Humble Beginnings

Chili is a bit nosy. She wants to know about our blogs. And since I'm a little nosy myself, I thought I'd participate.

• How did you start blogging? I read Lisa Whelchel's "Coffee Talk" regularly. In one entry, she mentioned her friend Sarah I checked out Sarah's blog and was hooked! I had been writing devotions for a while & emailing them to friends. Blogging seemed to be a much more efficient means of doing that. Then I got into the memes and other fun things. It quickly became an obsession.
• Did you intend to be a blog w/a following? If so, how did you go about it? I don't have a following. I have no idea how many (more accurately, how few) people read my blog. I got too concerned with stats and turned them off. I don't get many comments. Sometimes that's depressing...but then I remember why I started the blog in the first place. Meeting new friends is the whipped cream on top of the latte'!
  

• 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? I want to have a record of my life at this point in time, and what God's telling me. I'd also like others to be blessed by what they read and draw closer to God. I think I've done the former. I pray He's accomplished the latter.

• Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How? The focus changed because I got very caught up in stats, commenters, etc. I'm trying to get back to the original focus (see above)
  

• What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started? That it's very easy to let this become an addition, and that it's not a popularity contest.
  

• Do you make money with your blog? No. I just got my first email from a company that wants me to link to it, but I haven't pursued it yet.
  

• Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why? They know. My husband has read some entries, but isn't a regular reader. Some other family members have told me they read it. I don't talk about it often, though.
  

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

(A) Set some parameters for your blog writing & reading. What will you write about? What won't you write about? How much time will you spend reading & writing? As Shalee said, time limits are important!

(B) It's tempting to put on a "bloggy face" since most fellow bloggers won't know you, but be yourself.


If you're wondering how other bloggers got there start, click here to read all about it!

Melissa