So You Want To Be A Rich And Famous Blogger Eh
Oct 4th, 2008 | By Steven Hodson | Category: The Social Web
Before any real serious discussion about being a rich and (or) famous blogger takes place it has to be made clear that unlike any other media before it there are many different types of bloggers and blogs. For the largest majority of people who write on their blogs fame or fortune doesn’t even come into the equation. They are more than happy if the only people who read their writings are family and friends. This post isn’t about them and if you are one of those types of bloggers then the best bet is to carry on with your reading elsewhere because this won’t be of any interest.
Now, in between this first level and the next is a curious bunch of bloggers. They aren’t really in it for any money that could be earned from their blog since they don’t carry any advertising. In fact it will be this segment who are most adamant that advertising doesn’t really belong on blogs in the first place. For them any potential income comes from sources outside of their blogs. It maybe through speaking engagements or consulting jobs because of the knowledge they have gained by writing their blogs. Probably the best known of these types of bloggers would have to be Louis Gray. At one time Robert Scoble would have been the king of the pile but recently, through his hiring at FastCompany he has started running ads on his blog.
The next level of blogger would probably be the person looking to either supplement their day job incomes; with a possible eye to doing the blogging thing full time. For them advertising is an intregal ingredient to their blogs. Some might take on work for the larger blog networks again either as a part time type deal or as a full time job with the eye to build up their recognition factor in the business and promotion of their own personal blogs. In this segment I would as far as the tech blogs are concerned point to MG Siegler, Cyndy Aleo-Carreria and Mark ‘Rizzn’ Hopkins as prime examples of working bloggers with an eye to future opportunities but still putting food on the table working for larger networks.
Then of course we have the poster child bloggers of success that everyone likes to point to as the pinnacles of blogger fame and fortune. Whether it be TechCrunch, GigaOM, Gawker Media or even Johns Wu we hear about the million dollar deals and all those paid for conferences that add more money to their coffers and some bloggers want it so bad they can taste it. The allure of being able to work when you want and how you want while making all that money is our generation’s dream job.
I was reading a post today by Mark Cuban where he was talking about what it takes to become rich and I started thinking about what he was saying in relation to blogging; and the business of being a blogger. What follows is a few conclusions I have come to over the three years I’ve been doing this and reading Mark’s post. The thing is that some of them go against the current malarkey that a lot of famous and rich bloggers post about how to get there.
