The Power of Blogging

We had friends over for dinner last night. During the conversation Vickie asked, "have you updated that blog yet?!" I didn't even know she had been reading it!

While in Canada, my mother, John's brother, and several friends asked me the same thing, "When are you going to post again"? My mother was particularly vocal, "I've told all my friends to read it and now you stopped posting!"

Frankly, my initial reason for starting this blog was to make money. I had been working with a friend on his charity website, www.puzzleofhope.org; and we had been discussing ways we could generate hits to his site. We started researching blogging and I saw how people were making hundreds, and sometimes thousands of dollars a month by simply writing about their lives!

Why couldn't I do the same thing? I had the subject matter...kids and sports...who wouldn't want to read about that? Seemed simple.

And it was simple...I set up the blog on my own and started writing. After a few posts, I was able to sign up for Google AdSense -- this was the money side. There were various ways I could generate income, the easiest was allowing Google Ads to be placed in my site. Again, simple.

What I didn't realize is that you need THOUSANDS of hits PER DAY to actually make money, unless someone clicks on the ads; then I could earn a couple of dollars here and there. There are millions of blogs, and unless you work the web everyday, it's really hard to get readers to find you!

After three months I have had a total of 2,688 hits and earned $57.13. So much for hundreds and/or thousands of dollars per month!

But I discovered something along the way...I really didn't care about making money. I was really enjoying the opportunity to write and even more, I enjoyed writing about my family. It became my journal, with the added bonus of having others share in our experiences.

So for all those who have become loyal readers; I thank you. Now, if you just take a look at the ads across the top...:)