Pet Blogger Challenge
In my mind, Jan 10 was Thursday, not Tuesday. Luckily, I can use a calendar and figure things out. So here we go.
1) When did you being your blog?
December 1, 2010 was the first post
2) What was your original purpose for starting a blog?
Over a year after we’d lost our Australian Shepherd, Moree, I was still finding myself crying randomly about his loss. We had just finished paying off the vet bill, which, silly as it seems, was almost like losing him a second time, because at least that had still connected me to him. I know C, my husband, was also still having regrets.
We both felt like there was more we could/should have done, or at least like we should have gone to visit him that morning. It still kills me that for the last 12+ hours of his life, he didn’t see us. He was in a kennel at the vet’s office.
So, I needed an outlet to talk about the pain. In fact, the very first post is called Lets Start With the Hard Stuff. Putting my thoughts and feelings out there helped with the healing process.
3) Is your current purpose the same?
Not quite. I’ve gotten over the random crying bouts. At the same time, the blog was once again incredibly helpful to me when we lost our Lab/Pit mix, Smokey, in March 2011, only 16 months after losing Moree. There were fewer regrets, but the sadness was the same. Instead of festering for a year, though, I was able to get my emotions out there from the beginning
If not, what’s different
What’s different is that I hope to not have to go through the loss of a pet again for 10+ years. Our current two dogs are both under 4, and should have pretty long life spans. I write about the hard stuff, but I also write about the little joys.
In addition, I’ve added an Animals Helping People feature to highlight the amazing work that different service animals do.
My main goal now is to have a conversation with my readers. Not all pet people have the same set of beliefs, so I think it’s good to have the conversations and to let people know that there are multiple opinions out there, and the only “right” one is the one that’s right for you.
If so, how do you feel you’ve met your goals?
I still get teary eyed when thinking about my boys, but I no longer have 10 minute random crying jags. That’s meeting my goal, right? And I think that my having posted so much about this stuff has also helped my friends turn to me when they’ve needed to talk about their own pet losses.
4) Do you blog on a schedule or as the spirit moves you?
I blog on a schedule- Tuesday and Thursday morning for written posts, and then a picture post sometime over the weekend. My goal is to start adding a link list every other week to the picture post, starting this coming weekend.
If the former, how often – and what techniques do you use to stick to it?
I am a schedule person. Once I’m on a schedule, I’m usually pretty good to go. This is not my only blog, though, so I try to structure things so that I have time to write a decent post each time one is due.
As a writer (not just a blogger) it is very important to me to plan time to write, whether it be fiction or blog posts. It is the best way I know to keep the juices flowing.
At the same time, I go easy on myself. I had been on a MWF schedule when we lost Smokey. I put up on the blog that things would be sporadic when we got his diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma. And as I came back to blogging, I changed the schedule to make it easier on myself.
And if you look back over the last week or so, I let myself get away with just some picture posts.
I also hope to reach out some more and build pet blogging relationships this year the way I did last year with my personal finance blog. That will hopefully enable me to get a guest blog or two to go up on schedule to give myself time for vacations or just needed breaks.
5) Are you generating income from your blog?
That depends on your definition of income. I have 3 blogs and a micro-fiction contest. (See the links under My Sites). Between the 4 of them, I have generated about $16 in Google Adsense revenues, in about a year. I don’t know that that can be really considered income.
If so, how?
Google Adsense, for now
If not, do you hope to in the future – and how?
I’d like to generate a little more. On Thursday, I’ll be adding my Bloggers Give Back badge to this blog (started by one of my personal finance blog friends), with the stated goal of donating 10% of my blog earnings to charity, and also a dedication to volunteering. I don’t think I’ll make enough money through blogging this year to matter much, but for 2013, I intend to put together a Life by Pets calendar that can be sold via the site.
I may also put together a combination photography/micro-fiction book using the pictures I take at the local dog parks, and pieces written by myself, fellow authors, and any pet bloggers who want to participate.
6) What do you like most about blogging in general and your blog in particular?
What I like about blogging is that I get to have my own uninterrupted say. I get to complete a thought, an argument, an idea without someone breaking in to discuss one point or argue with me before I’m done making my point.
As a writer, I also process thoughts and emotions so much better when I have the chance to put them on paper. So I find blogging therapeutic.
What I like best about my blog? I am proud of my dog park reviews. Even if you don’t live in theSeattlearea, I think they can be helpful to learning what to look for in a dog park that would be a good fit for you and your dogs.
I have fallen in love with the pictures. We have a good camera, but until I decided on doing weekly picture posts, I rarely took pictures of my dogs, let alone all the wonderful dogs we’ve met at the parks. As such, I really have very few pictures of Moree and Smokey, but I have a ton of June and Larry. Larry’s Terrier attitude makes it impossible for me to ever be completely outside the moment at the dog park, so I think I have the best of both worlds- enjoying the park with my dogs and coming home with some great pictures.
7) What do you like the least?
Feeling like I’m talking to myself. It can be hard to keep putting my thoughts out there when it feels like no one is reading. Now, a lot of this is my fault. I have not concentrated on growing this blog that way I have my personal finance blog, nor have I concentrated on forming the relationships with other bloggers that I need.
And I don’t leave nearly as many comments on the blogs that I do read as I should, so I contribute to the problem, too.
8) How do you see your blog changing/growing in 2012
I want to grow my relationships with other pet bloggers. That includes participating in events like this that are more about me than the animals. I want to comment more on other blogs, which will hopefully lead to more comments here, and a growing conversation, so that my thoughts aren’t the only ones present.
I want to continue to highlight the work service animals do.
And, with any luck, I will also start adding posts about fostering an older dog. In fact, I need to stop typing this and send a follow up email to the rescue organization we’re going to be working with.
The second annual Pet Blogger Challenge is co-hosted by Amy of Take Paws and Edie of Will My dog Hate Me.