Ad whore

OK, I've become an ad whore. I've been a capitalist from the start, and with Google's AdSense program running like mad on this blog, I thought it was time to add some more Amazon.com ads to see if they can help an unemployed man get some cash.

I've tried to make them a little interesting. I read books (or at least I want to when not with the kid or writing for someone else for a few dimes), so the banner ad on top features books. The ad on the bottom and the "cloud" ad on the right side feature products based on what's written on this page. I expect a book about whores to be on sale here sometime soon. Go ahead, buy.

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Employer gifts

Once again, I give thanks to United Reporting for being such a kind employer. One of the bosses there sent me a box of candy with a Christmas card, note and best of all, a $50 gas card at Arco. While that may not sound like a lot to Google employees or others, it's a lot to someone like me who has spent his entire career working at newspapers. I won't again go into the meager Christmas thanks I've received at newspapers for a year's labor, but it was rarely this good, and not even close in recent years.

Working for United Reporting was the first part-time job (now at 6) that I found after being laid off at the Contra Costa Times in June. I've said it here before and I expect to say it again, but UR has treated me well and gone above and beyond in letting me know they appreciate my work.

I wrote a blog for AOL's WalletPop.com recently about gifts for the unemployed. Check it out if you want ideas for other things to give the jobless this holiday season. And take a look where yours truly ranks on WalletPop's bloggers.

The power of working for AOL

It's amazing what having a job, although a small one, with Internet giant AOL can do. Not only am I getting paid to write about personal finance at AOL's WalletPop.com Web site, but my personal blog about looking for work in these troubled economic times is seeing a huge increase in page hits, etc. since I started writing for WalletPop on Nov. 11. And thus my money from Google's AdSense program is turning from a few cents into a few dollars.

For example, the number of "page impressions" on Nov. 10, the day before I started the AOL job, was 30 for this blog. The next day it jumped to 121. The highest has been 262 on Nov. 19. But more important are the number of "clicks," which I'm still trying to figure out what they mean to AdSense. But they reached a daily high of 13 on Nov. 30, equating to $12.81 for me on that one day. People are reading my blog, and it's starting to pay.

But possibly better than that is the fact that more people, and hopefully employers, are taking a look at what I'm doing. I've received some positive feedback from some readers lately, wishing me luck on the job search and some have shared their job hunt tales with me.

If you don't want to miss my musings on personal finance, bookmark my postings at WalletPop and keep up. And if you have story ideas on how the economy is affecting your spending, e-mail them to me.

$1.64

$1.64 is the ad income I'm waiting on from Google's AdSense program that runs on this blog. For the past 30 minutes or so I've been doing the multiple verifications that Google wants for my account before it will forward the money to my checking account.

Click thru on more ads to make this worth my time in the future, please. And if anyone has tips on AdSense and how to get it to work better and be more productive on this blog site, please let me know.