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Blogs – Why do you have one? How has it changed your life?
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I know many of you keep a blog. I have thought about trying it, but I want to weigh all the costs and benefits first.
Is this something that can be done on a tablet like a kindle fire? Can it be published in a nice keepsake book each year? Do you still keep up with a personal journal and family photo album? I am a few years behind on my photos now…
How do you find the time? Do you have any tips to share for getting started?
How has it changed your life for good or bad? Why do you blog?
Great questions! For me personally I started my homeschool blog to share with family in other states and countries what our little (at the time) family was doing and pictures. It was also a creative outlet for me and still is, but mainly it chronicles our family’s life. I also do reviews, at one point it was a lot of homeschool reviews, now a lighter mix. We now have a second blog sharing our journey having and raising a child with serious medical needs.
I use a computer to blog, so I can’t answer the tablet question.
Yes, it can be published in a book.
I’m an occasional personal journaler (but that is no different than before I blogged) and I never really kept photo albums either. I’m busy living life with my family and scrapbooking took too much of my time. 🙂 Now most of our photos are digital.
Time can be found for what you love. Other than reading I love writing/blogging. I fit it in when kids are asleep (morning or evening) or during daily quiet time.
I LOVE looking back and seeing what progress my kids have made in homeschool. Sometimes in the daily little by little changes I can’t see just how far we’ve come. I regularly look back 1-2-5 years for perspective. It is also fun to see how our family has grown over the years. (I’ve been blogging for 7+ years).
Yes, you can spend too much time blogging like anything else. I’m not on FB, this is pretty much my only forum, I don’t play computer games/apps, don’t have a smart phone or other device taking my ‘free’ time. I blog. 🙂 Others would rather use that time for different things and that’s okay too!
I’m like Tristan, although my exact reasons are a bit more nebulous. I created it to record my ideas so that I could remember them, and to provide Canadians with ideas of good Canadian CM resources.
Because my goals are kind-of nebulous, my blog tends to meander around a lot. I’m also amazed sometimes about how my ideas have changed over the last few years…. (ie, my math plan included using “Life of Fred” once we hit decimals etc (the earlier levels didn’t exist then) – but I don’t think we will use it at all anymore….)
I did a little bit of scrap-booking earlier – wanted to scrapbook my kids life. I think I have a book with Delta scrapbooked right up to…. arriving home from the hospital! About the same for Echo. And that was all the scrapbooking I managed! LOL.
I blog for the same reasons as Tristan to share our homeschool as well as different aspects of our lives with my family. I have to say, though, Tristan’s been doing it a lot longer than me! =)
I love to scrapbook so I keep a separate book for that. Not everything I blog about is a scrapbook page, nor are my pages blog-worthy at times. lol
I have had a busy summer, so haven’t blogged as much as I wanted to and added two kids officially to school hours, but I have the ideas and photos in my list. Last year, my time was on Saturday morning – my reward for a good week of school. I am thinking of scheduling some time into my school day planner so I can get a few ideas out of my head. I enjoy having a voice outside my walls. 😉
Here is a book created by successful bloggers that talks about all your questions/concerns and teaches you how to set one up:
I have a blog for a different reason. My youngest son was diagnosed with cancer in March 2012. My friend set it up for me and it’s been an amazing way for me to record our journey to keep our family and friends updated as well as for me to look back and see how far we’ve come. Praise God he’s doing well, but he isn’t quite half way done with his treatment (July 12, 2015 is his last day of chemo – doesn’t that seem so far off?).
For me, I have a hard time blogging. I guess I might just put to much thought into my posts. I think the worst part for me is uploading pictures. I just hate doing that because it seems to take me the most time. I don’t write every day. I was writing at least weekly in the beginning, but now I write more monthly or so because his treatment is the same and he only goes to the hosptial now once every month so not a lot is changing like it was in the first nine months of his treatment.
I plan to print it off in a bound book when he’s all finished with his treatment. I hate to use the word keepsake for the book because going through cancer treatment with you’re child isn’t really a time you *treasure*, but I hope it’s something he will treasure and can share with his children and grandchild.
I don’t have my name linked with my blog here, but if you want to peek at it, it’s http://www.TeamAndyBauska.org Like I said, I didn’t set it up, my friend did as I’m not that savvy, but at some point, I might change it up a little.
