Why bloggers have more than one blog

After 16 years as a writer and editor, which includes four years of blogging, I still don’t want to run more than one blog. I don’t mind contributing to other blogs or having other editing and writing projects, but having a successful blog takes a lot of work. Although I don’t think I’m a “top mom blogger,” I am happy with my measure of success and love those who read on a regular basis as well as those who follow on GFC, Twitter, Facebook (<—yup, I included my link if you wanna follow!) and all of the other social networking, bookmarking and media sites I try to keep up with.

Having reached a certain measure of success (recognitions?) with this blog, It’s a woman’s world!, means that I’m offered opportunities  to write more and more paid posts. That’s great for me because although I started my blog to share my life and fuel my joy of writing, I also wanted it to supplement my income. You see, I was a work-at-home mom before I started this. I was a freelance writer who mainly wrote magazine articles and edit manuscripts. Right around the time everyone’s finances took a nosedive, I was on maternity leave. The few local magazines I wrote for went through some major changes: A couple cut their budgets and one went out of business altogether.

So where does that leave a freelance writer who still needs to make money? Oh, and to add to it, I was separated from my now ex-husband and eight months pregnant. I turned to the web to discover how to amp up my blog and make money writing web content. Being the single parent of four children I have to make sure I can be as focused and organized as possible – that means I can only manage one blog.

All of that has led me discover why some bloggers start another blog – or two – so that their main, most popular, one isn’t drowning in paid posts. I’m happy to have the opportunities that are presented to me and over the past week or so there have been several reviews (are you really not gonna comment just ‘cause I got a free product or book?), numerous paid posts and the like with only a splattering of my life. Since this is a woman’s world – that woman being me – I can make it whatever I want it to be, but I notice everyday lately for as many Twitter followers that I get at least one drops off. Is it because I haven’t managed to follow back or that a lot of my tweets are about the paid or sponsored posts that I write? I must insert that I’ve been so busy the past two months with the financial repercussions of my daughter’s auto accident and my health that my creative muse and fuel to talk about life in general has been dormant.

I want those who read my blog to read it because they genuinely like me. I think I’ve mentioned this before: The bloggers that I really like I read the majority of their posts – even the paid or sponsored ones – because I like them. Because I support them. And I’ll even comment sometimes. Yes, only if I have something to say that’s relevant, but I look for the chance to do that. I know, if they’re like me, that they’re only trying to supplement their income and they’re not taking advantage of me or wasting my time. I may not be interested in something they’re writing about, but that doesn’t make me stop following them.

I get a little sad when I see a follower has dropped off or there are a bunch of posts without comments and I wonder what I’m doing wrong. But I have to continue what I’m doing and try to do it to the best of my ability because it is apart of what puts food on the table, gas in my car and whatever else we need or want.

In other blogging worlds more than one blog is created to balance out the paid and sponsored posts from all the fun, everyday stuff, but in this world – this woman’s world – I have to do a little of both. And believe me, I don’t just throw stuff up all willy nilly and I hope that you’ll at least find the writing interesting enough to read it even if you don’t agree with the content.

So bloggers: Do you have more than one blog? What’s your opinion of the paid and sponsored posts among the everyday stuff? If you don’t like it at all then please share why (you’ll probably want to add why you don’t watch television commercials either! LOL).

Until next time…