One For The Money

This is post #376 on the blog formerly known as Suldog-O-Rama. I began writing (if you can call it that) on August 11th, 2005.

I mention these things because I am now approaching the initial goal I set for myself when I began this... thing. I am about to pass the threshhold where payments from Google will kick in. Google will actually cut me a check any moment now.

Here's the deal: Google pays me for the advertisements I've placed here. How much? I truly have no idea. That is, I've tried to figure out what the rate may be, but I can't for the life of me figure out the formula they use. I know I get something for any sales made, and maybe something for each click-through, and maybe even something for just sheer numbers of visitors... maybe. But how they figure what I've earned? No idea.

The important thing, though, is that they begin sending out payments once your account reaches at least $100. And, after better than two years of putting electronic pen to screen, I am now only about 60 cents away from getting an actual check.

(I would like to point out that not all of the ads here are by Google. Those on the sidebar are via the Boston Blogs Ad Network. Despite the fact that you won't find this blog listed on the page I've refered you to - and I'm not really sure why, unless it's the fact that I sometimes swear a lot, and talk about things not having anything to do with Boston, and go off on tangents about drug usage, and generally do lots of things that might make advertisers not want to be associated with my scribblings... well, OK, I suppose that's why - they have paid me many times already, if you've been able to follow this sentence all the way through and kept track of the meaning. Adam Gaffin, who runs the deal, is a swell guy who lets us know EXACTLY how much we get for each click-through, and he sends me a check on a regular basis. I've earned - this is just a rough estimate from my sieve-like memory - perhaps $70 from these ads? That's in much less time than the Google ads have been running. I'm highly satisfied with my arrangement with Adam.)

(Hi, Adam! If you're reading this, feel free to make an additional pitch. If it will help any, I'll disavow the preceeding paragraph.)

Anyway, I'm a rather wordy SOB, so I figure a bit more than 1,500 words an entry, on average. I've put about 600,000 words out here during the 376 posts/2+ years I've been here. This means that Google has been paying me at the rate of about 1 cent for every 60 words. Or, at least, will have paid me that whenever I get my first check.

Woo (and, further unto that, Hoo.)

Now, as I said earlier, that was my goal when I started this blog; to get paid. I expected the Google check to arrive a bit more quickly than it ultimately will, but that's OK. They've provided the platform for me, and they haven't censored me, so it's all good.

One of you will put me over the top any moment (day, week) now. If I had some way of knowing who exactly did so, I'd give a prize to that person. I won't have much of a clue, though. I might be able to narrow it down to the nearest hundred or so, since that's a fair average of my unique daily hits, but that's about it.

So, what I'm going to do is this: Keep the damned money for myself. I did the writing, so fuck you.

No, no, no, wait a minute. I didn't mean that. I like you. I want to show my appreciation. So, I shall run a contest, with a prize of...

You don't get to find out until I hit the $100 mark. So, take a hint. HOW do I make money? It had something to do with ads, right? Yes, it did.

See you soon, maybe with 100 big simoleons bursting out of my pocket - and some of them fairly straining to get into yours!!!*


*All promises, whether implied or actual, should not be construed as real. This is not a toy, and may contain choking hazards to small children. Do not puncture or incinerate, except in California. May contain peanuts.

(By the way, the picture at the top of the page has nothing to do with anything. It was just a leftover from the rainy New Hampshire trip, and I have absolutely no good reason for posting it. You're welcome.)