a peek inside the fishbowl

01 Apr, 2011

Friday bullets

Posted by andrea tomkins in: Misc. life

The inside of my brain looks and feels like the tornado in Wizard of Oz; a gale of swirling air carrying bits of debris, the odd cow, and a witch on a bicycle. From the hodgepodge, this emerges:

  • RENO. OMGosh. The architect dropped prelim sketches off to us this week and the three of us spent a couple of hours going through the different variations. Wow. I have much to tell. I just need to sort it out.
  • Isn’t it great to get a clean bill of health? I had a long overdue physical yesterday – top and bottom, inside and out. The doctor gave me lots of great news about my BMI, iron, various lipids or somesuch, and told me that my cholesterol was “GREAT.” That is a direct quote. I am very happy it.
  • Speaking of storms, there’s a big discussion brewing in the blogosphere about mother bloggers and what they earn from their blogs. (Remember my post here?) Interested? Grab an EXTRA extra large coffee and start by reading this, then this, then this. It’s such an important topic… one that needs to be discussed more fully. I really need more time to think about it some more. I have a post brewing in my head (see tornado analogy above) but it just can’t happen today. And here’s the kicker. I can’t decide, should I or should I not reveal what I earn via the blog? Gah. Do you think this is an important and/or useful bit of information to share?

Gotta run. I have a thing to go to. (More on that later, because it is AWESOME.) Happy Friday!


8 Responses to "Friday bullets"

1 | Hellcat13

April 1st, 2011 at 9:31 am

Avatar

I don’t think it’s anyone’s business what you earn on the blog. You wouldn’t ask my salary, so why should I ask yours? I find value in your writing and in the companies you accept ads from, and that keeps me coming back. If readers don’t like the direction you’ve taken, they don’t have to read, right?

2 | Josée

April 1st, 2011 at 10:20 am

Avatar

I just skimmed through the third article you link to, the one on Her Bad Mother. One line jumped out at me:

“There are, I think, a million reasons why we don’t talk about it in these spaces – for me, these include fear of being attacked for what some might think is my undeserved success…”

Wow. It’s really sad that this aspect of the financial discussion has to be taken into account at all. I find it shocking that anyone could fault someone for making money (be it a little or a lot) off something they obviously love and work very hard at! Isn’t everyone’s dream to get paid to do something they love? It’s a harsh world if someone gets attacked for accomplishing just that.

3 | karinny

April 1st, 2011 at 11:02 am

Avatar

Do not disclose. It is nobody’s business. But do say if it is a motivation, if you feel valued and if made your family’s life a little easier! I think you deserve a free reno :)

4 | Hilary

April 1st, 2011 at 11:14 am

Avatar

The really nosy person would be FASCINATED to know what you earn through the blog. But sadly, I agree that it’s none of our business ;)

I would be interested in how long it took you to start monetizing your blog, what in your experience are the most successful income streams for bloggers, etc. You don’t need to talk hard figures that way.

5 | Liisa

April 1st, 2011 at 1:22 pm

Avatar

I agree with above commenters; I would never expect you to disclose how much you make (unless you decide to take your blog business public ;)). You could give percentages, estimated average hourly rate, etc, but hard numbers, definitely not!

6 | Lynn

April 1st, 2011 at 1:52 pm

Avatar

I agree I don’t need to know the number. But it would be nice to know what category it fits into – does it give you coffee once a week? Play for the annual hosting? Or is it funding your house renovation? What I’m really interested in is the payoff versus work involved…obviously you blog because you love it, but do you feel the work of getting and keeping sponsors is worth the payoff?

7 | alison p-h

April 1st, 2011 at 2:02 pm

Avatar

Do not disclose. What you earn is made up of a multitude of factors. Experience, professional background, time put into the blog, the age of your blog, your networking abilities, YOUR CONTENT!, frequency of posts, your engagement with the audience, just to name a few. Unless you are going to take it all into account, what you earn is will be misinterpreted. My two cents.

8 | coffee with julie

April 2nd, 2011 at 5:44 pm

Avatar

I commented on the blog monetization thing on your post above … so I’ll skip that and go right to: I can’t wait to hear all about the prelim sketches! I am really interested in this whole process and love that you are blogging it!

Archives


  • alex: For a classic Canadian treat for valentine day , try a BeaverTail (a fried dough pastry) there its yummy
  • Juliet Luiz: I was at this park today and saw the foundation and historical sign which got me curious and let me to your blog post! Great information:) too bad t
  • Rowyn Tape: Hello, I was sitting at Easter dinner with my grandmother and she was telling me this story. She is Herbert Lytles daughter who eventually bought the
  • Bernie: I freeze ball sizes of bread dough for beavertails each winter season.Easy to thaw, roll out and fry. Best winter treat!
  • Jen_nifer: I feel very much the same about my SUP. Floating with snacks is fantastic! When I go on water with some current, I make sure that I paddle into the cu
  • sam: Great article. This is very insightful. Thanks for sharing
  • Renee: I just saw one yesterday on a small patch of grassy land near the Mann Ave 417 exit near Lees Station, Ottawa, ON. I had no idea they came in black!

The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Sunny who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. During the day I work as a freelance writer. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here.

I've deactivated the commenting function as well as my contact form so if you want to get in touch, please drop me a line at quietfish@gmail.com. Thank you!

 


Goodreads