Add a Tip Jar to your Blog

Or atleast that is what ScratchBack is calling it.

You can see my ScratchBack widget on the right column of www dot moneyandblog dot com. So what is this fancy gizmo? Well, it is basically like a donation box for bloggers. It also provides advertising for those who buy the slots.

If a reader likes your blog or an entry you wrote, they can purchase a spot on your ScratchBack blog widget. You can set the price to anything, starting at one dollar, and up to 20 spots open. Text or image links can be selected by the blogger.

ScratchBack is currently in its beta stage, and in beta you have a great benefit. You can have the ScratchBack team make you a custom widget using your logos and colors and anything else you choose. If you choose not to go this path, there are many pre-designed templates already made for your blog.

ScratchBack also features their own blog directory, which you can get into early now. As the popularity of this tool grows, you will certainly see this grow as well.

So let's run down the pros and cons of ScratchBack.

Pros:

• Get revenue from 'donations' without asking for them
• Ad space starts out at only one dollar
• Looks great with many templates
• Payout is at $25
• Quick transactions using PayPal

Cons:

• Uses PayPal

The problem with PayPal is that they suck all your money away with fees. Also, Scratchback takes a bit of money from every tip, too. This may equate to only about $.50 for every dollar you get. However, in beta, ScratchBack will give you 90% of what is leftover after PayPals fees. To read further on this, be sure to check out Shoe Money's post on what they wish ScratchBack could be.

You certainly won't lose money by adding the widget to your blog however, so it is worth a shot. My ScratchBack spots are only one dollar so make sure you buy them fast! I really love the look of it, and it adds a nice clean widget to my side bar. I bet your eyes went to it after the page loaded.

Click here to get your own ScratchBack widget.

Be sure to check back with ScratchBack often as many more updates are coming from them, like personalized purchasing pages!