text:
{{search.results.count}} results {{searchFilter()}} {{searchQuery()}}
{{search.results.count}} results {{searchFilter()}} {{searchQuery()}}
Enter a search term such as "mobile analytics" or browse our content using the filters above.
That's not only a poor Scrabble score but we also couldn't find any results matching
Check your spelling or try broadening your search.
This service is currently undergoing maintenance.
Please try again later.
It probably isn't a surprise that of the millions of blogs, the vast majority of active ones generate little to no revenue for their authors.
Yet is "professional" blogging, even at the highest levels, any more compelling a business opportunity than blogging at the lowest levels?
I've never really considered the overall economics of blogging in any depth for one simple reason - the income I earn from my blogging activities is not my primary source of income.
I started blogging because I love to write and even though I've (unexpectedly) been able to turn my blogging into a source of extra cash, I still blog because I love to write.
For those who rely on their blogging to pay the bills and for and those who have started blog-focused businesses, however, the economics of blogging matter a whole lot.
Earlier this week, I learned that Know More Media, a blog network, is allegedly going out of business and that Jeremy Wright, the CEO of b5media, which itself runs a large network containing several hundred blogs, had offered Know More Media bloggers an out.
His proposal:
"We will ask that you blog for $50 for the first month, while we ascertain the value and advertising potential of the blog. After that month, we will likely need to restructure the network (there's a reason it wasn't making any money), redo the pay structure and even let some bloggers go. But, if you let us, we will turn the network around and make it profitable. We are fully committed to doing what's fair (and in many ways, being more than just fair)."
While he shortly thereafter offered an alternative proposal, I was struck that the CEO of a respected blog network would suggest to any blogger that he or she blog an entire month for the paltry sum of $50.
Frankly, I wouldn't open up my word processor for $50, let alone roll out of bed.
While I certainly recognize that some bloggers are dependent on their blogs to stay afloat and have to take what they can get, the notion that some might actually work for $50/month as part of b5media's proposal forced me to consider the economics of blogging a bit more than I was ever inclined to.
Interestingly, I didn't have to look much further than Jeremy Wright's own blog to get started.
On July 25, he had published a post entitled "The Problem with Small-Scale Blog Consolidation."
As the title hints, he looked at the concept of small-scale blog consolidation:
"Now, it sounds like these guys are basically saying 'if you can put together a half dozen blogs that are all doing mid-sized (150K pages/month) traffic, you have something worth buying'."
"But lets break this down real quick. 1MM pageviews per month gives you 2MM high value impressions (ie: above the fold). Right now, bloggers are lucky to be making 50c/unit. So that's 1000$/month. 1K/month split amongst six blogs? That's nothing."
"The reality is that small and medium blogs that have real value, great content, solid writers and an engaged community will always, always, always make more money from sponsorships than CPM-based ads."
"The long and short is that grabbing a half dozen or even a few dozen blogs together won't net you CPMs of more than 4-5$. And even 5MM pageviews/month only really nets the whole network 5K/month."
He goes on to discuss the biggest challenge to receiving decent CPMs - selling advertising.
Frankly, the vast majority of people involved with "social media" (blogging included) know nothing about selling advertising. Not only do they lack the resources to mount a dedicated ad sales effort, they don't know what brand advertisers are looking for, they don't speak the lingo and they don't have valuable Madison Avenue relationships.
Wright observes this:
"To get higher CPMs, you need someone to sell that inventory. And that is where the bottleneck is. It's not in inventory, or even quality inventory. It's someone that can go to agencies, go to Microsoft, go to Disney, go to P&G, go to Vonage, go to Dell and say 'here's somthing of value and here's why you should pay more for it'."
"Because without a sales team, you're stuck in the 1-2$ CPM world or you're 'stuck' selling sponsorships (which I'm a huge fan of for high quality mid-sized blogs)."
He notes that b5media is going to be launching a product that he hopes "will help alleviate this issue."
After I read this, I couldn't help but wonder - if b5media, one of the few reportedly "successful" blog networks, initially felt comfortable only offering $50/month to Know More Media's bloggers, just how solid are the "economics of blogging"?
After all, while I can understand that b5media wants to establish how much revenue the Know More Media blogs it "acquires" can generate before making greater commitments, it's difficult to overlook the fact that b5media essentially wants "writers" to continue writing for an amount that probably won't even fill up any of their cars with a single tank of gas.
One would expect that if b5media was swimming in cash and thought that some of Know More Media's blogs had real value, it would have the ability to take some risk that didn't require Know More Media's bloggers to work for next to nothing for an entire month.
Assuming, for argument's sake, that the average Know More Media blogger puts in only one working day (8 hours) per month (which is probably an underestimation), $50 amounts to a $6.25 hourly wage - $1.75/hour less than the minimum wage worker in California makes.
That's right - an entry-level worker at a McDonald's in Los Angeles would earn a higher wage.
Which begs the question - if b5media apparently can't afford to pay Know More Media's "writers" a respectable wage while it determines the value of their blogs, just how compelling are the economics of blogging - both for the bloggers and the operators of blog networks?
My answer - the economics of blogging don't appear compelling at all.
Last week it was revealed that AOL has asked some of its Weblogs bloggers to stop posting temporarily as part of company-wide cost-cutting measures. One of its blogs, Diylife.com, is being shut down completely. Obviously, if AOL's Weblogs division was outperforming financially, one would expect it to be immune from cuts.
Even Gawker, which pays its bloggers based on the traffic their posts generate and is reportedly highly-competitive with even mainstream news media outlets, earlier this month reportedly cut the pay rate for its bloggers for the third consecutive quarter because of budget issues ("We've broken the site budget" are allegedly the words used by Gawker Media owner Nick Denton in a staff email).
Of course, some bloggers might feel happy receiving any pay at all. After all, Huffington Post co-founder Ken Lerer is on record as having stated that paying its writers is "not our financial model." Instead, Huffington Post writers should be happy with "visibility, promotion and distribution with a great company."
When looking at the business side of blogging, there too the economics of blogging don't look so compelling.
Guardian Media's 8-figure acquisition of PaidContent.org operator ContentNext represented a hefty premium to the company's revenues of "a few million" in 2007.
Even the ever-popular TechCrunch reportedly generates only 7-figures a year in revenue and it's worth noting that some of the most popular blogs appear to be making a non-negligible amount of revenue from events they operate - not the blogging itself.
While turning a blog into a million-dollar business isn't anything to sneeze at, I know individuals who are involved in less-than-sexy businesses who net more each year and they certainly don't indulge in the kind of hype and ego that is increasingly found in the upper echelons of the blogosphere.
By any measurement, as I looked at all of the available information, I couldn't help but come to the conclusion that for all of the hoopla, blogging really isn't the type of business opportunity it is frequently made out to be.
Professional and semi-professional writers who choose to work for a blog instead of a mainstream media outlet are, for the most part, extremely lucky to earn enough to pay the bills, and as I've pointed out before, they aren't going to have access to the resources that mainstream writers do because their employers don't have the level of capital that a newspaper, magazine or cable network has.
From a 30,000 foot view, all of this really doesn't seem like it should come as any surprise.
The blogosphere is quite fragmented and most blogs and blog networks have audiences that are too small to make them priorities for ad buyers.
Quality is all over the place and given the limited resources bloggers usually have access to, producing wide-ranging in-depth coverage outside a handful of niche markets (such as technology) is difficult. Much of the "reporting" in the blogosphere is just the regurgitation of commoditized news.
While there is no shortage of entry-level and amateur/hobbyist writers willing to give blogging a try as a "profession" - especially in these troubled economic times - it's difficult to retain skilled, experienced writers with uncompetitive salaries or risky revenue share arrangements.
In short, it appears that for much of the blogosphere, there is a disconnect between the economics of running a blogging business and the economics of being able to survive as a professional blogger.
As with any other industry, when businesses cannot afford to attract and retain the people required to produce the quality "products" and "services" that make the businesses "go," it doesn't bode well for the industry as a whole.
To answer the question in the title of this post - while it's clear that blogging is not a dead-end profession and business for a small few, for all intents and purposes it certainly looks that way for the vast majority.
Comments (14)
This post is pathetic. Please do some research next time. Everybody knows that Google is the main reason why KMM's traffic went down. They and the KMM management are to blame for not reacting /acting. The offer from B5 is pathetic. All they do is try to pick up the network for cheap.
Can you say axe to grind? You make large claims about the industry (most people can't afford to pay their bills? yeah... neither can most people who suddenly decide they're professional hockey players) without any actual proof or logic behind it.
End of the day, we offered infinitely more than KMM was offering. We also offered more than any other network out there. And while it's easy to be an armchair quarterback, unless you're able to put your money where your mouth is, all of this is just the bitter ramblings of a nameless author.
Complain all you want, but we were the only ones to put forward an offer. And our offer was better than KMM's. And we're working hard with every KMM blogger to help in every way.
Cash to burn? No, we're still a business. We don't toss around cash just for fun.
Ted: your comment makes no sense. This post was not a discussion of the intimate details about Know More Media and b5media. And your conclusion that b5media's offer was "pathetic" gets to the heart of the issue - the economics of blogging.
Jeremy: first, you mischaracterized what I wrote. But let's put that aside.
I really don't care about the drama between Know More Media and b5media. This post was not about *you*. It was about the economics of blogging.
You initially asked Know More Media bloggers to blog for b5media for $50 for the first month while you ascertained the value of their blogs and made necessary adjustments.
As I pointed out in this post, that's nothing. It's most likely far below minimum wage since I'd imagine that most Know More Media bloggers put in at least 8 hours in a month. $50 won't even fill up an average American's gas tank.
Is paying somebody a respectable wage equivalent to "tossing around cash just for fun" in your book?
In the comments on your blog, one Know More Media blogger called your offer "demeaning." Another called your offer "scraps" and said "you don't need to shortchange people with a 50 buck token pass to determine the worth."
Those are the comments of the very people you made your offer to. They're not mine. I assume you took them to heart because you made an alternative offer.
My suggestion, Jeremy: pretend we aren't talking about blogs and look at this from the perspective of a *reasonable* person. If somebody asked a mechanic to fix cars for $50/month, how would it look? If an accounting firm asked a young accountant to do tax returns for $50 for the first month so that it could decide whether or not to make that accountant a full offer, how would it look?
Not good.
While paying somebody a respectable wage for their efforts is apparently "burning cash" to you, I think most reasonable business owners consider it an obligation and a cost of doing business.
Which gets to the point of my post - it's clear that there is a disconnect between the economics of running a blogging business and the economics of producing good blog content.
If a blog network can't be run profitably without giving its bloggers the short end of the stick (or relying on bloggers who for whatever reason are willing to work for a pittance), you don't have what I consider to be a business built on attractive economics.
Most sustainably successful businesses are able to earn profits while paying their workers a decent wage (relatively speaking) and not forcing their workers to shoulder all the risks. Novel concept, huh?
As for putting my money where my mouth is, I don't run a blog network (in case you didn't figure that out from the statement "the income I earn from my blogging activities is not my primary source of income"). So what would you like me to do? Start a charity for bloggers?
I'm disappointed you decided to take this post personally and instead of having a "conversation" about the economics of blogging, chose to attack me.
I'll end this by noting that in my business experience, I've never paid anyone I've hired less than what they're worth (by industry standards) and I've never provided services to anyone who asked me to work for less than what I'm worth.
Somehow, that has worked out just fine. Maybe you should try it sometime.
Once againn, Anonymous, you're missing the point. Nobody is asking a mechanic to work for 50$/month. The better analogy, in relation to a mechanic would be:
He's working at a garage. The garage runs into financial troubles. It asks him to work for free, repairing 24 cars for the month. A competing institution says "listen, we're tight on cash, but we'll pay you 500$ for the month to fix as many, or as few, cars as you want, after that we're happy to pay you the same as all our other mechanics get, which is above market rate".
The mechanic could turn it down and look elsewhere. Or he could go in and fix 1 car and make his money. Or he could work as hard as he used to. Or he could work harder. It'd be his decision.
An even better analogy would be if there were 100 mechanics losing their jobs. What then? What garage would offer EVERY mechanic the 500$, without knowing how good they were?
As far as the comments on the entry is, the first "demeaning" comment misunderstood and eventually changed his mind. And the "scraps" comment was made from a blogger who felt that he should earn *more* than the blog's revenue.
End of the day, we aren't asking bloggers to do a specific amount of work. We're simply saying we don't know the traffic or revenue. So we need to know tha to propose a pay structure.
