In an article on The Wall Street Journal website this month, journalist E. Kinney Zalesne shares his take on one of the hottest jobs in the United States -- professional blogging.  Since 'professional blogger' is one of the many hats I wear, I was particularly interested in this article. Check out some of the statistics provided in the article about professional blogging:

• There are over 30 million bloggers in the United States, and nearly 2 million of them make some money for their efforts.
• Nearly half a million U.S. bloggers cite blogging as their primary source of income.
• Professional bloggers who work for companies are typically paid $45,000-$90,000 per year for blogging, and 1% make over $200,000 per year.
• Most professional bloggers work long hours, typically 50-60 hours per week.
• 3 out of 4 bloggers are college graduates, and the majority are white males with above average incomes.
• To earn $75,000 per year, a blog typically needs to get about 100,000 unique visitors per month.
• The number of bloggers continues to rise as the number of journalists continues to decline.  For example, there are 79% fewer Washington, D.C. employees working for major newspapers than there were earlier during this decade.  At the same time, Washington, D.C. is the most blogged about U.S. city.
• Most professional bloggers cite high job satisfaction.
• Most professional bloggers are self-employed or contractors, so they are not covered by unemployment insurance, health insurance, etc.

The Wall Street Journal gathered these statistics from a number of sources (not named).  The author of the article writes that he wonders how long blogging can continue to grow until there will be standards of conduct or ethics in place.  However, I think that blogging is just another form of conversation.  Years ago, people communicated, built relationships, shared opinions, etc. offline.  Today, they do so through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and so on.  The social web seems to have room for just about everyone, and that's what makes it so powerful.What do you think?Image: Flickr