"When blogging first began, several years before I got into it, there was a feeling that individuals would be able to use blogging to build their own little businesses. This proved true in only a very few instances. The most successful blogs now are group efforts — sometimes the group is quite large — and the need for professional management (on the technical and ad sides) means that I am, effectively, what I was 25 years ago, a freelance, an independent contractor, a typist for hire."