Jeff Jarvis: Million-dollar blogger
Who says bloggers don't make money - although this piece by Jeff Jarvis makes the point that it isn't always the actual blog that brings in the bucks.
Some people think I’m nuts for blogging when I could be doing real work (as if writing newspaper columns were the only real work). They ask me how much money I make directly from my blog and the answer is: not much. But to me, the blog is worth a million dollars - or more - for it brings me value in many other ways. So I thought I’d give you an accounting of that worth.
As the likes of Belle de Jour have proved, a successful blog will often lead to a book deal, which may well spawn a movie... sigh. Then there are the blogging businesses, the most famous of which is run by Nick Denton, who famously fires staff if they don't get enough hits...
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Journalists no longer the centre of the world
Jarvis has another rather interesting idea about journalism and the way it is changing. I still struggle with these charts. I can see how, in terms of what they offer, newspapers are far more than the top-down model: world - press - people, and by offering more and more interactivity, such as chat sites and destinations such as the Guardian's "Comment is Free" the average news organisation morphs into a modern media organisation and tries to become all things to all people (shop, agony aunt, critic, games forum, cook book, lifestyle advisers, etc, etc), but to me the news model remains overwhelmingly as before. Anyhow, have a look and if you, like me, asked during maths class at school: What is the use of Venn diargrams, then this is for you...
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The vanishing newspaper
I just spoke with Philip Meyer, the author of The Vanishing Newspaper, who tells me newspapers in the US are "harvesting" their markets: in other words, cutting costs, raising prices and generally making themselves unattractive to readers in the cause of investing in their online operations while maintaining RoI. Meyer says this is a one-time-only proposition in that once readers are gone they rarely come back. Meyer's model is that a newspaper's assets are 20 per cent physical: plant, equipment, staff, etc, and 80 per cent goodwill and influence and it is that they are selling down. He says this is manifesting itself in falling circulation and that long-established titles are now becoming increasingly wobbly. I'd hate to see it happen here....
BTW, Meyer will be appearing live via satellite at The Future of Journalism summit on May 2 at 9.00am. Tickets now sellign like hotcakes, so book now and get yourself a seat!
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Just found out I need to go to pasge 2 in order to publish to Facebook!
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