Melissa
I started my blog in 2008 as a way to chronicle our family’s life and memories. I’m not a scrapbooker, and I never put photos in albums, so a blog was the natural way for me to keep track of our milestones and memories and photos. Over the years, my blog sort of morphed into a place for me to talk about what I was learning about natural living, healthy eating, and such. I also post about our homeschool every now and then. I have done a terrible job of blogging this year because of our move/remodel that began in March and lasted over four months. Also, I am guest-blogging at GNOWFGLINS, so a lot of the time I would normally spend on my personal blog has been devoted to research, photography, and writing for GNOWFGLINS. I do enjoy blogging, but it has definitely taken a back seat to real life this past year.
I have friends who have published their blogs into keepsake books, but I have not done it. I’ve heard it can be expensive.
Like Tristan, I use the computer to blog, but I know Blogger has an app available for iPhones and iPads that allows you to blog from a phone or iPad. I don’t use it though.
Here’s a link to my personal blog: http://todayindietzville.blogspot.com/
Thank you all for sharing. I have visited each of your blogs recently, if not in the past. I have never been a “follower” of blogs, but visit them on occasion. I like how varied and personal each one is. You all have done a great job and put a lot of time and effort into them.
I wonder how much time and effort, exactly? Am I going to be always thinking about what to put on my blog, running to check the blog, etc.? I am interested in what way it has been life-changing for you. I have been thinking on this all week. I keep thinking, “Oh, if I had a blog, I could write about that”, or “This would be a great picture to post on a blog.” Is this kind of thinking going to overtake my life?
Have any of you had a blog and decided to stop? For what reason?
I appreciate the link for the book from sheraz. I have so many books to read right now, I’m not sure when I would get to it. But if you really think I must read a book first, then I will wait until I get one read.
How did you get started with a blog? Which service should I choose and why? Could someone give me a few tips to get me started?
Also I am looking for a catchy blog name. My thoughts can run pretty deep and I sometimes write with a bit of sarcasm which can get lost in print. I would certainly write about homeschooling, with a focus on the Charlotte Mason method. I would also include cooking and meal planning, budgeting, crafts, scheduling and organizing, and Bible. There are more, I’m sure. But is it better to focus on less topics?
Do any of you make any money by having a blog? In what way? That was not my reason for having a blog, but it would be a nice bonus.
I see this as a creative outlet for me and a way to share ideas with others with like interests. I am certainly not any expert, but I think the writing could aid me in my personal and Spiritual growth, and possibly help others too. Yet I don’t want to be on the computer all. the. time. So maybe I could set up a schedule to do the blog on Saturday and Wednesday evening and do a page or two in our digital photobook then too (which has been neglected the past year).
Thanks for any tips here to get me started. Any warnings? All thoughts are appreciated.
Another thing to consider is that you can choose to keep your blog private. I originally set up our family blog to link our nature study posts for Handbook of Nature Study. I soon realized that I wanted to be able to share pictures and information about my children (and niece, nephews, and friends) with close family and friends, NOT everyone. I changed the settings and now only a few people have access. This helps me feel more freedom about what I post. Mostly I post photos because I dislike scrap booking, and photo albums take up so much space! I post when it is convenient. I often end up doing one “month in review” post at the end of the month to chronicle our comings and goings and to include our favorite photos. Mostly our blog is our photo album. I prefer to keep my thoughts and ponderings private in my handwritten journal. I prefer to use my iPhone to post because my pictures are already on my phone and it is easy to upload (or is it download?). I use WordPress because a friend used that and it is free. I am extremely low-key about blogging so I do not spend much time thinking about it — unless it is the last week of the month and I realize I have several pictures I want to share! Hope this information is beneficial!
Thanks Jennifer. Those are some great points to consider.
Here is an older post on the same topic which I found to be helpful: http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/how-many-of-you-have-a-blog
I also found an older thread where Tristan shares about reviews and commissions for bloggers:
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/internet-marketing-for-homeschool-or-living-books So that answered some of my questions.
Tristan, can you share about the Amazon affiliate link on the right side of your blog? I used it on my last Amazon order, but not sure what it does exactly.
Thank you so much for using my link! It’s a huge blessing for my family.
What it does for me:
When you click on my link and then go shop on Amazon I get a small advertising fee from Amazon on just about any purchase you make. If you click on a link to a book from my blog and end up buying dishes I still get my advertising fee.
Payouts are once a month and run about 2 months behind the calendar. Direct deposit has a minimum of $10 accumulated before you get paid, while payment by check has a $100 min.
