I don't tell y'all how to make millions in 3.2 minutes on your laptop. I don't tell you how to turn your average mom life into a Martha Stewart experience. I don't craft, I don't advise, and I'm not pregnant. I don't tell y'all how to be better Christians. I don't even tell y'all how to cook. I don't have 101 tips for better relationships or parenting. My parenting skills are such that I probably won't get visits from CPS, but I'm never going to get the Mother-of-the-Year award... EVER... Ev-ar. I don't do fashion or hair or makeup. Wearing jeans means I'm damn-near dressed up. I'm usually lucky to get a shower, and I've really hit the jackpot if I get to feel all sorts of sexy because I shaved my legs.
I just write for me. Not exceptionally well, not grammatically correct, not even incredibly interesting. Just the most boring inane bullshit that comes out of my skull because there are days when I simply have to get it out. Sometimes I manage to make it funny. Sometimes, not so much. Sometimes I don't even know where the stuff comes from, and I have to call my sister so she can stroke my fragile ego and reassure me that I'm fantabulous and the post was hysterical cause it's been one of those days and I need a, "Ya did good, Kid." that I can't get anywhere else.
And this, y'all, is why surfing the net can be so dangerous. Because I sporadically approach this blog as a business. I want good rankings, I play with my SEO and all that technical crap that can make you cross-eyed. So I go around reading these business sites and blogs and I've come to the conclusion that I don't have a value to promote. I don't personally sell anything. It's not a serious business. It's a blog without a company. And that's big time bad in the world of marketing. Showtime is NOT going to buy my blog and make me an instant millionaire if I don't have a theme and a purpose and a reason and a complete marketing strategy. And normally, who gives a shit? But, honestly y'all, I so don't want to go back to work. Work is a four-letter-word. And job hunting is hideous. So is moving. The only thing that makes one worse than the other is that whatever you are currently doing. And I really don't want to do either.
I want to keep watching Harry Potter DVDs at midnight with my two year old and hubby, while we eat fresh pancakes and the munchkin acts out the movie on the living room floor. Then we all go to bed by 3 am and wake up at noon. It's awesome. It's what I would totally be doing if I were a millionaire. Although, if I were a millionaire, I'd be doing it in a larger living room and having the maid cook the pancakes and clean the kitchen, but I digress...
The bottom line is that I hope I'm wrong about this blog not having value. I hope my silly little writings do somebody some good sometimes... I mean aside from me. I hope I'm the reason for a smirk that makes the work day a little more tolerable even though the boss is a wretched troll-monkey who needs to be punched dead in the nose. I hope I'm a little laugh that escapes the lips of a mom who is white-knuckling it through another day of chasing kids who put bubble-gum on the dog and painted their bedroom walls with peanut-butter. I hope beyond hope that I'm causing someone an unexpected guffaw when they would've sworn that they didn't have the energy left for one. I would love to be the person responsible for someone chuckling to themselves as they drift off to sleep.
Cause, to me, that would be the best blogger-pay in the entire world.
...not that I'd turn down that offer from Showtime either.
6 comments:
Hmmmm. Sounds to me that you are confusing not having a product with not having a value. I think the value that blogs like ours have, is the sharing of information and stories. I know that it helps me feel like I am more like everyone else when I read their stories and find that there is always something to relate to. I think that there is value in that.
You may not tell how to make money or any thing like that but you do make us all look at things a little different and as for me I can see I am not alone out here so Thanks for sharing your thoughts and insights. Keep em coming.
Of course you make a difference.
My goal in starting my blog was not to make any money either....the odd part is that once I started to be myself and pursue some hobbies (like photography) and then incorporating it into my blog, along with my writing..I got more and more encouragement to continue and more and more viewers;....and now people are encouraging me to sell my photos...which may lead to money after all. And, I have won some writing contests, too!
If writing is your passion, and you have talent (which you DO) it is just a matter of time before someone discovers you..and it will become lucrative for you.
If not, you still got to practice your passion and provide comedy and laughter to many,many people.
You KNOW you were my first contact in the blogging world and were my first mentor....for that, I will be forever grateful.
See?
You already made a big difference in MY blogging life!
Aria, just continue to do what you do.
You are a rainbow!
I think you just read my mind! Maybe you can work from home as a Psychic Friend.
I feel exactly the same way about my own blog. It has no theme - no purpose. But I must say ... that is EXACTLY what I like about your blog. I don't feel like I'm being "sold" anything. You're not shoving pictures of your kids or your pets down my throat everyday.
I say 'keep up the good work' - I love what you do!
I needed this post today--you touched on something that I am struggling with.
My blog is like yours--I don't make money, I don't sell, my google rank goes up and more likely, down, like a freaking roller coaster. I stopped worrying about EC drops and my ranking there too. I am seriously considering dropping that whole bit because I find that I'm spending way too much time visiting blogs that have nothing to say.
I like coming here. I like that you write with meaning and you have a story to tell. I may not always comment, but I do come and read. And so, that's where I'm heading--working more on my own story and enjoy my blog again instead of worrying about ranks and numbers. I'd rather hop through my blogroll each day and read quality blogs like yours instead of wasting time on "working" on the blog so much.
Thanks, pally. I guess your message hit home today. And I think you helped me decide on where I'm going with my own blog. :) So that makes two of us who blog for ourselves.
DG ~ Thank you. My 'who' got a little tangled with my 'do'. Sometimes I write it out to sort it out. And I agree, I read some great blogs that simply have me nodding my head as I read.
Myra ~ Nice to know we're not alone in the big ole blogosphere! Hope the perspective shift is more helpful than harmful.
Retired One ~ Your success has been one of the most worthwhile things about blogging. Why you chose me, I'll never know, but I'm forever glad that you did!
Bee ~ Thanks... and btw, I'm telepathically submitting my application to the Psychic Friends Network this very moment... lol
Lin ~ In writing this, I figured something out. It's akin to the adage that if you don't love yourself you can't love someone else. If we don't write for ourselves (because WE enjoy it) then it won't be enjoyable for anyone else. And if that's the case, than what's the point, eh?
And to all of you collectively, thanks for commenting... this is one of the reasons I love blogging; because my followers are absolutely fantastic. Wouldn't trade y'all for the world.
Good luck and God bless to all of you in your lives (and your blogs if you're a blogger).
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