My friends,
You might’ve noticed there’s an Amazon.com deal over on the sidebar there. I wanted to say a few things about that.
Number one, Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt Energy Drink is not currently available at Amazon, nor are Dirt McGirt Sour Cream and Onion Rap Snacks (left). So you will have to get your food somewhere else.
Number two, you guys know I’ve been doing this websight for ten years now, and other than what I get for my books I don’t make any money off of it. And I’ll keep doing it for free until I die if I have to, but I figure if I ever do make some money off of it it could help me to do the day job less and spend more time on this, do a better job of striving.
The problem is I kind of hate advertising. I know it’s the only real model for keeping most websights going, so it’s a necessary evil. ButI do this because I love it, and to make it too crass and commercialized would pollute it for me. I’d feel weird if I was trying to pimp dating services and shit between my posts. It’s expected and normal but it’s not really me.
Still, I was thinking maybe it was time to give up my idealistic stance and try it out. I got books I want to write, and Bruce Willis movies the world demands I review, and there aren’t enough hours in the day. But I did some research and right now I think I’m at about a fifth of the readership I’d need to get any ad service. For someone at my level everybody says to do Google Ad Words or Amazon links.
Well, I hate that shit. I’m told I could make a few bucks that way but I’ve always figured it would be too intrusive. Then one day last week I was looking at Harry K.’s dvd column, which is pretty much just a series of Amazon links with little blurbs that he writes. He’s very open about the fact that he’s trying to get affiliate money, to the point where he recently did a top ten list of the best sellers through his Amazon links. Well, it seems to work for him, but I wouldn’t want to do that.
Now, don’t think I’m some new ager or hippie but I swear the answer came to me in a dream. I wish I was dreaming about flying over the city or winning a sex tournament in space but instead I had a dream where I used Amazon links but only for Clint Eastwood movies and only on a separate page that you had to click to get to. So it’s not in your face but if somebody’s kind enough to send a little money my way they can go there to do it.
So I looked into it and I found this “widget” deal and I decided it was okay to try something like that out on the sidebar there. I wouldn’t want to link all my reviews to Amazon or anything like that, that’s too much for me. But I’m thinking a little box on the side is no big deal. If anybody goes through those links and buys those products I get a 4% commission or something (the percentage goes up after you make some sales). I’m sure there would be other approaches that would get me more sales (like just having a generic search box for any title on Amazon) but for now I feel comfortable just linking my books, some funk music you guys might like and some other things we could all appreciate.
So that’s my reasoning. But the reason for this post is to tell you my policy:
1. If you have a local movie, music or book store where you could buy these, I’d rather you buy them there. I don’t like that those types of places are being put out of business by companies like Amazon. But on the other hand I guess it’s an inevitable part of the change in technology, and I do like that Amazon links to small businesses selling used items, and also they’re in Seattle so for me they actually are a local business.
More importantly
#2: I don’t think any of you owe me anything. This is a free websight. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t buy anything. It’s not your duty. But if you do want a Vern mug or a Dirty Harry box set, I would be honored to earn a couple bucks off of it. And I know most of you ordered my books off of Amazon anyway, I might as well add a little bit extra onto my residuals by linking directly.
So anyway, not trying to make a big deal out of it, but I didn’t want to just put it on there without saying anything, and also I’d like to know what you guys think about all this.
thanks,
VERN
author
April 9th, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Personally, Vern, I’ve had countless hours of free entertainment because of your web sight and therefore do not mind you pulling in a few bucks off your site, so long as the advertising has no effect on your content.
I’m already planning to get YIPPIE KI YAY MOVIEGOER at some point to voice my support. And I promise to buy something from one of your Amazon links if I see something I was already seriously considering buying.