Where Have I Been the Past 12 Months?

Have you noticed how irregular I’ve been with the blog this past year? Folks, I’ve missed it so much!

While some of you haven’t really noticed my absence (let’s be real; most of you haven’t), I know there are a select few who have missed their “weekly read” here on the blog.

And this post today is for those select few who have been wondering where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing (instead of blogging).

Unfiltered stuff, this is. So brew yourself a cup of tea, plunk yourself into a cozy chair and let me tell you why I’ve been posting less on the blog.

My Man and I Had a Discussion About Our Future

It started where changes in my life usually begin; about 16 months ago, my man and I had an open and honest discussion about our future.

The conversation went something like this.

(My man) “I’m sure grateful that we now have our home, acreage and gardens in the country. We’ve worked hard to get systems into place so we can better protect your health. And when your dental surgeries finish up in another year or so, we should really think about starting a family.”

And this was my (much longer) response!

(Me) “Yeah babe, I agree. But something has been weighing on me. You know how we want more than 1 child? I think I could do one baby without a health collapse, but I’m worried that a second and third would be too much for me without extra help. And children aren’t fish. We can’t just throw them back if it isn’t working out. Do you think it would be wise to start looking for ways to increase our income, so we could either afford to hire help or have you at home more?“

After mulling it over for several weeks (we’re really slow at making decisions!), my man and I decided it would be wise to somehow start pursuing a second, smaller stream of income so it would be there when we had future need of it.

Ideas for Raising Our Income in the Future

Not only are my man and I pathetically slow at making decisions, but we’re painfully realistic in our dreaming. Our strength lies in the doing, in faithfully and diligently taking the tiny steps that are needed to reach our dream or goal.

So we started thinking about ideas for a second, smaller income. Could my man do something with his beekeeping skills? Was there a home business we could start together? Or should we go with a get-rich-quick scheme, like robbing a bank?

Oh, wait. Just this past month, someone did rob one of our local banks.

Scratch robbing the bank. Besides, it wouldn’t teach us the skills we needed to continue making money after the big haul. 😉

What could we do that was legal, realistic and would actually help bring in a some extra $?

And that’s when it clicked.

My blog.

You know I didn’t start my blog with the intent of making money. In times past, I always ran away from the idea of turning my “simple and pretty blog” into a business.

But as my man and I talked, I quickly realized that learning to monetize my blog was by far the best option we had.

And so, I promised my man that I would give my precious blog over to the disgrace of making money, as long as he was willing to invest some of our savings into courses and such, so I could learn how to make money on my blog.

I’ve Working Behind the Scenes These Past Months

These past 12 months or so, I’ve been busy behind-the-scenes.

I took in-depth courses on blogging for profit. I learned how people make money on a blog. And I discovered that blogging as a hobby and blogging for profit are two totally different things.

And I have to say, I enjoy hobby blogging much, MUCH more!

It sounds silly, but it has pained me to start making this transition to blogging for profit.

I like having a clean, ad-free blog. I enjoy pumping out new content to share with you. I don’t like the thought of turning my innocent blog into a money-making machine!

And worse yet, I sometimes feel guilty for starting to make the transition to blogging for profit.

Fighting Feelings of Guilt As I Go

Not too long ago, I was telling a friend about my struggle. I didn’t start blogging for the dollar and somehow, making the switch leaves me feeling like I’ve played traitor all the good folks who have faithfully followed along all these years.

“Hey old friend and welcome back! Don’t mind the ads, the popups or the cluttered feeling my blog now has. I’m all about the money now!”

Yuck.

Might as well go rob the bank!

But do you know what my (much) wiser friend suggested?

Why don’t you take time to explain the situation to your audience? So they aren’t surprised by any changes they might see? And so they understand why you are monetizing?

Sigh.

She was right. So here I am, confessing my scheme to all of you.

What the Blog Will Look Like in the Future

As I shift toward making money on my blog, I’m going to do my best to keep it personal and real. But there are some key changes coming your way.

For one thing, I’m narrowing my focus. From now on, I plan to primarily share about these 3 things:

• healthy & delicious recipes
• gardening tips
• food preservation

I’ll also be focusing more on behind-the-scenes stuff that has to do with monetizing the blog. You’ll see more free products appearing as you browse the pages of my blog. And I’ll have more and more digital books and courses to sell.

Worse yet, I “hope” to join an ad network in the next year or two. And that means ads will appear on my blog at some point. But don’t worry. I hate them too and so, I’ll be sure to put a system in place so that, for a small fee, you can view my blog ad-free.

Of course, I still don’t now exactly what the future is going to look like. But I wanted to give you a heads up about where things are going.

What Are Your Thoughts?

I might be opening a can of worms, but I’d like to hear your feedback on this one! What are your thoughts surrounding this idea of monetizing my blog?

Yes or no? Concerns you might have? What are the key things you dislike about monetized blogs? Is there something you don’t want to see here? I want to do this tastefully and in an unobtrusive way, if possible.

And if you are a regular reader, I would truly value your feedback! Leave your comment below or email your answer to autumn@atraditionallife.com.

I’ll be waiting to hear and respond!