YES 35 40.70%

NO 51 59.30%

I do read blogs, but they are typically hobby related or written by friends and not commercial blogs.
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I'm shocked.......

I told my sister in-law I couldn't name 5 people who read blogs......and now I can. Even though she still can't name 5 people who do, the truth is.....more people do than I thought....

I appreciate everybody's input........ :-)
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Ok, Vin, that post made too much sense. Your sucking all the fun out of the poll :-)
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I might be way off here, but after answering and thinking about it. Isn't most threads on CA blogs?
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I voted yes, but I dont do it on a regular basis. Most of the blog stuff I do read is photography related. And the ones I do read are professionals whom I could really learn from. Most of the stuff they post is technical how to's. Not 'personal' garbage.

I do know many photographers who use blogs as marketing. And they say it does work.
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Not to thread jack, but the true value in blogging from a marketing standpoint lies with the blogger. If 3F were start blogging about his experiences with cigars for his cigar lounge, for example, he may find an uptick in sales as his blog gains eyeballs in the Tampa area and like-minded readers flock to his lounge.

Blogging gives you a forum -- more to inform than to actively sell, but in setting yourself up as an "expert", it will only be a matter of time before people start to seek you out. If you can connect with your audience, your words take on gravitas and suddenly, you find your positive reviews of an RP Decade translating into increased sales out of the lounge's humidor.

Advertising on someone's blog is a different animal. No different than advertising anywhere on the net, really.
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I read them in the spirit of open discussion. I like to see other people's points of view, whether I agree or disagree. A blog is a good release for a lot of people and a way to get their message out.
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I've never found a blog worth reading.

Then again, I don't read the newspaper either.
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For the most part, I won't read a commercial blog. But, like anything else, if it's well written and fun to read...I might indulge in a blog here and there.
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Apart from following more than 250 blogs on my Greader, I also own many blogs on several subjects such as cars, blackberry, iPhone and a personal.
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I voted no, but sometimes if I can't watch a sporting event in my area NESN or Comcast has live bloggers.
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Wow. I read tons of blogs. Too many to count. Cigar blogs, Technology blogs, Political blogs, Science blogs... It seems like anytime I am looking for some sort of specialized info, Google brings me to a blog.

I would say that with today's more powerful blogging software, many of the blogs don't really look like blogs. Also, adding an E-Commerce plug-in is extremely cheap and easy. Plus you can get advertising revenue.

As for TripleF's point, I think that depends on one thing. Traffic. Blogs with a lot of traffic can generate very good sales and revenue. But it is hard to continue to increase traffic. I think every bloggers hope is to generate enough revenue to pay for the hosting and registry costs, but very few do.

And the blog I run for my business pulls in decent keyword traffic. Then refers to the main website.
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Shall we change your user name to Footblog? :-)
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Blogbag? :-)
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I think more people read blogs than realize it. If you go to any of the big sports sites, eg espn etc, or really any of the well known commercial sites those links you're hitting are taking you to somebodys blog whether you realize it or not. I read a lot of blogs as rss feeds through a couple
of different aggregators, it's the only way to have the time
to keep up with all of the different professional and personal things I want to. Maybe not as many as some have stated, but easily 50-60 blogs of some
sort I follow
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Unnecessary Comment: I voted yes because I read one ocassionally. But that said I never look at the ads on them because I assume most of them are scams. IMHO it is throwing away ad money.:-)
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:-)

I blog (my reviews www.cigarguide.org currently transferring all my old reviews to new webspace, new layout, lots of work but its looking so much better) and I do read certain blogs, newsblog and cigarblogs.
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I voted no as I don't subscribe to any and couldn't tell you a thing about the advertising. If I do read on it is through a link or by accident.
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