Given that b5 pays more per hour than any other blogging company in the world, your argument that we're asking KMM bloggers to do something indefinitely or per hour is disingenious at best.
My issue with the post is simple: You use a situation which isn't actually accurate any longer (since it was a first proposal, since we HAD to make a proposal... and we made a NEW offer which, btw, would probably end up less cash to bloggers) to paint a picture of b5/KMM and, as a result, the industry.
Which basically means your portrait of the industry is as accurate as your underlying assumptions.
My core issue is even simpler: we aren't asking what you're saying we're asking, and never were. And every follow-on point is tainted as a result.
This isn't personal. Anymore than your rampant post was personal.
Jeremy: I think the responses to your initial offer from KMM bloggers speak for themselves.
Your response to my analogy about mechanics is quite amusing because it's unrealistic. Clearly we live in different worlds. A good mechanic laid off probably doesn't have trouble finding employment elsewhere at an acceptable rate because there are plenty of other shops that know the value of a good mechanic's skills.
The bottom line is that you wanted KMM's bloggers to work a month for a mere pittance. I don't really care if you claim that your offer is better than anyone else's - a crap offer is still a crap offer (for lack of a better term).
I suppose we simply have different values and that I respect the value of a person's time. Quite frankly, I'd be quite embarrassed to ask someone to work for me for $50/month as you have.
I find your rationale for your offer to be disingenuous.
You say that you need to know a blog's performance (traffic and revenue) to propose a payment structure. Fair enough.
You say that KMM bloggers can do as much or as little as they want in exchange for their $50. Fair enough.
Let's look at this, however, in the context of the real world where workers provide services of value to a company.
Take a large law firm. When a large firm recruits a new associate fresh out of college, it's taking a risk.
Let's say the new associate is given a $150,000 starting salary and a $50,000 signing bonus. That's within the accepted range of what a new associate at a large firm in certain cities is worth by industry standards.
According to Altman Weil, a legal industry consulting firm, the average large law firm doesn't recoup its cash flow investment in an associate until after the associate's third year.
Yet a study by the NALP Foundation, which studies hiring trends in the legal industry, found that 37% of associates at large law firms quit by the end of their third year.
You're capable of doing the math - that's painful. Yet the economics of a large law firm support the risk firms take on new associates. You don't see large firms telling associates, "We want to see how this works out. We'll pay you $30,000/year for the first 3 years and after that we'll propose a pay structure that we think you'll find competitive."
In other words, they understand the value of an associate and they don't try to shift the risk to associates who have no equity in the business.
You, on the other hand, are doing precisely that.
When you say "we aren't asking bloggers to do a specific amount of work," you damn well know that a blogger who takes your $50 and puts in the type of effort that would be reasonable for that amount (*maybe* 1-2 hours in my opinion for a less-experienced writer) isn't going to generate the type of traffic and revenue that is going to encourage you to pay them an honest wage for their efforts. You're holding out a carrot and KMM bloggers are probably smart enough to figure out the stick (a poor offer or no offer at all unless they work their butt off for that $50).
Interestingly, your comment highlights the real point of this post (which again, wasn't *your* company). You state:
"And the 'scraps' comment was made from a blogger who felt that he should earn *more* than the blog's revenue."
Is there really anything inherently wrong with that? b5media is in the business of turning content into advertising revenue. If the cost of providing those who produce content for you with reasonable compensation is greater than the revenue you're able to generate from the content produced, you have a business with unattractive economics.
That, Jeremy, was the point of this post.
If I assume that a decent writer is worth $20/hour, that it takes 1 hour to produce a decent post and that I need a writer to produce 50 posts a month, I accept that the commercially-acceptable value of the writer's time and effort is $1,000/month.
If I am unable to take the writer's work product (the posts) and generate more than $1,000 in revenue, the economics of my business model are flawed.
Why should the writer be paid less than what his or her time is worth because I have a flawed business model? I'd be fascinated to hear your answer.
Finally, this *is* an industry-wide issue, as the current AOL/Weblogs budget cuts demonstrate. As you've probably heard, some of these "temporary" cuts are now rumored to be permanent.
Gawker, which is mentioned in my post, even discussed this same topic on Tuesday:
"Bloggers have to stop thinking of themselves as white-collar creatives and more like rank-and-file workers. After all—that's how they're paid!"
"Some bloggers get paid per-post, like pieceworkers in a 19th-century factory. Some get paid for pageviews, which is even more idiotic from a worker's perspective. It means you're not paid for your labor (except your monthly minimum) but paid instead on a sort of gamble—how well your product will perform when it's thrown into the open marketplace."
"If you're blogging for someone other than yourself (not as a commenter, not as a personal blogger; those are labors of love and don't count) you deserve to be paid."
"If you're an employee or an independent contractor or a freelancer and some entity or website is making money off your labor, you deserve to be paid. It doesn't matter how solvent the company is—they're still selling ads and making revenue."
And Gawker also posted a letter from an AOL blogger, which contained the following:
"I will not write for free."
"...I can't make a habit out of it [writing for free] because I have to make a living."
I don't run a blog network, Jeremy, but it seems like you're a bit out-of-touch with the people who work for blogging business like yours and based on my experience in the "real" business world, I suggest you try out the following payment structure: pay your bloggers an hourly wage that is commercially-reasonable or pay them a per-post fee that correlates to such an hourly wage.
If you can't run a profitable business that way, you might want to find a business opportunity with more favorable economics or simply take your blogging dollars and make me an offer on the sweatshops I run in two South American countries (I think you'll find that they provide a better return on invested capital).
Let's a lot of hot air flying around this post - but regarding the $50 a month - seems to be a perfectly resonable offer to me. The network is about to go under - if the bloggers (creative professionals?) can put in a bit of effort for 1 month to demstrate they are still up for it & give everyone time to figure their value out, then they get a shot at a new deal & real & fair compensation.
If they rely upon blogging to pay the bills or even their future wealth and they are NOT prepared to go for it when they have to (the other option being walk away with nowt) - they aren't going to get very far in the world of entrepeneurship.
PS it's a free market so no-one has to take the offer!
Sounds to me like you're just trying to stir up stuff you don't understand, "Drama 2.0".
Case and point is your new pay system. How would you propose time be tracked for hourly workers? Do you keep track of your writing that way? What about when you're just thinking about an article or stumble on something and file it away for later? No, hourly pay doesn't work.
Likewise, per-post pay doesn't work. Because if a long post is worth the same as a short post, then why write long ones? Or if we paid for quality, who's job is it to determine quality? Or if we paid per word, writers could pad words without adding real value.
No, in the blog space these pay systems don't work. Which is why nobody uses them. Anytime anyone looks at an industry and says "why don't they just..." (like "why don't the airlines JUST automatically call me when my plane is delayed?"), it's obvious they are allowing knowledge of one industry to apply to another (at best, or ignorance at worst). Problem is it doesn't work that way. Especially in emerging industries and markets.
As far as your mechanic analogy, you get it wrong AGAIN. Which really just goes to show that this is a personal matter for you. It's a matter of being right in spite of every shred of evidence to the contrary.
Because, really, the mechanic example isn't about a well sought after mechanic who could get a job anywhere. It's about a garage closing where no other garages in the WORLD are hiring. And the mechanic (or in this case 100 mechanics) can choose to start a new profession, work for a month at a reduced rate (and then make ABOVE market) or keep working at their current shop for free.
Which would you choose? Psych 101, Eco 101 and the Great Depression will point you to the answer.
Not that the blogging industry is in the Great Depression, of course.
Likewise your lawyer example is completely off base. Nobody's asking anyone to work for a year. Again, the analogy is off. It's more like you have an intern at a law firm who's being asked to work for free for the summer. There are no other internships in town. A competing law firm offers pay, bonuses, a better work environment and THEN offers that after the summer they'll give the intern more than any other intern in town.
Again, your analogies simply show how much you want to be right, at best, and how much of an axe you do have to grind at worst.
As far as the writer who wants to earn 1000$ when his property earns 500$, sorry but again it doesn't work. Not surprising, given that nothing else you've argued for works. Because it isn't service providers who set their value, it's the market. And when we're the highest paying company in the market on an hourly basis, trust me when I say that 1000$ for a blog that earns 250$, just because the writer says so isn't good business, good economics or realistic.
At the end of the day, here's the real problem: most of our writers do earn your fictitious 20$/hour. And yet you still rail against us for no good reason.
And as far as looking at 2 distinct scenarios and painting a picture of the industry (specifically "a dead-end profession and business?"... remember, your words), no. That's like saying airlines are a dead end business and being a pilot is a dead end profession. Just because fuel costs change, doesn't mean the industry is going to die. It just means only the best companies will survive.
It's that simple. Sure, the industry is going through some upheaval. That's fine. It's good. It's HEALTHY. Just like any other industry where either the revenue sourcs change or the costs change. Some companies will die, some will succeed, most will make mistakes.
But that doesn't mean the industry is evolving. It's part of all business cycles. What it means is that the industry IS an industry, whether you like it or not.
Because sorry to burst your bubble, but again, your whole argument is based on falacies. We aren't offering 50$/month for 20 hours of work. We never were. And we aren't now. We aren't asking people to work for free. Never were. Never will. We aren't asking lawyers who are worth 100K to work for 30K. We aren't asking mechanics to work for free. We aren't offering pulitzer winning authors the privilege of writing jingles.
Sorry. When you feel like basing your arguments (and hence your conclusions) on facts, give me a call. Until then, I'm done because it's the equivalent to arguing economic policy with Bush.
Robert: with all due respect, not everyone is an entrepreneur and not everyone wants to be one. Most people simply want a decent-paying job in which they are compensated fairly.
As Gawker pointed out:
"Bloggers have to stop thinking of themselves as white-collar creatives and more like rank-and-file workers. After all-that's how they're paid!"
As I said, it's not an employee's fault if the economics of his employer's business are flawed.
Putting that aside, let me make *you* an offer: come and clean my house every other day for the next month. I'll pay you $25 total for your troubles but *if* you prove your worth, we'll work something out that's "real & fair."
You game? Didn't think so.
Jeremy: I loved your response, especially your continuation of my mechanic example.
"It's about a garage closing where no other garages in the WORLD are hiring."
Yeah, that's *very* realistic. Apparently you missed Reality 101 but I am glad that you took the community college extension course called "How to Hire and Retain Employees Using Depression-Era Economics."
I find it funny that you say a conventional payment structure in which employees/contractors are paid for the value of their time doesn't work in the world of blogging.
I find this funny because my arrangement with E-consultancy compensates me for my writing at a level that is correlated with the value of my time and the amount of time I reasonably spend providing my services. That certainly isn't an accident.
How do they know I'm giving them exactly the amount of time the compensation is based on? Outside of the 5 cameras in my office (just kidding), they don't.
It's pretty evident from the work product. If the work product wasn't up to snuff, I'd expect them to tell me that my services are no longer needed.
As for my law firm example, you apparently aren't aware that summer interns at large law firms are paid very well as far as internships go - some law firms even pay their summer interns more than $1,000/week. My girlfriend is a future attorney so I should know.
I think the difficulty you have with this discussion is that in most businesses where employees and contractors provide services to their employers, they're compensated fairly for the value of their time and effort given their level of skill.
Businesses of this nature do not ask employees to shoulder the burden for their economic shortcomings by stating something to the effect of, "Well I understand it's going to take you 40 hours to produce what I need but since I can only sell your work product for $500, I can only afford to pay you $7/hour even though I know your skill probably reasonably demands a $40/hour wage."
The bottom line is that bloggers are writers and for professional writers, there is a market value for their skills and it's not simply what a blog network like b5media will pay.
Would you have that journalists at major newspapers be compensated according to their newspapers' revenues? Would you have that a screenwriter for a TV sitcom pilot provide his services for $50 for the first month while the network determines if the show will make it out of pilot? Would you have that the editors at publishing houses provide their valuable services for $10/hour because the publishing houses don't know if the books those editors work on will be commercially successful?
Of course not.
Frankly, I don't know what your background is (don't really care) but I'm amazed that you can't figure out that if you're in the content business and can't generate more revenue from your content than the costs of paying those who produce it a fair wage, the economics of your business model are flawed.
Obviously, there is no shortage of people who undervalue their time and skill and will work for a pittance and there is no shortage of underskilled wannabes who will be glad to make any money at all doing something that they really have no skill to do (of course, they do your business little good because the quality of the work product is lacking).
