Finally, someone has come up with an innovative way to make money from blogging that really fits, imho, the blogging paradigm. It's called Blogversations. Here's how it works. . .

1. They match advertisers with bloggers
2. Advertisers choose a topic or question (not an advertorial)
3. Bloggers discuss the topic or question, and place a link to the discussion on their blog's front page
4. Advertisers truly engage audiences without doing evil; bloggers get paid for doing what they do best - blogging!

I know some blogging purists disdain any form of commerce, seeing it as a profanation of the integrity of the medium. While I'm not one of them, I could be their next of kin. Something has always stuck in my craw about wrapping advertising around a writer's heart-felt musings. I've tried several ways (Google Adsense, Blogads, banner ads, etc.) to monetize this site, much to no avail. So, instead of just admitting personal failure as a marketer, I justify it with high-sounding pronouncements about the evils of mixing ecommerce with journalism, blog-style! :-) Maybe my heart's just not in it.

Perhaps in an ideal world, blogs would be bereft of any form of monetization. However, need I say it, we don't live in an ideal world. So, what to do. . .what to do? How do we maintain the integrity and authenticity of voice that blogging has become famous for, and yet take advantage of our blog site as an income source?

Blogversations says "Leverage your authority and audience to earn money - without losing authority over what you've got to say. Turn your ideas, criticisms, opinions, and reader share into money - and not muddy up your site with clunky ads in the process. Engage your audience with thought-provoking issues and questions."

Sounds good to me! So much so I've signed up for it!