This year will be the year Kol’s Notes either stands on it’s own merit…or it doesn’t. Unlike yourself, who is sharing wise words word and deep thoughts, we’re just a bit of fluff. If I had half the way with words you do, I might be able to blog for the sheer love of it. Hopefully, we’ll get to come along as you move into this next phase of who you are and what your life is about. Even if it’s not a “dog blog” I think you have a lot to offer as a blogger – and as a friend.

As for the people taking your content without permission – with or without attribution – I think it’s stealing. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much time and effort it would take to send requests each time asking the person to give you the credit you’d like or take it down. If you have to choose between that and connecting with your own readers or spending time with Honey and Mike, I think I know which would be more important to you.

I do look at my statistics each month, but only to compare them to my past results and see how things are progressing. We each have our own audiences, niches, and levels of engagement. Trying to compare ourselves to other bloggers based only on visits or page views is like trying to compare apples and oranges. I’m not going to write posts specifically to draw Google traffic – getting the additional hits wouldn’t be worth the fact that I’d no longer like my own blog.

I hope that SWTWC is around for a good, long time. The pet blogging community wouldn’t be the same without you, and my personal growth and evolution would definitely be affected. Here’s to a great 2013 for you!

Soothing, insightful, thought-provoking, and comforting post…. thank you for it. Much like our impromptu chat at BlogPaws this past year, your written words help to shed some welcome light on blogging for me. You’ve got a great perspective, and a wonderful way of expressing it – both in person and online.

I hope Ithaca is treating you well and that you are enjoying life to its fullest! May 2013 be your best and happiest year yet!

All the best,
Jason

In regard to your thoughts on the expense of your blog – I’m really surprised that this costs you so much money you have to be concerned? Obviously, it costs you a lot of time, that is expensive. But my blog only costs me about $50 a year (for the domain and the hosting), and for the amount of joy I get out of it, it’s well worth it. Maybe, if your domain and hosting is costing you a lot, you might want to consider shopping around for better deals? I hope you can find a solution, regardless, because it’d be sad to see your blog go off the air, so to speak.

Sign me up, too! OMDog, how could I forget? I love getting your blogs in my email so I never miss one.

Well said, Leslie. The first dog/pet blog I go to is Pamela’s because I know she’ll have content I can use or consider, it will be offered in a kind manner and my comments will be taken seriously with helpful, generous feedback (like your Justus comment, P., which I put in Evernote).
Whew re: stats since I just don’t pay attention to them. I have no intention of monetizing any of my blogs (total of 3); they are fun to write and share. I enjoy having followers but I know there are so many blogs out there I’m missing which are very good.
Much food for thought here again, Pamela – plus I didn’t even answer the questions (yet).

Thanks for dropping by my blog and sharing your thoughts, Pamela. 🙂 I guess what I meant by “selling out”, is getting too wrapped up in things like SEO, page rankings, etc. and letting the creative side suffer. “Blogging for bucks”, so to speak. That’s just not who I want to be. Spent almost 20 years in the corporate world and that was more than enough business-oriented twaddle.
Have a great weekend.