I know I don't want you to change the what your thinking, feeling guilty about, what your amused and annoyed at. I LOVE those. More photos of Chuck and baby are always welcome. Both are incredibly beautiful (and not only because she shares my bd, I swear it!!)

you should solicit small businesses to advertise on your site. say $20/month for a 125x125 pixel ad that links to their web site. gather up your site stats and send that info to some small buinesses - sure some may think that the profanity is not a good thing, but if you target the right businesses it would work. I mean, seriously, how many visitors do you get in a month, hell in a DAY even? and they would all be tempted to click those little links. more traffic for the businesses, meaning more potential customers, and money for dooce. :)

Hey Heather! I'm a big fan of your site, and would probably pay to read your hillariousness! :) Hmmmm...Just off the top of my head, I'm thinking Dooce.com t-shirt ;) Or better yet, how about founding partners - those that are seriously interested in your success, each put up $500 and then receive a small percent of your financial windfall, that is sure to come your/our way!

As indicated - that was off of the cuff, after a longass week, so please keep me posted on what you decide and other ideas that come your way!

All the best, write on!

Taira

All of those things you suggested are great! As far as making money, I don't know.... everyone seems to have a cafepress shop where they sell t-shirts and stuff. Perhaps stuffed animal versions of Chuck and Leta? Complete with little sound makers that bark or scream accordingly when squeezed?

Heather,

I've been reading you for months and haven't commented before. I totally support your ambition to make money off this site. You are an extremely talented writer.
I have been concerned with your depression and anxiety as I have experienced both myself (yes, enough for major meds as well. currently on Celexa and OK)
I digress. I admire your humor even while dealing with awful feelings. I would love to see more pics on the site and some of the
off the wall comments from readers. I think you have the talent to publish...submit a collection of your childrearing stories and your battle with pp depression...to the New Yorker no less...(minus profanity) :=)
Yes I know about editors but you WOULD make money.
Take care,
Rebecca in Denver

I really like this website. As a mother of an almost 6 month old (2/14/04)daughter, I can totally relate to your descriptions of how you want to put Leta's entire head in your mouth and other ways you want to eat her up. You are a very talented writer. You crack me the fuck up! I love reading your stories. I would like to see a picture a day and your feedback emails. Keep up the good work. I would miss you if you quit this!

I would love to see more of dooce.com... that would be cool. I like the addons that you have planned. The moneymaking idea I am not sure. Maybe banners from some of the sites that sort of go towards your beliefs? You know one of those... click here and you get 10 cents or whatever for each click. But those just never look classy! I will keep thinking!

Heather, sorry to post 2x, but I'd also buy a shirt that says "Cabbage Boobs-so what?"...lol.

Ever since I somehow fell into your tractor beam (says Mrs. Kennedy) I have been unable to resist the urge to just check to see if you've added a new "column" I have to say, "Go for it". I'll just have to come up with a way to explain to my husband my NEED to read this woman's blog. I consider you the goddess of blog and aspire to someday grow up (even though I am much older!) to be like you. I'll never have your graphics and sharp wit though.

Please do not get yourself into a situation where you must edit yourself to make someone else happy. We love you because of your pure unadulterated honesty and occasional cuss word. And Jon and Leta and Chuck and.....

How about some dooce shirts via CafePress? You could make a little money with that, and I'll pledge to buy a shirt - if you carry the women's babydoll T's with a dooce logo on the front. ;)

I know it's hard to balance all this motherhood and LIFE stuff and make money at the same time. Good luck.

Why not start an online community with message boards for lonley moms who are stuck at home with their kids all day (like me)? You could start a seperate blog for it with no profanity and then use Adwords to suck Google dry. There are a lot of young women out there who have webblogs, cabbage boobs *and* brains. I'm sure they would love to participate at cabbageboobs.com.

Good luck!

Personally, I'd like to see a permanent comments section. I can't say for sure why you haven't opted for this yet, but I think that the potential for open dialogue would give your site an extra edge.

A dooce t-shirt! Please! I want one!
I have no great ideas, just supporting whatever ch-ch-changes come around. I think the idea of a daily photograph is a dandy one, and I would pay MONEY to waste time on your site. I definitely want to read responses to the hate and love mail. Even if you make fun of us who send you love mail!

i am another one who would pay cash money to hear what you have to say and would buy a whole wardrobe if you went into the t-shirt business. if you do, be sure to include baby & child sizes. and dog gear!

Heather-

Really who needs a t-shirt.. I am all over the stuffed animal versions of Chuck and Leta. Try the pay for extras- love/hate emails, I am sure you can think up many witty bonus items for us all. Make money... oh and you really do rock by the way.

You get so much positive feedback on your photographs that I'm sure some people would be interested in buying them. You could consider selling prints ... I don't know if this is more aggravation than it's worth, but it's a thought. Good luck!

I can't believe I'm offering this up---charge us. Just a nominal fee($5/year?). Of course then you get into the "secure web site" thing, and I really don't know how much trouble that is.

I'm a creature of habit but the following would be cool with me (as if I count). Definitely Numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Hey...I agree with some of the others about Marketing. Shirts, mugs, keychains, mousepads...I would buy that stuff up. Sell it on eBay too and you could make a killing!
Hell, I'm cool just cuz I read you. If I were walking around with a dooce shirt, I would be 10x's cooler.

1). You could have readers register and pay a monthly fee. I know this is probably pretty hard to set up. If that's the case, perhaps you could use the PayPal option for Merchants. I am pretty sure you'll accomplish two things this way.

a). You're bound to have subscribers and in turn make money.

b). You'll probably get rid of the negative crap that comes your way because when people are forced to give up a full name and/or a VALID email, they're not as quick to call you a "Stupid Mother Fucker".

It's a thought.

2) If you don't like the idea of not having the Web site entirely public, perhaps you can leave comments on, but only allow paid members to comment maybe even read them.

3). You could add an area where people can start threads, leave comments about threads, and so on and make only that section a subscription base.

4). You might charge other writers/bloggers money to advertise they're personal sites on here--month to month?

Either way, I'm pretty sure people will sign up and pay to read your site.

You could try Blog Ads advertising. I don't know much about them, but I'm sure that people would love to advertise their blogs on your site - because you're awesome and you get a lot of traffic.

Or you could try the Amazon Associates thing. (bloggers link (either via text, images or actual advertisements) to Amazon products or pages. If people purchase after following these links they take a small comission from Amazon, either for cash or gift vouchers.)

I must say, I'm not a big fan of pay content on the web, but I doubt you're considering that option much. I think you're an incredibly talented writer. I know nothing about writing as a profession, but aren't there publications out there you could get a stay-at-home job with? I wouldn't mind visiting a commercial site with advertisements to read your articles, so I'd love to see you get published.

I'd love to see you writing for a major print or web publication and be compensated for your talents. Whatever you do, keep up the writing and don't lose your core fan base.

Since Google Ads are out, would BlogAds work for you? With the amount of traffic you get, I'm sure that advertisers would be interested.

I actually like that you only open up comments selectively. It's fun to read what your readers grew up calling their private parts, for example, but most of the time comments aren't particularly fascinating.

