October was a better than expected month for me. Remember how it took a full year for me to make my first dollar? And then six months to make my next? In October I earned a full dollar. Updating my blogging revenue probability model with October data also shows me it will only take me 573 years to reach $1,000,000 in revenue instead of 615! Wahoo! Kidding aside, the increase in traffic has me wondering if maybe my blog could become something. In the last four months the number of visitors to my blog has doubled. (It’s the newborn photography. Too bad I have to wait for the next baby to expand on those. Maybe you’ll find non-newborn baby photography interesting in the mean time?)

I’ve been thinking a lot about what direction to take my blog, what type of blogger I am and what type of blogger I’d like to be.

Professionally, I’m a data scientist. My blog gives me an opportunity to make an internet name for myself. On the other hand, I’m fairly new to the domestic thing, and I’m still figuring things out. Blogging helps me put my skills to the test. Sometimes people like me, and I get pinned on pintrest. Other times they offer handy suggestions and ideas that help me grow.

I love to shop (especially bargain hunting around Black Friday), and I love to give my opinions on purchases. I don’t think I’m cut out to be a blogger who does those reviews and giveaways. For one, at less than a dollar revenue per month on average, I won’t be funding any giveaways any time soon. While I would love to get products for free to review, (at least in theory, ‘free’ is my favorite price tag), I’m way too small a blog for that. Besides, I’m still a novice blogger finding my voice and I wouldn’t want to come across as promoting a product because it was free to me. For now my plan is to stick to discussing only products I bought myself.

I have gotten a few requests for guest posts, but I’m even less reluctant to go this route. I blog for me first and foremost. I’m so completely forgetful and writing things down is an easy way to remember how I feel, like how much I loved being pregnant. I also blog because I’m dyslexic, and I blogging is an easy way to practice writing.

Still, I do like the idea of small businessafying (yes, I’m pretending that’s a word) my blog some day. I’ve spent the last few months reading about what that will entail, and how to grow my blog/brand. It would be nice to defray some of the costs of blogging, small as they might be. Yet, I’m not sure I’m ready to make the kind of time commitment that will require. Aside from actually blogging, I’d have to work on building an audience. Most of my visitors are still one-time visits searching via keywords.

At the current rate of growth, my model predicts it will be another 4 and a half years before I get my first check (and owe taxes) from blogging. Here’s hoping I figure it all out by then.

Posted in Internet & Technology | Tags: Meta-Blogging