Monetization

Yep, there's the M-word.

What is monetization?
For non-native English speakers like me, what is monetization? In short monetization is a more classy word for making money. Well, the original meaning is a little different (the process of attributing 'value' to a bank note, sea shells or gold) but in blogger's language it means starting to make a profit from something (that was previously free or unprofitable).

I have seen the M-word pop up already a number of times this month while getting acquainted with the world of blogging. I also have to admit that I find these posts, be it videos or writings, quite interesting / inspiring to read. That is probably part of why they were written.

How does one perform the beautiful art of monetization?
Ah. To know, you want? To be, you should. To understand, you must! And only the beginning, that is!

Seriously
Seriously. Would I be writing blogpost after blogpost, for free, if I knew how to make money out of it? Actually, maybe I would. I kinda like it. But still I don't have the answer for you my friend. I will try to find it though. And I will tell you all about it.

Droste effect, or the rabbit biting of it's own head
When you Google for money making, you will probably find these extremely crappy sites promising you loads of money. All you have to do is buy there (e)book, which is about how to make loads of money. The book you buy itself is then probably about making loads of money by writing a book about making loads of money and selling it to fools like..you. (No, not you, because you didn't buy the book). This stuff smells funny, no?

So how much different then, are blogs that make money by showing you how to make money? That depends perhaps a little on what they show you, and whether it works. And most importantly whether it involves doing something else than the original writer is doing.

I will stop here. It is just a shiver I had for a moment seeing people commenting on blogs to get people to their own blog (which is then on turn probably about getting people to a blog), seeing people follow people on Twitter to get followers, that in turn are probably only following to get more followers themselves. Probably to attract readers to their blog, which is then on turn probably about how to get more followers on Twitter.

See where I'm going at? How much of this stuff is just a self-containing bubble? And will it burst before I can do some serious monetization?

Time will Tell.