The birth of Desperately Seeking Sanity… uncensored

Eleventy-five years ago, Melanie at Don’t Try This At Home hosted a carnival in which you talked about how you got into blogging. Apparently, I was going to play along and answer questions, and link up and all that other good stuff, but I must’ve gotten side tracked because today, I was cleaning out my drafts folder and happened up on.

I thought about going to find the link but what’s the point.

This isn’t even considered fashionably late.

However, it seems fitting that I answer it now because this post?

It’s number 7-0-0.

I look at that number and think, there’s no way… 700 posts in under two years?  I mean, I’m still 5.5 months away from my 2 year anniversary.

But me talking too much is nothing that I don’t know, and I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now too…

So, here you go… the birth of Desperately Seeking Sanity… uncensored and very, very late.

How did you start blogging?

By accident really.  No seriously.  Three years I heard this term, blog.  I didn’t know people did it on the personal level at the time.  I started one for my business and I’m not sure if people read it.  I know they do now, even though I left blogger just a few months later.  I left my blog up, with the google ads on it and I still make about 5 cents a year there.

When my mother mentioned that I never sent pictures or updates of the kids, I set up a blog for our family… it’s still there too, I think… The Life and Times of the Ellis-Jacobson Family.  When Tim and I broke up, I couldn’t blog there any more and blogged a little on MySpace before finally setting up shop here on February 5, 2007.
Did you intend to be a blog w/a following? If so, how did you go about it?

Are you kidding me?  I didn’t think anyone but my mother and best friend read it, and even then, I don’t think they did it all the time.  It’s one of the reasons that I was so open on my blog because while I knew anyone could read it, I never thought that anyone actually would.

Over time, I’ve come to enjoy the following and I’ve grown in readership since then, but if no one was reading, I would still be posting.  I always keep the reason for this blog in the foreground of my mind… and that’s simply to have an outlet.
What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

If I make money, that’s cool.  If I don’t, that’s cool too.  My main goal with this blog is to chronicle the going ons of my life.  I want to be able to look back and see where I’ve grown and how.  I want to be able to remember the funny things that my children did.  I want to see how my writing has improved over time.

I’ve also realized that I can help others through this blog.  Primarily, it’s by making others laugh, but also a way to show them that they are not alone, since I’ve also gotten that from others.

Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?

I have started doing some product reviews.  I’m human and I like free stuff.  But I’m not focused on it.  I could sit and write PR companies to review things or give things away, but I choose not to.  The biggest reason is that I don’t have time, but if they offer, I’ll take them up on it.

But the main focus of this blog is me.  Because seriously, I have to have one place where it can be all about me!

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you started?

I don’t even know how to answer this question.  I wish that I would’ve known about the “life” and “mommy” blogger community long before I found it.  Business blogging is good, but the satisfaction is not near as great.

Do you make money with your blog?

I make enough to take the kids to Taco Bell once a month.  But really, it wouldn’t be enough if Sam actually ate taco bell.

It’s not a focus of mine.  It’s an extra if it happens.

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?

Everyone knows about my blog in my family.  Whether they read it or not, that’s a different story.  I did find out that my ex-mother-in-law reads it (Hi Kathy!) and my ex-husband and his friends know about it.

If they don’t read it, I don’t know why.  I’m incredibly funny.

Actually, I think it’s because no one in my family “gets” blogging.

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?

Be real.  Don’t try to alter who you are to gain readers.  At the end of the day, you still won’t be happy.  Allow people to get to know the real you because we want to be able to connect with you.  If you’re not sure if you’re achieving this goal, think about how people would react when they meet you in person.  The best compliment for me is when I meet someone off line and they tell me that I’m exactly the same (and better).

Make clear boundaries for what you will and won’t post on your blog.  While no one may know about your little home on the net, they may find it and if it’s not something you’re willing to say to their face, don’t post it on your blog.

Better late than never right?  So, because I’m sure I’m not the only one that missed it, how about you?  Want to answer these questions, too?

If you do, be sure to link up here and I’ll be around to read…and because I’m nice, I’ll find something in the box-o-goodies to give away to two random participants.  We’ll leave it open until next Wednesday…

Until next time…