A Word to the Wise Blogger

Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, if you host Google or Amazon advertising on your blog, then you deserve all the horrible comment spam you receive and more. Face facts, you have entered your blog into the commercial arena, and the last time I checked it was a free market. So, come friendly spam, fall on these blogs. This curse counts double if your blog trades in political punditry.
Furthermore, if you are one of those wretched bloggers who labor under the impression that readers should donate money to your personal bank account because they have accidently skimmed through some of the boring tripe you've posted, then you should also be condemned to suffer endless acres of comment spam. There is simply only one blog I know of that's worth paying for and it's obviously Lileks. Still going strong after all these years. Hail to thee blithe spirit!
If you don't host ads or demand your reader's cash and yet still get comment spam then I am truly sorry for you. If you would like me to punch the spammer's face in for you, I will.

UPDATE: Speaking of commerce, I should add that I've recently begun composing a business weblog for my company, replacing the corporate jargon of a standard press release with Stephenesque epithets and longuers, which, at the risk of appearing to be a complete tit, I have emailed to all my clients. So far the feedback has been productive, not to say illuminating. Perhaps you will discover it one day as you trawl through the oceans of other weblogs. Perhaps not. Let me know if you think you have.

Comments

[Andraste]

Thanks, Stephen. I'll send you a list.

[Bleak Mouse]

Do you hire out as a face puncher? I've got a really, really long list. Do you yell, "This is from X, you stupid git!" as you deliver the coup?

[stephenesque]

As long as I believe in the cause I will gladly thump anyone. (Just no politics)

[susan]

I do have a list of Amazon books on my sidebar, but I do it to help the authors of what I am currently reading, and help my readers find the book if they are interested. I don't care a hoot about making money from Amazon, and don't think I have made any--I don't know because I've never checked.

And frankly, you are right about the tip jar or asking for money from readers. As far as I know, there are blogging facilities such as Blogspot which are totally free and thus do not understand what the "this costs me money" crying and begging is all about.

[stephenesque]

Well, blogs like yours, Susan, are a little different. I mean you obviously have a literary bent, so it makes sense you would have a list of "readables"
and where to get them. Many bloogers, however, have sidebars and
sidebars laden with ads for things that have nothing to do with anything!

[Bleak Mouse]

"Things having nothing to do with anything" are the very heartbeat of my blog. Do you mean I could be paid for what I do freely from sheer perversity?

My view on contribution jars on blogs is that one should WORK to pry open THIS wallet -- sob stories, Little Nells, Tiny Tims, beastly drunken husbands who stagger in in the dead of night, bankers tossing aged grannies from lifelong homes into the bitter cold, etc.

[rannva]

I must then be the perfect example of a bare minimum blogger. I use a free blog (I refuse to spend $), have very few links, and no ads except the thing at the top of the page which is my punishment for refusing to pay to get rid of it. As a visible result nearly noone reads my blog. Self-pity? Nah, I am not made of self-pimp material...

[Bleak Mouse]

Rannva -- Well, I read your blog, and I must object to being referred to as "nearly noone." "Nearly someone" might have been closer to the mark. I think there should be a competition for "least read" blog, which I translate as "most exclusive" or "least pandering to the mob." This would be one contest in which I might be able to emerge triumphant. Think of the glory: "Official Least-Read Blog of 2005 Award."

On that other matter, I think we might start accumulating a fund to get Stephen to "sell out." Maybe he won't take ads for chump change, when his principles come cheaply -- but what about real money in the double, triple, or even (given a rich donor or two) quadruple digits?

[stephenesque]

I think more people read yuor blog than you think ... I think? Anyway, hardly anyone reads anyone else's blogs either. Better to be unread than spiritually dead, say I. Meanwhile, Rannva, a large part of the reason you may lack readership is that you don't update often enough, you naughty person!

[Bleak Mouse]

Here's my considered view: I think I'm read twice as often as I think I am; rannva is read three times as often as stephen thinks she is; and stephen believes himself to be five times more well read than I think rannva is. It makes perfect mathematical sense.

Better unread than dead! I like that as a rallying cry.