I also like the idea of selling T-shirts, etc. You DO have an incredible web presence, not to mention mentions off the web (I saw your site mentioned in the Indianapolis Star just 2 weeks ago in an article about blogging about your workplace....)

As far as charging for viewing content, I'm not so sure. I mean, I know I'm cheapskate and just don't want to lose you, but if you charged for any access at all I'm sure you'd lose a lot of readers (including aforementioned cheapskate), and they'd miss you. (Not that they wouldn't understand, mind you.) But maybe it would work to charge for certain "better" features. I also think you could probably get some this stuff sold in book form. Or what about a dooce.com calendar combining your photography with great quotes from the site? You could even do several calendars--the "work-theme" calendar for people to put up at work (with work-friendly photos and themes), a stay-at-home mom calendar, etc., to satisfy all your various readers (and by diversifying, sell more calendars!)

Good luck. And BTW, since comments ARE open, let me express my jealousy of your new delicate-strapped bras. Even non-pregnant and non-nursing, I have to wear the 6-lane highways. At the moment, I am pregnant, so it's more like 12-lane highways wrapped around enormous cement trucks.....

Hi Heather,
I thoroughly second the emotions of everyone else's posts! This website absolutely lights up my day and I would be really disappointed if dooce went away. As far as $$ making: dooce.com/cabbage boobs t-shirts I really think would be a huge seller. Also, why not self publish some writing? I guarantee you could sell volumes of your writing online and at alternative bookstores. I'm thinking of Ayun Halliday of "East Village Inky" fame...

PLEASE do not resort to working for The Man, censoring yourself, or giving "us" up. It's not about YOU anymore - it's about your loyal fans!!! =)

I have been wondering why there weren't DOOCE products available - I for one would buy several, and I would feel instant affinity for anyone I saw wearing a DOOCE shirt or sporting a DOOCE bumper sticker. I hereby reserve the right to the first officially sanctioned Idaho personalized license plate that says DOOCE. If you were to require special permission ($$$) to have said license plates (one in each state), and go after copyright infringers (nonpayers) with a vengeance, I would SO pay for that privilege.

Meantime, definitely consider Cafe Press, and please don't resort to the cluttered and "cheap" looking wee adds that people can click so you get 10c a link or whatever. You are so much better than that. You are QUALITY.

By the way I fixed the antivirus / no pictures issue about which I previously emailed you. All is well in my world now. Thanks for rockin' my world.

dooce.com greeting cards
You could put Congressman Chuckles on front. Who wouldn't be a sucker for that?

i will pay. i'll def. buy dooce swag. i've been reading for... well, years and will do my part for the leta armstrong college fund.

Though you're wearing the "Google dissed me" badge of honor, I'm actually pretty annoyed at my company. (And by "my" I of course mean that they pay my mortgage, not that I'm Larry or Sergey here.) Knowing a bit about the AdSense program, I wouldn't classify your site as having too much profanity and hell, it's NECESSARY. What would they like you to call your cabbage boobs - cabbage mammary organs? Anyway, that pisses me off.

Enough about my rant & rave - there ARE other sites that offer advertising programs - hate to say it, but I know Overture offers ContentMatch but am not 100% certain you can get on it the way you could with AdWords. However, there are a few others - I know Sarah Hatter uses some (though not sure who) and there's MarketBanker. Basically, w/your design skills, you should be able to incorporate some ads into the site w/o it looking commercialized.

In the meantime, I'm gonna go kick some Google AdSense ass. They don't know what they're missing.

Ha ha! It's amazing you'd even have to say "no nude pics"! People are idiots!

So...how about semi-clothed?

i think you should appeal to google and get the backing from your readers - a published online petition protesting google's policies. as a childless person i am only guessing here, but i'm thinking the words google doesn't like: poop/breasts/penile diseases, are fairly common in mama blogs (maybe not the last one, but still). i think we should all be greatly insulted that google has the "badsense" (terrible pun i know, but i couldn't resist) to try to censor mothers. certainly there are enough militant mamas and non-mamas here to write to google and raise a stink worse than leta's formula-fed diapers. once google comes around, start raking in the dought!

Ok, I'm sorry. I continue to tell friends, relatives, strangers, and yes, even that one lady at the grocery store buying cabbage (because I needed to know if it was going in her bra since she was pushing a baby in her grocery cart) to come to your site and bask in everything that is dooce.com. That was me. I caused you to go over your bandwith again. But don't think that I wasn't feeling guilty about it, because I was. I thought about emailing you to tell you that you should cancel Leta's college fund because this month's bill would be a whopper, but then I was afraid. Afraid that I would never make it to the People We Should Party With list. And who knows, I may go to Utah someday and need someone to party with. People who say words that Google Adsense would never allow and who wrap pasta around their dogs nose.

So in reading your post I started to think, "What would I do to contribute to the financial success of this site (besides sending you more bandwith)?" and I didn't know. But after reading some replies, I'm sure that I would buy snappy DOOCE.com gear if you were to sell something that I could wear. Then you see, I wouldn't have to tell strangers about your site, they would just see my T-Shirt or lunch bag and rush to buy their own.

Other things I might consider doing:

+ Pay for premium membership which I think should consist of the ability to comment and get your posts via email (also reducing your bandwith)

+ Send you things you need for Leta in the way of Amazon wishlist stuff (because every baby needs a copy of Kill Bill 2 on DVD)

+ Buying prints of your photographs because I want to fill my house with pictures of you and Jon and Leta, and Chuck and tell all my friends that we are sisters - see I even cut my hair like yours. Ok, not really... But you do have some photos of like, trees and mountains and stuff. Maybe you can put something inspiring under the photo like, "Ahhh the mountains... so much better when there isn't The Screaming"

+ And if I would ever get off of my own projects and onto developing for other people, I'd maybe, possibly, give a glimmer of a thought in the direction of putting a link to my website on here. See, rather than advertise my OWN website shamelessly, I'd wear my dooce.com t-shirt all over and people would come to your site, see my link, and Viola! I would get some action. (That's good marketing right there...)

I, for one, would love to see some of the techie stuff you mentioned - about how you run and design the site. I have great ideas for my blog, but am stuck in typepad. I think a premium subscription is a good idea - put the extras on there, but leave the regular posts free. I also like the small business ad idea. I'd advertise my small business and my husband's here. I love your blog, love it love it love it and hope you can find a way to make a living from it.

you should make money by compiling all your pregnancy and post-pregnancy baby-related blogs into a book.

I really don't know how to make money off your site, but I can say that I've used an awsome (and cheep) web hosting company called herwebhosting.com

I love your blog, and would like to be able to say I would pay to read it, but in truth I probably wouldn't - only because I'm lazy and cheep.

gosh. that's a lot of comments i didn't read.

MCFrontalot (frontalot.com) has a "valued sucker program." basically, he just asks for money from people who like what he does. and he gets it. enough to pay for his site. he sends some little gifty things to people who give a bunch, like over $25 or something.

he doesn't keep stuff from the public site to entice donations or anything like that. he just asks for money and gets it.

what could be more satisfying?

1. I'd buy a t-shirt.
2. I'd probably pay $5 for a year's subscription, or, you could hit me up for $2 a month and I wouldn't even feel it.
3. The Associates program has made me about .04 cents so far, but I'm sure you have triple my traffic.
4. You could team up with Loobylu and make chuck dolls.

