I had much respect for this man and I must admit I learned much from him about making money through blogging. I respected him for the fact that he admits he is evil when it comes to making money from his blogs. I respected him for the fact that while most conservative bloggers says that it is unethical to write paid reviews he was brave enough to show the world that writing Paid Reviews does not mean compromising the quality of his contents. I respected him for his ability to self promote himself and his blog in ways that most blogger with the same calibre would never have dreamt of doing. I respected this man because he was able to keep his balance on a thin line dividing the good and the evil and never letting himself succumb totally to the dark side. However, I lost much of that respect on Monday, because prior to that day, John Chow finally stepped onto the other side.
What made him do it is not for me to speculate, but to have his readers pay him $10 a month so that their comments can become a link to his precious blog seems a little going overboard in his money making schemes. No, I don’t mind anyone wanting to make money from blogging, in fact I am one who is trying very hard to find ways to squeeze a little juice from my blogs as well.
John Chow is already making more than most from his Johnchow dot com. He readily admits that he is making a full time pay from part time job and he showcases his earnings for the admiration of his readers. Does he really need that little bit extra? I mean, I don’t even mind him asking his readers to buy him a beer if they enjoyed his posts. I would readily buy him a six pack if I have the privilege to meet him, but asking his precious readers to pay him to remove the nofollow link from their comments? Come on, John, what is JohnChow dot com without your readers?
What Others have to say:
yeah, i agree that this is just too much.
I have to say that I am fine with him doing this. It is his business and if it kills it then it does, but if the demand is so great for his site then there is no reason to stop. I think it is funny because for some reason don’t realize that there are other sites out there to comment on. Directory submission of many kinds, blog carnivals, and so many types of interactions for traffic building techniques that don’t even include blogs. I think this is the same thing that happens when people get mad at r rated movies, but keep going to them. If we stop going then it will stop, but I do agree with your position that it sends a bad precedent. Good thing there are millions of way to build your SEO.