In the company of giants

In an article on the Mail Today I've been put in the company of giants as "our Blogging Stars" meaning Indian "stars". The others in that list are (gulp) Om Malik, Rafat Ali and Amit of Labnol fame.

The article claims Blogging has become serious business in India now.

I'm not really so sure. As this interview between Darren Rowse (known as Problogger) and Guy Kawasaki shows a majority of Bloggers earn less than $15 dollars a year.

So how can blogging become serious business? That will happen when blogging networks take off in India and some bloggers become a part of the larger media businesses. These would be the bloggers who have an audience and a certain 'brand' appeal. Not everyone might want to pursue this and not every 'big' blogger would choose this path.

For example, UTVi which is headed by journo-cum-blogger Govindraj Ethiraj has roped in two prominent bloggers, BombayAddict and Rashmi Bansal for two different TV shows. And popular blogger Sidin Vadukut joined Mint WSJ as a journalist.

That is most likely how blogging will evolve into a business.

P.S. The Recruiting Animal takes me to the cleaners for posting this :-)