The mid-level blogosphere has recently suffered a devastating loss of advertising revenue. We’re all hurting and there is a tremendous amount of behind the scenes organizing going on as we try to figure out a way to survive. One way you can help is to visit the Booman Tribune store and pick up a nifty t-shirt, coffee mug, or bumper sticker. Another way is to take the Blog Reader Project survey. It should only take 10-12 minutes of your time and I hear it is quite helpful in attracting advertisers.
I may be forced to do a fundraiser in September if this blog is going to survive. So, anything you can do to help will be much appreciated. And don’t forget to help out other worthy bloggers. This is a systemic collapse, all across the board. If you value the blogging medium please take the survey. Thanks in advance.
Tell us a little about the economics of blogging. I have long wondered.
How do blogs survive? What is the revenue picture?
that depends on whether the blogger relies on the revenue from blogging or not. I used to have 7-8 ads running all the time. Now all the ads are going to Daily Kos, TPM, Huffington Post, Eschaton, firedoglake, etc. and they are not filtering down to sites like Smirking Chimp, Bob Geiger, Suburban Guerrilla, Cliff Schecter, My Left Wing, or even OpenLeft. We’ve also lost all the merchandising advertisers. It started to dry up in 2006, but since March of this year it has been almost zip, nada.
Wow. What do you think your ad revenue will look like during the political season. I hope that isn’t TMI.
I also took the survey. I just had to laugh at the flossing question, which was right before another question which REALLY made me laugh, because its placement was just…different.
I’ll go shopping a bit later. Where do you think you’ll have your FR? Will it be closer to home?
the flossing question cracked me up, too.
I’ll probably do a FR in September online.
What the hell is an FR? Wish people would stop with these acronyms. So you need some money eh? I though you were still living under a bridge. Can’t imagine what MSOC is doing with only a third of the daily visits that you have. Remind me. Maybe I’ll help even though you still don’t know dink about terrorism. Daily Kos the new blog Walmart, looks like.
Are you always this pleasant?
I stopped reading shergald’s postings long ago, due to the demeanor demonstrated – not for any particular disagreement.
I see why. So sorry I used the offending shorthand. Geez…
Nobody has a sense of humor around here. Try to be subtle and what do you get? Don’t ask. Read below.
you’re not that funny.
Well, that may be true. Subtlety is not for everyone. So just how much do you need to pay the rent and breakfast. No joke. Be frank. I would hate to think that you would have to get a real job.
this isn’t real?
6,472 visits today. It’s getting better, Booman. Maybe next year it will get real, meaning you can make a damned living out of this. Real jobs pay money. On the positive side, you don’t have to kiss anyone’s ass for a check. So don’t worry about what they call it or what I call it, a real job or not. You have food, though, right? Now you have me worried.
Thanks for the reminder!
I need a couple of bumper stickers (just in case I get a car – unlikely, though).
You don’t need a car to use a bumper sticker!
I know 🙂
Spotted on the subway today
My old bumper sticker still hangs in my office but I could probably use a new one.
Boo-
I read most things from a Newsreader and if they seem good, I click through and read the real thing. I have noticed that you don’t put ads at the bottom of your RSS feed entries. You might consider that. I don’t know how well it pays, but many do it and it’s not particularly annoying for the reader as far as ads go.
I’ll go and do that Reader survey now.
I don’t know how to do that. Good idea.
The MSB (Main Stream Bloggers)have sucked up all the air in the room. The Co-option of the Blogging Community has arrived. Just as in the 60’s, anything of value was soaked up, and distorted by the monied interests, this new generation of subcultures has been affected. They will not change their ways. Companies will just not give advertising dollars to Sites with less than whatever their CPAs figure is a “bang for the buck”, and will therefore generate sites that ascribe to their views.
I have always figured only a lucky few would be able to make a living at Web Services, but most everyone else would have to come up with a new paradigm.
Considering that You are an Artist, BooMan, You might consider offering Your Own Works, as opposed to some unfeeling Advertisers product. I’m sure this is not a cure, but rather an example of where we will have to go to make this a viable occupation.
Between “Open Source” Software, free lurking on the Net, the MSB, and censored Media, there is little room for someone to expect to make a living here.
Nobody likes begging for money. Everyone realizes the importance of our “second tier”, yet the participation level cannot compete with the dkoses.
When I have run my businesses, advertising dollars were always aimed at the “Rule”…a good response from adverts was considered to be 2%.
If you have 100,000 people signing on each day, that would translate into 2%, or 2000 advertisement inquiries. Of that, 2% would be actual customers. You can see where this goes, if you have only a few hundred or a few thousand visits each day.
The reason the Huffington Report is the biggest out there, and makes money (if it does) is in fact absolutely relative to the dollars spent. Between the hired writers, the programming consultants, the lawyers, the cpas, and the media exposure, dollars trickle in. They are no longer bloggers, but MSM.
