New England Revolution blogger Christopher Jenkins has hit the height of internet fame with over 1,500 followers on twitter, he frequently talks to the front office of the Revolution, and is followed by national journalists; and yet Jenkins admits that he has no idea how to monetize his career after giving away his content for free for the last seven years.
I don't know...... how the hell does anyone make money? Maybe Patreon?
"I kinda figured that after I hit it big there would be options," said a despondent Jenkins. "Yet it seems like everyone is willing to hire me to write but no one is willing to pay me to write."
While Jenkins has become a source for information from local fans on the Revolution as well as covering the Boston Breakers and the United States National Teams, he has also amassed an unusual number of detractors.
"Well, I'm accused of being in the pocket of the front office. To a certain extent that is true. I mean, I'm not going to get information by being a dick to them so I'm just going to continue taking the abuse from the fans and continue getting information sent to me by email and DM. The best way I can continue to grow my online profile is to be the first provider of breaking information and insider knowledge. I don't really care whether that information is true, false or if that information is given to me by the front office or something that I shamelessly lifted from another rumor twitter account."
While Jenkins may be a repository for all the information that the front office of the Revolution wants to dump, he still is struggling to find a way forward, financially, from where he is now.
"I'm hoping that I can get a job writing game recaps for the front office, or a beat position for Major League Soccer. I can't even begin to understand how I'm going to carve a career out of this. I have no equity in my work other than my followers on twitter and the only thing that serves is the rampant masturbation of my ego. Otherwise whether 1500 or 15000 I'm still working as an equipment manager at the fitness center 30 minutes away from my home."
While Jenkins is despondent about blogging, he does have one idea about how to go forward, "Maybe if I self publish a book on the Revolution, that'll make me some money. All I need to do is collect 40 or 50 thousands dollars from my fan-base through kickstarter. Then I can just sit back and watch the money come in."