March 19, 2008

The Power of Blogs Beyond 2008

One of the benefits of the Villager's Black Blog Rankings is that we have a chance to identify role models in the afrosphere that can educate and inspire us to do better on our own blogs. One such role model is Pam Spaulding of Pam's House Blends. As such, it interested me to hear her speak on the impact of bloggers in today's politics. Take 90 seconds to listen to her response to an interview question in the video below:



The interview was one of many completed during the Taking Back America conference focused on the question of what happens to bloggers after the 2008 election cycle is over ... how will we fare in next year (2009)? Personally, I continue to look for ways to improve this blog. I have not done enough to monetize my blog ... but, that is because I have not done enough to create a compelling reason for readers to visit the Electronic Village in larger and larger numbers. That is my challenge in the coming days and weeks.

Anyhow, I'm interested in what you think of Pam's comments on the future of the blogosphere?
Drumbeats began:

6 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 19, 2008 at 11:16 AM

    Villager...monetize your blog? I thought your mission was to provide an uplifting site for Black African Americans. Just a question from a fan...Peace, Kat

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 19, 2008 at 11:46 AM

    Kat - I don't see the two ideas as being mutually exclusive. The challenge is that a political or social commentary blog such as this one is rarely ever effective in getting ad revenue as we see done with entertainment or gossip blogs.

    Anyhow, I'm hopeful that the quality of your blogger experience won't deteriorate if we do some things to pay the expenses of this village over time...

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 20, 2008 at 8:04 AM

    Hi Villager. Too sad for this guy, but allow me to pop in here?

    I am shopping for a template like yours. I would be grateful to know how I can lay my hands on one, or is it my cursor? Please help.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownMarch 20, 2008 at 8:36 AM

    Katch Up - I'm not using one of the standard templates. My blog design was created by se7en of Blogs Gone Wild in September 2007. I invested in his services because I had outgrown the standard template...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pam SpauldingMarch 20, 2008 at 11:11 AM

    Thanks for the props, Villager. If folks are interested in seeing the entire panel discussion. I have it up at my blog..

    There is a good conversation about monetizing blogs and full-time vs. part-time blogging and the impact of the part-timers staying afloat after the elections. I have a more-than-full-time day job, and I certainly couldn't live off of ad revenue.

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownMarch 20, 2008 at 3:17 PM

    Pam - If you're still ~lurking~, could you share the top 2-3 revenue sources from your blog? I'm always curious to learn how bloggers that have been in this medium for longer than me (which is virtually *everyone*!) successfully monetize their blog?

    In the meantime, I'm going to check out the link to the full conference as you suggested...

    ReplyDelete

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