Blog-ebrity Endorsement?

I just got off the phone with Joel Cheesman, the guy who scored big by auctioning a unique sponsorship on eBay. Today he announced the high bidder, JobCentral, a National Employment Network affiliated with nonprofits DirectEmployers Association and National Association of Colleges and Employers.

I asked Cheesman about his experiment. He told me he would have been ecstatic garnering anything over $1,000. (Of course, he ended up with more than $7,000.) “It really says a lot about blogging as a whole,” he suggested, adding, “Could it become someone endorsing a product? Are we the celebrities of our niches?”

According to plans in the works at at least one blog ad network that I know of, I don’t think he’s too far off on the endorsement potential of blogs. However, it will be tricky to balance the renegade spirit that’s made blogging so powerful with forming what could be perceived as more integrated relationships with advertisers.