PayPerPost Not The Answer for Low-Traffic Blogs

When I first started accepting sponsored-post commissions from PayPerPost.com, I thought I'd found a revenue model that would work for Life User.

Since I was paid a set amount for each post, I reasoned, the sponsors would have an incentive to drive traffic to the posts. What I was being paid for was my ability to write, not (as with cost-per-click and cost-per-impression ads) my limited ability to drum up traffic on my own. Since I'm better at writing than at attracting traffic, this would have meant PPP made sense for me.


Alas, it still didn't work. I've earned more so far from PPP than from AdSense, but I'm also having to do more work. AdSense would allow my archived posts to just sit there while the blog was dormant.

While my previous sponsors were all selling reasonably uncontroversial products or services, today's sponsor sells payday loans. I'm sure payday loans have gotten working poor people out of a lot of financial crises, especially in places where credit cards are hard to get, but where I live they have a long way to go ethically, charging transaction fees that put the effective APR well into the hundreds of points. Plus, I'm only being paid US$0.99 for the post (I've had previous jobs pay up to US$7.50), at a time when exams and final projects mean I need to use my time selectively.

I also tried another pay-per-post marketplace site called Blogsvertise, but didn't get a single assignment.

So if no other sponsors have presented attractive offers by the time my payment for this post is cleared, I'm going to close my PayPerPost account. (Apparently they will waive the $50 cash-out threshold for bloggers who are doing so.) This blog will still be available as an archive, but I won't update it anymore.

PayPerPost Not The Answer for Low-Traffic Blogs