I would continue to read dooce no matter what changes were made. Unless, of course, you lost your sense of humor. Since I don't see that happening, I'll just keep coming back to look into this reflection of myself: a mother, living in Utah, who spares nothing and no one when it comes to writing with humor and honesty. Okay, so maybe that last part isn't so much a reflection of me, but...

searchability: awesome. a forum or permanent comments: double awesome.

i would pay for cafepress swag and/or "premium" memberships with access to more pictures because you totally kick out the jams. however, that's a lot of hassle for a small return, which won't even be close to the equivalent of a salary. and print work--it's a bear.

i think the especially brilliant and full of potential big money idea is that posted above, about a web community for parents who don't suck. it would be a lot of work and investment, but the income stream and the creative/technical challenges would be crazy rewarding.

shoot, i mean you all remodeled that pretty kitchen, right? armstrongs are tuff!

Have you thought of other ad services? Because you have enough readers that you probably could make decent money if we all clicked on the ads. I know I'd be more than willing!

Here are my thoughts:
Paying to be able to read stories or visit your site is a bad idea. Adding annoying banners and ads is also a bad idea. Basically please don't do anything to annoy us regular people. As much as I love your site, I would very easily drop interest if you exploited everyone. Seems shirts and mugs and optional things are good. You're a smart girl. Hopefully you will look at your options and know what would annoy you if you visited a site...and stay away from adding it to yours! Much luck and I love your writing.

Heather, remember last year when I emailed you because I was working for a webhosting company that was talking about "sponsoring" bloggers' hosting costs in exchange for street cred? I ended up quitting that job, but I'm guessing that a high profile site like yours would garner you a free dedicated server somewhere. Then, any money you make from subscriptions, shwag, etc, would be money in your pocket.

Your site is da bomb! I have to agree with everyone, this is a very nice way to waste time. As for charging us poor pitiful dooce addicts money to read your stuff, that would be so cruel. I am up for a funny dooce baby-t or maybe a stuffed Chuck with spaghetti around his snout. I would totally buy something like that.

Cheers!

Someone up there mentioned selling dooce.com merchandise. I'm TOTALLY for that. I'd love a cool-looking Dooce shirt. =)
I know that www.secretagentjosephine.com makes her own shirts/designs. Ah hah. I'ts at cafe press. http://www.cafeshops.com/secret_agent_jo

So many people get turned off by monthly subscriptions that I would suggest going the advertising and mechandising route before doing that. If you do want to do shirts or whatever, you may want to look further than cafepress and go for something a little more unique. Cafepress has reached a saturation level IMHO.

P.P.S. Fellow commentators: PROTEST GOOGLE ADSENSE HERE: https://www.google.com/adsense/contact

Oooh who wouldn't want a fabby stuffed version of Leta that bleasts like a goat when you squeeze it's tummy? (Or look at it wrong) Can you say 'Christmas Gift'? Hmmm, idea's to make money, let's see:
1. Have people pay to read, even if it's only a $1 a person per month, you've got lots of readers :)
2. Fabby Dooce-A-Licious items would sell like mad I bet, cafepress could work.
3. Compiling entries into a book would be quite rad.
4. Maybe start a webzine kind of thing for stay@home moms.
5. Charge a small fee to have people advertise on dooce.com
6. T-Shirts w/ 'Vote Chuck' on them???
Good Luck Doll! Man, just look at all these people that would pay just to read about your daily life, what a confidance booster!

All the features you've suggested are wonderful, but all take even more of your valuable time.

Not to sound like an MBA dud (which, um... I am), but if you really want to plan this out AND make money AND stay at home AND support John, you need a business model that justifies all this time. You know, spreadsheets and strategy and all that boring stuff.

Incremental sales of coffee mugs are not your answer, and neither is direct-selling advertising to companies that may or may not want to endorse you (no offense to those who suggested those things, but I have a wife/mother-of-my-1-year-old-daughter at home as well, and her time is much more important than cold-calling companies for a 125x125 ad).

Of course, this assumes the primary payment you want is $ and not wishlist materials.

Because Google turned you down (and won't likely come around now that they'll be public soon), the BlogAds.com suggestion sounds like a good starting point. You could also try http://www.marketbanker.com/mb/, a la Gizmodo.com. The Amazon Associates program also sounds good, but again, this sounds pretty small over the long run b/c it's based on how many people buy AFTER clicking through your links.

If those are not up your alley, you may have to make the tough decision to see if you feel like a subscription would justify some of the lost readership you'll definitely experience. But the pricing strategy is a tough question, as those who have tried it have sometimes been burned.

Finally, there's one last thought -- get in with a network of new media types, like Weblogs, Inc. or Gawker. They reportedly do not pay all that well, but better than your current alternative.

Best of luck!

I would totally pay extra for the extras! :-)

i think there have been some great suggestions, and i'm neither very business- or web-minded (much less the two combined), so i've nothing to contribute along those lines. i can, however, fulfill my role as consumer. and in that capacity, i'd definitely pay to view this site, and i'd probably buy a t-shirt, too. as far as your stance on editors goes, i say stick to your guns. your writing is entertaining & heartwarming & hilarious just the way it is. are there any publishing bigwigs out there reading this? help our dooce! by the way, i love that your lovely husband is so supportive of your endeavor.

If you were to design and publish a book of all of your blog posts on CafePress, I would TOTALLY buy it! Dooce.com t-shirts would also be AWESOME! Please make t-shirts! And other dooce.com stuff! Then I could collect them all!!!!! :D

I love your site and hope you will continue!!!
I think you should register the name 'dooce', get a trademark or something. Check out doteasy.com, they have cheap hosting offers.

Well, now that you've been giving me the stuff for free for so long, I would definitely pay to keep the supply coming. I also would be interested in a Dooce T-shirt or coffee mug or other merchandise.
Publishing the hate mail and your responses is an excellent idea. I would love to see what the hell these idiots are sending to you. Publishing their email addresses would be lovely as well, so we Dooce fans can share the love...

You're not going to like my answer. At least not part of it. Here's the part you will like: I love reading your journal. You're really a great writer.

Here's the part you'll hate: Getting money out of me is damn near impossible. First, because I don't have a lot, and second because I never pay for the cow if I can get the milk for free.

I will tell you the things I would give money for though: There's a movie review site I adore www.screenit.com I share his taste in movies and I appreciate that he doesn't try to tell me what movies are appropriate for my kids. He just gives the lowdown on what conservative people would find objectionable and let's you decide if your kid can handle it. I've never given him any money though, because although I'd be happy to donate to the cause to get rid of the pop-ups and use the member features, I think the price he's wants is too high. I'd give him $5, which is more than I spend on newspapers these days. I think he wants $20. Too much. I sent him an email once saying he should arrange to sell relevant merchandise on his site, like videos, dvds, movie posters, t-shirts, etc., but it didn't appeal to him.

So basically, I'll buy things from someone's site if it's something I'd buy anyway. And I'll donate a token amount if I just really like the person. But that's about it.

I suggest you tie-in your website to another business. Like t-shirts for the non-conformists, i.e., I used to be a Mormon, then I grew up.

