Tag: #WordPress.com

  • Site Update, and What Am I Doing?

    After I posted the ODDS and ENDS blog on Friday, I decided that it was time to start monkeying around with the blog site. The old site was just the blog, and an ABOUT page. It was more basic than basic, and thinking back to when I originally started this blog, I wasn’t too concerned about how things looked. But, being that I am blogging twenty times a month now, and on some days have four views, I decided that I needed to step up my game. Hence, the new:

    matthewgroffblog.wordpress.com

    I have a Home page now, as well as an updated About page. There is a dedicated Blog page, which I will talk about more later. I created a page specific for The ALGOT Blogs, which are my most popular posts, and now the three-part story is in one location. (Also, Ikea discontinued the ALGOT line of products, in case you haven’t heard.) Last, there is the Archive page, so you know, you can read my progress as a blogger.

    And the Blog itself. I decided that it was time to drop the “250 Word” theme. I don’t think the four of you that were reading this were here because of the concise word format I chose to use. The original idea was to train myself to write effectively, while using the fewest words as possible. Not sure if I have attained that skill, but I have started to move away from the idea that I need only write 250 words.

    The last thought that I had, as I was finishing up the site on Sunday night, was should I bite the bullet and buy the domain, and stop using the free WordPress.com site? That question raised some other questions that I haven’t answered yet, but am still thinking about. Spending money on this site is like saying that I am taking it seriously now, so am I serious about this? I have been doing this for a year, going from one view to four views on average, so what do I hope to achieve with the purchase? I’m not setting the world on fire here, so what’s the point?

    The point? For me, I’m a stay at home parent now. I take care of my family, especially my daughter, and I need a creative outlet. I need something that I can work on, look forward to, that is for me. I need to do something that validates my existence in this very strange and odd world that I live in. So… Do I need to pay to attain that?

  • I Should Be Working

    Not sure what I should be working on today. I keep thinking that some idea will pop into my head, but that hasn’t happened. I have been sitting here for an hour now and nothing has come to me.

    What have I been doing for an hour?

    I balanced the family checkbook.

    I watched an episode of the old Addams Family on PlutoTV with my daughter.

    And at the same time, helped the kid spell some words for a book she was writing for her mom.

    I read an article about the Battle of Harlem Heights, which happened this day in 1776.

    There is no school today, in case anyone is wondering why the kid is here right now.

    And now, I’m starting to think about what I’m going to be doing the rest of the day…

    Later today, I’m going to try and convince the kid to watch Tottenham play Stade Rennais FC in the Europa Conference League, but I’ll probably be watching that alone.

    I should be working on some home improvement projects today… I might do that next…

    Oh, I did read an article in The New Yorker about CRT. It was informative.

    I should do a water color sketch.

    You know, my blog posts aren’t getting the views that they used to. I used to get 4 views per post, and for the past two weeks it’s dropped to one. I think my quality of posts is declining, which would explain why the numbers are dropping. Or… WordPress is suppressing my numbers, just like FaceBook and IG do to control your viewing habits.

    But, perhaps I said too much…

    I guess I’m back to using Twitter.

  • What’s Next for This Blog?

    I have been writing a post every week day for over a year now, and I enjoy doing it, which was one of the points. Also, in that year, I have quadrupled in followers, views, visitors and likes. Mind you, that means I have gone from one person to four people per post, but still… I intend to continue posting each weekday for another year. That’s the plan.

    The nuts and bolts of this thing is that I am using the Wrodpress.com free blogging tool, and I am aware that this site was really created for people who are starting out building a business website, and not really for people like me; personal bloggers. I know that is why most of my followers are business, and not individuals. (And some might even be BOTS!!!) Either way, I am right now beholden to the “free” perimeters laid down by WordPress.com.

    As I look at my blog page, it is pretty basic and simple, and that was intentional. I didn’t want to spend too much time on it, as I was more concerned with posting. One thought I am having is to pay for the upgrade, get my own URL, and then put up ads, and all those other bells and whistles. On my site, I could have other pages, and lists, and a new theme.

    And that all sounds cool…

    But I’m still not sure if I should do it. I keep coming back to asking myself, why? I can write anything I want right now. So, why do I want to change it up?

    The answer is that I still am not sure what is my goal is.

    I can say that one of my goals is to write, which I am doing. Is it also to publish? Is it to be paid as well? Is it to write fiction professionally? Is it to reach out to more people?

    What I am reminded of is something that my dad says; it’s all talk until you spend money on it. It’s the same thing as saying you have to get skin in the game if you want to win. In this situation, if I want to grow, no matter what direction that is, I’m going to need to make an investment of time and a little money.

    Something to think about.

    Which is good, and I’m talking to the four of you who read this, as I am taking the next week off for a vacation. I’ll be back, not with an upgrade, but a decision. Either way…

    Happy Summer, One and All!

  • New Blog Direction?

    So… I’m unemployed, and I have had some time to think over things, and choices, and mistakes I have made in my life. Sometimes obsess over them, but that only happens late at night when I try to fall asleep. What I have been rolling over in my head is if I want to change the direction of this blog.

    Right now, this blog is an exercise for me to work on telling stories in 250 words. It is also a place for me to write about other things that come into my head.

    With being unemployed, I started to think about trying to monetize my writing. For my three fans who aren’t relatives, then you know that I have made a grand total of $5 from my writing over the past 20 years. I don’t have a stellar track record, and with the fact that I have a WordPress.com site shows that I am most aggressive blogger.

    This would lead me to conclude that if I want to earn money from blogging, then I would need to put in more time and energy in the make of the blog, and that I will need to start writing about a specific subject. I have run enough art organizations that I know that what I am selling is a product, and for anyone to be interested in this product, you either have to be the best at it, or original in some way that no one can copy. It is a business after all.

    I am sitting on this, wondering if, or how I should move forward.

    I also know that in a business, you have to have a goal for it. That I can answer now. We need a new Mac Mini for our home to function as a server. That ballparks to $870. With the $5 I already earned; I just need to bring in another $865. That seams do-able.