Thinking About Adding Ads: A Look Back and A Look Ahead

Snazzy me in the 70's. No frills Kelly.

Chile Colorado Burrito--Thanks for the attention, Pinterest.

English Toffee. We all need to eat more of this.

Caramel Pecan Turtles

Cheesecake Factory White Chicken Chili. A new favorite.

Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting. One of my most searched recipes.

Hi, there! Yes, this post has more than just random pictures of food from this blog and a random photo of me as a kid. For those of you who are subscribers and get my posts via email, this is a note to you. I need your opinions, feelings, and thoughts as I am seriously considering "monetizing" on my blog, which means including ad space so I can make some money at this hobby. I've never been one to aggressively pursue money, and as I've mentioned here on my "About" page, every time someone tells me I should "open a bakery" or "write a cookbook," or "sell that stuff," I really cringe, because that's not what I'm about. The reason I started this blog, and the reason I love doing it, is because I like to share food with people, and I like to be helpful. I feel like that's what I get to do here. I've always thought I'd be selling out or messing with the purity of my blog by trying to make money from it.

I do live in modern America, though, and I have bills to pay, and ingredients cost money. I buy a LOT of Dove chocolate. I mean, obscene amounts. You'll see a lot on this blog. At any rate, thanks to Pinterest, and the photo of my Chile Colorado Burrito (that Foodgawker rejected, by the way), my stats are looking pretty healthy. When I started this thing two years ago, I'd do a dance if I got 100 page views in one day. I distinctly remember telling my principal at the school where I teach that I had over 10,000 total page views on my food blog. Lately I've been averaging about 10,000 page views a day. That's a lot. I mean, I don't expect to make millions by putting ads on here, but after reading up on it, I think I can make almost $300 a month.

So, because you are the people who read my blog on a somewhat regular basis, I am asking you what you think. Will you think less of Food Pusher if I allow Google AdSense to put up ads? Will you let me know if it's totally obnoxious or even mildly irritating? Will you let me know if Google AdSense steps out of line and posts an inappropriate ad on my blog? I'd really appreciate your input.

Oh, and the reason I posted the random photos with the links in the captions is because I have to have a picture for each post. I've selected some of my favorite photos and/or favorite things to eat. I wanted you to be able to see something attractive in this post.

Thanks for your time and your opinions should you decide to share them. If I hear nothing, I'll assume it doesn't really matter if I put ads on here or not. So speak now, or forever hold your peace.

Email me or comment below. I look forward to hearing from you all.

Kelly