In the spirit of integrity – and at the suggestion of Steve from Teach42 – I decided to create this page to detail where I (sometimes) make money from this site.

Advertising. If you look to the righthand side of the page, you may notice a square advertisement. There’s another ad (a horizontal banner) near the footer. These generate a small amount of income for the site.

If you see the phrase “Ads by Google,” then I only make money if you click on it. If you don’t want me to make money, just don’t click on it! Otherwise, if you see something interesting, click through and see what it is. But understand that they are ads, not links that I added to the site.

If you see an advertisement (probably an image or animation) that doesn’t include the phrase “Ads by Google,” then I probably get paid per impression for that advertisement. I made a fraction of a penny just because you loaded the page. Hah! Can’t stop me now.

Links to Amazon.com. I’m a member of the Amazon Associates program. If I mention something that’s sold on Amazon – like a book or a DVD – I’ll probably include a link to it. If you were to follow that link and purchase the item, I’d get a small commission.

If you don’t want me to benefit from this, feel free to open a new window, navigate to Amazon.com, and search for the item I’m discussing. But as I see it, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement.

When I’m discussing something like a book, it would be helpful if I linked to a page with more information on it (i.e. Amazon). Even though I don’t stand a good chance of making money from the Associates links, they give me an incentive to include the links. Otherwise, I might find it bothersome and include links willy nilly.

The monetary incentive, no matter how little or unlikely, ensures that I provide a quality service to you the reader.

Other affiliate programs. There aren’t any at the moment. At some point, I may get involved with promoting some other products (like Keurig coffee machines and K-Cups or Netflix). If I do, rest assured that it’s something I’ve personally tried and something I loved.

Chances are you probably won’t see this stuff in one of the category-specific feeds. Coffee makers have little to do with education (although they’d be perfect for the teacher”s lounge!), so I won’t be mentioning it much there. Any posts that are more review-y and sales-y in nature will be secluded to the “Life of Brian” category. They’re meant to be search engine bait more than fare for the regular reader.

As I sign up for any other affiliate programs, I’ll keep a list here. That way you can be sure to foil my attempts to put a bit of bread in my jar.