Tom has a great list of things learnt in 2005. I especially like his first three:
Blogging is the most honest form of self-promotion bar none because if you can't walk the talk you won't get the clicks.
Content will be king because all those links have to point to something of value--otherwise they are pointless.
Every company is part media company--it is both publisher and publication and tells stories all the time.
Aside from being a pretty good bloke, Tom was one of the first hacks to jump ship and become a fulltime blogger.