An article in the New York Times highlighted the challenge of making a business out of blogging. They suggested that you blog regularly but don’t expect a significant pay day. Ultimately, the blogging can lead to other things. The New York Times is completely accurate aside from a few blogs that are generating relatively significant revenue.

There’s not as much money in building a blog for most people because you need to generate a substantial amount of traffic before it makes a lot of money. This morning while getting ready for the day I realized that the real value is in the community. Gary Vaynerchuk is the person I always use as an example of someone that has successfully built a community. He also knows that building the community will reward you greatly. Check out his video:

So often I simply write content but I’ve realized that the real value is in building the community and providing them with a platform for discussion. I’ll be working on that for Social Times. If you own the platform for the community, there are many other things you can do to add value and generate revenue. The secret is not in the media but instead in leveraging the media to build a community.