

Yes, some blogs are profitable - very profitable - gibsonf1
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/21/BUVJSNSTC.DTL

======
bootload
_"... TechCrunch illustrates the new blogging math. It sells sponsorships that
allow advertisers to display on the home page at $10,000 per month. It also
uses Federated Media to sell display ads, keeping 60 percent of the revenue
,,,"_

From a hacker and software company perspective there is a real difference
between writing about software or technology to make money and blogging to
make money. The biggest difference is with software once the software is
written, thats it. It just keeps chugging along. Sure there might be bugs or
additions but you can stop work on it for periods of time and do other things.
So it makes more sense to write software than just blogging or blogging about
it. But can you also make money writing about technology and software as well?

Blogging and other types of writing, (unless you are JK Rowlings) require you
have to stay on the writing treadmill whether you like it or not. Churning out
articles at regular intervals. If you stop your traffic stops. I'm sure this
is the case for sites like Techcrunch.

    
    
        "... writing does not scale very well ..." 
    

Thats the problem with writing, it does not scale well. Thats probably the
reason hacks and stringers have been traditionally paid by the word. It's one
of the only ways to reduce costs. And the only way to increase words is more
writers. The other confusing bit in the article is the lack of specifics on
how money is made. Do you make money _"by"_ blogging or make money _"off"_
blogging? Most already intuitively understand this distinction but not the
reasons why. Here is a list of things that you should also think about. So it
makes more sense to make money _"off"_ blogging because:

\- "People come back to places that send them away. Memorize that one." Dave
Winer [0]

\- use blogging to "Sell software, services"

\- use blogging to "Brand yourself, get leverage for other things"

\- use blogging to "Do good"

The list goes on and I've added the references to Dave Winer who seems to have
thought about this particular subject the deepest. [1]

    
    
        "I wanted people to look past the 
         subject of making money with blogs, 
         to making money because of blogs." [2]
    

Understanding the key differences means you can get on with the task writing
software and concentrate instead on being paid indirectly instead of merely
_"blogging for money"_. [3]

[0]
[http://www.scripting.com/2005/12/12.html#howToMakeMoneyOnThe...](http://www.scripting.com/2005/12/12.html#howToMakeMoneyOnTheInternetVersion3)

[1] BloggerCon IV, Day 2: How to Make Money, Harvard Law School
[http://www.scripting.com/docNography/bloggerconIv/Day002/how...](http://www.scripting.com/docNography/bloggerconIv/Day002/howToMakeMoney.html)

[2] <http://www.scripting.com/2004/11/10.html#When:7:50:58AM>

[3] <http://www.scripting.com/2006/04/19.html#When:2:01:39PM>

