Oh the joys of being a small time publisher trying to earn a living online. For starters you need readers and while everyone dreams of going organic most successful publishers end up buying advertising in order to get there. Of course, if you're like most of us you have no money to buy advertising.

About a year ago I discovered ClixSense. They were offering to pay users to click on advertisements. Their site looked pretty flaky and amateurish but it was free to join so I took a chance. A month or so later I got my first payment exactly the way they promised. How much was it? About enough to buy a meal in your average mom and pop diner or fast food restaurant.

Last week I looked into buying ads there but even at a penny a page view I really didn't think I could afford their services. Then I discovered I could buy page views from my ClixSense earnings and direct them to any web page I so desire.

I'm happy to say ClixSense actually delivered more page views than I purchased with their money. Not a lot more but more just the same. I'm so happy I intend to do it again next month.

What's that? What page was I buying ads for? Why Yellow Dog, of course. I guess you could say I was making a private campaign contribution.