After looking at the content on your network, such as http://www.flightnest.com/2008/08/01/skyeurope-airlines/ and http://www.flightnest.com/2008/07/27/delta-techops-signs-engine-maintenance-agreement-with-alaska-airlines/, I do, however, think you're right Jeremy. You're getting exactly what you pay for and I was actually under the impression that your bloggers were producing quality original content.
I was apparently quite wrong.
Hell, I could probably find hundreds of people willing to post press releases, marketing blurbs and regurgitated news from mainstream media outlets for the $20/hour you say most of your bloggers make.
Since I live in South America, I can probably even get a few thousand people to do this for $1-2/hour. Shoot me an email and let's discuss further.
PS: the dollar sign goes before the amount, not after (i.e. $250 not 250$). I think Dubya is the only other person who writes the dollar sign after the amount.
Jeremy, Drama 2.0,
i've enjoyed reading your passionate exchange. egos clashing aside, i learned from both of your perspectives. allow me to offer my two cents on this issue.
i think a more accurate analogy is this: b5 and KMM are live music bars. bloggers are bands who are looking to make it big, make ends meet, or simply enjoy playing a gig. one music bar closes shop. bands that are now gig-less are invited by another live music bar a venue where they can continue to play their gig. the catch? they'll be paid $50 for showing up. if the audience likes their performance then they would become a regular and be paid fairly (hopefully, industry standard rate. is there an industry rate for bands? anyway...)
(note: that in the real world some popular music bars don't pay unknown bands. but bands will line up and play for free just for the exposure and fun of doing it. this is the Huffington Post model that was mentioned in the original post.)
the economics of blogging in this case is similar to the showbiz industry. e.g. there are lots of upcoming bands who are willing to show off their talents for a meager pay (or even for free) in exchange for publicity, the opportunity to practice their craft, and for serendipity (e.g. agents on the lookout for talents). in the meantime, those band members are probably working some other jobs, like accountants, waiters, or IT project managers.
so depending on the angle we're looking at, you are both correct.
if we look at blogging from the perspective of being a profession, then i agree with Drama 2.0. no self-respecting professional would toil for some scrap money.
however, if we look at blogging from the perspective of show business model, then Jeremy has a point. e.g. he's more like an owner of a live music pub. whether we agree with his business practice "values" or not is beside the point. just like in show business people get screwed up left and right.
but here's the caveat in the band analogy: unlike bands, bloggers don't need a venue to practice their craft. they can set up their own and the world will be (potentially) watching them. if their intention is to be popular and to make *real* money, they're better off going at it on their own.
in the end, the winners in the blogosphere are the people on top of the blogging pyramid whether they be blogging moguls like Mike Arrington, or solo blogging superstars like Darren Rose, and as well as those people who are just blogging for the love of it.
thanks for the information and the entertainment,
C4Chaos i think has nailed it - it isn't at all a commodity job like cleaning a house - it's about creating content and if you're good at it them you get popular and win. If you want to be paid a regular wage and be treated like a jobbing 'journalist' then you'd better get qualified, or experienced, popular or all three. But if you have non of those things... why are you expecting people to just turn up & offer you a fully paid job?
Drama 2.0: The comment about cleaning a house for $25 dollars is pretty irrelevant - there are plenty of jobs people take for no pay to try to get some experience or an opportunity - e.g. TV for example - if people are willing to do the same in blogging then so be it. Thats how a the free market works...
C4Chaos: appreciate your balanced and thoughtful comment.
I would point out that there's a huge difference between a musician and a blogger.
Musicians basically live and die by the "hit." A musician who sells a few million copies of an album will potentially reap enough financial reward to make up for all the years of past and future struggles (if he or she manages money well – big if). Most, of course, never achieve that type of success.
Many musicians abandon their dreams and those that stick with it usually toil in relative obscurity eeking out a modest living while hoping their "break" eventually comes.
There is no real equivalent to this experience in the blogosphere. You aren't going to wake up to find one of your posts on the front page of Digg and then check your bank account to find a few million dollars in it. Advertising and sponsorship have very real limits if you're even lucky enough to get advertisers and sponsors.
Instead of comparing bloggers to musicians, I think a better comparison is made with songwriters and screenwriters.
Songwriters and screenwriters are (obviously) writers and they do receive royalties and residuals. Yet writers working for newspapers and magazines don't. Bloggers are clearly more analogous to the latter than the former.
While the reasons why songwriters and screenwriters receive royalties and residuals while "journalists" don't could serve as the basis for a new discussion, for simplicity's sake, consider that if you write a "hit" song or write the screenplay for a "hit" movie, the revenues from record and ticket sales are likely to be substantial and thus there's a lot of money to go around. Revenues are also very simple to keep track of and divvy up.
If you are a journalist at a newspaper and write a fantastic exposé that receives praise and awards, on the other hand, where's the money from the exposé itself? How does the newspaper actually track any ancillary financial benefit from it so that the financial rewards can be shared with the writer? It's damn near impossible.
This aside, the bottom line is that the vast majority of bloggers aren't entertainers and the amount of money being made by even the most "successful" bloggers demonstrates that blogging isn't anywhere close to creating the same types of fortunes you see in the entertainment business.
Most bloggers aren't being asked to produce the "creative works" that songwriters or screenwriters produce and most apparently aren't even being asked to engage in professional "journalism."
At best, blogging is really not all that different from writing for a local daily. At worst, it's practically grunt work.
The only real benefit the average blogger will ever receive from his or her efforts is a paycheck. And most appear to have a modest ambition that reflects that - to earn a fair wage.
As you said, there are few barriers for those who have bigger dreams and when you look at the type of bloggers who are writing for networks like b5media, it's pretty evident that these are not the aspiring musicians of the blogosphere, and frankly for good reason.
Robert: first, if you think success is as simple as "you get popular and win," I'll be honest in stating that I think you're incredibly naive. Becoming "popular" in your field doesn't necessarily lead to an equal level of financial success. Gaining popularity is difficult - capitalizing on popularity is even more difficult.
"there are plenty of jobs people take for no pay to try to get some experience or an opportunity - e.g. TV for example"
Before I address this, I should point out that I spent part of my youth in West Los Angeles, hanging out with friends whose parents were involved in the entertainment business. And I happen to have friends and business associates today who are involved with the entertainment business. So I have a bit of understanding about "TV."
There are a lot of *unemployed* actors and actresses in Los Angeles. You are not going to find *employed* actors and actresses in Los Angeles who aren't being paid. There's a huge difference between choosing unemployment (or waitressing or bartending) while pursuing the career of your dreams and actually being employed but performing the work for free. You seem to believe that there are lots of people actively working in television business for free in exchange for "experience" and "opportunity." That's simply not the case.
In most countries, there are these little inconveniences called labor laws. These laws actually require employers to pay their employees! Absurdly, not doing so is illegal and usually subjects a business owner to significant fines and liabilities! Can you imagine?!
If you're thinking of the concept of "internships" but knew anything about them, you'd understand that there are laws governing what constitutes a legitimate internship and what doesn't. Internships are not designed to benefit companies at the expense of interns by giving companies a means to avoid paying for labor. In fact, they are designed and required to do primarily the opposite - benefit the intern. In other words, you're not going to find skilled professionals (as opposed to inexperienced students on summer break) doing real work for no pay because in most developed nations, that's against the law.
In short, I'm all for "free markets" but I'm afraid you confuse the economic concept of "free markets" with "free labor."
I'll conclude with two final points:
1. In any field, those who aren't qualified and or experienced usually don't succeed. You seem to believe it's likely to be different in the blogosphere but I think you'd be hard pressed to find an uneducated, unintelligible blogger with no relevant knowledge and/or experience who has achieved notable financial success. Can you even give me a list of bloggers who personally *net* more than $150,000/year primarily from their blogging activities? I suspect it's quite a small list.
2. When I see 6 and 7-figure advances being paid to popular bloggers or I see as many Ferraris, Bentleys and Rolls Royces outside of the Blog World Expo as I see in valet at the Peninsula Beverly Hills when I visit, I just might start buying into the notion that bloggers are creative elites. Until that time, since they most closely resemble "writers," "reporters" and "journalists" in the "real world," I'll stick by the belief that they deserve to be compensated like them.
thanks for the response.
you said: <b>"A musician who sells a few million copies of an album will potentially reap enough financial reward to make up for all the years of past and future struggles.... There is no real equivalent to this experience in the blogosphere. You aren't going to wake up to find one of your posts on the front page of Digg and then check your bank account to find a few million dollars in it."</b>
but there is an equivalent in the blogging world. "selling a few million copies of an album" = viral traffic. as you know, even ancient posts (allow me to use a cliche) have very long tails. it's true that you'll likely not find yourself a few million dollars richer, but with luck (or curse) you might wake up one day with Digg or Slashdot crashing your server. this is what blogging moguls are vying for. these are what wannabe bands in myspace and hoping for.
<b>"Instead of comparing bloggers to musicians, I think a better comparison is made with songwriters and screenwriters. "</b>
good point. though my original comparison was not limited to bands but the show business industry as a whole (which includes actors, screenwriters, extras that get occasionally screwed by the biz). that said, most bands (at least those i respect) write their own songs :)
<b>"the bottom line is that the vast majority of bloggers aren't entertainers and the amount of money being made by even the most "successful" bloggers demonstrates that blogging isn't anywhere close to creating the same types of fortunes you see in the entertainment business."</b>
i agree for the most part, except, that there *are* bloggers who receive similar types of fortunes in the entertainment business (e.g. Perez Hilton, Pro Blogger, Steve Pavlina) but most of the time these are *individual* bloggers, not part of blogging networks. a corollary to this is that, although some bloggers don't directly make money from their blogging, if they get the traffic, then they could leverage the traffic in service of their money-making endeavors (e.g. promoting their books). blogging moguls are in their own league . but if we're going to talk about the economics of blogging then we have to consider different economic possibilities. b5media, is only one of the economic models.
<b>"At best, blogging is really not all that different from writing for a local daily. At worst, it's practically grunt work. "</b>
i agree, partially. this depends on the kind of blog that you have. you can certainly have a blog emulate a local daily. but blogging can be about anything. it's only limited by the blogger's creativity, intention, and ambitions. but since we're specifically talking about blogging networks like b5media then yeah, i get your point.
again, i'd like to thank you for bringing up this discussion. serendipitously, Salon just opened Open Salon.
see: http://www.inquisitr.com/2291/like-the-blog-leave-a-tip/
Salon is using the micro-payment model to compensate its bloggers. this sounds interesting and fair. but the micro-payment model has yet to be proven. i wouldn't quit my day job for it. i'd like to hear your thoughts on this.
keep on "Selling the Drama". (note: in case you don't know, this is a title of a song from one of my favorite bands. i think they're still getting a lot of royalties from this :))
C4Chaos: I still fail to see how you can compare selling millions of albums to having your blog taken down by a flood of traffic from Digg or Slashdot.
The former could result in millions upon millions of dollars in royalties, not to mention significant additional money-making opportunities. The latter has no guaranteed correlation to cash, let alone significant amounts of it.
I know who Perez Hilton is (don't know who "ProBlogger" and Steve Pavlina are).
First, Hilton's level of success is the exception, not the rule.
Second, while his media deals are the result of the popularity he acquired as a blogger, I would venture a guess that Hilton has made more from his media deals than he has from pure blog-related deals.
Finally, I think you underestimate just how much money some people in the entertainment business make and how fast money can be made. Obviously, most people don't "make it" but there are far more making six and seven-figure amounts every year in the entertainment business than those making big money in the blogging business.
You might find this interesting as it provides some perspective:
PS: "selling a few million copies of an album" is rarely a truly "viral" phenomenon. You'd be amazed at how much money record labels invest in promoting even the acts that already have huge followings.
Drama: Just checked in on this post - (PS just read your stuff on Shiny Media, where i think you are 100% spot on) - not sure how we ending up talking about success, LA, actresses, internships etc. My only real point is, if someone wants to offer a blogger an upaid opportunity to get exposure, and that could (honestly) lead to potential success later on, then i see no problem with it. For the record - i don't think blogging is that worthwhile, or that it is ever likely to pay a decent wage for the vast majority. BUT everyone has the right to offer (and accept) these kinds of deals.


