I started this blog for a number of reasons, but one of the most important ones was as a testing ground for services, software, and that sort of thing. Obviously I like to play around with Wordpress, but I also wanted to give Media Temple's Grid hosting a shot, as well as test out some theories on RSS readership, and that sort of thing. Up to this point I have not run advertising on this blog (save for a day or two of Adsense), but I finally got around to signing up for Text Link Ads. A lot of people use them, but this is actually the first time I am giving them a shot so I am really interested to see how well they perform given this blog's limited amount of traffic. My basic set up: - 5 link ads - run only on the homepage (this was recommended) - slightly below the fold (this may have to be changed) - colored to blend I rejected TLA's offer for their Inlinks service because I just wanted to demo their basic sidebar link sales. I am not selling links at the post level or using them for RSS advertising. If I have a positive enough experience with them in order to be able to recommend the service, I might add an affiliate link in a post or two, or maybe somewhere in the sidebar. For the time being I haven't... As for the money, I don't think it can make very much in the current state (they don't even tell you how much your links are selling for) , but after the rev share, if all goes well, I might be able to pay for the site's hosting and maybe go out to the movies (by myself, no snacks or soda). Edit- Okay, already had my first error:

 

WordPress database error: [Table 'dbxxxx_wp.wp_tla_rss_map' doesn't exist] SELECT * FROM `wp_tla_rss_map` ORDER BY post_id DESC LIMIT 10

Update: 11:13am : Looks like this happened because I first installed the Inlinks plugin and then moved over to the normal text link ads one. The support people at TLA are working in it, they have been very helpful and responsive so far. The error only comes up after I publish/save an article, the rest of the site seems unaffected. Update: 1:42pm : The issue is resolved. TLA updated their Wordpress plugin in order to fix the issue that happened when Inlinks was installed and reverted back to the standard plugin. Big thanks to Justin, Patrick, and Drew at Text Link Ads for all the help!