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58 commentsWednesday, February 11, 2009
Blogging Hits Crossroads: A-Listers Giving Up
Is blogging doomed, or just in need of new blood?
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58 Comments
Blogging
I don't think blogging is a bad thing, some people may be fanatical but then you have a choice whether to read it or not!
If someone enjoys writing about money, or mortgages or their cat, they are allowed to post it online, why not!..
It's a matter of time before
It's a matter of time before things starts evolving.
In this era, if you don't
In this era, if you don't blog, you're the odd one out.
My kid blogs at 12 so the
My kid blogs at 12 so the whole blogosphere as changed. More kids are becoming more vocal online, which is not a bad thing. There's a whole lot of exchanges of ideas online.
Its Addictive
I've tried to shut down my site more than once, but I keep coming back. For some reason I feel the need to continue writing. But it does suck not having very many readers, haha. Especially since I take time to craft the content and make it high quality.
Making money on Adsense is a bit of a mystery to me. I'm not sure it makes rational sense. You do everything you can to get traffic to your site... and then let readers get lured away for a few cents. A quarter if you're lucky. A dollar if you are really lucky. From a hobbyist point of view, its kinda fun. But good luck making a living at it.
Who seriously uses Adsense on a blog that gets 500k impressions
Why would you ever rely on only Adsense when you're getting 500k impressions?
That's just plain silly...
"The good stuff lasts, the
"The good stuff lasts, the chaff separates from the wheat, the cream rises to the top, all that. The earliest bloggers and the self-sustained content producers may not like the idea that the blogosphere is changing and will require an old law of media."
I totally agree with that.
I fall into the average
I fall into the average blogger category and I've met more nut cakes than I can count over the last 2 and half years blogging. I cut off communications with everyone on the Internet (that I don't actually know in "real life.")
The social aspect of blogging was far too much for me to handle. With millions of readers I can't even imagine the crap that the A-Listers have to go through. It definitely wouldn't be worth it. I can see why becoming an A-Lister is a short lived dream.
Wow!
I read the article and my jaw drop. How can you get 1.5 million visitors to your blog and only make $1000. The mind is in a spin.
He needs to take a good look at his formatting is what I say. !.5million uniques. WOW
Blogging
Many of us don't blog for the measly pennies that trickle in from adsense. I've been blogging for about 2 plus years and i think I've made $50.00. Iblog because it's a means to vent, enlighten, share.
It does take way too much time, and I've found that I am blogging more on a site that pays me per post, but I can vent and enlighten there, as well.
It would be wonderful if one could make money doing what one loves, but in this day and age.. 'aint gonna happen.
At last someone tells the truth!
Nice of someone to come out and admit that blogging is a waste of time and effort....I closed down my blog months ago because even updating only once a month was not worth it in terms of visitors to my site or in revenue from the advertising on my blog.
Similarly social bookmarking sites like Delicious are also a waste of time as all that happened was that people searching for my chosen keywords found that my bookmarks were more accurate and relevant than Google so they bookmarked all the relevant sites I had found but never mine!
Social networking forget it too, it's fun and I have made a lot of new friends around the world, and some just 1 mile from where I live, but visitors to my site? Virtually none!
As for Twitter forget that too, my chosen and favourite search terms don't even give any results at all on Twitter and I have better things to do than send short messages (I call them Twits)into cyberspace in the hope someone will eventually find them!
If you really want to drive traffic, write some articles, make them readable and fun, make them regular, and try and include your search terms or synonyms into the text (but not too obviously), you will soon get a following and even get emails if you are late publishing! Don't forget to link from your site to the article as well!
And still nothing beats the good old fashioned press release if you have something really special to say, even if you use a free service like PRLog!
These two last techniques have given me first page on Google for the last three years, and even if the links are not direct to my site they point to one of my articles or press releases. In fact for certain combinations of search terms I get the top 10 on Google every time either direct to my site or to an article.
Lastly if you really want to drive traffic to your site, get a web camera and leave it run 24/7/365, submit it to some of the worldwide web cam sites (they are all free!) and make sure your domain name is on the caption just in case the site doesn't link direct to your actual page. People view them just to see what the weather is like and if you have a nice view for them to look at so much the better! I get up to 5000 visitors a month to my site this way and many of them go on to explore my site, click on the Adsense ads on the web camera page, and even visit my Amazon bookshop and buy books!
Blogging ?
Blogs are good for marketing your sites especially business opportunities and adsense. But I have rarely blogged even though I am into internet marketing.
I just dont have the time or cant be bothered to blog, but I do enjoy reading some of the articles on blogs, some are very informative and you can learn new ideas from them.
blogging despite everything
Thank you for this well-thought out and insightful article. Why blog? Why write? Why bother? Why care? Being a writer first (a writer who cares about research and accuracy, as well as trying to be clever) and a blogger second, I think it was only a matter of time before some in the field let it go. Blogging is very consuming--but so is journalism. Focusing on saying something rather than always trying to be the first to say anything, should be more important. The Internet has changed forever how we get the news and that in turn has changed politics and the economy. No one can hide for long. Keeping up with every new fact and nuance is exhausting, never mind writing about it all.
