I’m recycling this from my other blog because it relates to a post I did a while back on this blog about why I blog.
Happy Blogoversary to Me
Ok, that’s not actually true–this is not the anniversary of my first post. It is, however, almost the anniversary of the date I started tracking visitor stats. I started using Sitemeter in August 2007; during that month I had 14 visitors. As of today–with two more days to go until the actual end of the month–I have had 327 visitors during July 2008.
Granted 327 is nothing compared to “real” bloggers; with an average of about 15 visitors a day I doubt I could ever make a dime with this blog. But such is life–and I did score a free book and (still have yet to receive it so maybe shouldn’t count it) a free CherryPal computer as a result of my blogging prowess.
I can’t feel too badly, though–I was heartened to read this post by the author of one of my favorite blogs, Best Parent Ever. His wife’s blog–even after about 50,000 page impressions in a 3-week period–brought in only $1.87. I could probably find more than that in between the cushions of my sofa.
So why do I keep blogging? Because I don’t have the discipline (I was going to say time but if J.K. Rowling can write Harry Potter on napkins at 5 am I can’t really claim to have no time) to write much of anything else, I guess. A friend of mine, after hearing from her husband about my guest post in The Washington Post, asked me, incredulously “So, what–you just sit there and write? Why?”
Who knows. God knows it’s not for the recognition–not that I don’t appreciate my loyal readership of 15 or so a day. Not for the props either–one valuable thing I’ve learned through blogging is that people are 100 times meaner when commenting anonymously on blogs then they are in real life. I guess the internet gives everyone a chance to release their inner demon-like personalities–read any blog and at least 50% of the comments are usually not only negative, but scathingly so. So blogging does force you to grow a thicker skin, which is generally useful in life.
I read this post today about what defines success as a blogger. It sums it up nicely: If you enjoy it, then do it. This is another good post about not getting too wrapped up in how “successful” your blog is.
Leave a Reply