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Should you kill your blog after three years?

In the publishing industry, a magazine is usually killed if it has not turned profitable after 36 months in the business. First year gains visibility, second year makes up for year one and hopefully third year at least breaks even.

Case in point is GamesMaster strong yet unprofitable 3 year-reign.

So my question is, does the same apply with blogs? OK wait, I’m referring to blogs that are there to make money. If significant traffic cannot be generated after three years of posting, what do you do?

Again, if blogging is just a hobby, then it really doesn’t matter. In fact, if you’re earning “one mocha frap a month” from your site, then it still makes sense to continue.

I guess the best factor to consider would be that commercial publications have huge liabilities while blogs don’t. You can say that your blog is in the red, by losing the invested P2,000 per year on hosting and domain registration, but it’s also like saying that your multi million dollar company is losing one dollar a month. Blogs, at least independent non-network ones do not have huge liabilities.

Therefore, no, you should not kill your blog after three years. Maybe you should get writing lessons. Hehe.

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Wireless in Camp John Hay Manor and other thoughts

john hay.jpg

It’s past midnight and I’m catching up on lost emails. I’m currently blogging from the manor of John Hay in Baguio, where the entire area is a wireless hotspot. I’m here for a three day planning session for our company’s 2006-2007 strategies.

Since everyone is asleep i decided to sneak out and do some catching up with the online world. Though I was prepared for the worst case scenario – not having Internet for three days – and scheduling more than three days worth of content on all my blogs, having Internet has allowed me to do … well … some more blogging.

Have I become a blog addict? No, well not really. I’ve been posting a lot more often compared to the past few months. Most of it has to do with investing posts on this blog which will later on return in financial rewards. A lot of professional do this, and it takes precedence over quality content.

A good friend recently told me that my content quality went down. What does this mean? It could simply mean that (a) i don’t write long and thought provoking posts anymore compared to before, (b) I have nothing to say really, so might as well say whatever, or (c) content quality is subjective.

Nonetheless, there is a point in what he’s saying. A lot of bloggers post daily because they have to, knowing the long term financial benefits. Are they willing to sacrifice quantity over quality given the time they need to invest to create a really good post?

Not really, I would say. After all, this is a personal blog. I’d rather take a look at the best case scenario: blogging every day AND producing quality content is a good goal to have. There really is no other way to go but up!

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The joys of international traffic

After reading Abe’s post on how the typhoon affected the Philippine blogosphere and stunted traffic, I checked up on my phone blog which I had added onto the PTB Project a few days prior to the storm. Turns out that because of the consistency of international traffic and the sudden downing of local traffic, Cellphone9 soared from a rank above 100 to Top 25.

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This has made me realize the effects of REACH. When we start blogs, are we aware of the actual demographic of readership we will get? Part of the answer to this question has to do with the purpose of our blogs, in the same way that we ask ourselves if we are starting a business (profit oriented) or an advocacy (non profit).

On the other hand, does traffic really matter? I can have a blog on broad technology with so many readers as well as a blog on knitting with only a few readers. So how does one measure success? Putting these two blogs side by side, traffic should not be the golden mean of success.

In the magazine industry, success is measured when your publication hits its target demographic.

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Other things that blogging has bought me

Yesterday, Rico and I enjoyed the snack that blogging bought.

Contrary to popular belief, blogging can also buy you everyday things – not just cars, houses and expensive tech stuff.

For instance, blogging has also bought me the following:

  • 3 vendo machine drinks while waiting for my eye checkup
  • pizza (reall good stuff from Brooklyn Pizza right outside my village)
  • a 3D electric fan
  • Friday night date (hee hee)
  • lunch for one week
  • clothes from SM Makati
  • Mutlivitamins from the drug store
  • Dog food for Hondo
  • Transportation money for one month
  • Coffee. Lots of it.
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    Mostly Everything

    Has blogging helped you find true love?

    It is true that blogging can be financially rewarding. But what about the things that blogging cannot buy – like true love?
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    I’ve heard stories – well, rumors of bloggers who find love (or at the very least a one night stand) from blogging.

    What is it that attracts readers to blog authors? Is it the sexiness of making their thoughts bare to the public? Is it the fact that the art of writing is a rare find nowadays? Is it the package appeal of being eloquent and tech savvy at the same time? Or could it just be the excitement of meeting up with the mystery man or woman behind the URL?

    Well, whatever the outcome, just make sure you practice safe CSS 🙂