Wednesday, September 28, 2011

caution! this is what it looks like inside my brain.

so today . . . i've been thinking about making some changes to my blog. this is where you come in...

it seems like life is getting a bit more complicated for me lately. i'm trying to keep an awful lot of balls in the air. and when that happens, the ball that typically gets dropped first is my blog. but i love to blog! i don't so much love all the other balls. i've seriously contemplated getting rid of some of them, but the time doesn't seem to be right to let any of them go. i am working toward that though. i am hopeful that maybe a few years down the road i'll have half as many balls, and they will all be happily defying gravity.

do you have any idea what i am trying to say? i'm not quite sure i do either.

i'm feeling the need to simplify and focus, but in practical terms it isn't going to happen right away. moving was a huge undertaking this summer! well, maybe not so much the actual moving as the decision-making that was involved. but the result has been so worth it! hard to get rid of stuff? yes, but so glad to be living a bit lighter... and going back to work takes major chunks of available time out of my day. and makes me tired. i've only been back at work for three days, and i'm already starting to get that 'swamped' feeling. it's not so easy to simplify. or focus.

the problem is, some new balls have been added to my juggling act recently. so in my quest to keep my head above water, i am afraid that i might not be as consistent blogging every day has i have been. or would like to be. because as i said, i love to blog. but it is more time consuming than you might think. but i also know that you, my loyal blog readers, are busy too. and i am sure it is unbearably disappointing :-) to come to my blog and find that i haven't written anything new. day after day after day...

so i am thinking of adding the an option that would notify you by email when i post a new blog. then you wouldn't have to come check every day--you could just look for an email telling you that something new is waiting to be read! i kind of thought this might be a good idea.

but then...

but then i thought, wait. if i do that, then they will only come when i have written something new, and that will slow the traffic on the blog. which doesn't really matter to me at this point, but what if someday i decide to try to market it or make a little extra cash by selling ads? i need lots of hits to make that worthwhile. and if all 19 of my followers only come when there is a new post, i could be in trouble.

but then i thought, get serious. i will never have enough traffic to make any money at this. and even if i did, do i really want to subject my 19 loyal followers to a bunch of ads? (not to mention the fact that i am pretty sure that not all 19 of my followers actually still read my blog every day...) ads would just clutter up my blog! would there even be room for the ridiculous number of labels i have used to organize my blogs if i added ads? or my hilarious (at least to me) tweets? probably not. and what is more important? for you to read that i saw a pigeon wandering around in costco, or for you to have the opportunity to be directed to another site trying to pry money out of your wallet?? i like to think that you would rather hear about the pigeon. and i think i would rather have you hear about the pigeon, than make 4 cents when you click on an ad...

which brings us back to my original question--should i add the gadget that lets you subscribe by email to my new posts? or do you like the anticipation of "will there be a new blog today?" every time you type in www.jewelielyn.blogspot.com? or is the disappointment that occurs when you don't find a new blog too devastating to deal with more than once or twice a week?

perhaps i overestimate my importance in your world...

everything i have read about 'how to get traffic to your blog' says that you should always ask a question. a question encourages a response from those who read. which makes them feel connected, and gets people interested and talking, and then they mention it to their friends, and eventually those friends will come check it out. and that is how you build a large enough base of readers to support ads. but the purpose of my blog has never been to be interactive or have a gajillion followers. i just like to write. and hear myself think. and tell stories. and try to make you laugh (although apparently not today. today you are getting stream of consciousness thinking. i think i'm too tired to be funny today.) so i don't ask questions. i do, however, always hope you will just spontaneously comment. just like you look forward to my blog posts (i think,) i look forward to your comments. so maybe i should ask questions...

but the problem is, i don't like to do things the way i am expected to do them. ever. i'm not a rebel, i just think the unexpected is much more interesting than the status quo. and i would rather be interesting than predictable. so maybe i should continue not asking questions...

...except then how would i know if you want the email notification option?

what we have here is a veritable "catch 22." so here's my solution. i'm not going to ask if you all would like the email notification. i think i might just add it, and then if you are one of those busy people who don't spend your evenings clicking around websites just for fun, you can use it. but, if you are one of those random, spontaneous people who like a surprise now and then, you can ignore it. either way, the blog will still be here, waiting to be read and commented on...

just maybe not every single day.

3 comments:

Carroll said...

Oh Julie! You're tiring your mind with over thinking. If blogging is enjoyable to you, do what makes you happy and keep it as simple as possible or you're just adding balls to be juggled. I like going there every morning to see if you've blogged and when you do, I'm a happy camper. If you don't I pray a little extra for you knowing you're out juggling some other balls. So just do what is right for you. I'd check even if I did get notified by e-mail so forget that as far as I'm concerned. Just enjoy it and don't over complicate your life with one more thing to have to think about. And along the way, drop a ball that you're struggling to keep up in the air.
Love you!

Mom said...

Some times a person needs to do what they feel like doing and not by what they need to do. I understand about the added complications, expectations and muddle life becomes. It doesn't become any easier as a person gets older, just more so. I think it does become easier to say "no" and put yourself first, ignore others needs and say "today is for me.". I check for your blog every day, which I love to read and you love to write,but when it isn't there, I am never disappointed. I know it takes a long time to do. Authors tell us that sometimes it takes months to write one chapter for a book. Soooooo you can e-mail or post on Facebook when you have a new blog up but know I always check everyday. I think I told you once that when we die are we going to be saying, "I have nothing to do as my list is finished" or will we go with a list remaining. My list is getting shorter all the time as I delete things accomplished or delete the unimportant things or the things that no longer interest me but, believe me, I will be leaving a list behind. Why I said all this, I don't know. Maybe I should have written a blog today. Love you, Mom

Jes said...

You mom is so sweet and nice! I check your blog here and there and sometimes forget but I'll read all your posts and comment here and there. I saw it today bc of fb so that might be a good reminder too!