Why I keep blogging.

From a statistical standpoint in many respects I am well aware that my blogging efforts have been a failure.  Every few months I re-evaluate it and wonder if I should continue as I don't have the time I once was able to devote to research and writing.  At this point it is two posts a week that I set aside Sunday afternoon to do.

Intentionally I have avoided all the "successful" blog tips I have read that may have resulted in income and readership.  For those who also write blogs they are:

• Posting comments on other blogs
• Advertising
• Doing guest posts for other blogs
• Track backs
• Getting a " dot com" address
• Joining Yakenzee
• Featuring guest posts from other blogs to attract their regular readers
• Developing relationships with other bloggers and promoting one anther's blogs for mutual benefit though comments and links
• Using key word searching in my titles to gain more hits
• Utilizing Search Engine drivers
• Intentionally clicking on my own posts to raise the counts for the Alexa rating system
• Following up on leads and opportunities for increased visibility for the blog and book
• Providing timely, quality posts regularly - (now we know I slip in this area sometimes :)

Yes, you can clearly see that I have read the books.  So if YOU want to have a successful blog do not ignore these items but embrace them for whatever subject you choose to write on.

I'm not saying I will never do these things for as some point I may so don't hold me to it as a specific standard.

The reason I so far have chosen to bypass those things is largely due to my friends Ann, Cleo, and Paul.  Here's why:

It goes back to when I was going through the worst of my own In The Trenches experiences and did not even have adequate heat, water, broken windows and holes in the floor. My friend Ann would stop by each morning after dropping her kids at school and we would share a pot of coffee before we got busy with our days.  We talked, laughed, shared, and had our good and bad days.  She seemed not to notice I had no car and scraped for every thing.  Sid, Cleo, and Paul were the same though not as often.  I cannot imagine how I would have gotten through without them.

That is what I have wanted this blog to be.  One real person talking to another real person.  It is not a business.  Those who have found this blog needed to for one post or regularly. One thing I have noticed as the years have passed is the one thing people are needing more than money is connections.  Facebook has become a billion dollar business just for that reason.  Our lives have become so busy and hectic that we have little time for the cup of coffee with a friend or the neighbor across the fence like Wilson in Home Improvement.

The blog has hit 50,000 pages views this month.  A drop in the bucket in blog world but amazing to a woman who once lived in a home with no phone.

Thanks for stopping by.