Not the end of blogging - the end of the beginning of blogging

It seems I was a little premature in writing off blogging as a novelty. Blogworld Expo in the states examined, among other things, how blogging can be made more profitable. One way of doing it is to have affiliate links so that any on-line purchases resulting in a sale from following a link from your site will earn you money. It’s blogging’s ability to share that’s being exploited and delegates were keen to emphasise the value of making lots of small connections that add up world wide.

I am not sure this would be appropriate for my blogs. I think it would compromise my freedom to express myself freely if I had to get in a brief word from my sponsor. I have affiliate links with Amazon already on my website but only for my own books. This makes sense for the Anarchadia blog and I could expand it to include books I’ve enjoyed or artists that have inspired me. And the Engine Punk blog could offer links to sites selling examples of the tasteful music I enthuse about. But the whole point about Engine Punk is that it’s marginal. It’s not about consuming more. It’s about doing stuff for ourselves. And it celebrates Vintage Things, not stuff that’s trendy.

As ever, there’s a flip side to all this.

My editor’s son tells me that my website looks a bit home grown. But that’s okay. There’s a reaction from some quarters against slick corporate PR so my homely and occasionally half-cocked efforts can be appealing.

And any recommendations that I may make as a result of my enthusiastic amateurishness carry weight.

For what is an amateur if he is not someone who does things out of love?

So if I genuinely like something and say so and help others find it, why shouldn’t I claim a commission through an affiliate programme, especially when everyone else is doing it, too?