text:
What a good boy. (via paetonmathes)
What a good boy. (via paetonmathes)
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 13th, 2017 at 2:09 pm.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Name (required)
Mail (will not be published) (required)
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
giantmecha is proudly powered by WordPress
Entries (RSS) / Comments (RSS)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Danica Patrick becomes first woman to win Daytona 500 pole
Danica Patrick becomes first woman to win Daytona 500 pole
Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.
Danica Patrick has won the Daytona 500 pole, becoming the first woman to secure the top spot for any Sprint Cup race.
It was the biggest achievement of her four-year NASCAR career.
Patrick went out eighth in the qualifying session Sunday and covered the 2 1/2-mile superspeedway in 45.817 seconds, averaging 196.434 mph.
"Hopefully, there are good things to come," Patrick said.
She waited about two hours as 37 fellow drivers tried to take her spot. Only four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon even came close to knocking her off.
Don't Miss a Story
Sign up for our newsletter to receive daily news directly in your inbox.


text:
Hairstyles that look best for women with short, thin hair include bob hairstyles, pixies and cropped layered hairstyles. It is important to keep the hair length above the shoulder to prevent the hair from looking too thin.Continue Reading
Bobs work well for thin hair, making the hair appear thicker. Bobs can have layers or be one length, depending on the texture. Bangs are added to change the look. Pixies are a great option for thin hair. Pixies can look polished or edgy and are easy to style. Cropped layered styles look great with any face shape or hair texture.Learn more about Hairstyles


