There’s been all sorts of behind-the-scenes activity over here in Jenworld recently. For a long time, this here blog has been hosted on WordPress.com, which is the free version of WordPress and the one that I highly recommend whenever someone tells me that she’s thinking of starting a blog and then asks me for advice.
(I love getting emails like that. Really, I do. I am *always* happy to help someone dive into blogging. In fact, I’ll offer to push you in, if necessary.)
Unfortunately, there were a few technical limitations with the .com blogging platform, so I decided to switch to WordPress.org. I brought in Expert Help (more on her in a moment), gave her the keys to the blog, told her what my heart desired, and then set her loose.
Anyway, this here blog should look and function more or less the same for you folks, with one notable exception — there will now be a few ads over there on the right. I resisted doing this for a long time, so I want to explain to you why I finally took the plunge.
No, I don’t expect to support my family with this here blog like some people — coughDoocecough — but I’d also like to not continue paying for the costs out of my own family’s pocket. My hope is that I’ll earn enough ad revenue to cover those expenses. If I get lucky, maybe I’ll earn enough money to take the edge off of all the orthodontia we’re paying for these days. (One girl fully braced-up; one to go.) I’m not even looking to buy kewt shoes with the nickels I expect to earn. I’m certainly not going to be getting major Jenworld projects sponsored, such as decorating my living room or home office or getting a new roof — again, coughDoocecough — or otherwise shoving major corporate sponsorships in your face. If I do link to something and expect that it will earn me some sort of ad revenue, I will disclose that fact to you in advance.
Yes indeedy, things are going to stay pretty much the same around here. It’s like I renovated and simply replaced the old curtains and rugs with the newer versions. My blog posts will be the same and shouldn’t be impacted by whatever is going on over there in the sidebar. (Although, I am here to tell you, if certain chocolate companies or shoe stores were to offer to sponsor me, I’d throw all principles to the side and would regularly declare my love for chocolate and shoes.) (Oh wait, I already do.)
The one teeny tiny thing that I do ask of you is would you please, pretty please, not read my posts in your Google Reader or other blog feeds and instead click through to the blog? Ad revenue is driven by blog hits and blog hits don’t happen unless you click through and read here at my actual website. Thank you for helping me with this.
I have to tell you about my Expert Help. There is no way any of these behind-the-scenes changes would have happened without a Technical Guru to hold my hand through the hand-wringing parts and talk me off the ledge when I was clearly panicked about this. In fact, if I had attempted to do the technical stuff on my own, there’s a really good chance I’d be blogging with pencil and paper right now.
Hence, I asked my friend Emma Nicholson of Nicholson Social Media Management to manage this switchover for me and she has been a dream to work with. She probably cried when I gave her the keys to the blog and she started poking in closets and under beds, but she never indicated that she noticed the dust bunnies and puddles of unidentified ooze. She is also a wickedly funny woman, so you might want to check out her blog. (I recommend this post about her mother, as well as this other one. Clearly, Emma’s funny gene is matrilineal.)
So that’s what’s been going on ’round these parts recently. Well, not entirely. We also had soccer this weekend, hosted a newly-minted teenager’s birthday party (14 girls in my house, y’all) (and most had not seen Ferris Bueller) (we’ve now remedied that horror), started watching “Sherlock,” and more. Oh, and I started planning blog posts for this week. Those are going to be fun, I tell you. In particular, there is one blog post I’m working on that is so pissy that I actually emailed a few people to make sure they won’t be offended by it. I’m not sure when it will be ready, but expect to see it soon.
What’s new with everyone else? What’s on your mind today?
Sounds like a good move, Jen. And sounds like you had a great, full weekend! I got a beating, I mean, massage, on Saturday which I’m still recovering from. The massage therapist referred to the “cement” in my shoulders getting transformed into “gravel”. Nice image, eh?
Have a great week!
Good changes, no doubt. I always had to go to your site to read the whole post because the post was truncated. Today the post was not truncated, it is a little thing, but if I can read it in the reader, I probably will (although since you asked nicely, I will come to your site!).
My feed truncates your posts (I read them on my Blackberry) so I have to click over. I love that you still make moblie reading possible. Kind of a pain to have to zoom and scroll, but I do it for the blogs I love.
I’ve thought about revamping my blog as well, at least adding google adsense but I’ve heard earnings can be literally nickels and I don’t think I get enough hits to bother. Blogger itself can be ornery at times. I’ve thought about taking a non-credit web design class at Piedmont and just designing my own site although I have no idea what it costs to own a website. Currently, my blog costs me nothing. So good luck with your changes. I hope you earn some money.
I always click over so I can comment.
Jen- Happy to click over. If you set up your RSS feed to truncate your posts for google reader, I bet you’d get a lot more clicks (and for those of us who often read before coffee, acts as a gentle reminder).
Thank you so much for the awesome mention! You are an absolute dream to work with. I just know the spokesperson job is on the way! If it’s the chocolate one, I’m in, too. Screw the cleanse.
If I’m not here (on your actual site), how else can I leave you comments? Of course I click! (Although I admit I do like being able to read a post in my Reader.)
Congrats on the move to the big time. You know – having a teenager in the house! : ) And you keep tempting me with this Sherlock show. Is it actually on tv or is this something I should queue on Netflix?
I don’t know anything about Netflix, but I do know that the first season is on DVD. Second season is out next year. It’s a BBC thing, so I’m assuming that PBS is getting it in the US???
When we watched all the Sherlock episodes several months ago, they were available streaming on Netflix. So definitely check!
I admit that I really appreciate now being able to read the full post in Reader instead of it being truncated. But I almost always want to comment, so I’ll be clicking through most every day anyway.
Question for Emma, I suppose – is there a way to add back the functionality where you click a box to get emails whenever someone comments after you’ve commented? I really like that feature because I don’t always go back to check for new comments on a post after I’ve commented, but I don’t necessarily want to subscribe to all the comments on every single post ever!
I’m embarassed to say that I didn’t notice the changes. Well, Monday and all. Did you ever track down the BBC series “Merlin” for your girls? Leah and I really loved it when we got the first season on DVD.
We haven’t gotten Merlin yet, but I’m sure we will.
Heh. Oh look, that’s Emma’s face on my comments! Isn’t she pretty? I think I’ll leave her photo there for y’all to admire.
I tend to NOT use reader, funny, huh? You are such a tech guru.
I always load the actual site to read, but I use Firefox with Ad Blocker Plus, so I’m assuming I won’t see the ads. I don’t see ads on any webpages, and they load a lot faster that way too
I wonder if my clicking on your page will still count?