Monetizing the RSS feed without loosing integrity of the blog and annoying our most precious readers – our loyal subscribers!

Make no mistake – RSS subscribers are your most loyal readers because they have made the decision to subscribe to your blog and read information you have to share on daily bases. While monetization of every blog (if you choose so) is important we should never forget the main purpose of our blogs – sharing of information and make sure we don’t annoy our loyal readers to the point of unsubscribing!
There are 2 major options to monetize your blog’s RSS Feed that I’m personally aware off and would even consider using and I will talk only about what I know…

1. External Ads

This option is most appropriate if you prefer the “hands off” approach to your blog monetization. And what I mean by this option is injection of external ads from Yahoo Publishers Network, AdSense or any other third party advertising. Once you set it up – you are good to go and all ads will be displayed on autopilot.
All you have left to do is collect the cash. Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?
Well, I got a bad news for you: This method generally involves editing one or more of your core files to inject the ads into your feed. So the next time you run update of the core blog files you better make sure to backup up changes you made. Since I don’t personally use AdSense I can’t speak on what options they present but I have YPN account and let me tell you – options they provide is not for the technical novices …

But I better show you what I mean… Click this link to see the directions YPN provides for adding RSS Ads to your blog. As you can see it requires editing of several files which are part of the core!
Not something that I personally enjoy doing. My preference is to leave core files alone so on next upgrade I don’t have to worry about what files did I modify and then go through the process again. But fear not – I have a solution for this problem at the end of this article!

I know that a FeedBurner also offers ads integration into your RSS but I think you have to reach a certain qualifiers to be offered this opportunity and I personally haven’t met them yet, so if you have a tips on it – please do share…

2. Internal Ads

Internal Ads are just as stated – ads that are coming directly from you. I personally like this option the best and this is what I use. These ads are hand picked by me and ensure the most relevant information will be presented to my subscribers.
Using this option allows me to offer my own product as well as products through affiliate links. Since I’m all about Affiliate Marketing as the most beneficial to the blog, this option works quite well for me.
Internal Ads also allows me to sell the spots for advertising directly from my blog and control what will be displayed without paying some third party for it. All the income goes directly to me, just how I like it!

Solution To RSS Advertisement

As I have stated above I have a deep ingrained dislike of editing core files when I work with an Open Source scripts. WordPress is one of the best available and as such it provides nice and timely releases and updates. Be it enhancements of functionality or security fixes – it doesn’t matter because at the end it still means same thing – your core files will be replaced with new!
Now, I don’t know about you but perspective of making modifications every 30-40 days is not something I enjoy and why should I? I can easily add RSS Ads to my blog in a simple and less annoying manner by using plugin:

• Feed Footer WordPress Plugin – is the ultimate solution to all your problems. It provides you with 10 separate fields which can be used for adding advertisement to the footer of your RSS feed (less annoyance for subscribers) or perhaps simply insert copyright notice. Choice is yours but whichever way you decide to use it – it will make the task a whole lot easier…

WordPress flexibility is incredible and getting to know all your options is a MUST. Many bloggers feel that by providing Full Text RSS feed they loose visits to their blog, loose monetization option when in reality that I have experienced – it Only Helps!
Using guidelines above you can easily monetize your RSS feed and keep your subscribers happy and participating in your blog discussions! Feel free to subscribe my Full Text RSS Feed and get my news delivered directly to your favorite reader or email! Options available below…