I probably shouldn't tell you this, but you can get around the "offensive content" guidelines from AdWords by getting approval for another website first (maybe your husband's?), and then adding Dooce to the account after approval.

It's a very simple backdoor, and Google doesn't appear to mind.

Heather, you crack me up, what with the lovely screaming Leta, the too adorable doggie and the attack of the diseased penile! I NEED my Dooce infusion of (in)sanity to spice up my otherwise painfully dull days--I can't do without your weird family, boob stuffed cabbages and fucking fucks. I only subscribe to Salon, but to keep you around, I'd shell out to you, too.

I don't let a single day go by without checking this site. Last week was pure hell since the internet was "dooceless" while you were on vacation. I have told all of my family, friends and coworkers about this site (oh and about TiVo) and they all love it. Please don't go! I would be willing to pay a subscription fee to read this site. Life without dooce would be life without TiVo. UGH! Oh, and I would pay double to read the hate emails that you get. :)

Very stoked to see your hate and love mail.

Go for it! Make some fat stacks of dough. I vote too for the dooce schwag ala Cafe Express. I think "Maternal Inferno" mugs & undies would sell like gangbusters.

You should also consider contracting out your mad graphix design skillz. You make some really excellent mastheads and I think you should shop your work around. Unless of course Mr. Dooce is doing those. Then he should consider contracting out those skills. Very nice work either way.

Best of luck!

A yearly fee sounds good to me. I would HAPPILY pay for a subscription to your site....in fact, sometimes I feel kinda guilty that I'm getting such goodness for free. REALLY!

Have you thought about selling some of your photography? I know a lot of it is personal and obviously you probably do not want to sell photos of the family but I have seen it done before and I for one would pay $25 for those shots of Chuck with the noodles wrapped around his nose! You are an amazing photographer as well as an amazing writer and I think there is potential for some revenue there.

PayPal seems like the best way to do it. If it became a subcription only site, you'd lose a ton of people. You could go for voluntary contributions or you could make the general site free, but the extras a subscriber part. I would pay more to read the love/hate/indifferent email part. Also, if you need a side job, you might look at this one. My best friend made $1000 her first week. I'm a skeptic too - but I saw her paystubs and signed up.

Cool swag would bring in a few farthings, and might also serve as advertising to drive more potential readers/swag buyers to the site.
A "Daily Dose of Dooce" e-mail might be worth something to me; I could more discreetly read an e-mail at work than I can your snazzy, but obviously un-work-related, website. ;-) Perhaps combine it with a batch of aforementioned "extras" on the site to woo the niggardly?

Modest Subscription? Yes.
A t-shirt? Oh, yes.
Greeting cards? Oh very yes.
And, you've opened my eyes about how pregancy can really be. I do second (third, eightyth, whatever) the 'what to expect' pregnacy book.
I wish you the best on your endeavors!

I think selling advertising space on your main page would be pretty easy to do. I'm sure your site stats would impress any small-to-medium sized business! Enough dooce fans could be persuaded to 'please click on a link!' to make it worth their while.

i'd pay a "premium user" fee to hear about your cabbage boobs! this site brings huge chuckles to my days.

do an rss feed for premium members or something

I would offer a premium edition for around $20 a year to read all the hate/funny/idiotic emails you must get. I wouldnt look at it as a "subcription" but more as helping w/ diaper money.

i agree with louisegyrl (no. 3) in regards to the advertising. I would love to buy a space on your site for my little purse-making business.

I woudn't mind advertising on the site will all the "fucks" or "motherfuckers" or even the occasional "cunts".

Afterall- the name of our purse line is "Douche Bags"! how fucking appropriate.

Take a look at www.oddtodd.com. He is laid off and yet manages to have his site up an drunning as a blog of sorts. If you write him, perhaps he can tell you what kind of things he does, besides selling stuff.

not much time to read through the comments from other readers, so sorry if someone has already come up with this. but i know i'd be first in line to get mugs, notepads, mousemat etc with a dooce masthead thingy on it. someone at work showed me some stuff she had made at cafepress.com and it looked
very swish.

also with the hate mail, can't you put it up so we can throw rotten vegetables at 'em?

Sounds great! I'd subscribe for a premium service, I'd buy the book ... hell, I might even get the t-shirt (if it didn't feel like a lifestyle choice!)
A column sounds great, but alot of your readers are overseas, so you'd lose a huge chunk of them ... and we'd lose Dooce.

Cafepress stuff sounds cool too.

I'm not keen on publishing wishlists as it appears greedy, rather than business-y.

http://daringfireball.net/
has membership and members extras ... any models there to follow? Members only rss feeds?

long time reader, first time commentor ...

i luv it the way it is! you're my daily joy that i desperately missed while you were on vacation.

i'd totally pay to see your stuff (the blog that is - sick perverts)

Howdy - love the cafepress idea... but I think your future is in writing. I myself am a writer and got my first "real" check for it last week. I have contacts in the publishing industry and if you like I can 'introduce' you to my agent or editor. Because your writing kicks the pants off mine. Email me if interested.

I love your site and love the improvement ideas you have! Definitely keep it up and keep blogging woman! I love your writing style and your open honest entries! You have a fantastic, nutty imagination and I enjoy reading the site and seeing pics of you and your family!

Ooh, ooh, want to read the love/hate mail you get!! I am so curious about the people that criticize you so sharply! Like, just close the window and stop reading - but they can't and then they just HAVE to write you. It's fascinating!

I am not experienced in the money-making aspect of a website. But I think the idea of t-shirts or hats, and stuffed versions of Chuck and Leta are FANTASTIC ideas! In my world, I am broker than broke, so if you charged $ for the ability to even view the website, I would sadly have to stop reading because I have no nickels to rub together, not even two! So I hope that is not your decision, but I would totally understand whatever revenue-generating action you have to take to make this not a money-pit.

Hang in there and we love you!

We love all things dooce. Your redesign will be great I'm sure. I know you asked for ideas about redesign, but I would like to throw in my $.02 about profit. I think you should have a subscriber's fee. Salon charges $35 a year, so you could charge say $8 a year. I would pay it, and we are unemployed! You might lose a few readers, but not many.

Also I think people would buy your stuff @ Cafepress.

PS I thought that picture of Chuck with his nose wrapped with spaghetti was so cute it's now my desktop wallpaper

I would totally pay to read your stuff. My girl is a week younger than yours, and your writing has kept me sane. Please keep it coming!

Have to shut down the computer now. I'm in Orlando, and my first hurricane is a-coming.

I didn't read all of the comments, so forgive if this is redundant or repetitive, but I recently read an Associated Press story that listed you in the top 100 blogs on the planet. Your provider should be paying YOU to keep your business, as should Movable Type. If you wanted to spend the time being your own advertizing exec. you could find plenty of advertizers. Your design skills could offer a complete package in which you designed the ad and put it on your blog.

As the father of a five-month old, I wish we could can and market that baby smell. Then DJBlurb could retire.

Just wanted to say, I would completely and totally pay for your site. Also a dooce.com t-shirt. :)

I'm afraid I don't have the constitution to read ALL of your comments ...

So many enjoy your website, why not open up added features for subscribers? Let freebies see the site as it is now, and let annual subscribers see all the new stuff you want to add.

It would be worth as much to me as my WSJ.com subscription or my Salon.com premium membership.