Perhaps blogging is simply evolving. This format will always be here. It just may be a little different. And maybe a little better.
Thanks for the opportunity to comment.
http://klaatukafe.blogspot.com/
http://fancyfoodplainfood.blogspot.com/
http://reviewsofpetproducts.blogspot.com/
http://onlinebookblog.blogspot.com/
http://beautyproductsratings.blogspot.com/
http://onlinefilmclub.blogspot.com/
http://cleaningcafe.blogspot.com/
Evolution
Geoffrey Moore's Crossing the Chasm book discusses the adoption of new technology. The early adopters, "Bleeding Edge" people, thrive on the newness and potential for opportunity. Thank goodness for them! Yet, once any technology reaches the main steam it isn't nearly as fun, fresh or new. I hope the A-List bloggers will dive into the next new thing. They are important trend setters.
Andrea
death of the net predicted, film at 11
people have been giving up on online systems for as long as there have been online systems, this is, somehow, news?
An alternative to the network
Nice article. With advertising revenues drying up this year, it seems that we'll either lose more a-listers, or there'll be more consolidation and network formation. But that seems like a reasonable trade-off in order to maintain some semblance of integrity.
Consider the alternative. You could do what Arrington does ... charge for a favorable story about a business. Hey, it's a dirty way to make money, but how else is a blog going to maintain its "independence"? And we wonder why the poor guy got spat on.
If you do it for the right reasons...
The people who are out purely to generate hits and count the pennies trickling in, they will not weather the storm- they will get bored. They will leave the blogosphere (still my most hated word) and hopefully, the rest of us, who do it for the love of doing it, can shine that little brighter.
It galls me that in most directories and searches, my blog sits behind several which are generic 'splogs' offering nothing at all new or original, some of which are rarely or never updated, or are so only from RSS. Hopefully, these will wither and die...
If you do it for the love of it, to share your thoughts or things that you've found on te web that you truly want to share, that is true blogging, and that will always survive.
It just won't make the pennies trickle in...
Good, thought provoking
Good, thought provoking post.
I wholly agree with Patric above. Blogging takes a lot of time, hard work, etc. I post about once a week. But there is daily effort behind that post.
I suppose if the goal is money directly from the blog, then very few would blog for very long.
About the haters... never really understood that as I reason to stop. The first one that I knew of who did that was Salam Pax. (Now returned at http://salampax.wordpress.com/) Didn't get it then or now. But perhaps that's because I've not been in that position.
Money is not everything
There are still those of us who blog to change the World and not for money.
A blog is very cheap or next to free to maintain, the most valuable investment in a blog will be the time you need to maintain it.
Constantly
Blogging needs a lot of attention and updating. Otherwise, your site would be outdated and less visited.
I've never really blogged!
I can't say that I understand why people blog. I guess it's like writing in a journal or diary...but I don't do that either. Every once in a while, I will reply to an article that looks interest or if I really feel I have something to say. I guess I just usally don't have much to say.
Ejvind mentioned to much clutter in the cloud. I think that might be true. I have a tendency to get easily distracted when I'm working on the internet. So much absolutely useless information!
So, to those that enjoy blogging:
If it's your passion, continue!
If it's not, retire!
My only means of communication
As a legless amputee recluse in a foreign country, blogging is my only means of communication with anyone and other than just talking to myself, it is my way of putting my views across and logging my life. I enjoy writing in my blog and I do not do it for money and whether or not anyone finds it and reads it today, it will still be there for people to read as long as I am around.
Blogging ad infinitum
The Legless Fool
Political Bloggers are different
Our motivation is to change public opinion, and influence the electorate. Thus, making money is far less important.
Rightwing Blogs are thriving right now. And I've seen a drop with the Leftwing Blogs since Obama became President. The inspiration, motivation and the hits are now on the Right: Libertarians and Conservatives.
Eric Dondero, Publisher
Libertarian Republican Blogspot
Blogging, Money, & Writing
The best advise I ever got about writing was from a good writer and a writing teachers. She said:
"If you don't have to write, then don't."
That's the first point. Blogging is primarily about self-expression and writing and communication. Secondly, it's about community and money and fame. People who blog for the money and fame will find that for them, it's hollow. You need to like what you do.
While today's economic times make this advice less than timely, I still stand by it.
If you don't like your job, change it. Either what you do or what you like.
I think many of the first generation bloggers were pioneers who liked being on the cutting edge and being the first great bloggers. Fine, they can now retire.
Most blogs, like more diaries and short stories and screenplays and novels, are not going to make anyone rich. In fact, they mostly won't even get published. With blogs, they'll get published but only achieve popularity in narrow niches.
