I think it’s great that people can make money from their blogs. I applaud anyone who is able to take their love of writing and transform it into something lucrative. It’s not an easy task, nor is it always a fun one, but making a living as a writer–of anything!–is very rewarding.
What I don’t applaud is the “get rich quick”-esque message that seems to be more and more prevalent in the blogosphere, and lately even my specific little corner of it. I am so sick of hearing about “monetizing blogs” and “affiliate links” and other such things that I could scream, mostly because lately I’m not hearing them out of the mouths of people that I actually consider to be real bloggers. Making money blogging is great, but I sometimes have a problem with blogging to make money.
Many of the blogs that I have seen lately that are specifically created for the purpose of making money are nothing more than linkbait. There is no actual content, the content is merely a vehicle for as many links as possible that will gain hits. In my mind, these so-called “bloggers” are no better than spammers. Thankfully, they are easy to avoid and easy to spot, but even so they really bother me.
Creating content from scratch is hard. REALLY HARD. Being a writer is hard, even when you’re good at it and when you love it. I almost feel like the linkbait bloggers are spitting in the faces of those of us who write merely for the joy of writing. I’ve caught more than one of these spammy linkbaiters scraping my blog, which really gets my dander up. If you can’t be bothered to create real content of your own, keep your grubby thieving hands off of mine!
Like I said, more power to ANYONE who can make even a little bit of money off of their LEGITIMATE blog, thanks to a partnership, ad revenue from high readership, or whatever situation works best for them. Some of my favorite blogs and bloggers have done very well for themselves in these aspects and I am proud to call myself a reader and a fan. I would personally love to be a full-time blogger, it sounds like so much fun! But these other “bloggers” are in another category entirely, and I wish they’d just go away.
Word Counts - Today: 0 | July: 616 | 2008: 5,089
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
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The Buccaneers (Penguin Great Books of the 20th Century)
My blog has never been about money so I don’t care about trying to make some from it. I do it because I like it and that’s it. I did meet my wife through it, which is nice so you can say I’m getting paid indirectly if you want.
Will, that’s exactly why I blog. I love to write, and I feel comfortable sharing my thoughts with others. I do write for a living but it’s totally different…the blogging I do under my own name is just for me, and my few readers of course! It’d be great if my blog was popular enough that I could generate some additional income off of it–who wouldn’t like that?–or even become a full-time gig, but that will never ever be my main focus in blogging for ME.
I think it’s great that you blog because you enjoy it, and I hope you never stop!
That’s really cool about your wife too…I met my husband through the Onion, in a random sort of way.
Amen, Jess. I’ve been noticing an uptick in posts about getting rich off blogs, at the expense of other motives and content-building behaviors. Sure, I’d like some extra cash. And hells yeah, I’d like to be a pro. But I value my reputation and personal sense of integrity as a writer too much to pander for pennies. Ugh. Thanks for saying it out loud, and for a great blog!
Here, here! I blog for a small circle of friends, a few strangers, and my own personal gratification. I also read a ton of blogs, and I hate adding something promising to my RSS reader only to find a few days later that the posts are all links, tired & cliche lists, and so many articles about how to make money off your blog, gain readership, etc. I do really like your blog, especially since I’m also a writer, and have found your content to be useful and exciting. I even like your rants! So thanks for that.
I think you are confusing linkbait with out and out spam. Linkbait is exceptional content aimed at seducing links from a specific target.
What you described is not linkbait, but just shite. Linkbait by its nature has to be fantastic and I sweat a lot more over writing for a client then I do for the pure, running through the cornfields in the sun kinda writing just for joy.
And if you see Joy, can you tell her she still owes me a fiver.
No, I’m seeing crappy linkbait, trust me. It’s not out and out spam, it’s linkbait through and through. I’m seeing more of it lately than I am spam. It’s quite sad.
Chrissy, thanks for a great compliment! You put a smile on my face this morning.
Everything always comes down to money, doesn’t it? I won’t read a blog if they say anything about how they make money from this or that.
Hello from a fellow Dallasite!