how i spend my blogger money

Night Light attends art gallery opening
The blogger known as "Night Light" made another high society appearance last night, attending a star-studded Hollywood art-gallery opening. The French-based show, "Surrealism et Journalisme," consists of 300 televisions showing cable TV news reporters covering disasters while loudspeakers play a tape loop of the Jive Five singing "I'm a Happy Man" alternating with Freddy Fender's "I'll Be There Before the Next Teardrop Falls." The anonymous poet who writes the CNN news crawls also attended last night's opening and performed live readings from his upcoming compilation, "Crawlspace: The Facts in Peripheral Vision

The blogger known as "Night Light" made another high society appearance last night, attending a star-studded Hollywood art-gallery opening. The French-based show, "Surrealism et Journalisme," consists of 300 televisions showing cable TV news reporters covering disasters while loudspeakers play a tape loop of the Jive Five singing "I'm a Happy Man" alternating with Freddy Fender's "I'll Be There Before the Next Teardrop Falls." The anonymous poet who writes the CNN news crawls also attended last night's opening and performed live readings from his upcoming compilation, "Crawlspace: The Facts in Peripheral Vision." Anonymous also accepted an award from the Catchphrasers Association of America (the group behind the phrase, "hot enough for ya?") for the idea of renaming NewsNight "Turning the Tide" while they cover the tsunami in Asia.

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Microsoft Pays Blogger To 'Correct' Wikipedia Entry

A blogger on a popular technology Web site says Microsoft has offered to pay him to post information on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.com to "correct" what Microsoft claims is erroneous information about a key software standard.
On his blog on Oreillynet.com, blogger Rick Jelliffe on Monday posted an entry titled: "An Interesting Offer: Get Paid To Contribute To Wikipedia." In the blog, Jelliffe writes: "I was a little surprised to receive e-mail a couple of days ago from Microsoft saying they wanted to contract someone independent but friendly (me) for a couple of days to provide more balance on Wikipedia concerning ODF/OOXML."

OOXML is a Microsoft-sponsored variation of the Open Document Format electronic publishing standard that has drawn criticism from some tech standards advocates.

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A blogger on a popular technology Web site says Microsoft has offered to pay him to post information on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.com to "correct" what Microsoft claims is erroneous information about a key software standard.
On his blog on Oreillynet.com, blogger Rick Jelliffe on Monday posted an entry titled: "An Interesting Offer: Get Paid To Contribute To Wikipedia." In the blog, Jelliffe writes: "I was a little surprised to receive e-mail a couple of days ago from Microsoft saying they wanted to contract someone independent but friendly (me) for a couple of days to provide more balance on Wikipedia concerning ODF/OOXML."

OOXML is a Microsoft-sponsored variation of the Open Document Format electronic publishing standard that has drawn criticism from some tech standards advocates.

In his blog, Jelliffe, who is chief technology officer at XML software developer Topologi Pty., said Microsoft needed its own blogger-for-hire because "they are frustrated at the amount of spin from some ODF stakeholders on Wikipedia and blogs." Jelliffe said he'll likely accept the offer. "FUD [fear, uncertainty, and doubt] enrages me and MS certainly are not hiring me to add any pro-MS FUD, just to correct any errors I see," wrote Jelliffe.

Jelliffe didn't disclose the financial details of Microsoft's offer.

Wikipedia officials say they are less than impressed with Microsoft's pay-for-play campaign. "At a minimum, it could be viewed as unethical," says Wikipedia general counsel Brad Patrick. "This is a hot issue, and Microsoft wanting to soften the edges on an entry raises concerns about the perceived independence of both Wikipedia and Microsoft," Patrick says.

Patrick said he believed that Wikipedia officials haven't yet contacted Microsoft officials about the matter.

A spokesman for Microsoft says Wikipedia forced the company's hand by refusing to correct information Microsoft says is inaccurate.

"For instance, we tried to flag a name change," says Microsoft's spokesman. But editors at the online encyclopedia refused to update the entry "because they said there was no consensus on the new name" for the Microsoft Open XML format, which the company has ceded to international standards group ECMA. "At that point, we realized we needed to enlist some help," says the spokesman.

The spokesman insists the whole thing is above board because Jelliffe disclosed Microsoft's offer of payment. "There was no effort to hide anything," says Microsoft's spokesman.

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How to make money from your blog: 5 tips

Many of the people who write blogs today simply want to share their opinion on something. But then there are the business-minded folks, who have found a way to use blogs, or Web logs, to bring in a little extra cash too.

