Just to let you all know, I am not asking for donations. I have however come across more than a handful of blogs out there that have had buttons on their sidebar asking for donations. While I understand that many bloggers are asking you to support a worthy cause or charity (and I support that), there are others out there asking for you to support them in their blogging endeavors.
Blogging comes with a price, I know that. It takes time to set everything up and get the look you want. It takes time to come up with something to write about and then to actually get it written. This is time that could have been spent otherwise… cleaning, being with the family, shopping, crafting etc. I get that time has its price… I understand that, but you also get recognition for the effort you put in (in most cases at least). As a hobby blogger, do you really need to get paid by your readers?
There are the decisions we make regarding our blogs. I hate to say it, but if you as a blogger decide to purchase your own domain name and have a professional design, why are you asking me to help you pay for it? If the roles were reversed (and I am considering my own domain and getting away from the .blogspot.com thing) I wouldn’t ask you to help me pay for it, because it’s my decision to go that route. I also understand wanting to have a unique background, but there are other ways to get that too… sign up for giveaways – designers are constantly giving away blog makeovers because it gives them exposure… ask someone who’s background you like if they can help you, they just might (I know I have – I like helping others)… learn how to make it yourself… or (big revelation here) save up for it and buy it!! There are ways that you can make money online to help pay for those kinds of things… answering surveys for example, I do it and have made almost $50 in a few months. Sure you won’t get rich, but it will help pay for any blogging changes you may want to make.
I’ve been thinking about this and asking myself why it irritates me so much to see the “Please give your money to me” buttons. I mean hey, if someone wants to give that person money then it was great that they had the button there in the first place. I guess it bothers me though, because I get the feeling it just adds to the “Why should I have to pay for it – let someone else do it” attitude. It bothers me for the same reason I was bothered when I heard that a single mother who already had six children, and no job, give birth to 8 more… and then had the nerve to ask for donations on her blog (don’t even get me started on the whole reality TV thing – that’s one show I will be boycotting). If she doesn’t have enough money to help raise the first 6, why on earth would she go and decide to have that many more!?! Oh wait – the publicity… that’s right.
I have gotten off topic and ranted enough… What do you think? How do you feel about bloggers asking you to give them money so that they can fund their blogging? Maybe I’m the only one who’s bothered by it… maybe not…