Every blogger gets asked, “Why do you do it?”  D. Brent Rutyer, of the blog (and soon to be book) Memoirs of a Single Dad asked the question in the form of a little contest that’s really more about everyone sharing than winning anything.  The link to the contest is below:

http://www.memoirsofasingledad.com/2011/04/a-contest-for-bloggers-for-love-or-money/

So, here I go.

I started this blog for love and thought maybe some day there would be money involved.  I enjoy writing, I most certainly enjoy giving my opinion, and I wanted to let anyone else out there who has lost their way financially know that they are not alone, and they don’t have to be ashamed.  I figured if I could find ways of coping and working my way out of the mess I’d made, others may want to hear about it, or at least have a laugh at whatever craziness I encountered.

Later, I went to a blog conference, listened a lot, and talked with some people who make money from their blogs.  It seemed like a good idea; after all, I was spending a lot of time trying to write quality content that might be of interest to people, if only for a laugh.  That should count for something.  Plus, I was – and still am – short on cash.  A friend of mine once said to me, “You should never do anything that doesn’t make you money, especially in your situation.”  It sounds callous, but I understood what she meant.  Give too much away for free and no one will value what you do.  (And if you’ve lost your home and are living with relatives, you’d better be working to help, not hinder.)  After thinking about it a lot and trying to write something that could be monetized without alienating the small readership I have I’ve come to the conclusion that this blog will never be about money.  It’s just not set up for it.  Sure, I’ve got Google Ads on the site, but I doubt I’ll ever make enough for them to send that first $10 check.  I mainly did it to get my feet wet and because it makes the blog look more professional somehow. And that’s ok; it’s all about the journey.  It has always been about the journey.

I’m planning another blog for launch on June 1.  This one has some monetization built in from the beginning.  But I hesitate to say this one is about money, because it is also about something I love.  This time around, it just makes more sense to present the readers with products that might be of interest, both as a courtesy to them and a way to get a little compensation for me.  My expectations of riches are still very low, but it would be good if it paid for itself.

Considering the amount of time it takes to build a readership and all the competition out there for new blogs, I’d think you’d be insane to start one without at least a fondness for your subject.  Unless you’re a paid blogger for a site you didn’t create, it’s a pretty thankless job, at least in the beginning.  I’ve had – and will probably have – posts that got little notice despite the amount of work I put in them.  I’ve had days when almost no one visited my blog.  But I continue to write and I continue to care.

If that ain’t love, I don’t know what is.