The small artist depends on his or her community, and events attended, yet, very few artists are able to make a living. For every 1000 artists you see at the fairs,half of them are disappointed, and there are 20,000 unable to make a living, or even afford the fair fees.
I could go on for hours. Making a living at what you like to do is just darn frikkin hard. There is no Justice, in that sense.
Meanwhile, I’m drinking coffee from my recently purchased BT Coffee Cup, and hoping better for everyone involved.
Huffington Post does NOT pay its bloggers. We do it for the exposure, but it would sure be nice to get paid.
Thank You for the clarification. There must be other reasons, or definitions for the prominently known writers to appear there. But the fact is, money is spent somewhere to illicit the response.
a while ago. Anyway I can ensure BT is represented?
it should carry over.
Excellent.
Hmmm. Would you say that these mid-level blogosphere bloggers are:
–trying to make a living with blogging instead of journalism. If so, why??
–trying to make a living with blogging instead of some other way. If so, why??
–Are doing this just as a hobby or some kind of frustration release mechanism?
I ask this because I may have been naive as to the cause of blog development. For me, blog participation has always been a news and info gathering mechanism and never something to substitute for a way to make a living. I am now realizing it is never so altruistic, but I would like to hear firsthand what you think and do and why!
going from $20,000 in revenue to $3000 will change what you do. That is the type of hit people are taking all across the Advertise Liberally network and in other networks. Anyone that needed that $17,000 is going to have to do something else.
I am really curious about this so please do not take these questions the wrong way!
Did you think all along (from the beginning)that you could make a decent living including saving for retirement and educating children by blogging?? What did you see as the most likely success from being involved in the mid-level blogosphere, and/or what would be you ultimate hope from blogging?
definitions of ‘decent’ may differ.
For myself, 2-300 bucks a week would be all I needed, to convert me to a full time writer, but I have some means to cover an emergency, and my kids are all grown. What I don’t understand is why people who spend all day writing, networking, and researching, paying for servers, paying out for any programming services, for hosting, and bandwidth, etc., WHY wouldn’t they deserve a paycheck?
We are able to write anything we want, able to make friends, develop some kind of online presence, all under the BT umbrella (Do frogs have umbrellas?).
I wish there was ONE entity that I could contribute to, that distributed the funds between the Web Site owners. It could possibly eliminate all the FR needs on so many Sites, and we could look at it like a onetime bill, that gave us unbroken access. Of course, like any idea of mine, it probably wouldn’t work….or then again…
I’d offer to cut my salary, but — uh — I’m not paid, doggonit.
Guess I’ll go look in the store for a birthday present.
Are you signed up for Commission Junction? I found a cool new Cafe Press affiliate tool.
Will get back to you later if you’re interested.
I will do what I can to help…buy mugs etc….( oh and the survey)
Ok, Ok, I bought a damn mug. Make me feel guilty, why don’t you.
Now, what do I get for signing up during pledge week? A subscription to Newsweek?
How about Joe Klein’s autograph?
🙂
The Dems who are in control of Congress, but are not, are not helping progressive blog sites like this one. Much hand wringing amongst loyal Dems is going on as we ask ourselves how we could be sooo gullible? Folks don’t like to be taken for fools, even if being taken by old friends. The normal reaction is to pull back and reevaluate. That is what I have been doing since the post-election depression and the sorry MT/AL/DJ/BJ falling out here. Looking forward to helping out with a fundraiser. I would hate to lose B/T and all the remaining pond dwellers. In the meantime, guess I better get over to the store for some summer shopping. 🙂
I always wanted a t-shirt, but last order I blew it on Boston Joe’s book instead. It was an enjoyable read, too. This time I went for the shirt. Now I’ll be stylish at the central committee meetings.
Had to think hard about the flossing question in the survey. I mean what’s the hidden demographic with that one?
I’m seeing a t-shirt and coffee mug in my immediate future..always ready for a new coffee mug.
And the flossing question cracked me up also.
Okay I feel kind of stupid…where are the Items ? Th mugs, and the Tshirts?? cuz I am ready…( is it on the side somewhere- cuz I looked)
You’re not stupid. It doesn’t quite stand out.
But there’s a link to “store” at the top of the page.
Here’s the direct link
http://www.teepad.com/commerce/ccc1009-booman-tribune.htm
I just purchased a mug.
kewl. Thank you very much. They hold 12 ozs. so you can get a soda in there too. Or do you call that ‘pop’?
we call it pop
barbarians…
It took me two years in Michigan to get used to saying ‘pop’ without feeling like an idiot and then I moved back east and it took me a year to stop saying ‘pop’.
Is this related to the fewer cross-links from the “big” blogs? or is this a trend that was ongoing before that happened?
Wonder what other options there are for generating income for blogs…. hmm.
I did the survey, and will hit the store a bit later. We do want to keep the pond open!
No, if anything I get more big links these days. It has to do with Blogads as a company sucking extremely hard and also they’re directing ads to a select group. For one thing, I have to pay 10% less to blogads than newer blogs, so they aren’t going to go out of there way to help me out.