Blogs can persuade the public, but can they make money? - Washington Business Journal:

moffaiqohegesa1490.blogspot.com
Before you quit your day job in pursuit of onlinse fameand fortune, know a few facts abouty what it takes to run a blog. Don’gt expect to make any quici money. Blogging takes a considerable amount of timeand resources. In addition, you will need to keep the contenft fresh and constantly marketfthe site. In other words, it is just like starting anyother business. But the barriers to entrt are considerablylower say, opening a restaurant, which requirew tens of thousands of dollars. And as the numbedr of bloggerskeeps growing, advertisers are catching on.
Blogsz that are specialized allow advertisers to reach their target Bloggers whose sites attract morethan 100,000 unique visitorw a month earn $75,000 a year on according to Technorati Inc., a San Francisc company that collects data on The average U.S. blogger, however, pullsz in just $5,060 a year. Many new bloggers countf on their savings ortheir spouse’s job to pay the But low pay has not stopped folksz from entering the blogosphere. There are 452,00o bloggers in the U.S, according to the Department of Labor. That is 58,000 more than the numbe r of computer programmers. One advantage of blogs is that they offer the abilityt for readers topost comments.
That means readerse are engaged — something that attracts advertisers. “Iyt pushes the brand even further and gets people to talk abou t itamongst themselves,” says Chris digital media manager for Media Works Ltd. in Owingw Mills, Md. “That’s the powerful thing s about blogs andsociao networks.” Perhaps one of the region’zs most successful blogs is TVNewser.com, starteed by Brian Stelter while a student at Towso University. The cable news industryu blog was picked upby Mediabistro.com in 2006 and got Steltefr a staff job at The . But not everyonee is so lucky. At least not yet. Take, for Fern Shen. The former brew.com.
Her blog boasts an impressivw listof correspondents, including former “Wired” writerf Rafael Alvarez. But neither the site nor the contributorss are makingany money, Shen She is giving free ad spac e to the Wine Market and additionakl advertisers in hopes that others will join and pay. But Shen believe the site will makemone someday. She is talking to an investor, whom she declinec to identify, and hopes the site will pick up trafficx after a mention from online journalismsite “With the collapse of the everyone is trying to figure out a businesws model, and I don’t pretend to have Shen says.
The difficulty with blogging is that most journalist are not entrepreneursby nature. “We’re used to getting a story; we’re not used to getting the businessd side,” says Stephen Janis. The formerf Baltimore Examiner investigativereporter co-founded Investigativevoice.comn shortly after the daily newspaperf closed in February. You have to decide if you have the mentalithy ofan entrepreneur, Janis says, and if not, do you know someonr who does? Janis constantly promotes his site with appearances on the “E d Norris Show” and Fox 45. The site has attracted half a dozen paid advertisers, including Bob’s Pizzwa and online crime site Spotcrime.com.
The ad revenur so far is enough to paythe site’as contributors $50 to $300 a Janis’ goal is to eventually launch in D.C., Philadelphia and othed cities. He believes there is not enough advertising just in Baltimorre to support the Goingon vacation? If you want your site to get some seriou s traffic, you can’t take a break. “Youi can’t go to the beacg for a coupleof weeks,” says DJ Gallo, who startedx sports satire site Sportspickle.com. He started the blog in 2001, shortl y after graduating fromTowson University. Two yeare later, he quit his day job at Baltimors marketing companyWarschawski Inc.
Gallo does take a vacatioh nowand then, but he takes his laptolp with him and continues to He fears readers will go elsewhere if he doesn’ft keep the blog current. His site was purchased in Marcbhby IAC, a New York Interneyt company whose Web sites include and Evite.com. Gallo did not disclose the financiakl terms but says the money was enough to makehis eight-yeat time investment “worthwhile” — although not enough to His advice: Because blogs require so much of a time do something you are good at. “If it’se not something you know well, you’re goingt to burn out pretty Gallo says.