My Reflections on Blogging

I really can't believe it has been a year since I started this blog! Truly, blogging is fun. Learning about new things and sharing information with like-minded readers is quite rewarding. Although, compared to some blogs I read, my page count is quite low (for now anyway). However, I am very proud of the 25,000 page views I have received in the past year. I feel truly blessed that people find what I have to say informative and entertaining.

My one year as a blogger has also taught me some things about blogging that I had never even considered before. The biggest being the amount of time it takes to plan and write blog posts. When you include time to plan and take pictures as well as updates and necessary changes to the page layout, you are looking at a part-time job of about 15 - 20 hours a week.  

I have been an avid reader of blogs for well over five years. I never could understand why people who have had their blogs for awhile include advertising. I now have a much better understanding of the time (and money) it takes to run a blog! Domain names, a new camera lens and photography software were all things I had to purchase this past year to support this blog. I never thought about things like this when I was just reading other blogs.

Now that I have a more realistic understanding of the costs and time involved in blogging, I can see why other bloggers leverage advertising to help defray costs. I have decided to do that as well. I am going to be an Amazon.com affiliate to start. I expect to add other company affiliations later (for products I believe in, use myself, and often feature on this blog.) My intent is to highlight only those products I think you will find useful. Hopefully, this will give you access to products that will help you progress on your journey toward self-reliance. When you click on an affiliate link, it will not cost you anything extra, but will provide a few cents to help support the blog.

On another note, I have also started a Facebook Fan page!  You can see the link on the upper right of corner of this blog. This page will allow me to share short tips and ideas I have tried (or read about) that don't really need a long blog post to explain. I expect to share ideas on Facebook two to three times a week. 

Please be sure to like us on Facebook so you won't miss a thing! And, if you decide to purchase something I talk about here, please use my Amazon.com link to purchase it. It will help me keep the blog posts coming year after year!