You might have noticed I dropped AdSense. Feels a lot better. Instead, I added a link to Dreamstime for picture licensing (check my articles, I used them more than Flickr I think). Plus, I implemented a plug-in from AdTaily. Nice one, you can have ads on your site and – even more important – you decide whether to accept or to decline.

If you’re asking for the result:

  • AdSense: 0.57 € (used for a total of 5 months)
  • AdTaily: 0.00 € (online for a week, no customers yet – of course)
  • Flattr: 5.24 € (revenue for second half of October)


Well, the Flattr bit kind of surprised me. 6 clicks, 5.24 €. Honestly, I expected something around 0.30 €… I’m flattered (no pun intended). So, thank you very much, dear reader! 🙂

From a business point of view, I think when distributing articles or ebooks a PayPal button might be a good option to add. Either you can download the file for free, or you spend some fraction of your Flattr amount, or you are free to spend any amount you think the article is worth.

The currency you are paying me with is your esteem of my work. But your esteem may materialise in different ways. I don’t think that the more esteem you have for my work, the more you will pay. Yet, what you pay certainly is not hard money.

You subscribe to my feed.
You tweet my article.
You recommend someone to read my blog.
You pay me a share of your monthly flattr amount.
You might even sometime donate an amount via PayPal.
You might contact me to collaborate with you on some project.

It is about the relationship.

While esteem is the currency, relationship equals the amount. Relationship means you are willing to purchase services from me. The better the relationship, the more valuable the revenue from the services will be to me.

It’s a vast array of options from free to project payments. This is how to learn to appreciate someone’s work. This is the way to build a business/customer relationship based on credibility, reliability, and confidence.

Now, translate this to making and sharing music.

This text has been published under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 Unported licence. If you would like to make use of the text or parts of it in a way that goes beyond the scope please ask me.