Advice to young journalism students on blogging as a career, June 2005.

1. Writing On the Web as
an Independent Career
Or, the Preoccupation Better Known as Blogging.
Kiran Jonnalagadda
http://jace.seacrow.com/

2. What the Heck is Blogging?
Conversation!
Log of Events on the Web. Web Log. Blog.
Literally: People Writing Their Thoughts to a Website.
Asynchronous Conversation. Recipient May or May Not Read.
But What Does it Mean?

3. How Many Can You Talk To?
One-on-One Conversation
10
Team Meeting, Private List
100
Conference, Public Mailing List
1,000
Magazine Article, Newsletter
10,000
Newspaper, Television
Blogging
1

4. What Do Blogs Contain?
Inward Looking Outward Looking
Hobby
Links
Reflections
Commentary & Help
And Various Shades of All the Above
}
Career
{
Updates on Life

5. Now the Bad News:
There is No Formula to
Make Money Blogging
…But People Are Trying Anyway.

6. Income Generating Models
Self-Financed Hobby. No Income.
Advertising Supported (Banner or Text Ads).
Sponsors — Ads With Extra Visibility.
Employed to Blog.

7. Employed to Blog
Secure Income.
Problem: Hard to Establish Credibility.
Not Recommended Since It’s Really Hard.

8. Advertising and Sponsors
Ads: Automatically Changed; Preferably Text Ads.
Sponsors: Long-Term Advertisers.
Ideally, Advertising Does Not Influence Editorial.
Problem: Ad Revenue May Not Suffice.

9. Surprise! SelfFinanced ≠ No Income
Hobby Blogs Are in Fact the Best Way to Make Money,
Though Indirectly.

10. Career Supported By Blog
Career is Independent of Blog.
Blog
Career Affords Blog.
Several Success Stories.
Material
Publicity Benefits Career.
Publicity
Blog Generates Publicity.
Career

11. Some Local Examples
Minnie Sukhthankar, Artist
Her blog is her showcase. Gets her clients.
Zainab Bawa, Writer
Her blog was her outlet. Now she’s employed to blog.
Rashmi Bansal, Editor and Publisher
Her blog presents the human side to her magazine.

12. Where Do I Start?
Start With a Free Blog Hosting Service:
BlogSpot.com
LiveJournal.com
Xanga.com
Don’t Just Ramble. Participate!
Find Your Voice, and Your Readers Will Find You.