Why Are There Advertisements Now?

The advertisements found on this blog are not meant to be intrusive. I started off with a Nuffnang box in July 2009 just for fun, with a tiny ambition that this would make blogging worthwhile. Let's face it, we have all at some point in our lives dreamed of becoming a professional blogger. 

But I am under no illusion that I am anywhere close to being able to support my blogging through advertising revenue. I have barely over 20,000 views over four years of blogging (as of June 2012). My only consolation is that the trend is in the upward direction. Even so, this is highly distorted due to this one single post that has garnered tonnes of hits month after month due to the picture that I put in it. 

Site Views as of 6 June 2012

Revenue is not the sole reason I have added the Amazon box on the right. The box does not just exhibit random books or products that you may or may not be interested in. Rather, it is more for the convenience of the readers to see the books that I have recommended throughout my posts. You can order the book straight off the links that I have provided instead of having to look for them on your own. I will also provide the links to my reviews in the box. And since I am at it, why not make a few cents off it? It makes economic sense. 

Nonetheless, Amazon can be quite costly for those of you who do not live in the US due to the shipping charges. In that case, the other site that I recommend is BookDepository, which has FREE international shipping. The books can be a bit more expensive compared with those at Amazon, but it is still cheaper after you account for shipping charges if you are outside the US. 

An interesting point to note is that, after comparing several books between BookDepository and the local bookstores in Malaysia, I found that BookDepository offers very competitive prices, which in many cases are cheaper than those in Malaysia. At least that is true for the books that I have looked for. 

Finally, for those of you who have religiously supported this effort, I offer my sincerest gratitude. It is not easy to continue blogging year after year in spite of all my other commitments. Even until today, I believe that this blog is a work in progress. I will continue improving the layout, the services provided and especially the quality of the content to serve the readers of the Main Streeter better. 

Thank you very much for your support.