text:
- Date06/10/2013
- CatalogMMP11
- Genres
- Artists
Punk Funk Mob is as mysterious and magnetic as their music. Formed in 2007, this Bay Area band has been most accurately illustrated as the Ramones meets Funkadelic with a touch of Fishbone. Drawing inspiration from their predecessors, Punk Funk Mob alternates between genres; injecting gritty elements of rock, punk, funk & new wave into a sonic orgasm for its listeners.
In 2010 the band released their debut album REVOLUTION on Indie rock label Mooremapp Records (formed by Angelo Moore of Fishbone and business partner Keno Mapp). "When we heard their demos, we both thought that this band was smoking hot. We knew they needed to play bigger stages" says Mapp of the band.
Punk Funk Mob performers over a heavy haze of distorted guitars, dirty syncopated rhythms, throbbing bass lines and the steady crunch of trap drums making it clear why they are ready for those BIGGER stages. "HELLO ANDIE" is the latest single and video from their debut album REVOLUTION.
This is all about the Funk!
Recent releasesMaking Music Around the World…
View All


text:
This is the story of a girl named Alli. Just a regular...
The Time Is Now
- by NiallerLovesPotatos
- Rating:
- Published: 23 Sep 2012
- Updated: 9 Feb 2013
- Status: In Progress
Zayn Malik hates being famous....He hates the crazed fans....He hates preforming....But the only reason he stays in the band, One Direction, is because of his love for Niall Horan. Zayn's best friend Louis Tomlinson convinces Zayn to finally tell how Niall how he feels about him. This story is full of happiness and tragidies....See how the roller coaster of life treats Zayn in this love story
Join MovellasFind out what all the buzz is about. Join now to start sharing your creativity and passion
Loading ...


text:
Maybe it's time we all wake up from our slumber. Maybe it's time to understand the things that we've been too lazy to learn for ourselves instead of relying on someone else to tell us what to think! We have God-given rights as human beings, yes! But along with those rights, we have responsibilities we must accept – each and every one of us!
Here's a start…. understand what money truely is!
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation, and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property – until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." – Thomas Jefferson, 1802
"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither." – Ben Franklin
For more information on the Federal Reserve, the way it works and its history, see this article. And here's an interesting look at the way the US fiat currency has been debased over the last 100 years.


text:
I did my very last Realtek update 2 weeks ago(got the driver for my mobo at MSI).
On Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 8.1 Update, and now 10, I have at least once got stuck in a uninstall loop.
They have a really sloppy uninstaller/installer.
Even when I uninstall it my self, delete, any known folder, and do a tour in Regedit, it still will try to uninstall first, reboot, try to uninstall again, reboot, on & on.
The need a simple installer, that's it. I have never, ever had a uninstall loop from any other driver, except from those sloppy coders at Realtek
Note: I finally was able to install and escape the loop, but shutting down my PC, turning the power switch off(some might need to unplug the PC, and doing a power cycle(also called a "proper power reset), by pusing the start button on the front, to drain every last bit of juice from the PC.
When doing a clean install of Realtek drivers I uninstall them using Revo and don't let it restart until Revo cleaned up all tails.
I've just learned from the station drivers forum that there was a v8053 driver available from Gigabyte (for GA-Z270MX Gaming 5 rev 1.0 motherboard) that was released on Feb. 10, 2017. Driver date of 8053 is 1/25/2017. the package contains not only the drivers but also asio drivers and is about 227Mb in size.
by the way, MSI has a v8034 driver with Nahimic audio enhancement software included. MSI recommends using realtek audio drivers only from MSI, not from other sources or manufacturers as MSI packages special config files (and certain audio enhancement applications) along with the realtek audio drivers.


text:
And one that only Youtube can bring.
Link via CD.
Name (required)
Mail (will not be published) (required)
If you are a human, do not fill in this field.
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
Powered by WordPress and K2
Entries Feed and Comments Feed
48 queries. 0.867 seconds.


text:
Pick from our hand selected Home and Office Gifts made by Wisconsin Artisans. . . our home and office gifts include Home Decor, Decorative Art, Wall Decorations, Health and Beauty, Flowers, Dining Accessories, and Office and Computer Accessories. Some great ideas for decorating and accenting your home, office or unique gift ideas for all occasions. You will find flowers, candles, clocks, vases, personalized gifts, soaps, lotions, and health and fitness selections. Decorative Art and Wall Decor such as paintings, pottery, prints, stained glass and wooden artistic creations.
You'll find distinctive home and office and other gift ideas for birthday, thank you, sympathy, get well and all occasions.
Surprise that special couple with a unique pottery gift!
Allow yourself to be pampered with all-natural gift soaps, lotions, and oils. Gift assortments or individually.
Our office supply selection includes handmade products, Wisconsin notecards, and computer accessories.


text:
To: Parents, Guardians, and Students
From: Donna F. Brunette, Principal
RE: Code Yellow - Shelter In Place Called at MTA Today
Date: May 8, 2018
In order to provide privacy related to a medical situation for a student, a Code Yellow - Shelter In Place was called today at Mt. Ararat High School. In situations that require a response from emergency personnel, our practice is to have students and staff shelter in place to eliminate movement in hallways and throughout the building to preserve privacy for an individual requiring medical treatment. If you have questions or concerns about this practice or today's shelter in place, please contact me (email@example.com/729-2951x208)


text:
Right, I know. I already have Balmus all over this site, and thanks to Caelicorn, he looks absolutely amazing!
Given my comic book/anime/video game influences, most of the characters in The Wolf of Descarta are designed to be pretty slick looking–all except for one.
The dreaded Coquil.
There's no sense in keeping the Coquil a secret any longer. My novel's excerpt on Amazon.com nearly concludes the chapter in which Balmus and his notorious guild of player killers, The Order of the Blood Moon, knuckle down with this bizarre creature in Bladescape (who just happens to be guarding a legendary weapon). If you've read 7 Fantasy Cliches That Need to Disappear (For the Good of All), you already know that I'm easily irritated by the cutesy, overpowered helpers that infest the Fantasy genre.
So I decided to throw in a cutesy, overpowered monster that hulks out and nearly murders all my heroes just four short chapters into the novel.
My inspiration for the Coquil came from an MMORPG called Dark Age of Camelot (and probably my not-so-secret desire to take a battle ax to an Ewok).
Now this game was old school. You didn't start off with a nifty armor set and bearing a majestic sword and a shield–more like sporting a loin cloth and armed with a rock and a stick.
To be honest, you didn't feel very hard core at the beginning of DAoC. Most of the time you'd be grinding and get waylaid by things like bunnies in the woods. Winning at PVP was easier than walking through the friggin' forest or through a farmstead! I distinctly remember finally getting my chainmail and an imposing greatsword, strapping on a crimson cape signifying my guild, and feeling so very accomplished–maybe about 40 seconds before I was ruthlessly mauled to death by a homicidal badger just chillin' on the hillside.
You heard right. A stupid badger.
And yes, someone already did this:
While I'm at it, does anybody remember those stupid, overpowered rabbits in Final Fantasy VII with carrots for swords? Urrgh! Screw them too!
So the Coquil–in all its a pink, fluffy evilness–is product of pure rage at the comedic irony of being beaten down by seemingly helpless woodland creatures that should have been laying chocolate eggs for Easter and clucking like a chicken or some damned thing.
Now, in my infinite wisdom, I think the Coquil should be the mascot for the blog. The trouble is that I can't draw to save my life. This is where you come in.
For the next two weeks (ending December 6), I will be accepting fanart submissions of the Coquil at blackknightofbladescape at gmail dot com. The winner of the contest will receive free, autographed copies of both The Wolf of Descarta and RealLies (hopefully in time for the holidays) and a permanent link on this blog to his or her artist page.
No purchase is necessary to participate. Just head over to Amazon and read the free excerpt. Once you've got a good idea of what this ruthless, quadrupedal abomination looks like, sharpen your pencils–or fire up your software–and get cracking. The top three entries will be posted on Monday, December 9 and receive what accolades I can bestow upon you in the form of written praise. 🙂


