Blog authors, i.e. bloggers, can be divided into many categories. The most common distinction is based on the number of people who read the author’s blog. On the internet there rarely is a middle ground. So we can break up blog authors into those whose blog is read by thousands of readers, and those whose blog is read by a few. This blog is one of the latter but that does not bother me, I write to express my opinions and that is it.
Blog authors whose blog is read by thousands are a minority. This group of blog authors can be further divided into two separate groups. On the one hand there are what I call subject experts and on the other there are probloggers.
The first group, the subject experts, are what I consider the good guys. They are people who have insights and expertise in a specific subject and write interesting and thought provoking articles. I think they really deserve to have that many followers since the content they write is worth it.
The second group, the probloggers, are the equivalent of a get rich quick scheme salesman. They do not write valuable content. Instead they gloat about how they make six figure incomes by writing online tutorials to teach other aspiring blog authors become popular and rich online just like they did. They also offer personalized consultancy to other blog authors on how to become a problogger too.
If something feels to good to be true, most probably it is not true. Everybody should know this by now. Yet these probloggers still manage to rake in money from people who still think that they can make money online from a blog by writing nonsense. If it sounds similar to a pyramid scheme, you are right.
Two things about probloggers irk me. First, nobody with even the slightest sense of proper manners would boast about how much money s/he is making. Secondly, even if you make a living by writing a blog you don’t run around calling yourself a problogger.
Just like any other pyramid scheme, riches are made only by the few at the top who exploit the naivety of their readership. This is done directly when people pay for consultancy and indirectly when new aspiring bloggers start their own blog and make references to their gurus. Inbound links are the equivalent of virtual money on the internet. There are other ways of doing money too, like for instance selling e-books that cliam to give you step by step instructions to become rich with your own blog. Another method is using problogger conferences during which the few who make money take pictures together to show off on their blogs, whilst the masses pay hard earned money hoping to learn and mingle with the established probloggers.
Why did I write this post? Well, because I think if it only helps a handful of people see things for what they really are this blog post would have achieved its aim.
