Your blog's content is a commodity. Treat it like one.

Your blog's biggest asset is the content you write.  Wouldn't you know, there's a whole industry out there ready to swoop in on your prized petunias, not for fame and fortune, but for profit.  We are used to their appearance in newspapers, magazines, radio and t.v.  They've been pushing themselves onto the internet for years, starting with banner words and graduating to ppc andtext links.  Now they are making an appearance on video.

Can you guess who I'm talking about?  It's the advertising industry and they would do the happy dance if they could get on your blog.

At Blogworld Expo 2008 I attended a monetization session.  The panel included 5 speakers, the majority of whom were advertisers and they are all about blogs.  If advertisers could sponsor a good blog, dedicated to an niche, they would in a heartbeat. Their second choice pickings would be a widget on your sidebar.

I also walked the expo floor and toured the latest and greatest free applications and utiities for blogs.  They are so kind to bloggers, everything is easy and simple to install.  In five minutes flat you could have a brand spanking new widget, shiny and slick on your blog that will allow your readers to grade your blog or suggest news stories relevant to your post.

The thing that makes advertisers salivate more than anything is to stake claim to your most valuable property-your content. I watched a demo of a monetization tool that imbeds relevant video which pops up full-size right in the middle of your post and expands to the four corners of your blog.

Isn't that exciting?

I am all for diversification when it comes to income.  I am not a true philanthropist.  If there's an honest dollar to be made in my endeavors, I'm all for it; A she-blogger and her three children have to eat, don'tcha know?  The key is that I am talkin' about an honest dollar. No smoke and mirrors for my readers- a little lot of opinion and 'just the facts ma'am.

I use widgets.  I love my bloglog and the faces that greet me every morning.  I used to have a doormat that greeted my visitors displaying their state origin.  I thought it was a nice personal touch.  I have used Google AdSense and Amazon widgets.

I did say that I'm a For-Profit Enterprise.

Now I am starting to think about my most valuable internet asset.  My blog is my highrise in Park Place. Should I let an advertiser take a piece of my real estate?  How can I make sure that I don't risk devaluing my blog with a low appraisal.  How can I make sure I protect the integrity of my internet business and retain the value of my blog to my readers and to myself? 

I have a few ideas.

• I will consider my widget options carefully.  I will only add them if they are of value to my readers.  If I read a book and recommend it to my readers and from that recommendation my readers click and  purchase that book and I make a commission...acceptable.  If I slap up a rotating collection of books I've never touched ...unacceptable.

• I will reserve advertising space on my content for me.  I will advertise myself and my services through the use of value and transparency woven opaquely through the text of my posts and the quality of my conversation.  I will add a call to action when appropriate.
• 
  I will watch my conversations unfold and reciprocate in kind.  I will listen and respond asap.  One way conversations devalue my content.
• 
  I will link and recommend bloggers, writers, and business professionals in my posts that provide a value to my readers.  I will add my blog's rss feed or url to every social network I join.  I will link to other posts I have written when it makes sense.  I will not swap links for the sole purpose of increasing my ratings. 
  
• I will stop comment advertising on my blog.  Sometimes I will encourage it for the value of my readers.  If I don't request it, though, I don't want it.  It takes away from my business and devalues my blog.  If your an Active Rain member, see how Brian Brady protects himself from comment spamming on a recent post he penned.  For a good example of a gracious but firm blog host, visit Lenn Harley's blog and see how she deals with comment spaming.

Don't turn a blind eye.  Your blog's content is a commodity.  Treat it like one.

How do you protect your online real estate?  Please share by commenting below.