Chapter 1
Blogging for Money
It is hard to miss the word blog today. We hear blogs mentioned in the media, see them all over the World Wide Web, and we even hear them discussed now in business and social situations. In many cases the term blogger is used not just to describe a person who writes a blog, but also someone who earns money doing it.
This chapter examines what blogging actually is and what it involves; it then examines the different types of bloggers, and the truth about making money blogging.
Before you get into earning money from a blog, you need to know what exactly a blog is.
What Is a Blog?
So what exactly is a blog? Because you are at the beginning of a blogging book, this is definitely an issue we need to be clear on!
We can answer this question in a number of ways, ranging from the broad to the highly technical. To put it as clearly as possible, a blog is a particular type of website. You can see an example in Figure 1-1.
Studies have shown that although awareness of blogs is increasing, many people frequent blogs without realizing it. This is fine; the key thing is that readers get value out of it. Anyone who has been reading blogs for a while, though, will know there is more to blogging than just publishing any old website.
Though blogs started out as informal lists of links and personal journals, they have evolved into a far more varied medium. In addition to diary blogs and link blogs, there are now CEO blogs, educational blogs, marketing blogs—you name ...
