Your Work Is Valuable, Remember?

As blogging starts to grow into a bigger industry with more money and resources pouring into it, we want to make sure that the people who benefit most are the community members who make all of this possible. For us, one of the best signs of the healthy ecosystem that's developed around blogging is that more people make a living working on Six Apart platforms outside our company than inside, even though we've been growing pretty rapidly over the past few years.

The latest example of how we're trying to invest in increasing the value of blogging skills is The Style Contest. Maybe it's because our co-founder is a designer herself, but it just seems to make sense that people who do smart, creative work should get rewarded for it. And it's not just the money (although $4000 in cash doesn't hurt!) but the recognition that helps show that all of us together have helped blogs succeed this far, and are going to be what takes blogging to the next level.

This goes for everyone else in the community, too. Plugin developers. folks who help build out templates for people, those who offer their expertise as consultants, everyone has got an opportunity. Frankly, those of us who build the tools shouldn't be the only ones who see the benefits of the booming popularity of blogs. If they say software development is supposed to be one of the best jobs in the country, then we'd like to help make it even better, by doing things like helping Professional Network members find jobs doing the work they love. For bloggers in general, we've got efforts from our affiliate program to TypePad's tip jar that let you get as much out of blogging as you put into it.

We're definitely proud that our company's been growing in the same way that blogs themselves have been. But if you're a designer, or a developer, we just wanted to take a minute to let you know, especially if you're a Professional Network member, that we're even more excited about opening up opportunities for you to benefit from blogs as well.