We get letters
I’ve been remiss.Things have been so hectic lately, I haven’t had a chance to respond to my email lately. If I haven’t responded to yours, I do apologize, I’m trying to get to everyone. If you have a questions you’d like me to post here, send it to deborahng(at)gmail.com. Also, don’t forget to send your questions for our tax expert.
If other experts, for instance editors or publishers are interested in doing a Q&A as well, please drop me a line. We have lots of questions!
A few letters are posted below. They represent some of the questions I’m asked most often lately.
Dear Mrs. Ng.
I hope you find me job. I write good words in English. Please hope me find job.
J.A.
Dear J,
You do write good words in English, it’s in stringing together your words to form a sentence where you have issues. Keep working on that and you’re sure to find work.
I’m not hiring so I can’t hope you at this time.
Best,
Deb
Dear Deb,
How come I never see your picture anywhere? Aren’t you supposed to be some hotshot blogger? All the important bloggers have their picture up. Are you fat or ugly?
Love,
JamMaster P.
Well, aren’t you the sweet talker.
Dear Deb,
What do you do with the coffee money? Do you really buy coffee with it?
Lisa Keene
Hi Lisa,
When you buy me a cup of coffee, or click on an ad you’re really paying Jodee or Ajay to help keep this site running. All the ad money is re-invested back into the blog.
Best,
Deb
Dear Deb,
How do you get a job at About.com. Any inside secrets you can share?
Anonymous
Hi Anon -
If you want to get a job at About.com, apply through the “Be a Guide” page. If you’re qualified, you’ll be invited to undergo Prep where you’ll compete for the site with others. They’re really looking for people who know their stuff, so don’t apply for a site unless you’re truly an expert.
Good luck!
Deb
Dear Deb,
I understand you’re going to BlogWorldExpo. I’d love to buy you a cup of coffee in person. Will you be mingling with the little people.
Mark L.
Hi Mark,
I’m a little people too. I’d love to meet you and other regulars while at Blog Expo. I’ll be attending lots of seminars and have business to attend to while there, so I’m not sure yet about coffee. But do look for me so I can at least shake your hand and say hello. That goes for all my friends here.
See you then!
Deb
Posted
on
Sunday, September 16th, 2007 at 9:40 am under
Okay, I was a bit irritated for you about the “are you fat or ugly” comment. But I had to laugh out loud with your response! Thanks for the laugh.
September 16th, 2007 at 10:30 amHeh, the “good words” email was great. I’d enjoy it if you posted a lot more of your mail like this, Deb. It’s very entertaining! What a great blog, and thanks for your modesty (see Mark L.’s email)
September 16th, 2007 at 10:37 amHow come I never see your picture anywhere? Aren’t you supposed to be some hotshot blogger? All the important bloggers have their picture up. Are you fat or ugly?
*dies* What was THAT???
Anyhow, it makes me kind of sad that I’m oceans away from everyone else and hence cannot attend Blog Expo…
September 16th, 2007 at 11:14 amIf I was asked that question, I would have said yes.
With acknowledgement to Rodney Dangerfield.
“My doctor told me I was fat. I said I want a second opinion.
So he said, you’re ugly, too.!”
September 16th, 2007 at 11:27 amHonestly, folks, what’s a Blog Expo and why would anyone want to attend? I realize that you can meet people you’ve known only through e-mail, and that’s a plus, but … being in the same town as Blog Expo (wherever that is) would be enough to cover that issue.
So what is the big deal?
September 16th, 2007 at 11:40 amBTW, one response to the “are you fat or ugly” is “I am the size and density of a dirigible and am fully capable of flying to your city and vaporizing you with my atomic lasers.”
I realize this is a bit violent, but the point is that it’s often best to make stupid people scratch their head and wonder, “Was I just dissed? Or not?”
September 16th, 2007 at 11:43 am@ Erik -
Erik, as a professional blogger it’s beneficial to me to attend the seminars and network with my peers. I suppose it’s the same as attending a writers conference or other business convention.
Hope that helps to explain it. You can find out more info here: Blog World Expo
Deb
September 16th, 2007 at 11:43 amDeb:
I can see talking with people that you have an online connection with. But I guess I’m just not a conventioneer at heart. I’ve never been one for seminars* and the like, but I have met some interesting people in line for pre-processed food items.