text:
I'm excited to be back at Zippah Recording this fall doing studio pre-production on some brand new material. I've also been working on a special arrangement of a 19th century hymn that my great-great grandfather William Laban Brown used to sing as a Union solder in the Civil War, which I recently discovered from his wartime letters to my great-great grandmother back in Knoxville, TN. Thanks to the amazing Andy Santospago for lending his talent on banjo, mandolin and lap steel. Stay tuned for more news!
I grew up in South Carolina in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in a house surrounded by large oak trees and filled with music, live and recorded, which growing up gave me a conviction that the world was a sturdy, melodious place that would always make me sneeze. My earliest music influences were the R&B tunes from my brother's glorious stash of 45's - Bill Withers, The Brothers Johnson, Stevie Wonder. A few years later I discovered folk and bossanova from my parents' dog-eared record collection, playing their Joni Mitchell and Astrud Gilberto records until we had to buy replacement copies.
For me, music has always gone hand-in-hand with dancing. In high school while formally studying dance, I started playing guitar as a way to decompress after long rehearsals. Worried that with a professional dancing career I'd just end up a barista in a coffee joint, at college I opted for a more financially secure future and majored in Latin. At that time my alma mater Brown was enjoying a lively singer-songwriter scene (Mary Chapin-Carpenter, Lisa Loeb, Catie Curtis), so with added inspiration in my headphones from Joni and Jobim, I began experimenting with alternate tunings on the guitar and formed my first band with three college friends, playing clubs in and around Providence.
After graduation I headed to the folk music epicenter of the eastern seaboard, Cambridge MA, immediately landing work as a barista in a coffee joint. I also began playing in the subways and coffeehouses around Cambridge, including the venerable folk mecca Club Passim, and recorded my first solo acoustic CD Volcano in 1996 - six songs written in six different tunings which proved impossible to play all together at shows. A couple of years later I teamed up with members of the Boston-based rock band Groovasaurus to record and independently release my second album, Living Room Dances in 1999, a fusion of folk and jazz and a snapshot of my experiments with alternate tunings.
Whereas the songs of Living Room Dances have the feel of composed poems set to music, my third album Good Again, released in 2005, is a set of living conversations with people and events that have deeply impacted my life after 9/11, especially from my experiences teaching refugees newly arrived in Boston from war-torn countries all over the globe. With the tunes on Good Again I also started moving away from my acoustic folk roots towards a jazz/R&B influenced sound, having the good fortune to collaborate with some of the best rock and jazz players in the Boston music scene.
In 2010 I traded in my acoustic Guild for an electric Ibanez, began exploring the Blues, and with my fourth record Come and Gone, a retro-inspired journey through songs of nostalgia, change and letting go, I traveled further backwards to the spirit of the R&B 45's I danced to as a kid under oak trees. My latest album Wilderness, released in 2016, again invokes the R&B vibe in a groove-oriented return to the era of tube amplifiers, soulful harmonies, and smoke-filled dance clubs. I guess it's the music most deeply rooted in my body, memory and soul. Comfort food for uncertain times and places far from home.
We are on hiatus this season while we're back in the studio doing pre-production for some new tunes. More news to follow! February 2017
photo: Karen Hendrickson-Santospago


text:
Definition of noun
- There are two nouns in this sentence.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'noun.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Nouns make up the largest class of words in most languages, including English. A noun is a word that refers to a thing (book), a person (Betty Crocker), an animal (cat), a place (Omaha), a quality (softness), an idea (justice), or an action (yodeling). It's usually a single word, but not always: cake, shoes, school bus, and time and a half are all nouns.
There are a number of different categories of nouns.
There are common nouns and proper nouns. A common noun refers to a person, place, or thing but is not the name of a particular person, place, or thing. Examples are animal, sunlight, and happiness. A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing; it usually begins with a capital letter: Abraham Lincoln, Argentina, and World War I are all proper nouns.
A collective noun is a noun that names a group of people or things, such as flock or squad. It's sometimes unclear whether the verb for a collective noun should be singular or plural. In the United States, such nouns as company, team, herd, public, and class, as well as the names of companies, teams, etc., are treated as singular, but in the United Kingdom they are often treated as plural: (US) "The team has been doing well this season." vs. (British) "The team have been doing well this season."
Gerunds are nouns that are identical to the present participle (-ing form) of a verb, as in "I enjoy swimming more than running."
An attributive noun is a noun that modifies another noun that immediately follows it, such as business in business meeting. These nouns look like adjectives but they're not.
For learners of English, the most important feature of a noun is whether it can be counted. A count noun is a noun that can be used after a or an or after a number (or another word that means "more than one"). Count nouns have both singular and plural forms and can be used with both singular and plural verb forms, as with the word letter in "A letter for you is on the table. Letters for you arrive regularly." Sometimes the plural form of a count noun is the same as its singular form, as in "I saw a deer in my yard yesterday. There are a lot of deer in the woods near my house."
A mass noun (or noncount noun) refers to something that cannot be counted. Mass nouns are normally not used after the words a or an or after a number. They have only one form and are used with singular verb forms, as in "Portuguese is one of the languages they speak," and "The information was unclear."
Some nouns are not count or mass nouns. Nouns which only ever refer to one thing are called singular nouns: "Saturn is the sixth planet from the sun," "We heard a terrible din in the alley." And a plural noun refers to more than one person or thing, or sometimes to something that has two main parts. Plural nouns have only one form and are used with plural verb forms: "Townspeople are invited to a forum on the project," "These scissors are dull."
A particular noun can have any or all of these kinds of uses.
(count) I've read that book several times.
(mass) Time seemed to stop when I saw him for the first time.
(singular) The time is 3:22.
(plural) Fuel costs three times as much as it did five years ago.
First Known Use: 14th century
in the meaning defined aboveSee Words from the same year
: a word that is the name of something (such as a person, animal, place, thing, quality, idea, or action) and is typically used in a sentence as subject or object of a verb or as object of a preposition
See words that rhyme with noun Spanish Central: Translation of noun Nglish: Translation of noun for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of noun for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about noun
What made you want to look up noun? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
having an air of easy unconcern
Get Word of the Day daily email!
The Eponym Quiz
Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.TAKE THE QUIZ
The story of an imaginary word that managed to sneak past our editors and enter the dictionary.
Do you know these words that come from names?Take the quiz
A challenging quiz of changing words.Take the quiz
Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!Play the game


text:
On Tuesday, June 5, HuffPost's Becoming Fearless was the topic of the day on the HealthyLife.net radio network podcast, "Doctor on Call with Dr. Jane Greer."
In the show's first half hour, Becoming Fearless editor Elizabeth Kuster talks about the origins of the new HuffPost section and how it's helping readers challenge, confront and surmount their fears:
"Everybody has fear.... It's all about overcoming it, living a great life in spite of your fears, facing them, learning about them. The section launched on May 3rd, and even in that short time, I've already started to see a radical difference in my own fear level, because I'm facing all kinds of different fears. I'm writing about them, I'm learning about them… it's kind of like yanking off the bandage."
Then, author and HuffPost blogger Brenda Della Casa candidly discusses her journey toward becoming fearless after surviving an extremely violent childhood -- and how she finally found the courage to write about the abuse she'd endured:
"This is a little bit overwhelming for me.... I had held back in the past about talking about my childhood. I had put my childhood in a box and never wanted to revisit it. When I had the opportunity [to blog for Becoming Fearless], I thought, This is exactly the forum in which I should reveal everything that I'm comfortable revealing. When I wrote the piece, I poured my heart out. And I was terrified. I'm not going to candy-coat it."
To listen to the hourlong podcast, click here.
Related on HuffPost:
Read Elizabeth Kuster's post, "Emptying My Bucket List."
Read Brenda Della Casa's post, "Healing the Scars of Child Abuse: 'Until Now, I've Been Afraid To Share My Story. But Fear Should Be Faced Head-On'."
What personal lessons have you learned about fear and fearlessness? Comment below, or tweet us all about it @HealthyLiving using the hashtag #becomingfearless. If you tweet, you will automatically be entered into Toyota Corolla's Most Fearless Tweet Contest! (Click here for the Official Rules.)


text:
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Bohemian Interiors and Accessories
7 comments:
Good morning, Lisa!ReplyDelete
I LOVE BOHO. One of my favorites is the style that comes from MAGNOLIA PEARL...are you familiar with her site??? YOU MUST GO.
My all time favorite is my French artist muse, MISS CLARA. You cannot see it from her site, but her home, that I was able to view on a French youtube is BOHO all the way.
My home is strictly French-château inspired, and my husband does not like "clutter" so I have no space to experiment with this style, but I get my fill when I visit some of our great shops that decorate in this style.
Have a great day IMAGINING!!! AnitaReplies
Hello Anita, Thanks for stopping by and with your poetic spirit I can just imagine you creating magic while drenched in gypsy decor!! My husband would never go for it either but I would like to have a space to read or stitch in. I would love a 1960's Left Bank meets gypsy room. LOLDelete
I have seen Magnolia Pearl's clothing and her fabulous Airstream. And I just visited Miss Clara and see why you are a fan. So much to look at, I have to go back when I can spend more time.
I hope you have a delightful day and I am so looking forward your next post!!! Be blessed!
Thank you for your sweet comments :-)ReplyDelete
Wishing you a lovely weekend.
xoxo Rozmeen
Thank you for this reply up here......SO YOU SAW MISS CLARA???? She is my muse. I do paper art as well and Miss Clara has really opened my eyes to the world of paper mâché.
I could spend a whole day in the Boho style! My husband and I both however, agree on LIGHT and simplicity, but in the FRENCH STYLE, with the gray and white. Oh I wish you could see my home, I think you would like it!
Thank you for coming today to visit me. I love what you said about the swing and how it made you think about the back and forth motion of our lives; back to the past, forward towards destiny!
I hope you are enjoying a lovely day. We finally got a break from the heat and it is only 75 degrees at 4:10pm!!!
Enjoy a lovely evening. We are going to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics! Anita
- AnonymousJanuary 20, 2014 at 1:26 AM
the beaded accent over the curtain- the 4th pic from the bottom- whered you find that pic- what is that beaded thing called? i need this !ReplyDelete
I love love love your nugget window. My favorite tunics are Boho...your style us fun and I love it.ReplyDelete
Great blog post and really helpful GATE | neetReplyDelete


