It’s come to my attention that there’s been some weirdness with my blog. Someone told me on Twitter that the site was down on Saturday. That was the same day that Feedburner went a little crazy. I went from 49 followers in the morning to 14 that evening. All was back to normal on Sunday morning but I thought maybe my smiling post and my lemon post offended a bunch of people. Not sure why it would but you never know. Then I found out that some people have been trying to comment and can’t. That’s very annoying and I’m sorry if it has happened to you. If it has, please shoot me an email to let me know. Thanks, Chris at The Mom Cafe for letting me know.
I am so technologically challenged that anytime I hear there is a problem, I panic. I have no idea how to fix it. I turn to Twitter or Facebook or my friend, Kimberly at Reflections of Now or Ashley and Shell at Other Half Media. If you are in need of a new design, check Kimberly out. If you have any needs blog related, check out Shell and Ashley. All three of them have been instrumental in helping me get my blog up and running. Thanks for letting me continue to ask you guys for help.
I have done a little bit of soul-searching the last week and have decided that I am my own stumbling block. I want to make money writing and then when I am presented with a chance, I freak. Well, that is an exaggeration. I didn’t freak but I did get a feeling like I wanted to run and hide. What is that? Even when I try to analyze it, I come up with: What is that? On top of it, every email I have gotten has turned out to be spam so there is a trust factor that is missing, too. My friend, Nikki at Dysfunctional Dose has been a huge support and cheerleader of sorts trying to encourage me to get myself out there. I admire her bravery in what she is doing over at her site. It’s hard to put yourself out there. Each time I think about having to write, I freeze up. What is that? The fear of being judged or someone saying, “Nope, that isn’t what we wanted at all.” I get stuck with writer’s block when I can’t write what I want. What if that happens? It’s no big deal if I miss a few days of blogging now but will it be if I’m being held accountable? I have to give a shout out to my friend, Ashley at TDOR here. If her help in getting rid of writer’s block work, she is a genius.
Did Google banning me from having ads on my site ruin me? Is it the fear that I’ll do it wrong or screw it up that stops me from even trying? I don’t know. I just know that I get a yucky feeling (real mature, huh?)when I think about it. Maybe it is what I’ve already said: I’m challenged in the technology area. I already have to depend on others to help me out and I’m not good at that in real life so what makes me think I’ll be good at it as a blogger in the blogger world?
So here are some questions for anyone that reads: What is the biggest risk that you have taken that you are glad you did? Or be bold and tell me one that you took that you wish you didn’t.
For bloggers: Do you make money blogging and did you have some of the same issues that I’m having?
For those that do: Did you find it hard to navigate through it? What’s okay to do and what isn’t? Did you ever have a “shoot, I wish I wasn’t doing this” moment?
For those that don’t: What made you decide you didn’t want to? By choice or because of what I talked about here?
I am a stay at home mom, married to my college sweetheart, Leo. We have four kids, Nico, Tommy, Isabella and Gia. We have a son, Rocco that is an angel in Heaven.
Eh, not all bloggers are tech-savvy (I just admitted on my latest post how I couldn’t figure out how to cut and paste an actual tweet into my blog!), and that is why we have folks like Kimberly, Shell and Ashley
I’ve been approached to be a paid writer too, and I’ve turned them down. In part, it was bad timing, another thing was that I dreaded the pressure of being paid to write within a deadline. It’s a conundrum because I love to write, and getting paid to do what you love is surely what everyone wants, right? But my fear is, getting paid might make me hate writing. And so it goes. Around in circles.
So I’m not getting paid to write. I run BlogHer ads on my site because really, I don’t have to do anything (effortless!), I just leave it there and it runs itself. Granted, I am not making a fortune (but hey I can buy extra coffee!), but it’s better than zero. I turn down offers to put links in my blog for money, because anything that may compromise the integrity of my content/ writing, I just don’t do. I can’t do the sponsored posts etc either because all the products/ services that pay for that, are all in the US and no one wants a Malaysian blogger (that, or their system can’t cater to one).
All in all to say, just continue to blog because you love it. Don’t worry about the technical issues because there are awesome people out there who can and will help. Don’t worry about making money if it’s stressing you out. When the right opportunity comes, grab it and run with it.
Alison recently posted..How To Go Viral
I love this advice. I couldn’t agree more with the pressure part. That is my feeling exactly! I love that your admission about the tweet. I still can’t figure out how to send a tweet to FB or FB status to a tweet.
