selling out.

so, i got this email this week:

Kira,

We want to know if you'll partner with us to accept advertising on your blog COMPASSIONATE FASCISM? We have received 7 page views this week for your blog COMPASSIONATE FASCISM, and our BlogAd total for Petaluma, California area blogs is 242 this week.

Our website, www.wikimetro.org, is the largest online BlogAd marketplace with more than 50,000 blogs in more than 2,300 US cities and towns. Ads on blogs that partner with wikimetro have replaced newspapers to become the best choice for advertising by local businesses, and many bloggers listed on wikimetro now make their full income by writing blogs that carry ads for local businesses.

Please consider partnering with us--blogging is fun and are replacing newspapers for advertising. If you want to talk by phone, we are here 24/7, just follow this link to your blog on our site

http://list.wikimetro.org/market/info.aspx?blog=12326

When you open this link, click "Is this your blog?" then sign in (or register) and set the price that you will accept for an ad on your blog, and also tell us how to pay you.

it took me a while to understand what they wanted from me.
something about ads on my blog?
so i was thinking, like, along the borders or something?

then, after reading the FAQs, i found out i am supposed to WRITE the ad, into my blog, i think.

which is so weird.

i have mixed feelings about it.

it seems hard to imagine that i am going to make money on this deal, given that my readership is not big. and if people were making money doing this, it seems like they'd be talking about it a bunch. but i've never really heard anything about this. then again, what if it's easy and i *can* make money?

HOW MUCH IS MY ARTISTIC INTEGRITY WORTH?!

i know, i know. what artistic integrity?

i could write an ad for something, i think.

but do i need to make it seem like i am plugging a product? can i make it clear that it's an ad and i am being paid for it? for example:

wow, the people at 'the best little hairhouse in petaluma' are the nicest, funnest people and i think the service they're offering is probably awesome. i think, if you have a chance, you should go there, in person, and see what they're all about! or, if you can't afford to load the entire family up and head over there, absolutely check out their website and buy some things from them, because DUH. they're OBVIOUSLY wonderful.

was that painful for you? it was mildly painful for me, but not terrifically.

i just don't know.

no one ever comments on my blog posts, but if anyone has any thoughts to share about this issue, i'd appreciate it.