text:
The talented Grabarchuk family have produced a tantalizing collection of highly original puzzles, each with its own set of rules (or rules you have to find yourself). Often geometrical in character, these puzzles are always entertaining and sometimes fiendishly difficult.
This collection of more than one hundred original and highly sophisticated puzzles presents challenges that require creative, outside of the box thinking. Many different types of puzzles are included, such as word, number, logical, visual, spatial, dissection, dividing, dot-connecting, matchstick, coin, and more. Each aesthetically appealing puzzle is designed to improve problem solving skills; train geometric, combinatorial, and spatial imagination; bolster visual perception and logical reasoning; and foster the development of a perseverant and self-confident approach to challenges.
The Simple Book of Not-So-Simple Puzzles is available from Amazon.
Tags: Puzzle Book


text:
When you spend the majority of your waking hours at work, it is reasonable to want to fill those hours with worthwhile activities. Employees in certain professions consistently report high rates of satisfaction with their jobs, whether because their work is financially lucrative, emotionally fulfilling, or just plain fun. Keep reading for an overview of the world's most rewarding careers.
Engineers experience job satisfaction on multiple levels. Most engineers enjoy stimulating projects to work on and comfortable salaries to take home. Even better, they are often able to see the direct results of their work in the world around them, such as a high-rise building or a stadium. A civil engineer might take a road trip on a highway system she helped create, while a software engineer could download an app he developed for his personal phone.
Teachers have the honorable task of helping the next generation become intelligent, industrious, and upstanding adults. A Montessori teacher in a preschool might help her pupils develop lifelong enthusiasm for learning, while a high school physics teacher might inspire her students to pursue careers in space exploration. Teaching methods can vary widely between individuals, but all teachers are perfectly positioned to make real differences in the world.
People who work in fields such as graphic or interior design often report high levels of job satisfaction. Thanks to their unique projects and diverse clientele, they enjoy extreme variety in their daily lives. They also get to watch other people fall in love with the concepts they formulate, whether they create eye-catching logos for businesses, build astonishing websites for business owners that attract the viewer's attention, or decorate stunning homes for families.
Physical therapists help people recover from physical traumas by leading them through exercise programs that strengthen their injured areas. People who work in this field get to develop treatment plans using their professional expertise and then watch their patients improve over time. So, whether you want to create amazing products or provide a service to assist other people, you can find a job that keeps you interested and makes you feel fulfilled.


text:
After more than twenty years of drilling, the Russian exploration team that has been working at Vostok station to reach the sub-glacial lake of the same name is on the precipice of success. They are just forty or so feet away from breaking through to a body of water that has not seen light for 14 million years, and in so doing, the team is poised to make history.
The effort to reach Lake Vostok, some 13,000 feet beneath the Antarctic ice sheet, started in the 90's when it was discovered that there was a liquid water lake far below the surface. The opportunity to explore a region of the Earth that humans have never seen was a tantalizing proposition, enough to spur the Russian team to embark on what it knew would be a long process. The Antarctic Summer only lasts from December to March, giving the researchers a small drilling window where the temperature on the surface is a balmy -80 degrees below zero. Of course, at that temperature working outside is hard on both man and machine, so you can see now why it has taken twenty years to drill so deep.
Weather has not been the only obstacle for the project, as organizations like the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition have protested the drilling. The protests are due to potential environmental issues if foreign materials like drilling fluid (the team have been using kerosene and Freon regularly) and surface microbes enter the lake. Just the tiniest amount could do irreversible damage, which would be tragic in the study and research that would be lost.
The other worry stems from the fact Lake Vostok is thought to have a high level of oxygen contained within it, some 50x higher than a typical fresh water lake. The gas pressure may cause a geyser when the drill pierces it. Vostok is roughly the size of New Jersey. This could cause a potentially dangerous situation for the Vostok team as you can imagine, as well as having a detrimental effect on the lake itself.
As of now, the researchers are scheduled to drill down the last 40-feet by next week. Currently they have paused to measure the pressure readings and to make final preparations for this momentous discovery.
Read more at the Washington Post, via Wired


text:
Sean Brown via Crowdrise
October 06, 2010
BENEFITING: The Hall STEPS Foundation
ORGANIZER: The Hall STEPS Foundation
EVENT DATE: Oct 10, 2010
Ran for 84.48 hours
Ran a total of 633 miles
Completed 84 workouts
The energy I used...
burned 19 pounds
or 369 Donuts
would power 1,054 Televisions
Sounds like a lot, but I still have 150 miles to run in my training schedule....I am doing all of this to help support The Hall Steps Foundation. Steps has given me the opportunity to run with their team in the Chicago marathon....and in return I want to do all that I can do to help them raise money so they can continue to help others.
I also hope to inspire some of you along the way, not only to be more active, but to set big marathon type goals for yourself. You can achieve any goal you put your mind too, nothing is impossible.
Please support my running of the Chicago Marathon on 10/10/10, through making a donation to The Hall Steps Foundation. The money donated will go towards providing clean drinking water for villages in sub-Saharan Africa, along with many other initiatives here in the United States. No donation is too small....the price you pay at the grocery for a large pack of bottled water...would provide drinking water to a family of four for a year in Africa. A little bit goes a long way in that part of the world.
The Team: $26,290 TOTAL RAISED SO FAR
Donor Comments
Anne Moseley
Make Coty Prestige PROUD! We are cheering you every STEP of the way!! 8 years ago
Cara Campbell
Good luck Sean! You'll do great! 8 years ago
Betsy Khalaf
8 years ago
Alicia Acevedo
8 years ago
Olivia Taylor
8 years ago
Bonnie Turner
8 years ago


text:
Article No.: 1310002
- Stainless Steel Body
- Black Oxide
- All Locking Blades and Tools
- MOLLE Sheath
- Lanyard Ring
- Length: 11.4 cm (closed)
The Super Tool is often referred to as the original workhorse of the Leatherman family. With the new Super Tool 300 EOD LEATHERMAN got those same beefy features and added EOD-specific tools like a military-performance-spec cap crimpers and fuse-wire cutters. Extra strong pliers with cleaning rod/brush attachments have replaceable wire cutters. Comfort-grip handles feature cutouts to make accessing tools with gloves on a cinch. An everyday carry tool, with some not-so-everyday features. The Super Tool 300 EOD is a great way to go easy on your load while beefing up your gear.
Force Ware now offers high Quality LEDLENSER searching lamps for your security missions.
Force Ware now offers high Quality LEDLENSER searching lamps for your security missions.
The level IV Ballistic Trolley Shield is a mobile high protection shield which provides multi strike protection from armour piercing rounds, and all lesser ballistic threats. The shield is flat and is constructed from alumina oxide ceramic tiles mounted on a rigid matrix aramid backing. The trolley provides a stable and highly manouverable platform capable of smooth cornering, and rough terrain movement. The included PRO LIGHT Shield Lighting System allows you to operate even in dark environment.


text:
Pakistan has failed to protect its citizens especially minorities from religious extremists. Pakistan ranks no 2 in top dangerous Countries for journalists and women. Pakistan also tops the list of the countries where more people are killed in bomb explosions.
Terrorists & religious extremists operate with impunity in Pakistan. They target moderate Muslims, minority sects like Ahamadies and Christians whenever and however they want. There are scores of Pakistani who flee Pakistan and take refuge in nearby countries, Sri Lanka is one.
Recently newly elected prime minister of India complained to President Mahinda Rajapaksa that his country was being used by Muslim terrorists to lunch attacks in India.
In Tamil Nadu a Sri Lankan alleged terrorist was arrested who was linked with other terrorists arrested in Malaysia. During their interrogation they confessed that they were planning an attack on US and Israeli embassy in India. According to the information provided by them they were hired and being handled by an ISI official named Amir Z Sidiqi in Pakistan High commission in Sri Lanka.
Instead of questioning Pakistan High commission in Sri Lankan Rajapaksa government chose to attack helpless Pakistani asylum seekers to save their face.
Pakistan does not want its persecuted ones to seek asylum. It wants to carry a good name despite all the negative facts about it.
It was Pakistan which requested friendly Sri Lankan Government to stop on arrival visas for Pakistani nationals So that asylum seeking can come to an end.
Sri Lanka however went one step ahead. It was in June 2014 when Sri Lankan authorities started their crack down on Pakistani asylum seekers. Those arrested are being detained at the Boosa camp. According to the UNHCR, 189 male asylum seekers of Pakistani and Afghan origin are among those detained. They comprise 127 single males and 62 heads of families. These asylum seekers belong to Ahmadiya and Shia community who are being targeted by state sponsored Islamic extremists. Pakistani government takes them for 3rd class citizens and casts a blind eye to their sufferings.
Unaware of international laws for asylum seekers, Pakistan foreign affairs spoke person spoke with much ignorance about them saying. "They seek asylum by bad mouthing Pakistan. If they are in trouble I don't know"
However Dawn newspaper of Pakistan clearly wrote "failed twice" The summary of the article was a hard fact that Pakistan state has failed to protect its citizens and by disowning the asylum seekers the failure of the state doubles.
Sri Lankan controller General of immigration and Emigration Chulananda Perera says, "They (asylum seekers) are dangerous and a financial Burdon on their country." He forgets that there are thousands of Sri Lankan refugees inside and outside Sri Lanka who are being helped extensively by western countries and UNHCR. How they are dangerous is yet to be explained by him. According to UNHCR they follow rules and regulations of the country and do as they are told by UNHCR.
Once again, On July 19 Sri Lanka violated international laws and the basic principle of refugee protection --- NON REFOULMENT --- meaning A person should not be handed over to the country where he fears persecution. 5 Afghan asylum seekers were deported. Very smartly the Sri Lankan authorities called this forced deportation voluntarily repatriation.
During this so called voluntary repatriation, these fateful asylum seekers were not even allowed to call or meet someone from UNHCR.
Sri Lanka has further made it clear that all the Pakistani and Afghani asylum seekers men women and children will be deported back to their countries
Sadia continue's to live in hiding in Sri Lanka
It is not the 1st time Sri Lanka has targeted asylum seekers on the behest of Pakistan. In March 2013 Pakistani blogger Sadia Khan an asylum seeker in Sri Lanka was kept in detention for 1 long month. Her mother and 11 years old sister were also jailed.
Their arrest took place when Pakistan ISI contacted friendly Sri Lankan Government to capture her. Her crime was that she wrote about the atrocities of Pakistan security forces.
Sri Lankan authorities were quick to take action.
Their passports were confiscated and the family was detained. They were about to be secretly deported to Pakistan when the helpless female Khans came to know about the conspiracy. Taking a chance they left the detention camp to save their life.
Now this family is recognized refugees from UNHCR. Unfortunately they still live in hiding and fear Sri Lankan authorities. They have repeatedly requested Sri Lankan authorities to return their passports so that they can live freely but to no avail. Sadia Khan also requested Pakistan High commission to intervene and help her. Pak embassy only tried to trace her location the Defence Advisor of Pak embassy Shaheryar Pervaz Butt abused her and called her a traitor.
Pak & Afghan asylum seekers & refugees continue to live in fear and are treated as criminals in Sri Lanka. UNHCR with little authority & high responsibility watches helplessly.