As I was driving today listening to my wife's Nora Jones cd I was thinking about all you're going through and the stress and concern Jon must have. I wish I could help him out with his search, but outside of the Buffalo area my influence in the web world is nil.

So, if you decide to charge me $50 to read more dooce, I'll gladly pay.

Just don't tell the guys on my rugby team.

pardon me if someone else has mentioned this already but I haven't read the other 158 comments so far :) so here goes: how about as a subscription service? maybe through paypal or such . . . $5 a month or $30 for a year . . . something like that . . . and you could sign up for a free trial month (but make them fill out five minutes worth of stuff to keep the weaselly lurkers more at bay. I'd pay a subscription for sure - as would a lot of other people . . . and I bet it would really cut down on all that hate spam, :) . . . as always . . . mucho support and kudos and huzzas for you heather . . . your writing rocks :) Kat

i see no reason why you should not be able to make money doing what feeds you creatively, not to mention those of us who read your site regularly.

see if you can get in touch with a wonderful man named Eric Francis, through http://www.planetwaves.net

he is a writer and has spent the last several years becoming completely independent, ad-free, through subscriptions. he will be more than happy to commune with you on the process.

tell him that lorin from the vision list sent you.

muchlove,
lorin

i'd pay to advertise on your site, heather! i dig it. www.bootyboutique.com

Dooce, your site rocks. While paying for access would probably get all your current readers to pay, it might not help you get more readers. You could do a pay-for-everything-but-the-current-post version . . .

While you are irreverant, you could probably make a killing as the new Dr. Spock with baby advice. Publishing past posts in a book format could also make lots of money . . . you could even self publish to avoid snarky editors. One potential would be to shop around and see what printing costs would be on a run of 1,000 books of past posts -- it can't be that much, b/c I've seen tons of self-published crap poetry books that "authors" give out, and those people aren't exactly money. If you could get firm quotes, then pre-sell the books on here, you might be able to pay for them before they're even printed.

And, while I don't like the idea of making your site pay-only, I would send a paypal donation your way.

Also, my last thought is regarding your design. I'm not sure how many platforms you're familiar with . . . but have you considered going into business designing other peoples' blogs? You make amazing headers (I've spent hours trying to replicate them, only to give up and do completely different things). In fact, I don't think I've seen many headers like yours out there. You also have a slick feel to your site. You could go into business designing blogs. And, you might talk to the Blog Moxie chicas (Joelle and company, starting at Tenth Muse and on) about hopping in with them. With your huge fan base, I'm sure you could pull in enough customers to make it worth their while to add you in.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. Good luck, Heather! I hope you and Jon figure something out, b/c I don't want to lose reading either one of you.

I've added Google Ads on both of my blogs and I've generated a meager 60 dollars in about two months. You'd generate a LOT more but I think people are starting to ignore Google Ads the way the ignore those flashing banner ads on their email.

Here are some options:
http://www.tagword.com/
http://www.blogads.com/
http://www.linkshare.com/
http://www.performics.com/

I can guarantee that advertisers would love to get their ads on this site. Someone mentioned selling adspace directly to retailers and I think that's a great idea. You could pick and choose who to partner with, make some money, and still feel good about it.

Then there's always the PayPal and Amazon donate buttons. I'm sure many regular readers would be more than happy to tip you.

Angie McKaig (http://www.angiemckaig.com/) has some great links about making money off your website. If you love writing here and people love visiting, there's no reason why you shouldn't make a living from it.

I can't wait to see what new things you have in store for us. Keep up the great work! :)

(1) Don't listen to these jackhammers who say you're selling out or exploiting your readers by wanting to get some support for this website.

(2) If that guy at MarksFriggin (Howard Stern recap site) can do it, so can you. He does it through donations and sponsored links. Not sure how this would pan out for you; he mostly links to porn.

(3) Don't start publishing unedited comments lists. They are SO boring (my own included). If you selected, moderated and posted comments or e-mails, that would be cool.

(4) I would still visit if you had banner ads, but I would feel a little dirty.

(5) I would subscribe for a small amount, if that's what I needed to do.

(6) You are an Internet icon, and no matter what happens, you've got to keep up the site. Tell Leta to get a job in TV commercials and support her mother like she damn well should.

Hey Heather,

Elise has a great set of money-making tips for blogs. Check it out: http://www.elise.com/mt/
archives/000566how_to_make_
money_with_your_blog.php

Ciao!

holy christ there are lots of comments on this!

make collectors item - limited t-shirts (or something) out of your mastheads and charge a fuckload for them. i'm sure some still employed fans out there will snatch them up....

dreamhost offers some benefits for reader clickings, i think. and....i'll keep thinking because i like the profanity and poop talk.

DON'T CHANGE A FUCKING THING!! I LOVE IT ALL. I WOULD BUY A DOOCE.COM T SHIRT (EVEN FROM AUSTRALIA). I WOULD WEAR IT AND MAKE IT AN ESSENTIAL FASHION ITEM IN AUSTRALIA..... THEN YOU WOULD BE REALLY RICH!!

Holy crap. This post only went up today and look, just look at all the comments! I can't believe those motherfuckers at Google wouldn't take you on. Pussies.

I like the t-shirt idea, although I wonder exactly how much revenue it would generate. Pretty much most of us in this column would buy one, but then I think the revenue stream would probably dry up. But I'd buy one at least!

Have you ever seen www.televisionwithoutpity.com? Fantastic site. I'm not sure what their revenue model is, but I suspect that you would appeal to the same sort of market as they do. I wonder if you could get some ideas by investgating them?

You have a real knack for both taglines and design in the mastheads, as well as the obvious writing talent. There's got to be a way to make some dough outta this.

BTW, I wouldn't write off the magazine or newspaper columns just yet. You'd need to find the right environment and the right editor, and you'd probably have to tone down the motherfucking motherfuckers, but I think you could do really well in print.

I agree with HG - you could shop your writing to a literary agent - I'd pay $20. for a book consisting of a collection of your posts. Plus I'm old-fashioned and I love buying books. That doesn't solve the blog money making thing, but you could become a famous writer and even maybe get blessed by Oprah!

so i think that if you made daily updates or like five per week, i would definitely pay money to access your site. plus all the stuff you mentioned sounds AWESOME. i don't know how you would go about doing it but i mean, if google is trying to treat you like a porn site, why not find out whom they get their hosting and crap from? or diaryland: that is an individually owned site. maybe you could offer a subscription to the "premium" site with all those great things you talked about and then still post like bi-weekly entries for non-subscribers. i think as long as you keep the price relatively low, more people will be interested and thus, you will earn more. i don't blame you a bit for doing this. i'd rather this happen than little or no dooce at all! best wishes.

just please please PLEASE no pop-up ads!

I can't believe none of the previous 178 people suggested the obvious solution: hotttt nude pix of Jon!

Heather,

I was thinking about your dilemma and first all, I love your site. It cracks me up. I was wondering though, what if you took your entries and tied the ones together that "go together", did some editing of your own and tried to sell magazine articles. You are an excellent writer and could sell stuff to a wide variety of publications as a contributing writer. You also have enough entries at this point that you could really go for a long time on the fodder that you've already created.