Dont worry about the technical stuff. You know where to find me when you need help with that.
As for making money, it was once my dream to get a paid gig writing on my blog, but like Alison said above, I didn’t want it for several reasons. I don’t want to compromise the writing on my site and I feared that doing it under pressure would take away from the enjoyment and outlet of it for me.
Instead of making money for my blog, I’ve used it as a platform for other opportunities. My design business came about because of my blog and I have another idea in the works because of it too.
Kimberly recently posted..Essence Of Now
I think that is what I’m afraid of, too. You are a fabulous designer and if the idea is what I think it is that is in the works, you should totally do that!
I have a feeling that as long as I am blogging, I’ll need to know where to find you. Plus the friendship part is pretty cool, too.
I have been paid a little, I would love to be paid more…I mean, let’s be honest here, simply running a blog is not free!
I do pick and choose what I apply for, what I accept, etc. because the last thing I ever want to do is lose the voice my readers feel like they connect to. However, I also feel like, if I can bring information, products, etc. that would be helpful for them, then I want to do that, too. I would NEVER endorse something I did not like for money. Period. I try when I do a product review to present pros and cons that are honest.
I am on the BlogHer Publishing Network, which is easy and has provided some opportunities.
The bottom line for me is that I write to empower women. If at the end of the day, I can make a little money doing that, then I would be a fool to say no. Ultimately, my goal, though is to have readers come to my site and say, “Yes, she gets it. That is how I feel.”
thedoseofreality recently posted..Sharing Is Caring, Right?
I think you are one of the bloggers that balances your writing well with the paid opportunities you have. And whenever I visit your site, I always feel that you “get it and it’s how I feel”. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.
Feedburner loves to go wonky sometimes.
Glad it was nothing that needed to be fixed!
While I make money in this space, the majority of it is NOT on my blog, but through other opportunities.
Shell recently posted..6 Back to School Organization Tips
It did give me a scare that I was going in the opposite direction that I wanted.
I’m finding what you said to be pretty common. That people make a little money if any from their blogs but the majority is from something that the blog helped springboard. Something to think about.
I’ve never tried to make money with my blog and I have my husband for all the tech stuff I don’t know.
It takes time to navigate your way through blogging and to figure out what you want to do but eventually you will figure it out.
Jessica recently posted..Essence Of Now: Home {Pants Optional}
My husband is usually pretty good but has no clue when it comes to blogging tech stuff. I think you’re right. I’ll keep doing what I love and eventually, hopefully, it will pop out at me what I want to do. So good seeing you here.
No one is going to strike it rich in the writing world so I always tell myself to write for enjoyment and if you get some cash out of doing what you love – that is just icing on the cake.
When you do decide to jump in and accept money for your work I suggest setting it all aside (or keeping track of it!) You will be surprised how much a little here and there add up once you keep track.
It will make you feel great! XOXO
Samantha recently posted..A New Day, A Fresh Start
Oh you are way too hard on yourself!! Embrace your gift of writing and don’t feel pressure to have it all down and know all the tech stuff! If I was alone on the computer without my hubby’s help, I wouldn’t have a CLUE about ANYTHING!!! Enlist your support team to do the stuff you can’t, and spend your time focused on what your passion is and in the end, when you are in your calling the peace will come. Maybe take a step back to see what it is you want and where you want to go with your writing and make a plan from there? I have freaked out numerous times with stuff gone wrong on my site and stressed about it tons! Then I realized that the stress was controling me, and really, if I truly believed that in the end it will all be as it should be…then any snags will be resolved in perfect time and each turn will happen when it should. Just. Believe. In. You.
Chris Carter recently posted..New Year’s Resolutions…
What great advice! Thanks, Chris! I do need to take a step back. I’ll let you know what I come up with.
I have vowed to remain an amateur – as a blogger, anyway. I think as others have mentioned, maybe the blog you write can become a platform to something else.
Network. Respond. Comment. The more you branch out, the better the chance of someone looking for someone to write something sometime will come up. I believe in that.
I have a few things that are almost in the verge of coming into view, if that makes sense. That’s good enough for me. I’ll keep my blog the happy innocent Missy Franklin of the blogging swimming pool.
Eli@coachdaddyblog recently posted..Dad in the kitchen? Here’s 3 recipes even you can’t botch
Can’t wait to hear what those things coming into view are and yes, that makes sense. Missy Franklin.