Should you try to monetize your website? Probably, but it’s more important to monetize your business. Not every site can and should be monetized, at least directly. I don’t charge people to read my blog posts or watch my videos, but I sure charge them for consulting, speaking, and writing services.

Let me put it another way. Few people are able to directly monetize Twitter. Kim Kardashian is one of them. But millions of people do it anyway. Why? Because, if done right, it can contribute to the overall success of a platform and, more important, of a business.

Simon Says

The platform is a means to an end—not the end itself.