First, I like many others love you and check for updates often. That said, I probably wouldn't be willing to pay for the site as it stands now.

You're wonerful, and I know that you're crazy busy, but the site doesn't update on a regular enough basis for me to think it's worth paying for.

I think if you want to charge for access, you may find people expect more frequent or lengthier updates, and that may be hard to do with all your other responsibilities.

On the other hand, I'd totally pay for dooce propaganda!

Good luck, and please don't hate me.

I am one of those that, while I absolutely LOVE you, might not pay to see extra stuff, which would make me sad. But I would completely be behind the dooce merch, and also think it should be incredibly easy for someone like yourself to get self-published. Your readers would totally love a book, and so would people that haven't been smart enough to go to your site yet! I'm sure you have enough material for something amazing. You could even do it up with photos, like a great art book that just happens to have some very tasty stories sprinkled with expletives accompanying them!

Do what you need to do, sister. No one can blame you for wanting to make even the tiniest bit off something that has brought so many people so much laughter. Not to mention that you've laid out your soul for all of us to see, so let us help take care of you a little!

Well, I have to say I second or third of 500th the cafepress idea. I think your mastheads are pure genius. I'd be happy to doocify my wardrobe to assist in the sustaining of this site and your happy family.

I think we all know that it costs money for you to run this site. Eventually, we're going to have to pay for our voyeurism.

You do what you have to do. People that get all ticked off about a few ads can go elsewhere.

I'm sure with a little research, you will find the right option for you.

I know I'll be here riding the sell out wave with you.

I'd pay for a premium site.
Maybe post to the open site once a week, and to get all the posts we pay. You're great. I do what I love and make money, everyone should get to do that.

There is a model for you... based upon NPR or the street performer.

End every post with an "TIP ME" widget .05-$1? Totally honor-based... you're good enough to pull it off. You have marketable skill called "talent". Go figure... I've been selling your site all over the net.

Potentially have a programmer hack up a database tool to track the results and e-mail bills to your readers. (Blogger, or MT an the ISP could add the feature and scrape off a percentage for collecting the tips)

I see it as a sort of honorary "tip jar" system but the reader needs to vote right after finishing the post and thinking... "Damn that was so much fun... I'll TIP Heather to encourage her to write again soon."

The websites that start with "Keep Me Alive" requests miss the opportunity to get the reader to vote/rate the content and then follow up with the money to justify returning for more. Guilt just doesn't work as well.
That's "panhandling". Pass the hat just after the performance.

A lot of great bloggers could benefit from a "tip jar" approach.

Initially, request sponsors to fund the development of the experiment and potentially gain some rights to the resulting technology or profit sharing based upon the achievement of a steady revenue stream. Someone needs to create a "Tipjar" service or web-ring so that I only need to put my credit card into one system and I can tip you and RageBoy and Jeneanne and Halley and on and on... This sounds like a job for "BurningBird" Shelley Powers or another great Internet thinker/hacker. If Dave Winer offers... just say no.
We don't want to be indebted to him for another basic idea that just makes sense.
In fact, I'll pay you to say no. That model is called extortion. It won't scale as well as a group of smiling, and/or crying readers that love you. Did you know we love you? Oh yes... remind us gently that the baby needs new shoes. That's called charity and it scales
a too. Be well and proposer. -McD

lizpenn is 100% right. People don't and won't pay for content on the web. The best you can do is charge for access to archives and extras (a la the Onion, newspapers), and all that will do is ensure that nobody ever accesses the archives and extras.

Maybe I'm waxing all Luddite-y, but screw the web. There is still money (and dignity) to be had in traditional publishing. You've got the goods, you've got the audience and--rarest of rubies--you've got something to say. It all adds up to a country-mile head start on every other unpublished writer in the world.

What you waiting for?

Hello -- long-time reader, first-time poster, with my two cents on how to make money from your website.

First, I don't think charging readers for access will bring in very much money. Writing is a really hard sell on the Web. You'll just reduce your readership, and remove the most effective advertisement you have: the site itself, and your writing.

Two avenues you might explore are advertising and merchandising. Okay, so Google turned you down; they're not the only game in town. Success here will probably rely on you approaching businesses with hit stats and a proposal.

Merchandise is good; people say they would buy a "Dooce" T-shirt. Maybe you could turn the double-O into cartoon breasts as yet another boob reference (nah, too predictable). Coffee mugs? Nursing bras? Baby wipes? Pacifiers?

Sidenote: The only people who make money with Cafe Press stuff are the Cafe Press guys themselves.

My leading suggestion is a book. You have a good collection of columns that are mostly funny, sometimes touching, and occasionally gut-wrenching. You haver a natural topic: the pregnancy, birth, and infancy of your child; people love to read about that stuff. Select, combine, edit, and put together a volume called THE DOOCE IS WILD or FROM HERE TO MATERNITY (I'm sure you can do better than that), and you've got a book for a defined audience.

You can self-publish it (be skeptical of "print-on-demand" outfits; you're usually better off doing it yourself. I'd recommend Day Poynter's THE SELF-PUBLISHING MANUAL; his website at www.parapublishing.com is worth checking out.

One advantage of self-publishing is you can do it at home in your copious free time (hah!).

I don't really have any ideas about earning money online; I just wanted to support your intention to find a way to do it. If you can find a way to make a living doing something you love, something which brings happiness to you and so many others, you have to chase it. Go Dooce!

I'm certain it's all been said. here's what I would pay for:

Dooce tshirts. particularly if the "o"s were over nipples, a la hooters. what? 30% of your content is about boobs! :^D

I like the idea of a dooce newsletter, where subscribers get funny stories you don't put on the regular website, or photos, etc. exclusive Dooce, maybe call it Doo-Chay, or doo$e? or Dooce Deuce? ;^)

Good God, look at all those suggestions. I have none. Except, yes, you should be paid somewhere for your brilliant selection of words and your honesty. You write brilliantly. I've told you that before. Do anything to this site because you surely have a tremendous following that would, in fact, love to read more cabbage stories, even at a cost!

Wow!!! So many comments - see how loved you are? :)
I don't have anything to add except that I would TOTALLY buy your shirts / books / etc. I really hope you come out with something like that.

Pledge drives, just like NPR and PBS. Four times a year, throw up a PayPal button, an interrupted entry with a cliffhanger, and refuse to post further until we pony up $X. People who can afford it and want to will pay, for sure. Those that can't or won't will still get their Dooce...eventually.
You could even do gifts--I'd give at the $20 level for a Dooce Cabbage.

Or you could do the Mormon thing and start a tithing policy.

Basically, I love the site and will pretty much do whatever you need to keep it going.

I would definitely buy some Dooce.com shwag and/or pay for Dooce Premium -- hell, it'll be much more fun than Salon. Your writing is much, much, much too good to go away; stay online, make some dough, and be happy doing it!

Your web site is healing to me. It often reminds me of the book Operating Instructions, by Anne Lamont.
Get published! I will personally stand on corners selling copies, wearing a dooce.com t-shirt.

1. Yes on t-shirts. I don't know what cafepress is, but I could see you having a few at a time, perhaps with your distinctive dooce.com on the back and a snarky saying on the front? I would buy one. Or seventeen.