Nevertheless, blogging is very popular. It's healthier than watching TV. It's cheaper than joining a gym. And no, it's not really a get rich quick approach.
www.BBat50.com
PS - I love blogging and I love the blog writing course that got me started.
Enjoy it...
Like lots of things, if you don't enjoy it to some degree, don't do it. Unless someone's holding a gun to your head, just don't blog.
Blogs are great for marketing other sites and I plan to do that for my safety and security web site. My products save lifes and I want people to know how to stay safer even if they don't have one of them so until I set up a blog, I exercise my blogging skills on my forum.
Thanks, Jason, for this great article.
Be Yourself
Hi everyone,
Many bloggers read about earning alot of money blogging and if we gather a couple of blogs that talk about how to, they say pretty much about the same.
This reminds of people who see celebreties on TV and want to be like them, even if they end over full of debts.
Of course that it's good to earn money, but one should focus on each one situation and not become obsessed.
I do believe though that one can gather useful information by reading those blogs, but in a world where data is thrown upon our eyes, it's important to know how to filter and interpretate that information.
Take care,
José
Blogging Is A Passion's Game
Passion is the fuel of any career success. The blogging career or profession cannot be an exception. Blogging is first and foremost, an expression of passion.
I strongly sense an abortive attempt here to redefine blogging. When Justin Hall started out as the world's first blogger in 1993, money was the least of all his consideration and motivation. Pls friends, don't let us re-write the noble history and purpose of our blogging profession.
I find it ludicrous on this day of our 'blogoscopic glory', even acknowledged by New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/us/politics/10media.html when President Obama recognized one of our own: 26-year old Sam Stein, from The Huffington Post, among the elite White House press corps during the White House news conference a few hours ago this evening. This was a day when web titans like, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune, Time, were marked present but not recognized.
Thanks for the money, if, and when it comes, but the greatest joy of any blogger is AUDIENCE. It's always and would continue to be great joy, when you write from the corner of your room or even from a corner of a football stadium and thousands and hundreds of thousands locate you, to feast on your post. That has always been our joy - RELEVANCE! and FULFILMENT!! I dsay this because I run the 3rd-most visited site (and it is a blog) - 54,000 daily hits, from the digital jungle called NIGERIA! I am happy to earn well above $1.5K monthly in a depressed economy.
True, its a weakness on our part that we are so consumed by production of quality content to the detriment of savvy marketing skills for converting our traffic optimally for great incomes. That is a subject for another day, but it would not rob us of the joy of royal contents that still rules, and would forever rule the web.
Like I always say, CONTENT is a King that must not be stranded in the wilderness of the web, but must find its way to the Palace of the web, where a royal crown and a kingdom awaits it.
Walking away from Techcrunch by Mike cannot rob Techcrunch of its glory just as walking away now, from Huffington Post by Ariana will not rob Huffington Post of her throne in the blogosphere.
Let em go!
Let em go! The bloggers that love to blog as opposed to desperate to use blogging to make a buck are some of the best reads available. They can be a fine cross of a novel and a diary and a magazine all rolled into one. I run tons of ads on mine, but it's "just in case" So let the money-hungry bloggers go... it'll leave room for the Post-Based bloggers to emerge ala the new short story writers of old with lengths conducive to the video age.
Why Bloggers Are Leaving
I'll tell you one very simple reason why bloggers are leaving the field...
The web 2.0 platform is made for a different type of connection then blogging..
Lets look at some differences...
In theory, someone writes a blog. then tries to connect with like minded people.
How much influence do they have...
One reason people blog is to try to advocate for a cause & enlighten people..
President Barack Obama didn't use blogging to gain momentum on line...
The creators of one of the original web 2.0 apps (facebook) helped to set us his site....
It was Howard Dean.. quite a few years ago.. who inspired people & popularized the concept... people would write short testimonials in his behalf, hoping that his philosophy & ideology would foster a huge following, and the goal was that he would be elected President of the US.
His fans didn't create blogging.. if you google the history, you will see it started in the late 90's.
The notoriety he created popularized it....
I think blogging is just another step in an evolving evolution you see taking place on line..
Web 2.0?
Some say it is already on the wane.. .whats next?
web 3.0 is just a more modern version of the semantic web, according to some articles you can read about it...
Driving the entire culture?
the ever increasing speed of download..
In 2000, T1 was considered to be like lightning.
Today... fiber is considered standard fare (15 -20 mg per minute)
high speed service today delivers 100 Mbs per ...
Computer speed.. a combo of processors, front side bus & ram...
along with good videocards
whats next??
Good question... perhaps the beta community can tell us what they have on the horizon.....
Do you all know what I
Do you all know what I disliked most about this musing?
No?
Well to the surprise of many I'm sure - it wasn't the inane verbosity, but the fact that it, itself was a blog post. I found that ironical.
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