Memoirs of a Single Dad is having a contest for bloggers to answer the age old (well, not really) question of what motives you to blog. Is it for the love of blogging or for the money?
For me, it's both. Having not been allowed to voice any sort of opinion while growing up, I really took to blogging like a duck to water. I did it for a couple years in a different niche and under a different pen name, and then stopped for a couple years. In October, I started my Prairie Patch blog after having been stifled in my creativity. While it's true I make a living solely through freelance writing, I feel uncreative. That's because I have to write within specific parameters, i.e., using certain SEO keywords, writing about certain subjects, and having a set word count. Zzzzzzzz.... I'm not knocking it; it's just that it stifles creativity if you have to work within such rigid guidelines.
Being artistic as a child, I started to gravitate towards crafting and wanting to make prim things; hence, the Prairie Patch. But I found the prim decor community to be very stifling as a whole; either you were prim or you weren't. My tastes were too eclectic, and that's why I started the All Thumbs Crafts blog. These two blogs (as well as my several others) are my way of scratching my eclectic itch. I get to explore, share with others, and finally get my voice heard.
Thus I blog for the love of it. Then again...
I blog also with my eye on a future income. When I blogged a couple years ago and ran a couple forums (with 75,000 members), I made quite a bit of money. I miss that income, but it wasn't in a niche I cared to be in any longer. By being involved in that community, I wasn't being true to myself because I no longer related to it.
Now, I'm blogging about things I love. Am I afraid that I'll lose interest in this field and stop blogging? Not really. I've been creative all my life; it's just been stifled for far too long. Hell, I even get inspired by a cottage cheese container, and I don't mind sharing what I do with said cottage cheese containers - lol!
So if the money comes, great, but it's not my sole reason for blogging. It's to get my voice heard, to share my hair brained ideas, and to connect with others. After all, I have nothing in common with penal colony inbred stock mutants I live amongst (my son being the exception), so I have to "talk" somewhere!
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First of all, WOW you've been blogging for a long time! The fact that you've been in so many different areas gives you such great experience that can spill over into anything you do. How awesome that you had a good income with the forums, but such a bummer that you just weren't feeling it. I really hope you've found a home with your blog and enjoy being here.
ReplyDelete~Mimi @bigguysmama
Great post, I enjoy your writing style
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