Below you’ll find my (Darren Rowse - ProBlogger.net) latest update on how I make money blogging (this is something I post about every few months - although it’s been a over six months since I last did it ).

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Another fun way to wind up 2007 and show how fun geeks can be. Though a parody, the music is actually pretty well done…guitar work is reminiscent of an old 38 Special song named “Hold on Loosely“.  Some might also say it has under tones of a Tommy Tutone song, “Jenny, Jenny - 867-5309“.  The lyrics are alot of fun…all Web 2.0 lingo. Here are the first few lines:

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LoV3 7Wo Po1Nt oH (th3 k3y)
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Let down your Firewall baby let me upload packets of love
Directly into your heart tonight

I’ve got your SSID all I need now is your WEP Key
C’mon girl, everything’s gonna be alright

Don’t wanna be be your myspace friend, already got a million and one of them
But maybe I could be your friend on facebook?

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You just have to watch…read more

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This is a nice practical recap of the 2007 Web 2.0 developments. Google, of course, hogged much of the spotlight with multiple acquisitions and also launching OpenSocial. But Facebook got it’s fair share too by first letting outside developers into its platform, and then by rubbing noses with Microsoft while selling them a 1.6% equity stake for $240 million.

Web 2.0 applications just keep getting better, gaining the features people expect from traditional desktop applications.  read more

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Plagued by allegations of everything from deceptiveness to invasion of privacy, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has publicly backed down on the social-networking site’s controversial Beacon advertisements and announced new modifications.

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The Web 2.0 “bubble” had it coming. A Silicon Valley music video by the Richter Scales.

Three posts ago, I made mention of the rash of “bubble” articles recently. They’ve been asking this bubble question for 16 months+, now. Has anything burst YET? Michael Arrington (TechCrunch) interviewed a number of startup CEOs and executives to video a discussion about Web 2.0 (and whether a bubble status quo existed). [see video below “Web Bubble 2.0 for Social Networks?…Redux?”]
While lime-lighters of late love to forecast doom and gloom, so far… the Web2.0 beat goes on. read more

UPDATE: A new version of this video is now included in this post. Please see “The Bubble” Video Is Back post for an explanation

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Bernard Lunn is a New York based software/media entrepreneur who started in online publishing before the Internet (with Prestel in 1980!). describes himself as”… the busy biz guy that’s too old for Facebook…My online social/business network happens to be WordPress + PageFlakes. PageFlakes is where I consume content and Wordpress… create it”

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What’s interesting about the title question from my prior post, is that the same question(s) were being asked and answered in this Michael Arrington (TechCrunch) video…16 months ago!

A couple of weeks ago (9/10/06) Michael Arrington got together with a number of startup CEOs and executives to video a discussion about Web 2.0. Participating in the discussion were Aaron Cohen (Bolt), Scott Milener and Steven Lurie (Browster), Keith Teare (edgeio), Steven Marder (Eurekster), Joe Kraus (JotSpot), Jeremy Verba (Piczo), Auren Hoffman (Rapleaf), Chris Alden (Rojo), Gautam Godhwani (Simply Hired), Jonathan Abrams (Socializr), David Sifry (Technorati), Matt Sanchez (Video Egg) and Michael Tanne (Wink).The topics discussed included:What is Web 2.0? Are we in a bubble? What are the business models that will work on the web today? What is the role of publishers in a user generated world? How important and how big is the early adopter crowd?

Added: August 10, 2006 | YouTube

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There’s been a rash of mainstream media articles this week about Web 2.0 and Social Networks.  Maybe it’s partly because several mainstream media companies have growing vested interests in large popular Social Networks.  Maybe it also because Facebook teamed up with ABC news this week to create “US Politics”, a Facebook application highlighting the 2008 Presidential race. Maybe it’s just because of the herd mentality that mainstream media is often accused of displaying.

This CNNMoney article focuses on the opinion of Jim Nail, the chief strategy and marketing officer of Cymfony, an online advertising analytics firm. It can summed up as this: “There are too many companies. So from that standpoint, there is a venture capital bubble in this area. There will have to be more consolidation,”

But what’s probably more substantive that the article itself, is the number and intensity of insightful responses to the article that provide better perspective on the key element that sustains virtually all social networks: advertising revenue.  One such post signed by KickApps.com (a social media applications creator) CEO, Alex Blum, tell us that:

The ad revenue opportunity in social media is based on audience engagement (which is clearly there) but also relevance.  This is where the general social networks fall short.  For the most part they lack context in the same way a large shopping mall does when compared to a boutique store. The high value opportunity is around quality of audience, engagement and ultimately, brand affinity for marketers. So called niche communities offer this in ways that general communities don’t, but it’s important not to think of this as an either or proposition. Most people want both malls and boutiques in the lives.

With this opportunity, marketers need to think in terms of a marketing model that leverages context, relevance and participation. Three basics:

1) Targeted, relevant advertising. People accept unobtrusive messages that are relevant to their interest within the community but advertisers can’t assume that the same rules for advertising apply in a participatory environment. It’s a different environment and people are engaging in different ways. More importantly, there are tremendous opportunities to understand not only what people are topically interested in but also how they interact. The context is there and the data mining tools are available. This should all inform the message and delivery.

2) Branded programming. From a branding point of view, facilitating an activity on the social web can do as much if not more for a brand than banner ad. Check out what VIBE Magazine did with MySpace on www.vibeverses.com. MySpace reaps the benefits of partnering with a strong niche brand, VIBE benefits from the audience that MySpace aggregates, and advertisers wanting to reach urban teens and young adults have a platform to engage them through prizes, contests, etc. There are opportunities for both brand affinity and calls to action. [Disclaimer: VIBE is using KickApps to power the VIBE Verses contest.]

3) Commerce. People are engaged and are more inclined to buy. Think of being in a conversation about a sports team. You get all psyched about it and the team releases a special edition jersey. People engaged in that conversation are likely to make that purchase. Right place, right time, right product.

It’s not necessarily a quantity game anymore, rather, it’s quality. With quality comes a premium. That’s what will drive valuations.

Alex Blum

CEO, KickApps

Something approaching the value of a MBA in Social Media Advertising might well be contained in the above response…yet Mr. Blum gave it away for free.  What a concept!

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The two have created an application called U.S. Politics — built by combining Facebook technology with editorial content from ABC News — to give Facebook users new ways to learn about and debate issues of importance in the upcoming primary and national elections, the two companies said.

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