I recently wrote a column detailing how to get a blog up and running to boost your small business.

If you're interested in taking it further — blogging for bucks, if you will — here are five strategies that could turn your blog into a moneymaker.

1.
Sell advertising. This is likely the most common means of leveraging a blog to generate income. If yours happens to become a well-known blog, or one that is well-received in a particular niche, it's always possible to sell ad space on your own. For lesser-known blogs, services such as Google's AdSense or BlogAds enable bloggers to establish ad programs.

AdSense's — which lets you select several ads that are consistent with the content of your blog — pays you based on how many readers click on the ads for further information. Even better, it's free. BlogAds, on the other hand, hooks bloggers up with would-be advertisers and levies a commission in return for any ad placements that result. "The nice thing, too, is that the ads are relatively unobtrusive," says Scott Allen, co-author of "The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online."

Many of the people who write blogs today simply want to share their opinion on something. But then there are the business-minded folks, who have found a way to use blogs, or Web logs, to bring in a little extra cash too.

I recently wrote a column detailing how to get a blog up and running to boost your small business.

If you're interested in taking it further — blogging for bucks, if you will — here are five strategies that could turn your blog into a moneymaker.

1.
Sell advertising. This is likely the most common means of leveraging a blog to generate income. If yours happens to become a well-known blog, or one that is well-received in a particular niche, it's always possible to sell ad space on your own. For lesser-known blogs, services such as Google's AdSense or BlogAds enable bloggers to establish ad programs.

AdSense's — which lets you select several ads that are consistent with the content of your blog — pays you based on how many readers click on the ads for further information. Even better, it's free. BlogAds, on the other hand, hooks bloggers up with would-be advertisers and levies a commission in return for any ad placements that result. "The nice thing, too, is that the ads are relatively unobtrusive," says Scott Allen, co-author of "The Virtual Handshake: Opening Doors and Closing Deals Online."

2.
Help sell others' products. Here is another click-through opportunity. Affiliate programs enable your blog to serve as a conduit between readers and online sites offering various goods and services. One popular choice is Amazon.com. If, for instance, you offer book reviews or even just mention a book in passing in your blog, an affiliate program provides a means for your readers to click directly from your blog to Amazon to obtain further information about the book. If they break out the checkbook or charge card, you get paid as well.

3.
Solicit contributions. Not every blog-related income opportunity involves hawking goods or services. As Blanche DuBois did in "A Streetcar Named Desire," consider relying on the kindness of strangers. Ask for contributions. If, for instance, your small-business blog supports a cause or issue in some fashion — say you repeatedly mention tax reform, health care or some other topic — you can always ask for reader support.


Even if you've attracted a group of regular followers who simply enjoy reading what you have to say, they may be willing to underwrite their loyalty with a little financial help. Programs such as PayPal make it easy to establish a simple on-site contribution collection button. "There are lots of worthy 'cause' blogs that would qualify for donations from grateful members of the blog community," says Las Vegas communications consultant Ned Barnett.

4.
Market your services in your blog. Many people associate blogs exclusively with a cyberspace-based soapbox — a place to shout your opinions and little more than that. Granted, blogs are an ideal venue to share your thoughts with others, but don't overlook their capacity to generate new business as well. When appropriate, work in references to what you do and, in turn, what you may be able to offer any would-be client or customer who may be reading your blog. That can spread your opinion and your business moxie at the same time.

"Instead of short commentaries that begin a dialogue with readers, as many blogs do, I write the equivalent of journal articles that demonstrate my abilities, strategies and perspectives on specific issues," Barnett says. "When it resonates, it means money. Since starting this approach, I have generated three new paying clients and brought in about $10,000 on revenue — directly attributable to specific blogs."

5.
Use a blog to deepen your existing customer relationships. Nor does any marketing material inserted in blog content have to be limited to bringing in completely new business. By using a blog to regularly communicate with existing clients as well as other readers, you can take advantage of the opportunity to fully inform them about everything your business does. That may expand your readers' understanding of the full scope of your products or services.

"My blog has helped existing clients determine the range of my skills and services," says Ted Demopoulos of Demopoulos Associates, a Durham, N.H. consulting and training concern. "One client who had only used me for training in the past was surprised at my range of expertise and is now using me for a consulting project. Another who only used me on technical projects is now considering me for a more business-oriented project."

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