Blogging Is A Booming Business!

I started blogging as a joke after watching Julie and Julia, the true story movie about a woman, Julie, who blogs about cooking her way through the Julia Child cookbook. I   joked about getting famous, to tease my girls, who never take anything I do seriously. 

Well, it’s been 14 months and I have not yet been “discovered.”  I have, however, made tremendous progress in learning how to blog, what draws people to a blog, and fortunately for me, most of the time my writing is interesting enough and entertaining enough to keep people coming back.  I have written a couple of other blogs, one went and died a slow death, the other is thriving.  I love to write, what can I say?

Today the computer repairman came to the house to fix my daughter’s computer. I was going to do it myself or with help from my brother, but chickened out in the end.  My gut told me to call the repair guy and it turned out to be the right decision.  The cd reader wasn’t working and the pc couldn’t read the files of the operating system.  I would never have known that.  He had a little flash drive with the operating system on it and had it up and running in an hour.  So we had time to kill and I chatted with him about all sorts of things.

He told me what I needed to buy to get my other daughter’s computer working so we could use it for a “backup.”  She has an older hard drive and it’s not as easy to get.  I’ll try to find it, I think, and see what he can do.  Then he asked me if I work.  I told him no, I stopped to raise my children.  He said maybe you can go back.  I replied no, because my husband is taking early retirement next year and if I work it will only go to increase taxes. And I added, “I just stay home and blog.”  His eyes opened wide, “You blog?” I said, yes I have a couple of blogs, I love to write.  Then he says the unexpected, “I need a blogger. How much do you charge for 300 words?”  I laughed.  I don’t write for money, I write for fun, so I have no idea what the going rate for bloggers is these days.  

He shows me his website for pashminas that he set up for his business with his partner. Then he showed me another website, for sunglasses, where he likes how the blogs are written.  He explains that he and his partner are not native speakers and their English is not good enough to make the site sound professional. He asks if I would be interested in working with him.  I told him I have to look at his website and the other website to see if I can give him what he is looking for.  He wants something convincing and persuasive; something educational; something specific not a generalized blog about pashminas; something passionate.  He feels the “sunglass” blog has all those qualities.  The bloggers that have written for him have not produced blogs he was happy with, they were too generic.  Then he points out that the English on his blog is not “good enough” and he shows me a page that says pashminas make good “toppings.”  I told him I knew what he was talking about, and that isn’t the correct use of the word “toppings,” toppings are what we put on pizza or ice cream sundaes.  I told him I could definitely help him with that aspect of his blog.  As for writing blogs and getting passionate about pashminas is something I would have to get back to him about.  I told him the “sunglass” blog was probably being written by someone who owns the business and knows everything about them down to the last detail.  He agrees.  Yet neither he nor his partner, who have that passion for pashminas, can write well enough to get the job done. I see he is frustrated as the website is his responsibility, while his partner takes care of the importing aspect of the business. Then he tells me if I am interested he will bring me dozens of pashminas.  I ask him why.  I see him grasping for a word so I volunteer, “for inspiration?”  He laughs and says, “yes.”

So the computer is up and running and we have finished our conversation.  I promise him that I will look at both websites and do a little research and get back to him after the holidays.  He takes ten dollars off his fee and leaves.  He is a very nice young man.  I wish I loved pashminas which, until five minutes ago, I referred to as “pashmires.” My daughter loves it when she hears me call them that.  

Now I have a promise to keep and we will see how it goes.  This blogging business never ends.  Who knew?  

Justin’s Website: fashion anything.com  Check it out!

Blogging Almost A Year…



What have I learned? I learned that I don’t necessarily have as many complaints as I thought I did. I thought a “peeves” blog was ideal for me because I am always complaining about something and yet, ironically, people always tell me how positive a person I am. I am my own enigma! At first it was easy, I had a list of things that irked me and I could vent about each other. And in between those, things happen in life to give me more material to write about. Of course, politicians never fail to do something that gets under my skin. I don’t even going looking for things about them, they just seem to fall into my lap. There are certain “entertainers” that annoy me to no end. And let’s not forget injustice, lack of common sense, and sheer stupidity that cannot be ignored.

I was running out of material in my personal life, thank God. But, then I realized there is so much more out there that makes my head spin. It just feels good to get things off my chest without have to plague anyone by making them listen to it. And, I also find writing very therapeutic for me.

Meanwhile, I started this blog promising to write for a year, like the book Julie and Julia. I was supposed to write a blog a day, but unfortunately I think a day or two went by when I didn’t because of writer’s block. I have to at least feel something about a topic to write about it. I’m not sure what I am going to do comes the end of September. Should I continue or not? I did eventually make up for the missing blogs, I think, with a couple of extras that could not wait for the next day. We’ll see on September 30^th if I have 365 blogs or not.

Meanwhile, I seem to be peeve free this morning! But the day is young yet so if something aggravates me I will be back to rant and vent. Until then, I wish you all a great day!
　

Blogging!

I started blogging as a joke after watching the movie, Julie and Julia, last year. If you didn’t see the movie, it’s about a woman named Julie who isn’t getting the job of her dreams so she decides to start a blog. Not any old blog, but a blog about cooking her way through Julia’s Child’s cookbook. I thought to myself, hey I like to write, why don’t I start a blog and get discovered too. Of course, I have been discovered by a select few people by now, but Hollywood isn’t knocking at my door.

The most important thing is that I enjoy writing and this gives me an outlet to say whatever I want about anything I want. Sometimes I share personal stories, on special dates or points in time, if certain people are on my mind. Sometimes I’ll comment about what is in the news or on television. Very often I will complain about the daily trial and tribulations I experience in life. Somehow it makes me feel better to vent here and then go about my business. Then there are times I will share some wisdom or life lessons that might help someone else. I find blogging very therapeutic.

I am wondering why more people don’t blog. Many of my friends are intelligent and write very well. They have important things to say, but no one is benefiting from their wisdom. I’ve learned a lot from my friends, even when we don’t agree on a topic. It broadens my thinking having different perspectives to consider that never crossed my mind before. I should send out blogging invitations to those I think would have a lot to contribute to the world wide web and its readers.

Even if you don’t like to blog about life or personal experiences, I know many of you have a lot to say about the things you are passionate about. Maybe it’s your family, maybe it’s politics, maybe it’s a hobby, maybe it’s a new chapter in your life that you are starting and want to document. I didn’t put a lot of thought into this when I started, but it’s turning out to be a very interesting journey.

If you haven’t considered blogging before, maybe you should. It’s not for everyone, but it’s cheaper than a therapist. Many times women feel no one is listening when they talk…well this may just be the answer to that problem. I often get feedback about what I write and I know at least one person is always reading what I have to say on a daily basis. It’s something to think about and I think it will enrich your life.

Let’s give’em something to talk about!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z04r_tlWdRs