Blogvertise? Does advertising demean one's blog?

It's astonishing to think how much this blog has changed since I first starting writing it, back in June of 2006. I was Sales Manager of a radio station in Berkshire then. Now I'm living in New York - still working in the radio biz, but in a totally different capacity.

This blog has actually opened a lot of doors for me. It was one of the reasons I was featured in the BBC documentary 'F**k off, I'm Ginger!' and has helped me meet some wonderful people in a variety of different fields, including writers like Fiona Walker and Robyn Young, who've inspired me to keep up with my novelist aspirations.

This blog has evolved too - it's sprouted some pretty funky header pictures (I like the current one, especially) a third column and, I arrogantly believe, my writing has improved enormously as a result of it.

However, another less welcome addition to Militant Ginger has been advertising.

This photo is included to represent the commercialization of Militant Ginger and is in no way included purely for the purposes of titillation/pimpage. Honest.

I like to think I've kept it fairly discrete. I have commercials for The Beer Machine and several Renaissance-themed stores, because they're businesses I've used myself and am rather fond of. So far, I've made virtually nothing from this compromise to commercialism.

Similarly, I've taken to posting links to Amazon when I review books and movies. Again, this hasn't netted me a cent in terms of revenue - yet - but feel like I haven't 'sold out' because these are books and films I'm viewing and reviewing on my own terms.

Now I'm considering adding the services of Blogvertise to Militant Ginger.

The question is - does commercialization detract from this blog? Have I already gone too far, with links to products embedded in my posts? Does the commercial aspect of this blog still remain fairly discrete? Or have I 'sold out?'

It's an interesting question. I'd appreciate any thoughts.

As a blogger, I've realized that the opportunities to commercialize this blog are limited. One book I read recently, ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income by Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett, highlighted the importance of having a 'blog niche.' As in, a specific 'thing' your blog is about (which gives people a specific reason to go there.)

Militant Ginger isn't really about anything. It's a mishmash of political opinion, reviews of books and movies, pictures of my baby, rubbish about cars and whining about how shitty British people are to redheads. And (you'll be relieved to know) I like it exactly like that! Militant Ginger gives me an opportunity to write about what I want, when I want.

But it's not very commercial. People aren't going to visit Militant Ginger unless it's to read a specific article (Stephen Fowler is netting me a thousand hits a week) or because they actually know me, either in real life or as part of my bloggy friend network.

I launched a secret 'commercial' blog and it proved messieurs Rowse and Garrett right. I started receiving more 'hits' per day on that site than on Militant Ginger - within just a week of being launched! Still haven't made any money off it, yet...

So, even though I might flirt with companies like Blogvertise, I just wanted to let you know that I like to think I haven't 'sold out' yet - and don't intend to.

I might be a wee bit too 'advertise-y' occasionally (Hell, I'm in marketing, what do you expect?) but to the best of my ability, the content you see here on Militant Ginger will remain exactly as Amazon and the others consider it - totally worthless!