Do A-List Bloggers Actually Offer Anything Of Value?

Posted by Bill as Miscellaneous

Will A-Listers Help You Make Money Online

If you are interested in Making Money Online and you enjoy reading blogs then their is no doubt that you have heard of some of the more popular Make Money Bloggers. John Chow and ShoeMoney being two of the biggest names out there.

I always like to read what other bloggers and make money onliners are up to as it inspires me to keep going. I’ve only been blogging a few short weeks but I’ve been working online for a couple of years now. I always wanted to start a blog but never seemed to find the time,needless to say I am trying to play catch-up.

Starting Out

I am sure that like many before me, I was a complete and total sponge when I first took up blogging. I read every blog I could get my hands on to see what they could teach me about Blogging, Wordpress and even Ways to Make Money Online. I was successful at what I was doing already but by no means do I know it all. I love reading what other people are up to.

Early in my blogging career I ran across Yaro Starak’s blog and then John Chow and then ShoeMoney and so on and so on. I also came across a Top 100 Make Money Blogs list at 45n5.com that ranked the top 2-300 blogs. Some familiar names at the top of this leaderboard. Mark’s list is pretty interesting although I quickly noticed it has nothing to do with how much money a blogger makes, but rather is based on his Pagerank, Alexa and Technorati rankings.

Top 100 List

If you haven’t seen it then you should check it out. You can find it at 45n5 and also check out the #10 blog on the list which is 45n5. I’ve had a bit of association with Mark recently through his recently launched Show Your Ads Here program.

You may love or hate his blog but I can tell you one thing, Mark is a pretty decent guy. He answers every email and has been nothing but helpful to me. Rare thing these days.

I happened across a post the other day on a site I’d never been to before that was some kind of experiment to see if the A-List bloggers would return an email from a rookie blogger who was asking some really basic questions. I think the drama that ensued was pretty interesting although honestly I am not sure what he expected. I am not even sure I would have answered the email that he sent let alone one of the great ones. (Ok who am I kidding…I would have been thrilled to get an email.)

It did get things stirred up though.

Behold the A-Lister

This got me to thinking about another issue…I hear a lot of chatter about the A-Listers so I have decided to come up with an experiment of my own. A lot of debate exists out there as to whether A-Listers actually offer anything of value in their blogs. Do they post anything about making money online that a newbie blogger could learn something from or do they just take advantage of their naivety?

Are A-listers capable of producing anything of value, or are they famous for being famous….kind of like Paris? I guess one would clearly need to define “value.”

Before we get started I would like to add I want to be clear that these A-Listers have no real responsibility to offer any advice or lessons for would be make money onliners. That isn’t a debate in my mind. However judging by the number of posts I have read on the subject it would seem that many bloggers think they do. They read these blogs hoping to garner some kind of information from them that will help them make money too.

Do the A-listers tap into this desire for information and promote themselves as a resource for these beginners? Some have made the accusation that they string them along and give them enough hope to keep them coming back. This isn’t necessarily wrong mind you, I am not passing judgement, only giving my opinion.

Do the A-listers tap into this desire for information and promote themselves as a resource for these beginners? Some have made the accusation that they string them along and give them enough hope to keep them coming back.

The Experiment

All this has inspired me to conduct an experiment. I have added the feeds of the Top 10 blogs on the Top 100 list to my reader. I will be following their every word for the next 7 days as part of the experiment. I could reveal my intentions but I think that might taint the results.

That might be wishful thinking on my part as I am sure that none of the Top 10 even know I exist but in the spirit of the game, I will keep the experiment a secret for now.

I will share the results and write a detailed write up next Sunday….that will give me 7 days of exposure to all of the Top 10 Make Money Online blogs. I already have daily exposure to a few as I already had their feeds but some of them I was nothing more than an occasional visitor.

I will say this….my experiment will answer the questions posed above and I will share my honest, straight up opinion with you in the article next Sunday. If you’re pretty astute then you’ve probably already figured out what I am up to, so if you’re interested why not grab my feed and make sure that you don’t miss my update.

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22 Responses

Lee

February 10th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
1

You have my attention. I will be interested to see how the experiment unfolds.

Lee’s last blog post..Developing Money Making Niche Sites with WordPress
45n5

February 10th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
2

Is there some expectation that because these people make money online and have a blog that they need to teach you something?

You can maintain a make money online blog and write about conferences, resources, videos, stories, struggles, opinions, etc. and still have an interesting blog while at the same time never holding someone’s hand and explaining how to make money online.

I reckon you should quantify “value” as it’s quite subjective.

And I shouldn’t be on that list, I’m soo B lister.

45n5’s last blog post..Rebranding 45n5
Bill

February 10th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
3

Mark….appreciate you stopping by but you clearly didn’t read my article if you ask that question. I stated a couple of times that I don’t think that they have an obligation to teach anyone anything.

I definitely think a lot of their readers expect them to teach them something, I think a lot of them THINK they teach them something and at the end of the week we’ll see if anybody actually DOES teach anyone anything.

Let’s not get our dander up already….I have no intention of this being the same kind of article as the other one you are familiar with however I think it’s a subject that many will find interesting.

