to my site.

I can say this, though. These advertising opportunities and tip jars and what have you will in no wise change the content that I'm going to be delivering. I'm a horrendously bad liar, and I can't put on a fake persona just to keep advertisers around. So you're still going to be getting 100% unvarnished me, whether or not the advertisers have a problem with it. And if they do have a problem with it, then I assume they'll let me know and terminate the contract, in which case we'll continue on minus them. I'm not going anywhere for a very long time, and if these particular advertisers decide they want nothing to do with me, then fine. There'll be others, and if there isn't then I'll have to ramp up production of marketable material to even things out. Which, that'll be coming anyway, just so you know. But I can promise you that I will not compromise myself, or my standards, or my code of honor, for any advertiser, no matter how much money they offer. I'd rather make an honest, meager living being a complete asshole on the internet than kowtow to sponsors and have no outlet for my insane, fucked up ramblings.

I thank you for your time, understanding, and if you're so inclined your support.