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So says Jason Calacanis in an email debate with Alan Meckler over at the WSJ piece, Can Bloggers Make Money?

Alan Meckler writes…

“Blogs are really diaries or microcosms of what is happening in millions of ways in daily life — ranging from special interests to business specialties to whatever. Obviously there is money to be made with blogs, but very, very few will bring in more than a few hundred dollars per year.”

I still say it’s similar to playing sports professionally. Millions do it for enjoyment, and don’t expect (or particularly want) to get anything more from it than a sense of achievement, while only a relative few take it far enough to make it their career.

As a followup to my last post, here’s a rock solid case for leaving pro writing to become a pro blogger.

The title of this post is actually the title of some source material I need to go through for a brochure I’m currently writing for a medical manufacturing client.

Enough said, I think.

;o))

Sorry, move along, nothing to see here.

It’s just that with the benefit of hindsight, *this* is what I really should have called that last post.

[Andy - just kidding. ;o) ]

Andy Hagans from BizNicheMedia has spoken about the first nine months of his spam… um, I mean ‘niche’ blog network.

Through our often stupid mistakes, the occasional lucky break, and a great many man-hours we have learned a great deal about what it means to run a blog network.

Ho hum. Lots (and lots) of stating the obvious ensues. However, one point that really stuck out was this one…

…we have adopted a bonus structure which adequately encourages writers to continually push themselves towards improvements. [note- we still don’t do rev-share… in our opinion that model blows.]

Revenue share blows, huh? I don’t agree. And here’s why…

(more…)

Just read this here.

“First this: advertising does not work for the average blogger, even the above-average blogger. It only works for the big group blogs and a tiny handful of full-timers. Advertising as a means of support for bloggers is a complete, utter, and frankly, rather embarassing failure. If Fred Wilson can’t earn more than charity change for his blog - well-read, updated thrice daily, and a leader in an important category - than few others can. If Steve Gilliard has to hang out a rusty tin can on his blog and beg for nickels, then blog advertising has failed. If Joe Gandelman’s still on the ventriloquism circuit instead of sitting in a fine office, collecting fees for his incredible service to blog journalism, then advertising doesn’t work.”

I’d disagree with saying that advertising doesn’t work. It’s just that it’s not delivering what everyone wanted to believe it would. And anyway, in a lot of cases it does work - if all a blogger wants to do is earn enough to cover hosting fees, then what’s the problem.

Not everyone is trying to make a million from their blog.

The closest thing I can compare blogging to is professional sport. Sure, there are some superstars who make a fortune. There are also a huge number of talented people who make a decent living from sport. And then there are millions of people who look at it as a pastime or hobby that they love to do - yep, they dream about making the big time with their footie, golf or whatever, but time, family, and work, means that they’re generally content with taking part in local amateur contests.

So for some, getting your hosting paid with a few dollars to spare every month is the blogging equivalent of taking part in those local amateur contests. And winning them.

And in that respect, advertising works very, very well indeed.

I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but this is a fascinating read from Darren.

My interest in healthcare runs deep. In addition to healthcare.wurk.net, I also write Genetics and Health. It is up for two 2005 Medical Weblog Awards.

• Best New Medical Weblog (established in 2005)
• Best Medical Technologies/Informatics Weblog

If you have a few minutes to spare, please please please please please click on the links above and vote for Genetics and Health (it’s actually listed as “The Genetics and Health Blog”).

After voting, you may be interested in checking out the other medical weblogs which will give you an idea of the wide variety of work opportunities in healthcare. Reading these blogs will give you insider’s knowledge of what really goes on in medicine and health and make you more knowledgeable too.

Technorati Tags: medicine, medical+blog+awards, health, genetics, healthcare, health+care

With archives stretching as far back as November 2004, and covering topics as diverse as Delegation Skills, Decision Making, and Performance Feedback, Tom Foster’s Management Skills Blog is a fantastic resource for anyone in a management based career. Go read it…

But surely anyone can do that with this and this?

;o)