7:00 — We arrive and decide to move inside.
7:03 — The waiter promptly earns his tip helping us arrange tables in the back room.
7:15 — We’re all seated and start introductions. A couple new faces tonight, along with lots of familiar faces.
7:28 — With introductions over and drinks delivered, Sarah dives into the business part of our little bloggers group. Title of the Handout — yes, there was a handout! 
— “Springfields Bloggers Association New Membership Guidelines.” Sarah emphasizes that these are guidelines with the sole purpose of strengthening our group and supporting a close-knit group who interact with each other regularly. The first person to be voted out will be Uli, unless he shows his pretty face at a meeting soon! In summary, these guidelines are being set up to encourage true association and companionship.
7:38 — The Apple vs. PC argument shows its ugly face and friendships are ended.
7:39 — Ignoring the pending wars between Macs and PCs, Sarah moves to handout #2, “Springfield Bloggers Association Leadership Positions.” In summary, she’s having Mini Austin in November, so we’ll have to step up to see SGFBlogs continue to function as it has been. Contact Sarah if you would like to see a list of positions or view them online here [ link coming soon ].
7:52 — Nigel opens tonight’s discussion with the question: For those make money off their blog, how do you do it? Pamela shares that, while her blog does not directly support her business, it does provide potential customers with a way to get to know her. Steve and Nigel concur that AdSense has not made much for them. Matt counters that AdSense has worked for him by “chasing news” and posting those blogs at sites like Slashdot and Reddit. He adds that it also depends on where your ads are located on. Along with Pamela, Matt has found some success through Amazon links. The Supervillian asks for clarification on how Amazon links work; Matt explains that when people follow a link from your page to Amazon, you receive a portion of the profit when they buy something. Harry and Steve discuss the interest gained from their posts on their Winter’s Bone [links] posts. Steve says, “I’m not selling the traffic level, but the community-building.” Matt agrees. Matt B. asks if anyone has tried selling ad space. Pamela says that she has received diet books in exchange for a review. The difficulty we all encounter with such a scheme is that we aren’t sure what to write about if we don’t like the book/product/company we are supposed to write about?
The topic wanders for a little, but we also discuss guest speakers. Most notably, Elsie Flannigan of Red Velvet Art, who Matthew S. went to high school with. Who else could come and teach us something about blogging?
8:28 — Now we’re discussing hosts and servers, so I (Linden) jump in to introduce the business card book, then conversation easily falls back into its natural paths.
8:53 — Desserts are delivered, checks are on their way, and another stimulating SGFBogs meeting nears its end.
This is Linden, signing off.
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