Also, I see it’s in Las Vegas, which … well, let’s just say that I think I would be singing “By the waters of Babylon we lay down and wept when we remembered thee, Zion” just about constantly.
But I hope you have fun! Perhaps a few connections here and there can bring a lot of resources and other stuff to FWJ.
* why is it that no one ever has a whole nar, just a half of one? Or have I been watching Pinky and the Brain too much? (narf!)
September 16th, 2007 at 12:10 pmThank you for the link and for joining us this November Deb. Please be sure to introduce yourself.
Well Erik as a fellow blogger and the founder of BlogWorld & New Media Expo I hope Deb doesn’t mind me answering your question.
First a little history. I started reading and commenting on blogs back in 2001. Finally in 2005 I started my own blog The Real Ugly American on blogspot. It was just a hobby but over time I found myself spending more and more time on my hobby and getting more and more regular readers and links from several “A-list” bloggers.
I paid someone to design a new template for me, paid for my own domain name www.therealuglyamerican.com and paid to host my blog. I found myself interviewing authors and reviewing books. One day I thought, maybe I should sell the books I review, so I signed on as a Amazon affiliate. Eventually I was invited to the Blogads network. I was always asking other bloggers how to ad widgets, and how all sorts of blog tools worked.
Finally one day I decided if I really wanted to do this blog thing right, I needed to go to the blogging tradeshow. I was shocked to discover it didn’t exist.
Full disclosure here I run tradeshows for a living. I asked some of my blogger friends if they would do to something like this and they all answered emphatically yes.
So I launched BlogWorld because I wanted to attend and so did every blogger I spoke to. I wanted to learn about all the thousands of widgets out there, how affiliate programs work, how ad networks work, which publishing software was best, how to build my readership, and apply professional writing techniques and journalistic ethics to my blog.
Then as you have already pointed out it is a place to meet friends in person you have already met via the web, and make new ones that share common interests.
Some of us would very much like to attend an event like this. I did so much that I have spent the last year of my life, and a considerable amount of my own money building it with a lot of help from friends and lots of other bloggers.
Blog on!
Rick Calvert, CEM
CEO & Co-founder
BlogWorld & New Media Expo
www.blogworldexpo.com
Ps. I don’t post at my realuglyamerican blog anymore as it was a political blog and this event isn’t about politics. It is about blogging, vlogging, podcasting, internet broadcasting, etc.
September 16th, 2007 at 1:34 pmRick:
Thank you for the thorough response - just what I was hoping to learn! I’ve never been one to give blogging as a way of making a living much thought, but it is interesting. The only caveat I can see is that a lot of people want to do this and … well, not all of them have something interesting to say.
But thanks for that info, and if you are in the upper Midwest next year I might even stop by.
I would like to know what the state of Blogging for Bucks is these days, and how many people really are making enough to call it a decent supplement to their income. I’m sure these stats are hard to come by, but it would be interesting. I love following trends.
PS - I had a “blog” before there was such a word - Columbus Day Riot back in 1999. It turned out to be too much work for no pay, but we helped to start a trend.
September 16th, 2007 at 2:29 pmErik -
I earn a full time living blogging - more than I did at my office job, so it’s indeed possible. I gave up the last of my copywriting clients a few months ago because blogging is so lucrative - and enjoyable. I really can’t see myself doing anything else.
There are some of bloggers who earn 10- 20 grand each month and a few who earn even more than that.
So yeah, blogging can be lucrative. I don’t earn quite that much but I not doing too terrible either.
The problem that I see it is that certain “niches” for instance blogging and freelance writing are saturated. There’s nothing new happening. If I was to make a recommendation I’d say to stay away from blogging, writing, working from home and “making money online” as a niche unless you truly have a unique perspective. It’s better to find a niche that suits you rather than to find the highest paying keywords.
My two cents anyway,
Deb
September 16th, 2007 at 2:56 pmDeb:
That is great, and I do appreciate your ability to make that work. To be honest, I’ve avoided the online world for making money (other than to sell Amish made furniture) because there are so many sleazy people around. When I was a kid, I was taught a series of rules about swimming in the Bay when there were sharks around. The first rule is a simple one: Don’t swim with sharks. If you can make it work, Mazeltov!
