Monetizing my blogging efforts

I'm been blogging now for a couple of months now, and am starting to think about how to think about the value that I am getting from my blogging efforts.  Put more simply:  How can I be assured that I am effectively monetizing my efforts, both in terms of present value and future value?

 

I do have ads on my blogs, but they pay me very little, not even enough to survive in a slum in Bangladesh.  The reading of my blogs via aggregators may be interfering with potential revenue from ad clicks, so I will be using Google "feed" ads as soon as they open up the program to us small guys.

 

I do a fair amount of commenting on the blogs of others, because it interests me, because it helps to promote me, and hopefully because it drives at least a tiny bit of traffic to my own blogs.  That consumes a lot of my time and gives me no direct revenue, but may help to build my reputation over time.

 

My hope is that maybe my blogging and commenting will lead to some consulting work or a venture opportunity, but right now, that's all it is: hope.

 

-- Jack Krupansky