Bloggers for Hire

Wall Street Journal has an interesting report on how many people are making a living from blogging. They report “there are almost as many people making their living as bloggers as there are lawyers” with “1.7 million profiting from the work, and 452,000 of those using blogging as their primary source of income”

It made me think how blogging has changed and how that affects our views about blogs. The report states that “bloggers who do it for a living  are 2% of bloggers overall and that it takes about 100,000 unique visitors a month to generate an income of $75,000 a year” so how does that affect blogging ?

Is there a greater emphasis on generating traffic than being unique or merely being a way that the masses can have their voice?

Is there a greater emphasis on SEO than direct views and honest reflections?

Is it quantity over quality of traffic?

Does blogging for pay reduce honest transparency?

To be honest I think that the answers could be both yes and no. For me it is down to the blogger not the tool. Transparency, honesty and value is provided by the blogger not the tool. So does the value of blogging impair because of money….not necessarily….does the value of blogging increase when there is no pay…not necessarily!

Great blogs deliver great content from a unique viewpoint, consistently…..whether for money or not.