Fearless Rick, July 9, 2010

In the long run, one is measured by one's work. It's a pretty simple concept that's been around for eons.

A carpenter builds a better house; word gets around. More people will want that carpenter to build their homes. A painter creates beautiful canvasses, more beautiful than his or her contemporaries. More people will want to view the most gorgeous works of art.

Certainly not engaged in rocket science, bloggers - dwindling population of active ones, mind you - should not be tempted by the allure of riches and fame. Good bloggers will find that focusing on their subject matter and maintaining a level of consistency will lead to higher readership rates, and, from there, on the road of popularity, the path to security, tranquility and inner peace may be attained. Successful bloggers may also find that a little money may come their way, in the form of sponsorships or advertising or product samples.

Bloggers are judged, severely, by what they produce. The marketplace of the internet is crammed full of pretenders, amateurs and tire-kickers, as well as being well-stocked with true professionals. Fame and money have proven to be largely elusive for the vast majority of bloggers.

Just taking a blind stab from experience, it can be safely assumed that upwards of 90% of all active bloggers earn less than $500 per annum from their blogging efforts. For many, it's an add-on or supplement to their regular work, often overlooked and seldom attended to with any amount of care.

The more successful ones are diligent, posting frequently - daily or with multiple daily posts - and have assistance. Some well-known blogs are staffed by as many as twelve people and others have additional background assistance. The self-publishing blogger should follow the lead of the established blogs with a pattern of consistent, quality posts stuck to the heart of their subject matter. Blogs should be entertaining, well-written and worthwhile to the target audience.

If most of these guidelines are followed, along with healthy doses of promotion and a smattering of writing talent (without which nothing will ever prosper), the self-published blogger may find the route to success in a specific niche, be it popularity, monetary or emotional.

One should take special care to avoid pitches like this, which arrived in my email box, unsolicited.

xx--------------------------------------------------xx

Your blog has been upgraded for free
With this free upgrade, all ads on your blog and your profile pages have been removed, for a full 2 months, so that you and your blog get better exposure.
Your team at XYZXYZ is devoted to highlighting the work of independent, hardworking bloggers so that you get the recognition and readership you deserve. To do so, we're making a number of improvements. One of the most exciting is an initiative to make XYZXYZ ad-free and use the space to feature bloggers like you.
To permanently go ad-free; showcase your work; keep the servers humming; and, keep the developers smiling, we've come up with a Bloggers Recognition Package for the first 24 bloggers who sign up.
This package will seriously increase your traffic and bring you more exposure than you ever thought possible.

Blogger Recognition Package
€ Your blog will be prominently featured on XYZXYZ's home page for 3 months. XYZXYZ receives over 5 million visitors a month.
€
€ Your most recent post, regardless of how many you write, will be featured at the top of the directory category to which it relates.
€
€ We will promote your blog on one of our weekly blog talk radio show. You can even join us one of the shows.
€
€ You and your blog will be promoted in an email that goes out to XYZXYZ's XXX,000+ members.
€
€ A blog post will be written about you and your blog, and featured on the XYZXYZ community blog.
€
€ A background takeover will be designed for you so that your blog is showcased and "takes over" its related category.
€
€ 2 hours of blog review with a XYZXYZ blogging pro by email or phone.

xx--------------------------------------------------xx Unless your blog is already well-established or you have a great writng stlye which simply hasn't been exposed to enough people, this is probably a waste of precious funds. Results are likely tobe very short term and not unlikely to convert casual traffic into loyal followers.

The future for talented bloggers (and webmasters) has never been brighter. But paying for traffic is likely a waste of time and money. Worse yet, like a drug, paying for traffic might be addictive, leading to paying more and more money to satisfy a delusional traffic rush high.