Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Potpourri

Happy midweek, everybody!

I want to begin by thanking everyone who stopped to offer congratulations on MBS's nine millionth hit. It's a staggering number to me too. I am pleased that readers find this blog helpful and encouraging. The content and purpose have evolved over the years, but my vision of consensual spanking as a positive, shared experience remains unchanged.

It's been a very busy spring around here. Lots of events, good, bad, and time consuming, pop up like weeds on our calendars. Real life keeps interfering with my blogging! I'd like to hope that summer heat will bring with it a slower pace, but we'll see.

In terms of spanking, we've had some ups and downs (often involving Randy's hand). Right now, I'm in one of those mindsets where the more I get, the more I want. There is a remedy, but we haven't achieved that yet...

I posted a poll about advertising on blogs a while back. The results were intriguing. After the first twenty four hours, the numbers were running strongly against. Since then, pro-advertising votes increased considerably. Even so, at last count, a solid majority (66 percent) preferred not to see ads with graphic pictures.

A couple of readers wrote me to ask whether this poll was a precursor to advertising on MBS. I assured them this was not the case. I've not collected a single dime, and as long as this blog operates under my control, it will stay that way. I would never presume to tell any other blogger what content they should present, but this is my choice.

So why the hard line? Here are three reasons:
  1. As a writer, I am a bit of a control freak. One of great appeals of this medium is that I can be author, editor, owner, and publisher. The content you see here is mine. It is absolutely unfiltered and just the way I want it. Were I to accept advertising, it would be at the expense of some of that autonomy. That's not an appealing bargain, at least for me.

  2. Have you seen some of these ads? This blog is not about skin. Pictures of people's private parts have no place here. The issue is not that I think the human body is ugly (quite the contrary), but if readers seek porn, there are plenty of sites that do it well. MBS has a different mission.

  3. The biggest single reason why I reject advertising is that I desire to retain my editorial independence. I want readers to understand that when I say I like a product, person, or blog, it's not because I've been paid. My advocacy comes from my heart.
I imagine some readers may think this stance is idealistic and naïve. So be it. I invite them to start their own blog (and I'll probably even link it!).

Speaking of links, how do you like the new placement of the blogrolls? I found myself using the chronological blogroll a lot more often than the classic huge alphabetical list. So why not push it up to the top? I like it, and if statistics tell the story, many of you do as well.

If you haven't tried the MBS blogrolls lately, I invite you to give them a whirl. With 337 links, they're comprehensive. Let MBS be your portal to the newest and most fascinating spanking bloggers. What's more, we trim those pesky dead links and abandoned blogs so you won't waste time looking for old news.

I have plenty of ideas for future posts. Hopefully in the coming weeks, most will find their way to the blog. Until then, please know that I truly appreciate your continuing support.

Bonnie

10 comments :

Elysia said...

Bonnie,
I like your reasons, and I must say I am glad. Your blog was great just the way it was, more so with your few tweaks! Some things just shouldn't change!
The ups and downs comment had me laughing! Yes, love the blogroll!
Hugs,
Elysia

Scunge said...

I too would like to thank you Bonnie,your blog has ALWAYS been a big help to me since I first discovered it back in June 2008. I am one of the ones that voted NO to advertising,I love the clean uncluttered look of your blog,makes it easier to read. :)

sixofthebest said...

Your blog MY BOTTOM SMARTS, has always been premier class. By that I mean first class. You have always treated everyone with respect, no matter what their opinions were. I am sure every one of us 'spanking enthusiasts' appreciate that. Thank you Bonnie, and I hope you will continue in this manner.

Jane said...

Love the look, colors, layout (and content of course). Chronological blogroll really makes it easy to discover blogs I've never visited (with the enticement of the first words of a post). I did like that you moved that part up.

Hermione said...

Bonnie,

I heartily agree that pictures of people's private parts have no place on this blog. (I guess this is alliteration day!)

337 blogs - oh my! Of course, that was yesterday. I'm sure the count is up to 338 by now.

Hugs,
Hermione

Anonymous said...

A belated but heartfelt congratulations on your squillion hits. I totally agree with you about the advertising. I have been struggling with that recently as it does seem a way to get more readers but your reasons are the same as my reasons and you seem to be muddling on without advertising (!) so I will follow your inspiring lead.
Thank you

Our Bottoms Burn said...

I missed something in your poll about advertising, I thought it would include removing commercial sites from your Blogroll. I think they detract from MBS.

Never Been Spanked said...

I really like the fact that skin is not what this blog is about. This is the reason I keep returning to this "safe" sight so I am no accidentally exposed to graphics.

Bonnie said...

Elysia - Thanks for your support. I will probably continue to tweak the format, but the overall tone and feel of the blog should remain the same.

Scunge - Thank you!

Six - You're very welcome.

Jane - Thanks. I'm glad you like it. I tried to preserve the look and feel of the blog, but add some features that readers would enjoy. There will likely be more changes as I get time, but the blogroll was one element that had needed an update for a long time.

Hermione - Every day, there are wonderful new bloggers greeting the world for the first time. This spanking thing, it seems, is fairly popular! :D

Poppy - Thank you! I wonder whether the advertising on some blogs actually has the effect of driving away some readers. I know I'm turned off by overly garish or graphic advertisements.

I know there are people for whom blogging is a business and they are here primarily to make money. I don't begrudge them their incomes.

On the other hand, this cannot be a mercenary endeavor for me. I make my living writing what other people want me to write. This place is mine and it reflects my sensibilities. I identify with my readers and we've developed a degree of trust over the years. Asking them to buy videos or toys or whatever would feel like I'm selling out my friends. That's not what MBS is about.

B&B - There are actually several spanking blogs that I choose not to link for that very reason. My test is whether they have any meaningful original content.

If a blog contains only thumbnails taken from pay sites and clicking on the thumbnail takes the reader to some shady affiliate program, they get no link from me.

On the other hand, if the blog hosts the full size pictures and provides some original commentary, I know that many MBS readers will be interested.

NBS - Thank you, and welcome. That was a decision I made on day one and I have never regretted it. I leave the skin to others who present it well.

Perhaps one day, you'll have to change your nickname. :)

ThomasIII said...

I can understand the aversion to advertising. I personally chose to add spanking affiliates to my own blogs because I didn't feel that it would detract from my blog's value, and could potentially send me a check every few months for doing something that I enjoy. Plus, the buttons added a bit of color to my sidebar, which I felt was needed. I'm not exactly a web designer, so anything that dressed up my "blah" page is a good thing. I briefly had video reviews for a few of my affiliates on my main blog, but discontinued those after repeated troubles with a single site that wasn't happy with a few less-than-perfect reviews that I gave.

Now, my picture blog is almost entirely for affiliate purposes, as I choose the images that I share from my affiliate sites, and then link the images back to the affiliate that I got it from. Still, the pictures are my personal choices, so I don't feel that I'm selling myself out. From a recent suggestion to me (from Bonnie, I believe), I started taking my choices from the past week of the picture blog and posting them together on my main blog and asking for discussion about which pictures my readers like best. It's actually become a popular feature, I think, as I actually get some comments to it.

Now, by comparison, I have no affiliates whatsoever on the Network, as I don't entirely consider that blog to be "mine." I created it to belong to all of the bloggers that take part in it. At the beginning, though, it involved more participation from member blogs in order to function. Now, it's really just a blogroll with an occasional cross-blog event between members, so I've been reconsidering the affiliate option to fill up the empty sidebar.

Post a Comment