It’s been a big week. Since I mentioned networking last Sunday AOL has bought Weblogs Inc and Verisign has bought Weblogs.com. If you ever doubted that Fortune 500 CEO’s read SugarBank…
Since then I’ve spoken to business people who I didn’t know were reading this blog (hang loose G.W. – see you in Crawford), and refinded my ideas about networking. As it’s Sunday – which is members only day at SugarBank – let me share the principles I’d build a network around (borrowed from Ninja movies mostly).
Making money’s okay
(A Ninja kills for pay)
Blogs that make money (the vast majority of those anyone cares about) need not be any less ‘authentic’ or ‘friendly’ than ‘hobby-blogs’. When it comes to sex, some people assume earning an income can’t sit comfortably with honesty and a ‘homemade’ aesthetic. That’s not only false, but the web ‘amateur’ niche is built around people making an income from their activities.
Making money’s not the point
(A Ninja kills for honor)
If building a network is about making people pay for what once was free it won’t fly. If revenue is used to make blogs better, by letting writers focus on writing. giving them a larger audience to write for and raising their profile in the fields they write about – it’ll work. Advertising serves the blogs, not vice-versa. Making money should not be done in a way that upsets, frustrates or excludes readers. (more…)
Gallery Carre
