Maybe you noticed that I put some ads on this site. I want to know how that’s working out for you; and I want to know what you’d like to see and hear from my site and podcast in the future.
Why ads? This year, we’ll have two kids entering college and one going to kindergarten (which we pay for). These were foreseeable expenses, but then the family van suddenly succumbed a year ahead of my hopes. We haven’t visited or helped my parents, gone to Girl Scouts or other activities, or gone to our beloved new parish for many weeks, because we don’t trust the van to go — or, more importantly, to stop — when we want it to. We’re searching for a downsized replacement vehicle in our price range, and we’re hustling for more work; but it suddenly became clear that it was time to monetize the thing I already have established. So, ads!
Do I still need pledges? Oh, yes, please please. I’m immensely grateful for your support through Patreon, which made it possible to launch the site when I left Aleteia, and which has kept it going for six months now. (I haven’t forgotten that I owe many of you the promised perks for pledging. I have no excuse for dragging my feet on that, except that I have very large feet, and they are heavy.) Your pledges mean I can continue writing five days a week without worrying about being fired for, like, saying “balls.” I’m so grateful, and very much welcome your continued support.
Oh gosh, please, I don’t want to go back to cranking out SEO-optimized articles that aren’t designed to be read. The photo at the top, illustrating my creative process? I’m thrilled with that, as long the thing I’m writing with one hand isn’t twelve short essays about cigar wrappers.
Will the podcasts continue? In the words of Darth Vader: Nothing can stop that now. My husband and I have been producing weekly 25-minute podcasts which are available to patrons who pledge at any level, even $1 a month. They’re chatty, drinky, goofy, and non-political, and I read a poem at the end.
We’ve just upgraded our audio system, so we should sound less bottom-of-a-wellish starting this week. We’re also restructuring a bit. I’ll be returning to my original idea of doing interviews with guests once a month or so. I also want to have recurring features for me and Damien to cover. We have some ideas, but we nervously welcome suggestions. What would you like to hear?
Why this particular ad network? I chose Mediavine because they work to keep the site as uncluttered as possible, to load the ads sequentially so it’s not too slow, and to keep the content appropriate. So far, I’ve been happy with the results, and I hope you can read without disruptions, both on mobile and desktop. Please let me know if you are having any problems viewing the site, or if you see an ad that doesn’t belong.
Any other questions, suggestions, complaints, concerns, or offers for an all-inclusive package for a weekend at the beautiful, sun-drenched La Fiesta Americana Resort using the Hilton rewards I can’t seem to persuade you I don’t actually have? Hit me! Or just write me an email, sheesh.
Finally: Thank you. You guys are good friends.
As long as you keep writing, you can put the ads any where you want. It’s a small, teeny, price to pay for reading your content. And I’m HAPPY to do that.
Also don’t mind ads–fact of life online.
The ads are not bothersome! Keep up the good work!
I also didn’t notice the ads till you mentioned them! So obviously they’re not bothering me, though maybe that’s because I’m so sleep deprived these days (newborn #6) that I don’t notice much unless you’re shouting in my face, which my children have become truly adept at…
I didn’t even notice the ads, haha! I mean they’re everywhere online. They’re ubiquitous and I’m used to seeing them. No problem at all. You do what you need to do, Simcha!
Does it help if we click the ads at all? Or just if we click thru and buy something?
I wondered that too!
Hey friends! This is Amber at Mediavine, the network these ads are coming from. While it’s great to click on an ad that you really want to because you want the product it’s advertising, I wouldn’t recommend making it a habit. It can actually lead to the advertisers thinking Simcha is guilty of ad fraud. She still gets money because they’re *viewed*, so just spend a good amount of time reading her content!
Thank you so much for this post and for mentioning us. It means so much to us that you’ve trusted us to help with your livelihood. We know it’s a big step for a lot of people, and we don’t take it lightly.
Also, huuuuuge compliment for folks saying they don’t even notice the ads. That’s what we’re going for here. Viewable, but not obnoxious.
If you do see an ad that doesn’t belong, we encourage you to click the “Report this Ad” button below the ad and send it our way. It only comes to us, and doesn’t hurt Simcha in any way. We rely on you guys to help us keep ad quality top notch, for when a bad ad sneaks past our filters.
All the best,
Amber, co-founder, Mediavine Publisher Network
Thanks so much for all those explanations, Amber! That is all very useful and helpful!
Thank you, Amber! 🙂
I did notice the ads, and they don’t bother me a bit. I mean, c’mon, you’re trying to feed your family and get them places without your vehicle crashing. And so far they are ads for Shopbop, Allstate, and Starbucks (that I have noticed), so they aren’t offensive or anything. Go you! Long (and prosperously) may you blog!
Or you could try this: Of course I am offended by the ads. But they aren’t as bad as the idea behind them, which is that you are trying to weaken your husband by selling your silly little blog. We all know that you’re just going to spend that money on your own fripperies (why do you think you really need a van? why should you go anywhere?), so what’s the point? But the worst—the WORST—is that you are wearing (gasp!) PANTS in the picture that you shamelessly put at the top of this post! How dare you?
She is only trying to weaken her husband and wearing pants because she has secret cancer, looks like prayers are still needed for the Fisher household😜 Ads are not an issue at all. Keep up the good work. As an idea: maybe you could offer an archived podcast for free as a sort of teaser to get us who are embarrassingly and inexorably cheap to more seriously consider being patrons.
I’m glad that you mentioned the ads, because I usually read your posts in a feed-reader, and I have an ad-blocker. But I’ll make a point of clicking through, and I white-listed your site, so hopefully you’ll get some cash from my clicks!
I don’t mind the ads at all. Actually, that was my first thought, and then I realized that because of my ad blocker, I was seeing zero ads, so clearly they would not bother me.
So I told my ad blocker to exempt you and you alone, and now I am seeing the ads and they still don’t bother me. Commerce, man. Whatcha gonna do? I wish you were receiving buckets of cash for what you do.
You had me at “patron of the (f)arts”. I’m donating to the cause.
Dearest Simcha, to be brutally honest, I have gone to Patreon a few times to start paying up for this marvelous work you produce. Each time I faltered. I just can’t bring myself to be a patron of farts. I know it’s very priggish of me. The minute you come up with some other clever category I’ll fork over my donation. In the meantime I’m willing to delete adds in order to read your work and overlook mention of balls.
Fellow small-minded consumer here. I spend my life trying to pull my boys out of the gutter – I just can’t bring myself to pay actual money to get down there with them. Also, glad to see the podcast is not political, as that is the other hurdle for me.
I’d love to hear more about your C25k efforts. I’d enjoy a weekly exercising update, just like the weekly meal guide.
The ads don’t bother me at all. Pretty sure I even clicked on a Talbots ad. 😉
Next year, we’ll have 3 (yikes!) kids in college so I feel your pain.
The ads are fine, don’t bother me at all. I’ll nervously send an e-mail with ideas….
FYI, your kids count as guests/interviews, in my book. That March for Life interview with them was wonderful.
Continued prayers,
Stefanie
To tell you the truth I hadn’t even noticed the ads, which shows how observant I am, I guess. And I have been considering subscribing to the podcast, but have had some unexpected expenses of my own. But heck, $1 is cheap, and I can probably do better than that and will starting probably next month. And I don’t want any perks. I have too much stuff already. I hope you can keep going, because you are smart and funny and observant and a good writer and basically really a good human being, and those things don’t always appear together.