Friday, May 27, 2011

Add Blogger's "Support My Blog Widget" for Extra Income

Last week, Google released a new "Support My Blog" widget that allows your visitors to give you a donation. The widget utilizes Google Checkout to collect your income and deposit the money directly into your checking account. Blogger Buzz describes this as a "virtual tip jar" that allows you to receive a little bit of unexpected income.

Adding this functionality to your blog is a two step process.

First, you must create a Checkout Merchant account. You can do this by clicking on this link:  Checkout Merchant Sign Up. If you do not have an account, click on the "Sign up now >>" button in the upper right of the page, and then follow the instructions. Once this is complete, you will need to enable the new API. This is done by:
  1. clicking on the "Settings" tab (at top), 
  2. then click the "Integration" choice on the left sidebar. 
  3. In the center of the page you will see a checkbox. Uncheck the box that says: "My company will only post digitally signed carts", 
  4. press the "Save" button at the bottom of the page,
  5. and lastly, write down your "Google merchant ID" number shown on the right side of the page (because you will need to enter this in the Support widget).
Second, now we are done with Checkout, and we can add the Support widget to your blog. This is easily done by visiting your Blogger Dashboard. For each blog you have:
  1. you must click on the "Design" link (or tab depending where you are)
  2. then click on the "Add a Gadget" link (right side of page)
  3. in the "Add a Gadget"  pop-up window, click on the "Featured" link at left.
  4. scroll down to the "Support My Blog" widget and click the title or plus sign.
  5. in the "Configure Gadget" window that appears, enter your "Google Checkout Merchnt ID" (from step 5 above)
  6. lastly, press Save and you are now in business!
An example of this widget is shown on my sidebar near the top of the page. Now, if someone wishes to make a donation to me, they can easily enter the amount they would like to donate and then press the Support checkout button.

Note: At present, the gadget has a formatting problem which will sometimes cut off the bottom of the "Support" button. Resizing the widget does not fix this formatting problem.
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3 comments:

  1. I find your information useful, but I've come across an issue (for me). I just happen to live in Sweden, and I guess I can't open a Merchant ID unless I live in the UK or in the US. Know anything about that?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks this is very helpful, but I wanted to ask a few questions first does it have to be a cheking account? I have a savings account so I would like to use that one and also about Adsense, it says we can't use copyrighted material without permission to be eligable, but my blog is for writing stories in the fantasy setting for the company White Wolf Publishing's Games, I give them the Credits in the page, but I don't know if that would still make me uneligable you think you could help with my doubts?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joshua,
      I'm not sure about the savings account, but I would ask the bank if your account could receive electronic deposits. If so, it should work. If not, then receive payments by check.

      As for content, if you are writing your own posts (not copied) and you are not being paid to post, then your content will probably be accepted. Remember, it has to be original.

      If you are being paid to write these posts, then you must clearly state that this is a paid post at the top. Note that if you have no original content, you probably will not be accepted.

      Lastly, since your blog is new, don't apply until you have several posts (in some cases, your blog must be 6 months old. Also, you must be 18 years old.

      And, if accepted, do not click on your ads. You only get one chance with google which means if you are rejected or banned, you are banned for life.

      Good luck!

      Delete

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