Ah, life. Sometimes it gets in the way of the other stuff I really want to do.

When I announced the GRS blog project in July, I thought it sounded like a swell idea. I’d revive one of my many dormant blogs and document the process as I attempted to make it produce hobby-level income. Make no mistake: I still think this is a great idea — but it’s time for me to admit that I need to delay the project’s start.

Why?

I chose to revive my animal blog, Animal Intelligence. I love animals, and I love reading and writing about them. Plus, this seemed like a fairly easy topic to monetize. (“Monetize” is blogging lingo for “make money from”.) But after a scant two weeks of posting articles, and then another two weeks of not posting articles, I see the animal blog has a fatal flaw for this project. It adds another field about which I need to stay informed on a daily basis. I don’t have the mental bandwidth to that, though. And so I fell behind almost immediately (even with help from a couple of GRS readers!).

To compound the problem, I’ll soon be leaving on a month-long vacation to Europe. In retrospect, it was silly to resurrect a blog in September if I knew I’d be gone the following month. Oops.

So, I’m pressing the pause button on the GRS Blog Project. I’m not abandoning it. And I’m not abandoning Animal Intelligence.

When I get back from Europe, I’ll continue to post stories at Animal Intelligence, just as I did in the Olden Days. (And I hope my volunteer help will stick with me, too.) But I’m fairly certain that when I resume the GRS Blog Project (probably on January 1st), that it’ll be with a different blog — a blog that covers a subject I’m already reading and thinking about on a daily basis. (That means: fitness, personal development, or comic books.)

To compound the problems with the GRS Blog Project, the two blogs for which I was acting as mentor ran into problems, too. Neither really ever got off the ground. In one case, the author realized that blogging is a lot of work. (Because, really, it is a lot of work.) And in the other case, the blog launched and was almost immediately the victim of a vicious malware attack. It’s been offline ever since while the owner tries to fix the problem.

Yes, I’m disappointed about stumbling out of the gate on this project. But you know what? It’s okay. All of this is very typical of what happens when people try to start blogs, and to hide it wouldn’t be honest. Plus, I learned some valuable lessons from these missteps. When I make my next attempt, I’ll be better prepared!

Note: Many people have written to ask me to mentor them on their blogs. While a part of me would love to accept these requests, I just can’t. I’m one man, and like you I only have 24 hours in my day. They’re barely enough to do what I need to do. However, as I’ve told some of the folks who wrote in, when this project resumes, I’ll try to do a monthly Q&A at GRS to answer questions. Sound fair?

GRS is committed to helping our readers save and achieve your financial goals.Savings interest rates may be low, but that’s all the more reason to shop for the best rate.Find the highest savings interest rate from Ally Bank, Capital One 360, Everbank, and more.

23
Comments

This article is about Administration, Entrepreneurship  

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.

Discover is a paid advertiser of this site. Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.