I spent a bit of time today surfing the web to find out what other Freelance Writers are blogging about. Do you know what stood out the most? The advertisements. I think I forgot most of what other writers were talking about because I was spending too much time looking at their ads.

And they weren’t even good ads. Infact, many of them were the same ads. The same freelance invoicing service, web themes, produtivity software, etc. It was a little distracting that I can remember the ads and not the main points of the blogs.

I think Freelance Writers on the web have fallen prey to the concept of “easy money.” On so many sites passive income and affiliate marketing are touted as being a great way to add a little extra passive income. Layouts are ripe with Adsense, top banners, side banners, text words and more. Sometimes it’s hard to read the message and I think that’s sad.

It makes me wonder about the use of Google adSense in my sidebar. Is it worth it? Does the layout detract from the message I’m trying to convey? Will I actually get enough clicks to pay for tomorrows latte? I don’t think so. After all, how many times have I clicked on a Google adSense ad? Not very many, I can assure you.

So the question remains… is it actually worth posting advertisements on your freelance writing site? Or should you fill in that space with a treat for your visitors? Substance or Show? Let me know what you think.