Kevin O’Keefe has a post today called “Ads inappropriate on blogs marketing professional service or products.” That may be true when it comes to those kind of blogs. And I don’t run ads on my Kansas Family Law Blog.
However, I do run ads on this blog and plan to continue. I am not marketing professional services or products on this blog. The reason I do run the ads is to provide links to those products I use in my own home office.
If any of you have a problem with the ads, please let me know. And we can discuss it further in the comment section of this post.
I think Mr. O'Keefe is mixing different issues.
The first issue I believe has to do with one's philosophy of selling. Mine is that selling legal services is really all about helping clients find solutions to their problems & opportunities. Accordingly, if a reader is spending his or her time on a blog with a specific subject matter, then I am of the opinion that displaying ads that are reasonably calculated to help people with problems related to that subject, serves to enhance the reader's experience by providing additional resources.
Second issue is what kinds of ads are more akin to resources vs. intrusions. For example, a blog about marketing legal services (to pick a subject close to my heart) that displays ads which are reasonably calculated to help lawyers attract more clients, manage accounts recievable, etc. should logically be percieved by readers as a resource. An ad for a sub-prime loan or for a rental car on that same hypothetical blog, is an intrusion.
A third separate issue is whether or not the income generated from the ad warrants the blogger's time & attention to bother with. Again, this decision has alot to do with the blogger's philosophy, I think. A blogger whose only measure of success is revenue, might look at it alot differently than one who is at least partially motivated by helping people who have a problem related to the subject matter of his/her blog, to find a solution.
Respectfully,
RJON ROBINS http://www.HowToMakeItRain.com
Helping Lawyers In Small Firms Make ALOT More Money