On Transparency & Authenticity: Site Update

DenaApril 29, 2010

By acting bravely we become brave; not the other way round.

Ten months have passed since I started this blog. Wow. Almost a year. I am really proud of this fact and also a bit surprised. I have a tendency to start things without finishing them. When I started evolution you, I’d hoped that this project would be different. In fact—it went beyond hope—I believed that this was going to be different. In my heart, I knew that I had finally found my purpose in life—to help people create the lives of their dreams by sharing my journey & the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

When I started this blog, I knew how important transparency & authenticity were. I always wanted to (and have been) entirely upfront & honest with you, my readers. However, there was always a major component missing. While I always shared my truest intention—helping people to create the lives of their dreams by sharing my journey & the lessons I’ve learned along the way—I never thought that it was really enough. I wanted to be more transparent than that. The challenge has been that I couldn’t be 100% clear with you all about my intentions, because I wasn’t 100% sure myself. Until today…

I’ve been thinking about all of this for awhile now. I want you all to know why I have affiliate links on the sides of my pages and in some of my posts. I want you to know why I take the time to write at least 2 or 3 posts per week (sometimes 5) when I am already juggling so much in my life. I want you to know why this little space—evolution you—means so much to me. So here it goes…

Advertising
I have no desire to get rich through this blog. In fact, I have no desire to get rich in general. I believe that wealth is a quality of the spirit and has nothing to do with pieces of paper that a society deems to be “worth” something because they say so.

However, it would be nice to make money through this blog, simply so that I could devote more time to it. The reality of my life is that I am a twenty-six your old woman with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt and a few other monthly payments that force me to shell out “money” every month. That said, I work 40 – 60 hours a week earning a living outside of here. When you factor sleeping into the equation, that leaves me with about 60 hours for the week. During those 60 hours of “free time”, I am life coaching, bonding with my family (including my pets), housekeeping, enjoying nature, and so on. So at the end of the day, the time I have to devote to this space = not enough! I would truly love to spend more time devoted to evolution you and I believe that monetizing it in some way could allow me to do that, if I am willing to work hard enough.

So, how has it been working out for me? Well, let’s just say that in ten months, I haven’t seen a single, red cent. Apparently, I’ve earned just under $10.00 via Google Adsense but I’ve yet to see any of it and (for obvious reasons) I’m not quite holding my breath. On the other hand, I have received a couple of life coaching client referrals through this blog and for that I am grateful.

At the end of the day, my big pay off has been the heartwarming comments, emails, & messages that I’ve received from you all. There really are not words to say how much they have meant to me. For those thoughts alone, every moment that I have lovingly devoted to this blog has been worth it.

Ads
The ads that you see on the right side of the site fall into a few categories. The Google Adsense ads are randomly generated based upon the content on the page. I can’t say that I endorse any of them 100% as they are pretty random. The featured sponsors are affiliate links or paid banner ads for products, causes, and services that I fully support & endorse. The Amazon book recommendations are books that I have personally selected and endorse 100%. And finally, the affiliate links that I embed within my posts/reviews are the things that I am most passionate about and promote above & beyond the rest. I will never include an affiliate link within a post unless I believe in it with my whole heart & highly recommend it to my readers.

The Big Pay Out
If you ask me why I write this blog and dedicate so much of my spirit to it—you’ll find that it truly has nothing to do with money. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: money does nothing to contribute to my (nor anyone else’s) happiness. This will be really apparent to you if you read any of my posts about minimalism or know me at all. My “big pay offs” come in other forms—words of gratitude, spiritual growth, my relationship with nature, and so on.

If I end up making money through this blog some day, that will be an added bonus that allows me to devote even more time here; and yes, that would make me very happy. I do not know if it will ever happen that way, but I am going to continue working really hard in that direction. I will continue to write posts from my heart & share as much great information/inspiration as I can find. I even have a few other plans coming up the pike for new features & even an e-book. And if all goes well, I will have one more enormous surprise to be revealed toward the end of this year. 😉

For now, I am so happy, so grateful, and so entirely humbled that you all have chosen to be a part of this space & a part of my tribe. I truly hope that this post has given you a better understanding about me & about evolution you. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

With all of my love——
Dena

Comments (7)

  • Forest

    April 30, 2010 at 7:01 am

    Nothing wrong with making cash for things you truly recommend. If readers trust you (which they do) they will have no issues with your recommendations.

    I’m nearly 3 years old, well my blog and I am close to making a surviving salary from it…. I have no problems with that and will continue to push quality content and revenue through hinest and transparent ways.

    1. Dena

      April 30, 2010 at 8:49 am

      @Forest – Thank you so much for your comment & more importantly, for your support. It means so much to be that even one person is behind me in this journey. I am so grateful to have this space & this ability to interact with such lovely people.

      I hadn’t realized that your blog was 3 years old — that is amazing. I can not imagine what a history and love you must have with it. I am really grateful to have you here & to have your guidance.

  • JR Moreau

    April 30, 2010 at 10:09 pm

    Dena, at one point I think lots of people set out to make a little dough on their blogs. A very small amount of people actually ever do. I tried and failed after years of effort. I got my traffic ridiculously high with SEO and what not… all I got was certain lessons on networking, blogging and the absolutely pleasure of writing to an actual audience out of it… was it worth it? Absolutely! 🙂

    Keep it up. Love your writing and positivity!

    1. Dena

      May 3, 2010 at 9:23 pm

      @JR – Thanks for the comment and for sharing your story. I’ve thought about messing with SEO & trying to generate more traffic, etc. However, I’ve decided against it for now. The way I feel is that what is meant to be will be. I have a plan to get much more active here in the not-so-distant future. For now, my focus is creating quality content & helping me people create happiness. If I start thinking about money too much, I know that could jeopardize my goals.

      Your kinds words mean so much to be, I am so glad that you like my writing & positivity. It is words like that, that make the effort I put into this all worth it. Thank you!

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