I blog because I love it — not because it makes me money. Yes, it’s nice when I am surprised to see a deposit from an affiliate payment in my bank account, but compared to the hours spent, it’s not really “making” money. Yet I feel that if I am to be a good steward of the time I spend doing what I love (blogging), I should make use of affiliate programs to recommend the things I love. (And you have my promise that I will recommend only what I really love.)

The ads in the sidebar help pay for part of our internet connection. And when you click on certain affiliate links on this site, I make a small percentage here and there for your clicks and your purchases.

Specifically, I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

We buy our gifts with Amazon gift cards thanks to SwagBucks.  Try out the SwagBucks search, and have fun earning Amazon gift cards just for searching for the things you search for every day!  (Hint: Slightly misspelling things helps earn SwagBucks.)

And, from time to time, I even get free books from publishers just for reviewing them here on my blog. (This is always noted within the post for purposes of full disclosure. But, again, I promise to be honest about the book, whether or not I received it for free.)

Speaking of books — PaperBackSwap is a great way to get books for just the cost of a media mail package!  We add them to our auto request list and are amazed at the treasures we get to add to our shelves this way.

I’m also an affiliate for the web host services I use — Agathon Group and BigScoots — as well as for a variety of other web hosts for WordPress.  So if you happen to need a web host, I’d be honored if you’d sign up using my affiliate links here.  And, if you’re just looking for domains, I love using NameCheap for purchasing additional domains: they’re fast, easy, and have free privacy guard!

My website is built on the Genesis Framework from StudioPress; I recommend them frequently, and am a StudioPress affiliate. Read more about the services I use for my website on my Colophon.