text:
Global Management Trainee program
We take the development of high quality future leaders seriously. Our Global Management Trainee Program is an intensive 10-month rotational training program designed for the brightest, most driven university graduates.
We want to create well-rounded leaders. So we immerse our GMTs in various functional areas of the company. You'll travel to and work in different breweries and offices getting to know top leaders along the way. You'll learn about our Marketing, Sales, and Supply Chain organizations from the ground up through a variety of hands-on assignments. And you will have many interactions and exposure to our top leaders helping you to link your experiences back to our company strategy as well as creating a network of mentors and supporters.
The GMT Program will give you a cross-functional understanding of our business and set you up for rapid growth.
Program highlights:
Phase 1: Global and zone induction (2 weeks)
Induction to our company's culture, strategy and structure. Interaction with our CEO and learning from senior leaders across the company. Opportunity to meet and build relationships with fellow trainees from across the world. 1 week Global induction and another week in your zone headquarters. You will be assigned groups for an Innovation Project to be presented to local Management Committee during graduation week.
Phase 2: Rotations (4 months)
To develop a strong understanding of our business, you will be in small groups to immerse yourself in functional areas such as Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain and Information & Business Services.
Phase 3: Zone HQ and leadership training (1 month)
You will return to your local headquarters where you'll gain a deeper understanding of the strategy of the functions in your headquarters (Finance, Sales, Marketing, Logistics & Supply, Procurement, People, Legal and Corporate Affairs).
Phase 4: Individual project (4 months)
You'll be assigned an individual project to capture process improvements or innovations. We'll give you clear deliverables that you'll be asked to present at our Capstone graduation week.
Phase 5: Capstone & graduation (1 week)
You'll present your Individual Project as well as your group Innovation Project to your local Management Committee.
Who are we looking for?
We're looking for ambitious, curious, entrepreneurial and driven recent university graduates, who want to leave their mark. We're a company of owners, and our size doesn't stop our people from making an individual impact. You need to be ready to take on tough challenges, adapt to different work situations and connect with others both inside and outside our company. You need to have an open and global mindset, think analytically while being focused on driving actions and be ready to grow fast, at the pace of your own talent.
Our selection process
We take our GMT selections seriously, involving many of our senior managers throughout an in-depth and tough selection process.
The selection process you will go through:
The process may be conducted in-person or virtually depending on location. Interview dates and schedule vary by location.
Your future
The Global Management Trainee Program will give you an in-depth look across the entire organization to teach and prepare you before your first role. You'll have the opportunity to have a direct impact on the business and influence key decisions—there's no hiding in the back of the room. From entry level to zone president, everyone has a seat at the table and is expected to bring their best every day.
Your training is just the foundation; and your first role is where you'll make a difference. After successfully completing the program, you would take on an entry-level management position suited to your profile, interests and results. Some examples of first roles for this program are: group manager, district sales manager, and brand associate, among others.
You'll also be partnered with a mentor. Show great results after 12-18 months, and we'll expect you to embrace your next challenge in a more senior role.
Ready to become a GMT?


text:
Kolb's Grand Cleaners takes care of all of your dry cleaning needs – in house. That means we don't send your clothing or household fabrics to a third party. We use our revolutionary plant-based cleaning treatment to clean your items efficiently, while also saving the environment.
We offer next-day service for regular dry cleaning and laundry. Household items take a little longer, but priority service is available if you have to have it ASAP!
Challenging fabric? We can clean it.
- Leather
- UGG boots
- Uniforms
- Tuxedos
- Military and law enforcement uniforms
- Lab coats
Delicate items? We clean those too.
- Comforters
- Drapes
- Wedding dress cleaning and preservation
Something doesn't fit right?
Our talented seamstress is ready to hem your pants, alter that new dress or replace a worn-out zipper on your beloved jacket.
Call one of our three convenient locations to see how we can help.


text:
Vatican Radio has published an unofficial translation of the text of the speech given by then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio from Argentina to his brother cardinals during the pre-conclave General Congregation meetings held prior to the voting to elect the new pope.
According to several cardinals, the brief, but direct, speech could easily have placed Bergoglio over the two-thirds threshold needed to become the new pope.
Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, the archbishop of Havana, had been so impressed with Bergoglio's "intervention" that he asked him for a copy of the speech. On Saturday, Ortega stated that he had requested, and received, a hand-written copy of the text of the speech from Bergoglio. Later, the cardinal said that Pope Francis "verified his authorization for the dissemination of the text."
In his intervention, Bergoglio made four points that highlighted the Church's need for Evangelization:
1. Evangelizing pre-supposes a desire in the Church to come out of herself. The Church is called to come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries: the mystery of sin, of pain, of injustice, of ignorance and indifference to religion, of intellectual currents, and of all misery.
2. When the Church does not come out of herself to evangelize, she becomes self-referential and then gets sick. (cf. The deformed woman of the Gospel). The evils that, over time, happen in ecclesial institutions have their root in self-referentiality and a kind of theological narcissism. In Revelation, Jesus says that he is at the door and knocks. Obviously, the text refers to his knocking from the outside in order to enter but I think about the times in which Jesus knocks from within so that we will let him come out. The self-referential Church keeps Jesus Christ within herself and does not let him out.
3. When the Church is self-referential, inadvertently, she believes she has her own light; she ceases to be the mysterium lunae and gives way to that very serious evil, spiritual worldliness (which according to De Lubac, is the worst evil that can befall the Church). It lives to give glory only to one another.
Put simply, there are two images of the Church: Church which evangelizes and comes out of herself, the Dei Verbum religiose audiens et fidente proclamans; and the worldly Church, living within herself, of herself, for herself. This should shed light on the possible changes and reforms which must be done for the salvation of souls.
4. Thinking of the next Pope: He must be a man who, from the contemplation and adoration of Jesus Christ, helps the Church to go out to the existential peripheries, that helps her to be the fruitful mother, who gains life from "the sweet and comforting joy of evangelizing."
According to the Wall Street Journal, interviews with several cardinals indicated that Bergoglio's speech was decisive.
"He spoke of the need for catechesis and the need to address the poor… the question of justice and the dignity of the human person," said one U.S. cardinal.
British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, archbishop emeritus of Westminster, said, "Sometimes when you're dealing with a crisis, you kick the ball in a different direction. And that's what this pope has done. It's to say: What I stand for is a particular gospel way of life and witness."
O'Connor, who is above the voting age limit of 80 years old, did not enter the conclave.
"He speaks in a very straightforward way," said Cardinal Francis George of Chicago about then-Cardinal Bergoglio's speech. "And so perhaps–more than the content–it was simply a reminder that here is someone who has authenticity in such a way that he's a wonderful witness to the discipleship."
On Wednesday of Holy Week, Pope Francis gave his teaching, or catechesis, for his first General Audience. Consistent with his pre-conclave speech, the pope urged attendees to "step outside yourself!"
The full text of the pope's catechesis can be found at Vatican Radio. Pope Francis ended his teaching in this way:
Holy Week is a time of grace which the Lord gifts us to open the doors of our hearts, our lives, our parishes – what a pity, so many parishes are closed! – in our parishes, movements, associations, and to "step outside" towards others, to draw close to them so we can bring the light and joy of our faith. Always step outside yourself! And with the love and tenderness of God, with respect and patience, knowing that we put our hands, our feet, our hearts, but then it is God who guides them and makes all our actions fruitful.
May you all live these days well, following the Lord with courage, carrying within a ray of His love for all those whom we meet.