2. Baby shit. People love to buy the baby shit. Bibs, baby tees, etc. Great for baby shower gifts.

3. I would buy any book you wrote, sight unseen. If only I were a publisher I would "discover" you and make three billion dollars.

4. Reminder/thanks to donors, like they do daily over at www.themorningnews.org. I finally got around to donating to you recently, but would have done it sooner if you'd asked directly.

5. Anyone want to pay you to be a guest blogger/reviewer?

6. Your layouts are always clean and refreshing. Design a few for sale, $5-10 each? I have no idea how you'd keep people from just ripping them off, but think of the growing MT/Blogger that wants to look as cool as you. Oh, and I've long tried to figure out how to make galleries like yours. I suppose I'd pay $5 to use your code.

Since you did originally ask what we thought would be good improvements to your site...I would have to say that all of us would love to see more pictures of Leta, Chuck, and Jon. Even crazy pictures. I love your picture idea. Also, you could host a few tutorials on how to build webpages and make awesome mastheads. You could also make categories for all of your entries..just some ideas.

I applaud your efforts to try to earn a living doing something you love. I usually take the coward's way out and get a "real" job but trust me, if I could find a way to make money from home, I'd be all over it! How about a premium daily subscription newsletter? That way you don't compromise your "brand equity" and those who really like your writing could pay a small fee of $5/10 per year to receive a daily message/photo/etc. You could also feature a weekly sponsor. I'm SURE there are people out there willing to leverage your popularity to peddle their wares. Lastly, I also like the t-shirt idea. I think it would be a really easy way to make some extra $$$.

Good luck!
~ Nino
(I also like the compilation book idea...I self published, feel free to email me for more info.)

http://www.blogbinders.com

No doubt people would buy it.

I think whoever commented about selling link space to other bloggers would be good, too.

I can NOT wait to read the hate mail with your comments. Everytime you mention what people have said, I've thought you should put them up. :)

tshirts!

Heather,
I've never been able to write before, as I am a newer reader. I sooo enjoy reading your columns and you frequently have me cackling in my cubicle. I can't add any more ideas to all the good ones I've already read above, but I just wanted to say thank you for sharing Dooce.com! I'm looking forward to whatever incarnation comes next!

I'd be proud to wear a dooce.com T-shirt from cafepress or the like. Further advertising! Whatever you decide, I am completely happy to start paying you back for the hours of entertainment you provide all of us. And think, you've actually made me want to have my own kids! Remarkable!

Wanted to add that is you want to self publish anything Lulu.com is a good site. I'm sure there are more. They handle everything for you and you decide how much you want to get paid per book...you can do calendars, novels, photo books, all kinds of things. Take a look. Also people go directly there and order, so you just collect a pay check...What about selling "Making a Family" Or turning your other stories into books like that. I know the illustrator would get a cut, but I think those would make GREAT baby shower gifts! A funny/crazy/tragic look at mommyhood. That would have a "girlfriend's guide to PG" kind of feel...I like that idea...I just got invited to a baby shower...I wish you had one now to buy! ;)

LORI

Heather,
I love reading your blog. It is one of the funniest ones on the net and I think the pictures of Leta are absolutely adorable. I support you 100% in trying to make the site better and if you want to make a few bucks along the way, there's nothing wrong with that! Keep making me laugh!
Love,
Amy

I for one agree with an earlier comment that getting companies to sponsor/advertise is the way to go. Your monthly hits must be through the roof, and I am sure you can find someone to advertis on here!

First, what ever happened to the values of the 60's, when brilliant creative types, rather than prostitute their arts and crafts would just sell drugs to make money?
Have we fallen so far?

Second, why don't you just ask more clearly for people to simply send money to you if they are pleased? (The shareware model.) I have done, many would.

Third, is that comment above from someone who REALLY spells the name Branden? Of all the bastard spellings of my name I have tripped over like detritus on the nomenclatural floor this is a first. Hope it's a one-off.

Well, I'm not patient enough to read through all the comments, so I bet a hundred of other people have already suggested this... BUT... I think you should definetely parlay your Dooce success into a book... not just any book mind you but a pregnancy one. I have never come across any other pregnancy preparation book that has such hilarious but informative stories as "the ten and two" or even the post pregnancy cabbage bra stories. My cousin and friend were pregnant with their second baby during the same time as you were with Leta, and I used to email her some of your entries while she was at work. She was absolutely thrilled with how funny and truthful they were. Pregnancy book all the way dooce! Pregnancy book all the way. Oh, and I often wonder if you've ever read "Just Checking" by Emily Colas? She has a similar witty writing style as you.

The amazon.com affiliates program is pretty good. I get about US$200 a quarter on average, but that goes up significantly during the Christmas period.

Oh, to add one caution: I think your work is indeed publishable and marvelous, but do NOT just compile the old stuff and print it up. Get yourself an agent and real editor, and make lit. It would be real lit, as you are terrific.

And, one note, I did not mean that the person with the bad name spelling was a bastard, and hope it wasn't taken that way. The spelling, however, is another thing.

Just think, for every comment here, there are 10 more people AT LEAST that are reading and don't comment. Such as myself, being that I've been reading since Leta was only 1 month old.

the barren bitch brigade alone could finance you -

Please don't stop blogging! I can't live w/o out you! (I mean that in a totally non stalker like way) -

i too would pay premium member dues, buy dooce merch, buy prints of photos, and as an editor in the book trade, i too encourage you to submit to magazine and book publishers.

ps, if you get this blog-as-business off the ground, would you consider writing a how-to guide for other, lesser bloggers? that's the kind of crap i help to publish, and while it's not as exciting as cabbage boobs, constipation, or telling nieces and nephews about the wrath of the mormon god, it might help you pay the bills and continue to write the great stuff we all love. that option is there for you, should you ever need it. i'd be honored to work with a writer and masterblogger like you.

Woman, would you just bundle up the best of your posts, tie a ribbon around them and shop a book deal, already? This shit is good. Damned good. And I'm picky as hell. The beauty of it is that you don't really have to do a whole lot more work -- just pick your best over the last few years, call it "Dooce: A Memoir," and make millions already! Come ON!

(Best of luck!)

K.

You definitely need to put all of your posts into a book. Or write a whole new book. You have such a gift for writing; you have to be one of the damn funniest people I've ever read.

I would certainly pay a subscription fee for fun extras, and I would also buy a dooce t-shirt--one with one of your mastheads or just a quote from an old post. Hell yeah.

You are very talented, and I love reading your posts. I check every day, then call my sister to see if she's read when you update. Keep writing!

I didn't read the bazillion comments you already ahve, but maybe you could look at selling your photos. Check out www.zazzle.com and www.cafepress.com. You've got huge talent for classic photographs.

Hey Heather,
I have a daughter three months older than Leta. I want to keep your posts to show her when she is older. I'll tell her that is the way I feel about her. But your mama is not talented enough to write like that! I would pay to keep reading!

thanks to the person who provided the address for GoogleAdsense. I've written to them - but most of all want to encourage you, PLEAD with you to keep writing writing writing and making your work available to as many of us as you're able. You're a big talent.

Have you considered blogads.com? As far as I know, they're not as picky as Google AdSense about stuff like profanity. A lot of the political blogs use them and seem to really like them.