I get about 200 hits a day on my own li’l blog, but I have no idea how to make money off of it. I suspect that I have nowhere near enough traffic to even consider it. Despite my background in SEO I haven’t bothered to do any of that, so I might be able to goose it up a bit. Even so, I would guess that you’re just one shade wrong when you say someone needs a unique perspective - mine is probably a bit too “out there” to ever be profitable. I managed to get some of my local fans out to help me at blogcave.com, so perhaps I could enlist some help to promote my bizarre ramblings.
It’s just that I read so many blogs that are pure dreck and I have to wonder about the future of this industry. There are about 4 that I read every day, including this one, and thousands that I just can’t see the point to. My favorite remains the guy who couldn’t make money at online porn so he decided to try blogging for bucks - a generation ago, he’d be hustling on the streets rather than the internet.
September 16th, 2007 at 4:07 pmErik,
Book suggestion: “How to Swim With the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive” by Harvey MacKay
September 16th, 2007 at 4:49 pmYour welcome Erik. I did take a look at your site before responding to your question. I just didn’t want my comment to get even longer than it already was.
To answer your latest question there are tens of thousands of people who make at least a part time income from blogging. There are millions who get “some kind” of monetary compensation. Google made FOUR BILLION dollars last year on Adsense. Far more than they make via search.
But there is much more to this event than making money. Again relating my own personal experience. I was spending money on my blog before I ever made a dime, and I never made anything more than a few dollars. I was a “prosumer”
The best analogy I have found is the music industry. Maybe because I was an aspiring musician once. Think of the tens of millions of teenagers around the world who buy guitars and drums and want to be rockstars. Most never get outside of their bedroom or garage. Still a very large group, millions in fact play local clubs, partys, weddings, etc. Many of these people make a living doing this, some do it just for the fun of it. Tens if not hundreds of thousands break into a rare space of playing large venues and make good money. Then you have the smallest group of rockstars at the top of the heap who have it all fame, money, etc.
Most (certainly not all) have one thing in common they begin playing because they love the music and love the way it impacts them and the people around them. It empowers them and many believe they might just be able to change the world through music. Live Aid, Farm Aid, Band Aid etc.
We might not all become rockstars but just about anyone can buy a guitar and try.
Blogging is very similar in that regard. Until very recently people were for all intents and purposes unable to share their content with anyone beyond their closest circle of friends and associates.
You had to work for a newspaper, radio or TV station, magazine or land a book deal to publish or broad cast. There was no middle of the road for content creators.
Blogging and now video blogging and podcast have made the ability to publish and broadcast affordable to anyone who wants to.
You don’t have to be good, you don’t have to be rich. Just start practicing and creating.
Some people will make the big time, others will be middle of the road, and still more will be blogging for an audience of one or five. Thats fine.
We all want to use the same tools and techniques the pros use and learn from them.
Blog on!
September 16th, 2007 at 6:48 pmRick
Rick:
NOW you’re talkin’! To me, it’s about taking charge of our lives and getting it away from the publishers/media outlets that have run things their own way for a period of time.
I wrote a book, yes. I did it for my kids, and then I published it in part as a “Master’s Thesis”. It tells people that I can write. I have a blog for a similar reason, all in all. You want to see what I’m all about? Go look it up.
I use Author’s Den despite being a terrible, terrible blogging platform because it has my entire portfolio, or the parts I want up. I like how it is organized. The blog? Ug.
The problem I have is that while this allows me to take some control over my own life, my community life is not necessarily included. News and information about the rest of the wonderful people of Saint Paul is lost in the ether and very hard to find. Taking the appropriate control is not, to me, a personal matter. It is political.
Now, my blog will never be all that popular. I’ve written 200-400 word entries for people on real estate topics, and I find that rather vapid. I’d rather drone on as if I’m holding the floor for some period of time. I like to think I have something to say, so I just say it as I feel like saying it.
Is there a point to it? I like to think there is. About 400 visitors per entry seem to think so, which ain’t bad.
Will it ever make money? No, I really doubt I’m cut out for it. But having one tells people I have a few braincells that can be rubbed together to create some kind of spark. That’s something right there.