If you’re B list then that makes the rest of us what….G list?
45n5

February 10th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
4

@bill - I read the post and your asides however you said you would shoot to answer the question:

“Are A-listers capable of producing anything of value, or are they famous for being famous….kind of like Paris?”

Therefore I asked for your view of “value” as it’s quite subjective, you even alluded to it in your last comment:

“I definitely think a lot of their readers expect them to teach them something”

not me C?

No “dander up”. Never has been and don’t plan on it.

And you are for sure at least a B-blogger.

45n5’s last blog post..Road 2 Affiliate Summit - Calm Before The Storm
Bill

February 10th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
5

I gotcha now….I will make strive to make sure value is clearly defined. It’s a moving target though as most will definite it differently. I am sure that somewhere there is someone strange enough to actually enjoy reading about what John Chow eats.

Your comments duly noted and will be taken into account.

I’ll be B-List when I at least crack your Top 100. The next PR update and my Alexa continuing to drop should do it. Maybe I can even help my Technorati out with this project.
Tay - Super Blogging

February 10th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
6

Sounds like an interesting experiment and I’ll be reading your results, of course. Some of the A-listers don’t prove real “value” when it comes to quality content, and giving answers and secrets, but their blogs can still prove to be interesting reads - such as John Chow’s. Sometimes I do find it interesting to see photos of delicious food, read restaurant reviews, and check out the photos of meetings and parties he’s been at with other bloggers. I’m not sure why, but it’s still interesting. Maybe it’s not helping me or providing value, but it gives entertainment.

But when it does come to value, I think Darren Rowse is the top A-lister for that, hands down. But like you said, even the ones who don’t provide value have the rookies into thinking they do, simply because they’re mesmerized by the totals of traffic and money being made. A lot of newbies think that by reading every word, some of that talent will rub off on them and they’ll become successful too. That’s not always necessarily the A-lister’s fault though. Anyway, I’ll be reading, good idea and good luck!
Tay - Super Blogging’s last blog post..StumbleUpon is THE Favorite Social Media Site
45n5

February 10th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
7

lol, some people DO like reading about his food!

I’d really be curious to see your, or others opinion of “value” from blogs in this niche.

Could it be a post that showed how to make money that was Stickied to the top of their blog and they could then write about their food all day, since they showed you how already? (ie, john has an awesome ebook)

or do they need to write a tutorial 3 out of 7 days a week,

or is it just staying even close to topic most of the days, etc?

Not sure why a-listers are even mentioned questioningly these days, they have Years of archives of good stuff, not all of it, but it’s there if you look real hard

look forward to the update.

45n5’s last blog post..Road 2 Affiliate Summit - Calm Before The Storm
Bill

February 10th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
8

@Tay……agreed.

@Mark…you might be right. We’ll have to see what the final outcome is. Maybe at the end of the week we will see that they all provide a TON of value….or…..Maybe Not?

Is it scientific…no.

Should it be kind of fun….absolutely…at least I think so.

I am glad you’re curious…..I read a recent post on Problogger this week that discussed how to build anticipation.

Seems he brings some value huh.
Jim | BloggingStartup

February 10th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
9

I see three on the top 10 list that put out quality posts every week…without fail. But a couple on that list publish more fluff than substance. This is such an important question. I look forward to your answer next week.

Jim | BloggingStartup’s last blog post..Five Ways to Find Things at Blogging Startup
Bill

February 10th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
10

Jim…thanks I am interested to hear which 3 you think put out the quality posts? Care to share?
Tay - Super Blogging

February 10th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
11

Out of the top 10 list, like Jim said, there are some that definitely put out value content each week. From those that would be Problogger, Dosh Dosh, Daily Blog Tips, Courtney Tuttle, and Vandelay Design. I’m subscribed to those blogs out of the top 10.
Tay - Super Blogging’s last blog post..StumbleUpon is THE Favorite Social Media Site
Kyle

February 11th, 2008 at 9:58 am
12

Bottom line is either you have the common sense to figure out how to turn the internet into a business or you don’t. Reading some magical post anywhere isn’t going to turn you into a guru. Lots of hard work and dedication. Now I think everyone provides tips, the question is were you on top of the game enough to already know it or not? Also as we all know nobody is going to give out all their own secrets and you have to be creative enough to come up with your own. Like most people said, I follow some of those blogs and have made my own opinion about who puts out legit info and who doesn’t. I don’t know if a week is going to be long enough to study this, and because you aren’t a newbie anymore who’s to say that your the appropriate person to judge it?

Bill, if you already know something that is posted are you going to not give the points that you might to a post that just happened to be something brand new to you? Some people find a post about wordpress plugins or affiliate marketing first useful, but most see it scan the list and simply think, been there done that and move on. It’s very difficult to be bias in this. Your work is cut out for you.
Kyle’s last blog post..A little introduction
Bill

February 11th, 2008 at 11:28 am
13

Kyle…wow…that reply was a blog post in itself.

You raise some great points. It should be interesting to see what we see at the end of the week.

I can’t wait.
Futon-Matt

February 12th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
14

I bookmarked your blog just to see the results of this post. Very Cool!
Bill

February 12th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
15

Welcome Matt…feel free to share your opinion on the experiment.
Hobo

February 12th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
16

Great idea for a post!
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All eyes on you Bill.

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