Truth is, there can be some short term results from posting crap.

What they miss is that the digital tattoo of what you post is permanently cached somewhere. Search engines are constantly working to improve their user experiences and will find a way to discount the bad stuff.

The conversations will end up boosting the best sites more than SEO tricks and real people will support real content and real relationships.

What a succinct and clear summation of the point. Nicely said, sir.

The point is not free OR fee. The real question is how much do you have to give for free before you can upsell something else.

Try blogging or selling ebooks with zero free content and you will soon find yourself with zero customers because you won’t be seen online.

Great free content is ‘marketing’ to sell other services. This marketing is a lot cheaper than traditional forms of advertising like television or newspaper ads and much more targeted.

A pizza restaurant is not giving away flyers for free. The flyers are to get people to buy the pizzas.

I blog because I have information and a unique perspective to share. I am raising twins with Down syndrome. How I do so, what products I use to foster their development, what health issues or educational difficulties have I tackled and overcome, what difficulties are still outstanding; what therapies have I fought for and won, which are successful, etc. Sharing this helps others choose how to raise/or not raise their child with Down syndrome, how they approach similar issues, and it gives them a forum to relate their own experience and know they are not along. A give and take, certainly. (More give right now.)

I blog because I hope to make the world a better place one person with Down syndrome at a time. To help them achieve more, go farther, be more accepted, have confidence and find their very own peaceful path.

Perhaps I’ll make money taking a cut from the purchases of products I tout (if I ever get those commission agreements in place). Perhaps via PAID speaking engagements and parent advocacy (versus the pro-bono stuff I do now). Perhaps I won’t ever make money at blogging but, as Michael Martine said and I quoted above… maybe that’s just the foot in the door. Maybe the blog is the ever-changing content that keeps my ecommerce site (if I ever get one up there) fresh, optimized and atop the search engines.

Yeah, I have bills to pay… but that’s about me. Yes, I would pay for my blog… that’s about finding out as much information as I can to help me raise my children with Down syndrome (and my child without Down syndrome) to help them become the best and most fulfilled and productive people they can become.

I blog to pay it forward. If there’s anything in it besides knowing I’ve helped another parent raising a child with Down syndrome to help their child achieve their fullest potential, cool. If not, that is certainly reward enough in itself… Besides, like Emily commented above, writing a blog is a great outlet for me!

My goal: to reach more parents of children with Down syndrome, more educators, more therapists, more employers, and more friends, relatives, neighbors and strangers; to help change the antiquated stereotypes these folks hold about what’s possible regarding a person with Down syndrome and giving every child with Down syndrome or special needs greater opportunities and greater acceptance in life.