1. I started this blog over ten years ago, back when blogs were new but I had online friends who were blogging so I thought I'd try it too. I kind of tried mommy blogging but I think that's something you have to start when your kids are babies; by the time I started blogging I was too afraid of them or their friends finding my posts to really say anything about them except how wonderful they are, which is true, of course, but not near so interesting as the stories of the silly things people's toddlers do.
2. Eventually I found book blogging and joys of free review copies. I guess that's really my niche though at times I live up to my title and write about current issues or even my kids.
3. I wrote a little about finances for a while, but then I decided to start a whole new blog on finances, which I call Racing Toward Retirement. Retirement will be here before I realize it. I learned a lot about current investment options when trying to decide what to do with my inheritance and wanted to share that information with others. I've also written about long-term planning as the parent of a special needs child and about what to do as an executor/executrix.
4. I have an author interview and giveaway post running now. Julie Lawson Timmer, author of Five Days Left graciously answered a bunch of nosey questions. She's also giving away an autographed copy of her book, It makes bloggers look good when people enter their giveaways, so please enter mine. If you don't like to read, the book would make a great Christmas gift. Seriously, it is one of those books that would be great fun to discuss over a glass or bottle of wine--so many things to disagree about!
5. I just started yet another blog: A Brownie Leader's Journal. I thought I'd document my year leading twenty Girl Scout Brownies--what worked, what didn't and what's I'd do differently next time--yes I'm one of those old-timers who isn't leading her daughter's troop but other people's kids.
6. As I said, I've been doing this for a long time. I'm still on Blogger, still using it at no cost. While I have a basic understanding of terms like "SEO" and "keyword" I've never optimized my blog. I keep running into blogs were people claim to be making real money and I wonder if switching to Word Press would help me all that much--or are they making all that money because they consider blogging a job, not a hobby and put hours per day into it, rather than hours per month.
7. I was going to grab some picture somewhere to put in this post because that's what all the "how to blog" things tell you to do but I'm tired and I'm going to bed.
Read other folks quick takes at http://thisaintthelyceum.org/
#1: I've been blogging for 15 years and this makes me a serious dinosaur! I actually remember *hand-coding* my blog when I started.
ReplyDelete#5: The best Girl Scout leader I ever had was one whose daughter had been out of the troop forever but was committed to leading and being an example. I found her on Facebook earlier this year and it has been fun to catch up with her.
#6: I've been using Wordpress and b2 (its predecessor) for 12 years and I recommend it only because it's what I use. If I wasn't a pastor's wife and if people hadn't tried to fire my husband from a parish because of my blog, I would probably have optimized it. Instead, I use the passwording feature on Wordpress and use those entries to get the toxic sludge out of my brain and my psyche. (My therapist actually called my bishop and chewed him out 10 years ago for claiming that blogging was "another of [my] self-destructive behaviors." I almost kissed her.)