I am usually not a big fan of Google Adsense. Google Ads are so ubiquitous that even their highly customizable look screams Busch League!

Every time I see those things lurking in the dark corners of a margin, basking in the un-occupied space of a footer, or placed precariously close to a functional feature ready to distract and collect stray clicks from un-assuming visitors, I lose any and all interest I had in that website. Usually resulting in a drop of 3-4 notches in my book, and an immediate  refusal to click an ad or even continue surfing that site.

However the reason these little blemishes on your favorite website are seen in such enormous numbers is that these advertisements are so incredibly easy to use. Any Joe-schmoe can set up a page with a number of strategically selected keywords to attract some high margin ads and start making a little money in no time. They also provide a great transition for budding young websites to gain a small amount of revenue, allowing them to bridge the gap until that website has enough traffic to start a direct advertising campaign of its own.

Although the other day after installing Adsense on KirkHatesWork.com I was clicking around making sure things were working properly and in doing so had an ad served for me that was actually something I was interested in. “Eureka!” Seeing as though I am the target audience of KirkHatesWork.com, that is: Someone who is not satisfied working a 9-5 job for the man, and lining the pockets of someone else. I though  ”How perfect: After only two posts and a few keywords Adsense is already serving targeted ads catered directly to my intended audience, and BONUS! They are actually appearing to be useful!

The website that I ended up visiting is an entrepreneurial Think Tank, or Idea Incubator, www.Davison.com. I did a bit of perusing on their site, and decided to request an informational packet, but the basic idea is that you provide the big idea, and they provide the rest.  Seeing as though a bunch of ideas is about the extent of my assets at this point, I figured it couldn’t hurt.  What’s the worst that could happen?  I submit an idea and it gets rejected.  Best case scenario: They like one of my ideas, it becomes a product, and they take an incredibly large percentage of the profits.  Either way, I am no worse off then where I am today.  It is only greed that would stop me from moving forward.  Its as the old saying goes.

100% of zero is zero. But even 10% of something is better than zero.

Update: This evening I saw another company, Lucky Napkin with a very similar idea on The Big Idea that I requested some material from as well. Again it can’t hurt!  I will do another post on these companies and my experiences moving forward in the near future.