Why I have ads and affiliate links on my site

I want to be upfront with you…

I know only too well how annoying ads can be, and yet I have them on my site. How can that be?

Why do I recommend resources that cost money and then get a commission for doing so? Is that honest?

I totally get it if you don’t understand, so here’s the low down…

First of all, I want you to know that as a semi-retired counsellor with 24 years of experience I really enjoy being able to pass on all that I’ve learnt during those years.

I get a great sense of achievement from being able to help sooo many people (thousands every day) now that I no longer see clients. If I didn’t have my site, all that knowledge and experience would have been lost.

The cost of running a website

The content on my site is freely available. However, you’ll increasingly find other websites wanting you to sign up before they allow you access, or urging you to switch off your ad blocker.

Why?

To cover the cost of running the site.

This is because there are other costs than just the time it takes me to publish new articles, update articles and maintain and update my website (see further down):

• The cost of hosting a website
• The costs of various plugins that help to ensure my website stays free from ‘bugs’ and malware, can’t be hacked, looks good, is easy to navigate, has social buttons, has videos, good images, etc
• Since English is my second language, I pay for everything to be edited by my native English speaking Virtual Assistant.
• The cost of my email delivery programme
• The cost of getting someone to help me occasionally with stuff I really can’t work out myself (picture me at 2 am ready to throw my laptop through the window!)
• The cost of an accountant
• The cost of the ReadSpeaker button which improves accessibility
• The tax bill.

This list is by no means complete!

Here’s how I spend my time

General

• Ongoing research
• New articles
• Updating articles
• New programmes/software
• Learning to use new programmes and software
• Problem-solving
• Reading and/or posting on social media
• Finding/creating images (see further down)
• Creating/emailing free courses
• Development – counselling/therapy, webmaster, video, graphic design, coding skills
• Trialling new programmes/software
• Reading and contributing to niche forums
• Video (writing scripts, building and timing of slides and transitions, voice-over, description, SEO)
• Answering emails
• Checking website stats
• Preparing images for social media and website
• Updating articles, incl. markups (coding message) for search engines, incl adjusting title, description, dates and content, depending on keywords
• Planning for and implementing global updates as and when their online environment predicts
• Liaising with support staff and my VA Andrea for remote editing and business support

Steps required before article publication

• Researching content
• Researching relevant resources to include
• Outlining article
• Writing 1st and 2nd drafts
• Sending the article to VA for editing
• Copying content to the WordPress platform in readiness for publication
• Adding: name, title (tab) and description
• Adding breadcrumbs (marked-up signposts on the site)
• Adding publication info (Category, author details, date published, date updated)
• Adding images (see separate heading below)
• Building links to other pages
• Adding links to sources used in the article
• Creating other resources (code for online tests, handouts and worksheets)
• Finding other resources – such as appropriate videos to support the content
• Finalising all SEO related material (see further down)
• Final draft to VA
• Building links to the new article from existing articles/pages
• Reducing/minify scripts
• Including extra resources (paid for and free)
• Promoting new page on social media and via newsletter
• Logging the URL with archive.org (archive.org)
• Submitting a page/post to search engines, incl. Google

Images

• Finding/choosing images
• Downloading images (CC, pay or donate)
• Creating images using graphic designs skills
• Naming image files
• Resizing and reducing the weight of images to fit various social media channels
• Finding quotes
• Adding texts and filters
• Uploading images to articles
• Adding alternative text, title, caption and Pinterest description and link
• Adding a courtesy link if required
• Messaging creators of original images

You can see perhaps that this is near-enough full-time work to deliver mostly free content! So, the ads and commissions are there to help me keep the lights on in my house and on this website.

However long and/or complete my articles might be, a website article is seldom going to be enough. Therefore I include links to other resources – paid for and free.

How I have chosen the companies I link to/partner with

See also: Privacy/cookie policy and Terms and conditions.

Relationship Hero

HypnosisDownloads.com

HypnosisDownloads.com was founded by Human Given colleagues. I know how they work (as I am a Human Givens therapist). I trust that they deliver the best results possible. Their downloads are based on the Human Givens principles.

I know that they offer the very best, most effective hypnosis downloads I could hope to refer you to.

Online-therapy.com

Online-therapy.com, offers online counselling in a way I would not be able to provide with access on all devices, chats and texts and a complete therapy toolbox.

Online-therapy.com vets their professional therapists and makes access really easy and very affordable in comparison with face-to-face counselling. I have searched and waited for a long time to be able to offer something of that quality via my website.

Now for the ads…

Why I have ads on my site

Ads suck, I know!

However, as you have seen, I work almost full-time on my site to offer as much help, tips and advice as I can for free. I always wear my heart on my sleeve, so here goes: I would not be earning anywhere near enough to pay my basic bills if it weren’t for the ads. They also provide me with a little security as the online environment is increasingly competitive and changeable.

The ads are delivered via a company called Mediavine. Mediavine partners only with quality sites. Had my site not been up to scratch they would not have accepted me as a publisher.

Mediavine also accepts high-quality ads only and I have done my best to filter out ads not befitting my site. If you see any ads that you find offensive, please use the link in the ad to report them.

Know that, whilst there are on average a couple of thousand visitors on my site every day, less than ¼% buy anything, so the advertisements top up my income.

Being my own boss

I’m a tough boss to work for! I aim to over-deliver.

I love being my own boss and will continue to provide you with the most helpful content I can – mostly for free.

Now you know why you may have to pay for some services, why I have ads on my site, and how I aim to run an honest business.

I hope that this level of transparency has given you some insight into how my (and other websites) work.

I also hope that it helps you to trust that I have the best intentions for your well-being. I want to continue to be able to help and inspire you for a long time to come. :-)