I also second the idea of a book. I would definitely buy a book written by you.

I CANNOT believe that Google is being so prudish. Whatever! The only reason I don't go off on our blog is that we set the thing up for my parents and A's grandparents. And I think they're cool. And they would fall over with heart attacks. Which would mean lots of awkwardness at future family reunions.

I admire your site and LOVE your writing. (As a fellow depression-sufferer...Walgreens has been my pusher since 1990--whoo hooo! and trying to go off to get preg...I can tell you that your site is not only terrific, it is a PUBLIC SERVICE. So, yes. There are businesses and other sites who would pay to advertise in a tasteful little box on Dooce. Including us, just to be supportive. Or we'd buy a Cafe Press t-shirt, bib, mugs, bumper sticker, baby hoodie (especially cool), refridgerator magnet, stein, etc. Seriously. You have great photographs, great design talent and lots of hilarious quotable stuff. No brainer. Dooce stuff would be awesome...the new cult rage.

Take no prisoners,

jm

I'm sorry if I make a repeat here, I didn't have time to read ALL the responses. I think a small subscription fee would work, but you may lose a lot of readers that way if all content was only accessible by logging in. Also, I have no idea how to set that up.
(is this html enabled?)
I think setting up a sort of donation thing (through paypal or what-have-you) would probably work quite well, I would donate. However, this probably wouldn't be a good money-maker, long term. Most people would donate once and felt they had done their part, some would never donate, and some of us are poor college students who couldn't donate much at all. I think the advertising is an excellent idea-- you get a shitload of traffic. Google may not wanna, but I bet there are tons of companies who would advertise here.
Also, of course, tee shirts, hats, thongs, yadda yadda yadda. Tack on a reasonable large markup-- hey, if glarkware can do it, so can you!
I think a combo of the last 3 would work pretty well, if you can get any of it to work. Hey, what do I know? I'm just a poo' college kid.

I'm all for whatever it takes to continue to read dooce AND for you to be emotionally and financially happy.

You want $? FINE with me...it'll be worth every cent.

Only other suggestion...and I've suggested it before...Chuck Greeting Cards...I would buy them by the boxfuls.

Your blog has made me smile so many times...it's time to return the favor.

I love you guys, Leta and Chuck included.

:-)

What about a Cafepress apron that said something along the lines of: "Cabbage: it's not just for cooking." Hehe.

I love your site and would love to help in any way I can to keep you running. You rock so very much, Dooce.

"dooce" with the 2 o's as cabbages.

Charging/ads for a personal site? I don't know about that... you write well and I enjoy reading your site, but at the end of the day... you're not providing a service worthy of my money or the hassle of ads.

I'm always up for booze! Oh, wait, what was the question? Oh, yeah, I would LOVE to buy DOOCE.COM gear (think suicidegirls-minus the naked, of course)...especially the apron as suggested by #267....oh, and a bottle of DOOCE EQUIS, BAHAHAA...mmmm, beer........is that marketable?hehe

275 comments on how/what to charge = OH MY GOD START CHARGING RIGHT NOW

cafepress.com?

I would love the Dooce merchandising. My sister-in-law were planning to make a couple of Dooce t-shirts for ourselves (and you, of course) a couple of Dooce onsies for my son (and Leta, of course), but, hey, if you beat us to it the more power to ya!

We were going to put our favorite tagline from your past mastheads on them, too.

As for the charging, I like the idea of doing a "premium" and "regular". You'll be more likely to continue to expand your reader base if new people coming in can get "hooked" on a little dooce and then pay when they start to want more. Best to start treating your writing like the addictive crack it is. "The first paragraph is free, but then she makes you pay. Soon, it's been two days between posts and you're all strung out hitting the Refresh botton hoping for another hit. "

Good luck, Brave One!

From several comments, it's obvious that not enough people have noticed your 'donate' link to paypal. I donated months ago because you gave me such great laughing-out-loud moments and would gladly subscribe, and this on a teacher's salary.

Trouble is, if it costs money, I wouldn't be able to tell my students to visit your site, thereby stunting their growth and damaging their delicate sensibilities, and I think that's important.

I've already got several high school and college students following your every word and loving it. Hey, impressing high school students is no mean feat!

And I'm not exactly your typical reader either; childless old maid (52), arty jew. But I can still relate. It's your outlook and attitude, and the rest is just details.

You're just as funny as David Sedaris, and he's buying houses in London and doing book tours and books on tape for god's sake. GO for it!

And PS, my dogs are too more spoiled than yours. Really. Are too.

I love your site. I read it every day and cannot imagine living without it. I would definately pay for the added extras. Oh and I would LOVE me a Dooce shirt! Keep up all your great work and never allow your work to be edited. You are fabulous just the way you are!!

I'm all about 'Dooce' teeshirts and whatnot. Write a book or something, you've got the talent and you certainly would sell copies. Maybe even charging people like, a monthly membership or something, I'd certainly pay it. Please just don't quit on us, I honestly don't know what I'd do without my daily dose of you and your stories, it makes my day just reading your page. I love you guys, I honestly don't think my days would be the same without you.

I wouldn't pay to view this site.

Open a paypal account and just ask for donations. People will come Ray...

So with 300 comments to compete with, I doubt mine will even be read. But what is a pregnant lady supposed to do on a Friday night in Utah? Yes, Post money making ideas.
I commend you on wanting to make money. You might as well. I say just start charging a fee for your site. I know I enjoy it enough that I would mind paying $10-$15 to read it. I'm sure that 500 other people would be willing to pay too. So if you charge us say once every 6 months, that's a damn good part time job.
I just wanted to say that I love your parenting stories. I have one on the way in October, and I hope I am half the mom you are to Leta. Never get down on yourself about your parenting skills. You are a wonderful mom.
Take care!

I have to admit, first, that I probably fall nowhere near your average demographic - I'm seventeen and still on the Conservative Christian boat. As for kids? ~snort~ Yeah, riiiight. Why do I read? Because you're funny as *heck* (sorry, I'm repressed and sheltered and still working on actually typing THAT WORD) and addictive, to boot!

Despite my hatred of t-shirt advertising, I would buy and wear a dooce.com t-shirt. That's saying a whole lot for you. SELL T-SHIRTS.

Yes for Dooce shirts. I'm sure all of my roommates (you have a small and growing fan club here in Duluth) plus my sister would spring for one with out a second thought.

You could have pay links to other people's blogs and diaries. On Diaryland, that is one of the moneymakers - paid banners to link to people's diaries. Though this site is used mainly by young people, I don't see why it couldn't be applied to your blog. The banners are VERY effective at getting people links, since after all the people reading are interested in blogs.

have you found a host yet? i really like mine: affordablehost.com; they are very reliable and have excellent prices. you should contact them and see if they would work out a deal with you as they can do custom packages.

i'm in the process of moving my blog over to expression engine - maybe that would give you some more of the features you're looking for?

you take some great pictures - what about offering some of your prints for a price, or having them printed on clothing at cafe press?

there are other ads besides google. i believe there's a blog ads service that asmallvictory and others use.

i wish there was a way to make money from it, too. but mine's not nearly as entertaining as yours. maybe you could expand some of your posts into essays and turn it into a book of personal essays?

i wish you all the best with it.