Scratch My Widget, Please!

We have got news the ScratchBack widget is undergoing some changes this year. They will come in smaller sizes and the widget also have "personalized tipping 'buy' pages". I guess Jim Kukral is listening to suggestions from users.

The present 200 pixels wide widget may look all right on some blogs but blog designs vary. Other blogs will want a smaller size to fit into their designs.

The customized tipping "buy" pages as explained at the Scratchback site means that when someone goes to tip you, and click on your tip link, you will now be able to add a custom message to that page, as well as an image.

But is Scratchback any good at making money online? That depends on a number of factors.

How much are you calling for your tips? The minimum one buck is attractive for other bloggers to tip you and get a slot on your TopSpot. Unless you have a very popular blog, calling for a bigger tip may put off some people. As you can see I'm not doing very well here. I'm doing better at my other blog, The NextPost, and you'll see why.

How good is traffic to your blog? I don't see Scratchback as a great vehicle to drive traffic, so don't depend on it. But if your blog already has good traffic, the possibility of getting someone to tip you is greater than at a site with low traffic.
In most cases, I've noticed sites with the Scratchback widget but still waiting for someone to give a tip. In a sense, it looks like it has not really caught fire yet.
You can have one Scratchback account and use it for any number of sites that you have. That way you will have all your tip money in one "jar" so you'll reach the payment threshold faster. Payment is made to your PayPal account.

At the end of the day, the bottomline is how people perceive your blog - quality or crap - before they decide whether to tip or not. Of course, it may not ring true for some other reasons.

Of related interest:
Scratch My Back And I'll Scratch Yours
Ouch! It Hurts But You Learn From Blogger Unleashed