May 30, 2007 at 3:57 PM

Posted in 'Dear Diary' with tags 'ads, flight_lessons, google'

You may have noticed (if you're not logged in) that I've added a few small ads to the site. I've tried to make them as unintrusive as possible — matching them to the site's color scheme, etc. Even so, I hate to do it. But the flight lessons I'm taking are putting pretty significant demands on my budget, and I'm trying to find ways to reduce my monthly expenses in any way possible. The $160/mo I pay to keep BinRock online was obviously one of the first things to look at. I've never considered adding ads to the site before, because I always assumed they'd only bring in $10 or $20 a month, and that just wasn't worth the clutter they add. But I've been talking with friends of mine who participate in Google AdSense, and I've been learning that actually, based on my monthly traffic, it's quite likely that I'll bring in something in the $80-100 range — over half of my monthly server costs. That's just not something I can ignore — at least for now. Once I've finished the flight lessons and my finances have settled back down, I may get rid of them again. And of course, if it turns out they really aren't producing enough income to be worthwhile, then they'll be gone much sooner than that.

Comments

Posted by Antonio 29 minutes later

Hey man, power to ya! That way I can just visit instead of giving you a birthday gift. I'm cheap and cunning that way.

Posted by c-a g 14 hours, 49 minutes later

Am I just dumb? I don't see them.

Posted by Dan 2 hours, 59 minutes later

Hehe, no, I set it up so that if you're logged in to BinRock it doesn't show you the ads (except for the ones at the very bottom of the sidebar on the front page -- I figure that's out-of-the-way enough that it doesn't hurt). I'm trying to minimize the effect they have on my regular visitors.