What I what from the ‘net that I do not have now is a sense of community that better overlaps the real community of people I run into. I have my fans around Saint Paul that I run into once in a while, and that’s great. It’s getting this whole thang together in a way that renders the question of who owns what paper in this town relatively moot that I care about.
I won’t ever be a rockstar, no doubt. But I can take some control over my Saturday night and not spend it being entertained by someone else’s stuff - unless I want to be. That’s a good goal to have. Making money at it? I’ve played gigs for nothing more than beer (on Tenor Sax) and that was great, so being able to do that as a blog writer is a good goal.
As for paying the bills? I’ll look elsewhere, unless someone has a better idea. I’m really not that impressed with the quality of blogs in general and if I’m gonna have to tell my stories a certain way to make it profitable I suddenly have to weigh this against more lucrative ways to go.
It comes down like my rants against book publishers - if I have to spend a lot of time learning their rules and proving myself worthy, I have a huge opportunity cost. Sorry, I have a mortgage to pay, and I’m not wealthy. But I can use my blog to make my other opportunities happen - on my own terms.
If you’re down with this kind of blogging to, I apologize for thinking you were promoting it as a profession. Thanks for all you do!
September 16th, 2007 at 7:32 pmGood Lord, how many typos can I make whilst proclaiming to be a writer? It must have been a long day …
September 16th, 2007 at 7:43 pmI continue to post close to every day on my blog. I’m not making a dime and tried adsense…it won’t work. I should say…I havn’t figure out how to make it work. I’m in this for the long haul so I figure just keep plugging away and eventually something will come out of it.
September 16th, 2007 at 11:23 pmGlad to see we agree Erik 8). Sure we want to help people who blog as a profession be more successful but like I said thats just the start. We want to help non professional guys like you/me be more successful, reach more people. We want to help people who have no clue about blogging understand that it isn’t MySpace and that there really is some good content out there on blogs.
You have said a couple of times now that you aren’t too impressed with the quality of blogs and yes just like millions of teenagers plinking away in their bedroom there are millions of bloggers who stink. But they are trying. Many will give up, many will keep practicing. Just like I am happy to teach my nephew some new licks on the guitar, I am happy to teach any blogger who wants to know how to do it better. Every “famous” blogger I have ever emailed to ask a question has replied.
We are all part of the same club of content creators and there are millions of fantastic blogs out there on just about every topic you can think of.
You mentioned you have written a book. We have two exhibitors at the show that can turn your blog entries into a book and print copies one at a time. Shared Book and Blurb. I had no idea they existed before we launched the show.
September 17th, 2007 at 10:00 amOK, Rick, you got me on something.
No, it’s not what you were talking about, but you made me realize that there have to be other Saint Paulites out there with blogs, and just collecting them in one place is a good thing to do. That way, we can read each other’s stuff, more or less like exchanging greetings on the sidewalk.
That’s my problem with the blog world, I guess. It seems so very disorganized that I’d like to make something a shade more sensible of it. The terrain of the internet is a lot more warped than the hills of Saint Paul, and finding that one blog that might make sense to me is much harder than I’d like. Do you care what color my neighbor paints her house? Well, I do! So one level of organization is geographical.
Ah, well. I do have work to do today, but I’ll get on this idea soon enough.
BTW, I’ll never be a “famous” blogger, but I do answer my e-mail!
September 17th, 2007 at 11:45 amThere are lots of people trying to organize the blogosphere into a more understandable and usable tool. (Yet another reason to come to the show) HAHA. If you can figure this out you would be a very popular man in blogging circles.
You are talking about “Local blogging” which is a very cool thing. We have the founder of the Cool Cleveland blog network speaking at BlogWorld about how he launched and built a successful local blogging outfit.
This is why I love blogs. Great conversations!
Thanks again to Deb for getting it started.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:06 pmErik, I’m curious — what four blogs do you read every day?
Deb’s blog is one of my daily reads, too. In fact, since she started her community-building contest, I think I spend way more time on here than I should.
For me, blogging is a convenient mix of personal and business. I started keeping a journal when I was 10, but I stopped about two years ago. I started blogging shortly afterward, and my main blog has pretty much taken the place of journaling. What I like about it as opposed to journaling is that it keeps me a little more focused. When I know nobody is going to read it, I tend to write certain subjects to death.
