DUBLIN -- Over lunch in a five-star Dublin hotel, conversation turned to why anyone would type keystrokes without being paid for it. Why would someone blog without getting paid? It quickly transpired that the questioner saw revenue only when he had to pick through advertisements. As Doc Searls uncovered during Bloggercon's Money Making Session, the real profits behind blogging are often far removed from standard advertising models. When explaining this perspective, I recalled the contentious atmosphere that surrounded some of the BloggerCon discussion on the issue. Some people pit the money-makers against the unmonied bloggers. I think that's a false dichotomy because well-read blogs are worth money in one form or another. It's up to the blog owner to decide how to take the money flow--up front and from advertisers or on the side through contacts leading to consultancy services, paid employment or civic capital.
- Several at Corante think the ants in the blogosphere can be monetised.
- Hashim Warren -- "Blogging will never pay the bills"
- Mary Hodder -- "Blogging is not about an equivalency."
- Classy Dee -- "It's a bubble instinct, and it's wrong. Not every personal activity needs a business plan."
Doc Searls -- "Money-making session at BloggerCon" with podcast.
JD Lasica -- "Paying bloggers to blog"
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