A Promise So Big You Won’t Believe Me

Why I don’t like Advertising?

Ever since I started my blog, I heard a lot about why I should sell ad space on it. Many of the arguments go like this:

  1. It’s an easy way to make money.
  2. Virtually every website or blog sells ad space.
  3. Your readers will like the recommendations you make.
  4. You can get free stuff from sponsors.
  5. It makes your website seem legit.

Despite these arguments I don’t believe in advertising on my blog. I think advertising is at best distracting and at worst manipulative. And while I know we can’t free the world of advertising, I do believe we should have spaces free from its influence.

The Danger of Ads

It may not seem like a small ad box on a web page is hurting anyone and maybe just one box on one site would be ok. But when you add all those boxes up, across all those sites, you get something worse. You get a situation where there is always something trying to grab your attention.

As I surf the web, I find myself constantly closing pop up subscribe forms, declining survey requests, and entering fake emails to get eBooks I never read. Moreover, I’ve come to realize that these boxes and the actions they demand take a toll. Instead of helping me learn, grow, and absorb all of the amazing wisdom and knowledge that people have to offer, these ads and pop ups pull on my attention until there’s nothing left.

As a mindful habit coach and personal trainer, I’ve seen the effect of this assault on our attention in myself and in my clients. And while it would be easy to throw up my hands and give up, I’ve decided to take a stand.

While I totally respect and understand why other people advertise on their blogs and websites, I’ve decided that it isn’t right for me or my site. And so I spent a few hours last night honing a statement of these beliefs. I hope that by sharing it with you that I’ll be able to keep myself honest as well as spread these ideas to other people in my field and in the world.

Here it is:

My Promise to My Readers

I vow to never do any of the following –

  • Sell ad space on my blog.
  • Put any advertisements of any kind on my blog other than for my own products/services or products/service I have personally worked on.
  • Put any sort of pop up forms that drive you crazy.
  • Sell anything I don’t believe in.
  • Create a post for the sole purpose of promoting or selling anything including my own products.
  • Let fake bloggers guest post who are only doing so to sell a product.
  • Post any derivative or unoriginal content created by anyone other than a real person I know personally.
  • Prevent anyone from using this sites content in a helpful way by charging them a fee or suing them.

Why I’m Making This Promise?

I’m making this promise because you have given me something more valuable than your money , specifically your attention. With all the things you could be paying attention to, you have honored me by choosing to read and watch my content. And the last thing I want to do is to dishonor that trust by trying to leverage it for profit.

Will I Still Sell Stuff On My Site?

Yes, I hope at some point I can offer you something that will be of so much value that what little you pay for it will seem like nothing compared to what you get out of it. But even if you never buy a single session of coaching, a single ebook, a single class, or a single speaking engagement from me, I want you to know that I want to help you.

You see I started this blog and this business for one reason. I could no longer live a life where my job was in one place and my heart was in another. The practices of mindfulness, movement, and habit formation changed my life; hell they saved my life! And I realized that it was my deep calling to help other people live the lives they were meant to live.

I believe that each of us is called by our hearts to live full, authentic, satisfying lives that makes us feel grateful for every breath we take. But, I also know that kind of life demands courage, patience, and a deep trust in your own wisdom. My dream is that my blog and business will help you access those parts of yourself you need to be exactly who you were meant to be.

How You Can Support Me

There are two ways you can support me:

  1. Go out and contact your favorite blog and ask them to stop selling ad space on their sites.Tell them why it bothers you and how you’d love to support them in other ways. If you need to, refer them back to this post or page.
  2. If you feel inspired by my mission statement and by my promise to never put advertising on this blog you can support me financially by purchasing my ebook collection for $5. For this you will get all of the Ebooks I’ve currently written along with 2 video classes I’ve created for my readers.

I make this offer as a way to offset some of the cost I’ll lose by advertising. But of course whether or not anyone buys this collection I still promise to keep my site ad and pop up free because I think it’s the right thing to do. And as always you can get a bunch of free content every week by subscribing or using the free content I offer on my blog.

Thanks very much and I’m glad to be a part of your life.

Be Well,
Toku


I want to also give a special shout out to Leo Babauta Author of Zen Habits who encouraged and inspired me to make this promise.

 

2 thoughts on “A Promise So Big You Won’t Believe Me

  1. Thanks Toku. I recently put up some affiliate resources, which do fall into the category of things I’ve used, but I’ll reconsider. I suppose I could put them on a specific page rather than on the side. I totally appreciate what you’re doing. I don’t like the flashy, demanding ads either.

    1. Hey Amy I think we all have to make this choice for ourselves. And I’ll still be happy to read your blogs even with those links. But Id much rather pay a few bucks to support. And if even just a fraction of readers did that. You’d make a lot more than you would with affiliate links.

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