Blogging also is great marketing for me. Because blogs are updated so frequently, they earn higher slots in search engine results, and can boost the main site, too. If you Google “Colorado freelance writer,” my blog is third on the list, and my homepage is right under it. That’s an improvement from six months ago, and a vast improvement from a year ago.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:18 pmMicah –
I started doing Adsense six months ago or so, and so far my account is up to about $40. You’re not missing much.
Failed get-rich-quick schemes aside, though, did you try my advice for getting the Adsense ads to work?
Another tip — try putting the ads into the template, instead of the post itself. The ads on my blog are actually above the post, rather than being in the post itself.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:21 pmI started using Adsense in May and got about…$10
*dies*
That’s all right since the web site’s not a blog and isn’t updated frequently. But if I used Bidvertise, I could’ve already withdrawn the 10 bucks. Wonder when I’d get to 100. LOL
September 17th, 2007 at 12:28 pmSorry have to chime in again. There are many people who make real money from AdSense. Here is the most famous one: http://tinyurl.com/2h7cae
Not everyone is going to get a $132k check from Google. That is the exception. but $100, $250? There are thousands of people who get those kinds of checks now.
If you have traffic, you can make money from AdSense and other advertising networks, affiliate programs, etc.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:45 pmThat’s true, Rick. In fact, for all my blogs Adsense is my biggest money maker. While I’m not at liberty to say how much I earn through Adsense, suffice it to say it’s more than I earn through a few of my blogging gigs.
That isn’t to say it happened over night. It took years of playing around with Ad placement and working on ways to bring in traffic. If you take the time to really learn about blogging, you can earn a great deal of money.
In fact, I think I’ll get started on today’s discussion.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:51 pmI’m sure if I put more effort into it, I could earn more from Adsense. However, my blog is for me, not for money. The ad revenue is just a bonus — or at least, it will be when I reach that elusive $100 mark.
September 17th, 2007 at 12:56 pmDeb, why aren’t you at liberty to say? I hope I didn’t overlook some clause in the contract that said I couldn’t disclose my income (or lack thereof).
I don’t think they have a non-disclosure clause. I have seen far too many bloggers flaunt their Google Adsense checks so openly.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:35 pmKatherine-
You know it was a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure I signed a non-disclosure and agreed not to divulge.
September 17th, 2007 at 1:40 pmKatharine,
September 17th, 2007 at 1:46 pmI tried different ways to get it to show. I have the search thing but not the ads…I will try something else. Thanks though.
Deb –
I checked out the Google Adsence Terms of Service, but I didn’t see anything about nondisclosure of income. The only nondisclosure clause I found was this one, and it doesn’t appear (to me) to include income:
9.1 You acknowledge and agree that Google (or Google’s licensors) own all legal right, title and interest in and to the Services, including any intellectual property rights which subsist in the Services (whether those rights happen to be registered or not, and wherever in the world those rights may exist). You further acknowledge that the Services may contain information which is designated confidential by Google and that you shall not disclose such information without Google’s prior written consent.
If your brain is not fried after trying to make sense of that, you are a better person than I am!
Anyway, I also have a feeling that it is illegal to tell contractors they cannot disclose their income. It is certainly illegal for employers to do so, at any rate (according to Nickel and Dimed, the chapter on Wal-Mart if I remember correctly).
September 17th, 2007 at 2:06 pmHa ha ha. That should have been “Adsense,” not “Adsence.”
I shpekenze good Englisss.
September 17th, 2007 at 2:08 pmHi Katherine,
Actually after doing a little more research, I see the rules have changed. When I first started with Adsense in 2004 (I think?) we weren’t allowed to divulge our earnings. Now we are, but we can’t divulge our CTR or other stats.
September 17th, 2007 at 2:14 pmDeb –
Interesting. Thanks for verifying that. I was all worried that I had missed something important, and doomed myself by mentioning what I’ve made so far.
September 17th, 2007 at 2:38 pmThat’s great to know. I’ve been announcing my adsense earnings of…um…$9.79 for quite some time now.lol
September 17th, 2007 at 5:16 pmHey, what do you know? I’m actually up to $45.10 now! Maybe in another 6 months or so, I’ll get a check.
September 17th, 2007 at 5:22 pmwill you all please hope me get back to the good words english letter? i found be it funny.
September 17th, 2007 at 5:57 pm