Comments on: Bloggers Worst Enemy?

By: PennySeeds.com

PennySeeds.com — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:42:42 +0000

True, things are always much harder than internet dreams lead us to believe. Though you never know what you’re capable of until you get up, and do it.

By: Tom.L

Tom.L — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:23:08 +0000

Good post.It sure takes a lot of work to get the “ball rolling” building the incoming links and everything else, anyone saying the opposite tells lies.But once the traffic starts coming, it´s more of maintaining the site a couple of hours per week or so I have been told by a well-known internet marketer.

By: David Peralty

David Peralty — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:59:07 +0000

Of course I don’t blame JUST John Chow, but he’s one of many people selling the get rich quick line of blogging, and so I wanted to bring a bit of attention to it. John is a great guy on a personal level and so I don’t mean anything negative towards him.

By: Yan

Yan — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 02:42:58 +0000

Yes, John is a great guy, and even though his blog is kind of useless to me now, I like to read his content from time to time (especially his food posts). The last *really* useful article he did (for me at least) probably dates back to more than a year… but I keep on visiting him about once or twice a week.

Once you’ve read a good “make money online” blog, you’ve read them all… and once you’ve learned all the basic techniques, visiting these sites will only waste your time… Oh, there are a few exceptions of course, problogger and your site being a part of them, but you guys aren’t really into the “MMO” niche anyways.

Ed: I don’t think blogs are making less money today then they were a few months ago… advertisers are just looking for ads that convert.. if you analyze your stats properly and implement good advertising techniques, You shouldn’t see your revenue going down.

By: Duncan Riley

Duncan Riley — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:53:43 +0000

David
let me say first that I agree with the sentiment of the post. The whole false hope selling has never sat well for me, and it prays on people who are often desperately searching for salvation.

However, as much as I’m guessing you picked John Chow as an example, I don’t believe that he alone is responsible nor an enemy to bloggers. There’s lots of people who peddle false hope and profit from it along the way. Chow is no different to many others in that regard. Likewise if John Chow stopped doing what he’s doing today, there will be 100 people (thousands even) lining up to take his place. As long as there is a market for this stuff, people are going to provide it. That some should do it more ethically isn’t disputed, but the demand also drives the supply.

By: John

John — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:20:41 +0000

Agreed. John seems like a nice guy, but his blog is no longer very useful to anyone, in my opinion. I still subscribe to it but rarely benefit from it.

By: WTL

WTL — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:14:18 +0000

I think you’re on to something here.

By: Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:32:04 +0000

David – I usually read your posts via RSS, but this time I just had to visit and comment. If it were possible, I’d give you a virtual clap on the back and a hearty ‘well-done.’ The image of blogging has become too skewed in a way as destructive as anorexia.

Like that body dysmorphic disorder, blogging’s self-image (egalitarian, open, a green field where anyone can strike it rich if they work hard enough) is distorted when compared to reality.

The fact is those days are gone. Much of blogging has been mined and the best stakes already taken. Today’s blogging riches come from supporting the myth – be it the blog aggregator, the designer or the ad salesman. The large valuations come from VC and media giants that swap well-entrenched blog properties the way real estate was flipped a couple years ago.

Today, VCs are pulling back, ad sales are pulling back and 90 percent of bloggers are left scrapping over Adsense pennies. As the 2008 Technorati State of Blogging noted, the median blog income is $200/year. As Automattic’s Matt Mullenweg has opined, 80 percent of blogs are splogs.

Is blogging dead? Far from it. However, a bit of reality must seep in and the ‘blogging riches’ mantra must be balanced by comments such as yours.