Creative Toolbox

So it has been just shy of a year since Creative Toolbox came to be. In some ways I’m pleasantly surprised at how well the site worked out and in others, well, not so much. I have to admit that I’m happier with the level of popularity of the site compared to the actual companion book it was meant to compliment.

One thing some readers will notice was that halfway through the year I started introducing advertising. This is something I battled with but ultimately tried it as an experiment. I can’t stand when sites are littered with ads so I was doing my best to find a good balance. What I discovered through the six months or so of testing out various services is that it’s possible to make it work.

Well, make it work is kinda vague. Let me just say I planned to be perfectly happy with getting back enough on advertising to cover the hosting expenses. After a couple of months, I found this was possible.

For those interested in the advertising side of things for a young, upstart blog, let me just say Google doesn’t cut it and Amazon is surprisingly effective. Google Adsense seems as though you’re making money but when you take the time to read the fine print, you’ll realize you may never get a payout since they don’t send you money until you reach $100. For the record, I think I’m still hovering around $30. Amazon Associate’s Program has offered a bunch of helpful tools this year to make it really easy to connect the right products with my audience. Yeah, I know, that sounded lame but it really is true. Not to mention, Amazon actually pays you once you hit $25. And since you get paid on any wayward visitor’s transaction, it’s fairly easy to reach this in a quarter.

So from these findings, I’ve decided to ditch Google and its eternal, dangling carrot and devote more relevant space to Amazon. I’ve also decided to give Text-Link Ads a go. I have no idea how well that will pan out but I’ll give them a shot.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I’m going to do my best to find an alternative to the k2 theme this site is based off of. I really love all that k2 offers in terms of features and functionality — both for the visitors and myself. But I can’t ignore how slow it makes the overall experience. Especially for first time visitors, which is when it’s most critical. I can’t say if and when I’ll find something that fits the bill, seeing how much I have invested into k2, but I’m going to give it a go.

And with all that, I’d just like to thank those that have continued to visit the site for this past year. Feel free to comment and let me know what else you’d like to see.