I don’t usually launch personal attacks on people (any more) but when I read someone assassinating the good name and work of someone I respect, I still take action.

The fact that Hannah Solo, an 18-year-old girl “just four months out of school” decided to bait ProBlogger Darren Rowse with her article The truth about Darren Rowse and the great Pro Blogger swindle shows that she’s either arrogant, or deluded, or both.

Now, I’m not suggesting that everyone should agree with everything that Darren writes, or his approach to blogging, but her article not only comes close to libelling Darren, but also insults those who follow him.

As my comment possibly won’t go down well on her article, and could be deleted, here’s the response I left:

I came to your web site after reading the fairly rude “Oh dear, more lists, more repeat content, more stuff we already know.” you left on Darren’s site. I’ve not seen you participating in ProBlogger before, and now I can see why. It’s bait to get people here to read your anti-Darren propaganda, right?

“it soon became apparent that Darren was, and still is, simply baiting the gullible newbies who are happily and obediently queuing up to be told how to make money online. Darren’s blog, Pro Blogger, advertises a plethora of systems, most of make claims like “easiest money everâ€? or “become a six figure bloggerâ€?. Sadly, but unsurprosingly, all of the adverts lead to scams.”

This is highly offensive to me, and possibly to Darren, though he probably has a lot more patience and has had far worse accusations levelled at him.

For a start, just because various “get rich quick”-esque keywords lead to Darren’s site, it does not mean that he is telling people that making money from blogging is easy.

The fact is that he has seen a lot of success from blogging, so he is qualified to talk and teach about it. However, I’ve not yet read somewhere that he says doing so is easy, or doesn’t take a lot of time and effort. Though I’ve only met Darren in person once, I think I know him well enough, through his writing and general attitude, to know that he hates Internet scams and get rich quick schemes. To accuse his blog of encouraging such practices is verging on libellous.

“You see, even a newbie like a me, a simple 18 year old girl who only left school 4 months ago can see through this sort of rubbish.�

Perhaps you just haven’t bothered to examine the evidence in more detail. You’re now effectively saying that anyone who follows Darren’s example is gullible, whereas you’re an 18-year-old girl who knows it all.

“The really frightening part is that Darren Rowse has over 67,000 subscribers who hang off his every word, desperately trying to comment on his site to catch his eye in the naive hope of getting some traffic in the form of scraps from the masters table.�

Again, you don’t understand Darren at all. He’s actually quite personable, and would probably have taken some time from his busy schedule to get to know you personally had you talked to him rather than reading a few pages on his site and then defaming him in public.

Perhaps for you, oh enlightened, wizened, “four months out of school� woman, you do know it all, but not everyone knows everything.

You also don’t hold to the widely accepted definition of a “spam blog� (or splog). Spam blogs are those which rip and scrape content from other places. While Darren may not have been able to teach you anything new, there’s a high amount of original and insightful material on there. ProBlogger.net is NOT a splog.

In the likely event you don’t like this retort to your appalling appraisal of ProBlogger, and delete my comment, I will also be publishing it on my own web site.

This is the new blogger who, despite professing to know a lot about blogging, hasn’t even deleted the default welcome page from her WordPress blog, and has written a grand total of… three articles, one of which is a ten-point list entitled Five reasons why you should leave school and become a teenage pro blogger.

I’m sorry, Hannah, but when it comes to online experience, I know where my loyalties lie. You probably don’t care, and in general I admire a new startup with attitude, but picking on a big name in blogging just four articles in could end up backfiring.

Two opposing perspectives on ProBlogging?

I thought to further illustrate the huge gulf between Darren and Hannah, I’d take a look at the advice they have both given on the subject of blogging for money.

Darren has been blogging for at least six years. The following eleven articles are just a selection from the thousands he has written, and in my opinion all offer balanced, sensible, measured advice about blogging for money and blogging as a full-time occupation.

• The Process of Going Pro as a blogger
• 11 Lies of Professional Blogging Resources
• Is it possible to earn a full time salary as a part time blogger?
• Blogging as a Job – The Perceptions of Others – Convincing those you love that you can be a ProBlogger
• A reality check about blogging for money
• Going Pro as a Blogger – Turning blogging from a hobby to a career
• How much money can a blog earn?
• Introduction to making money from blogs
• Becoming a ProBlogger – A story in many parts
• Making money from blogging takes time
• When is it time to “Go Pro” as a blogger?

In addition, Darren has measurable success in building strong blogs, brands, and networks.

By contrast, Hannah encourages teenagers to “leave school and become a teenage pro blogger”.

While it’s not impossible to make a living from problogging, advising people to leave school as soon as possible is downright irresponsible.

Combining it with soundbites like “You choose your own hours. Want to work only 4 days a week? No problem. Want to work at the weekend but not during the week? No problem”, “You make more money in your first year than you would if you took a typical student job flipping burgers, waiting tables or stacking shelves”, and “You might, and probable will, become famous if you are successful at a young age” creates the illusion that anyone can easily make enough money to live off in their first year.

Despite my rant, Hannah, I really hope it works out for you, and I have no problem with people aiming high (I do), but don’t be surprised if you find that it’s not as easy as your ten step guide makes out.