I really don’t make a lot usually, between $10 and $20. After Christmas shopping months it can be a bit higher. For us anything is a blessing, the budget is just really tight with 10 people and all Mason’s medical needs. Our Amazon affiliate pay goes toward homeschool purchases or Mason’s medical supplies.
What it does for YOU as the customer: Clicking through my links does not affect your purchase price at all! It just gets you to Amazon and if you’re clicking a specific link in a post it gets you right to the item you want to look at.
Anything else you wanted to know?
My only “warning” would be to use a timer, or actually schedule blogging if you think you’ll end up getting distracted by it. Especially when you are setting it all up and learning how to make changes.
I used to blog quite frequently a few years ago. I used Homeschool Blogger at the time (WordPress.) We dropped dial up over two years ago and using an iphone to blog wasn’t fun. Back in April, HSB moved over to Schoolhouse Families and my blogs disappeared. We recently found a provider that could actually get signal to us without charging limbs and organs for a decent speed. So, I started blogging again. I keep our local homeschool support group blog going and have one for the things we pursue at home. Eventually, I’ll have one for our library, too, but it will likely be another month, or so before I add that to my to-do list (still shelving books at this point.)
Others have noted that you can keep your blog private. You may also keep parts of a public blog private…links are an example. This is a helpful tool if you refer to certain links and don’t want to forget them, but don’t necessarily want others to see them. Maybe banking links, or links to friends blogs that are private group links would fit into this category. I believe you may be able to keep certain posts private, too….journal entries that you want to write for yourself, but don’t want to share with the world, etc.
Blessings,
Becca<><
Oh, many bloggers use screen names for their children versus actual names. I’ve done that even in the blogs that disappeared. Others don’t mind sharing names.
When I first started blogging, I thought about it ALL THE TIME. For a couple of years, I blogged like crazy. Every milestone, new recipe, change, move, cute photo, whatever was something I felt like I had to share with the world. I don’t know why! In the past three years, I’ve really slowed down. These are the number of posts by year:
2010: 172
2011: 117
2012: 101
2013: 30 (so far)So, I’ve slowly declined over the years, and I don’t feel the need to post every single thing anymore. What’s ironic is that more people read my blog now than they did in 2010!
I don’t make any money off my blog. I’ve thought about being an Amazon affiliate, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go right now. I know several women who make a big chunk of their family’s income by blogging, but they also put a lot of time into it. They have to hire babysitters or mother’s helpers to come in and watch kids or cook meals while they work. I’m just not in a season of my life where I feel like I could justify putting that much time and energy into something that may or may not help us out financially. And for us, it would just be play money, so it’s not really necessary. But if you can figure out how to profit from it and not spend all your extra time, then go for it!
My blog isn’t private. I do share my kids’ names. And our names. Maybe I’m naive… I’ve just never been scared of Internet stalker weirdos, and I never, ever put where we live (except that we’re in the Texas Panhandle, but that’s a lot of square miles of corn fields to try to figure out exactly where I live.
I use Blogger, just because that’s all I knew about when I first started. I would like to move everything over to WordPress in the future. It seems to have a lot fewer bugs and glitches than Blogger. And it’s very simple to use.
I do enjoy blogging, especially guest blogging. That has been a fun new challenge! Moving our computer to the third floor of our home was monumental in limiting my computer time. Like Tristan, I don’t Facebook, play computer games, or anything else. The only social networking I do is Instagram (name: lindseydietz, if you want to follow ;)).
Thank you for your tips. I have much to think about here. I may start with just a homeschool focus. I think it may help me get school more organized since I am a very visual learner. Thanks tailor made on the warning about time management. I will check out WordPress.
Lindsey, do you think all that time spent on blogging the first few years helped you become more organized and learn more, or do you think it overtook your life, so to speak?
Tristan, I am glad the affiliate link I used should have helped you out then. As much as we have spent there, I wish I had been using it all along. I was not sure if it had to be certain products because I purchased an OXO strainer that I needed, & had nothing to do with your blog! lol. This is something I may add in the future.
I see I have some options when setting up WordPress. Tristan has ourbusyhomeschool.com instead of .wordpress.com like others have. Is this worth $18 / year? Is that something I can easily change later?
There is also an option to buy Premium for $99 / year now instead of $166 later. It says I would have a domain name like .com and mapping, no ads, 10 GB space, videopress, custom design. Would that be more for a business? I am thinking no for my needs at this time.
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