wurk.net

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.