A Case of the Mondays and No More Passionfruit

I'm having a terrible case of the Mondays today.

follow me on instagram @ohwhimsicalme

Who am I kidding, I do most Mondays. Why do they always seem longer than every other day? There is a lot I would like to get done within the next 9 hours but I'm having a difficult time finding motivation. I'm sure I'll dig some up at some point. Until then I'll be endlessly sipping on coffee and listening to good tunes to try and get some creative juices flowing.

In the mean time, I want to share with you another little change I'll be making around here. This is mostly just a heads up to my current sponsors/swap buddies, and to anyone who is interestied in swapping with me in the future. I will no longer be using the services offered by Passionfruit to coordinate the swaps/sponsor spots I offer here on Oh Whimsical Me.

It seems like just about everyone is using Passionfruit to manage their ads these days (rightfully so). So I'm sure you've heard of the killer updates they have introduced. You can now not only sell banners, but also sponsored posts (guest posts, product reviews, giveaways), social media shoutouts, sponsorships, and even services (ad design, blog design, consilting, etc.). In other words, if you want to sell it, Passionfruit can mange it all for you! So awesome!  they've even updated the Ad Shop into a Shopping Cart style. Plus so many other updates that I'm envious to not be having. The updates are live now, and free to use until September 1st. You can read about all of the updates here.

image source

I've loved using Passionfruit. They have done nearly all the work for me and have made editing ads so easy peasy. Adding the ad shop onto your blog is as simple as copy and pasting html; it is all so effortless. So why am I stepping back from Passionfruit? To be honest, I wish I could keep Passionfruit. But with all of the new updates I am drooling over, there also comes a price. Up until now, Passionfruit has been completely free for me to use. The updated version costs $9 a month for unlimited access.

I get it. I do. I was surprised that I could use it for free to begin with. And for established bloggers who are working with other bloggers and companies all the time, that low monthly fee probably seems like nothing. But realistically, at this time, I cannot afford it. I am still such a new blog, and such a small blog, that I only am comfortable offering swaps. I am fine with that. In fact, I love it. I have met some wonderful bloggers. I just can not keep using Passionfruit. Their monthly fee is small, but because I make no money from this blog I would just be paying for people to swap with me.

What does this mean for my current sponsors?

You don't have to do anything, dears :) I will simply use you current button image and link to your blog when I make the transition. This may require some adjustment and cropping of your current button. If you are unhappy with the adjustments I make, please let me know and send me a button sized 270x100 to replace it. Your ad/button will be "renewed," giving us all a fresh start, and I will email you in a month or so to make sure you want to keep your swap up. If at anytime, you do not want your button up on my blog anymore, for any reason, please email me (ohwhimsicalme@gmail.com) and I will take care of it.

What does this mean if you want to swap with me in the future?

My advertisement page will be updated with all the details really soon. Please look there for specifics. We'll be doing things the old fashion way; I'll upload them myself manually and you can always coordinate with me over email (ohwhimsicalme@gmail.com).

I hope you understand the changes I am making and why. If my blog expands as I hope it to in the future, will I go back to using Passionfruit? Perhaps.