I remember when “widgets” were simply things that you could add to your blog. Extras or add-ons. A little something to add some color or simple functionality to your plain, text only side bar. It was a time, when, if you found something, a widget, on some obscure blog, it was exciting. You actually had to hunt it down a bit. Put in some effort. It was fun.

Now it seems as though… if the year of the widget doesn’t happen…it’ll be the end of the world. Oh and by the way…if you don’t make any money with your widget thingy your a failure as well.

WTF…does everything have to have a business model?

Widgets are Profitable!

If it gets people to recognize your brand…it’s profitable!
If it gets people to visit your site…it’s profitable.
If it makes others want to have one…it’s profitable.

If it makes businesses want to hire you to create a widget for them…Now you have a business model.

Let the work sell itself.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t work much for widgets. Today…widget A. Tomorrow…widget B replaces widget A. …and so on and so on.

Widgets quit being fun as soon as they became business!