They say, "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater". The "baby" here is my new blog at jennifercote.org.
But I had to throw out the bathwater; the "bathwater" being: Old posts
on this outdated "Foodie Blog at PC Cuisine". I transferred them to
Wordpress first, as it seemed like I had gathered quite a wealth of
information since I started this blog in 2006. (Some of those posts are
handy for reference, even for myself!)
And it's going to be a long process, organizing those posts. But it made sense, despite the extra work. For years now, I've almost had what could appear to be this Jekyll and Hyde identity. Here at the "foodie blog", I would post on food-related interests. But I didn't want to alienate the average foodie, right? So I would post on Christian topics over at another blog.
It's hard being two different people: Jennifer Cote the chef/owner of The New Deli Cafe, and Jennifer Cote, the Christian. They are one and the same person!
To my shame, I suppose I imagined that I could "market" the foodie blog, appealing to the masses, keeping it strictly about food. I'd put up those AdSense ads to gain monetary support (if only so I could support my favorite Christian charities)...
I've averaged about a dollar a day from the advertising, during the good seasons. Then there are the ho-hum seasons when I've made less than that. I guess I can thank God for the meager earnings; it might be harder to discontinue the foodie alter ego if big money was at stake.
But I don't have much to lose by letting go of the extra advertising income. I could put ads on my new site, but I'm really getting tired of the whole advertising thing. Maybe a backlash is even impending? This attitude could change at some point in the future, but for now, I like going to my new site and not seeing those same old ads.
But back to the bathwater. So...I'm throwing out vain attempts to draw in traffic by catering to a secular world. Now, I have a Christian friend in marketing who has suggested that I keep my blogger account; it's a tempting suggestion, as he's probably right. The google search engine LOVES blogger! (All in the family, right?) So I might suffer some on search result pages, if the google search engine favors its own blogger sites when directing traffic. Alas, I may sacrifice some traffic...
But the bathwater is getting dirty. Although there may be many completely sincere food bloggers out there, I was beginning to feel like my posts could potentially be nothing more than futile attempts at self-promotion. I might not post here because I was inspired, but because I figured I had to, to keep the traffic coming in. I become a slave to a chore list of posting content that I think contains those magic keywords, instead of just posting what comes from my heart.
So now, about that baby: I created jennifercote.org as a place where I could really be me. I could be a Christian who puts God first, and food somewhere farther down that list. I'm not a real "foodie"; I just want to share the recipes I'm actually making for friends and family, because those recipes are healthy, easy-to-make, delicious, or all of the above! AND, I want to be able to post here and there about a favorite Bible verse, or a lesson God's teaching me.
No more slave to some self-inflicted, ambitious attempt at SEO search engine optimization. IF folks find me on this world wide web, and find that they like what I'm talking about (and even want to join in, comment, etc.), then hurrah! I must be on the right track.
On the other hand, if my website just slides into oblivion, that's OK too. I don't think it means I'm on the wrong track; just that: God must have other plans for me. And that's all right!
And it's going to be a long process, organizing those posts. But it made sense, despite the extra work. For years now, I've almost had what could appear to be this Jekyll and Hyde identity. Here at the "foodie blog", I would post on food-related interests. But I didn't want to alienate the average foodie, right? So I would post on Christian topics over at another blog.
It's hard being two different people: Jennifer Cote the chef/owner of The New Deli Cafe, and Jennifer Cote, the Christian. They are one and the same person!
To my shame, I suppose I imagined that I could "market" the foodie blog, appealing to the masses, keeping it strictly about food. I'd put up those AdSense ads to gain monetary support (if only so I could support my favorite Christian charities)...
I've averaged about a dollar a day from the advertising, during the good seasons. Then there are the ho-hum seasons when I've made less than that. I guess I can thank God for the meager earnings; it might be harder to discontinue the foodie alter ego if big money was at stake.
But I don't have much to lose by letting go of the extra advertising income. I could put ads on my new site, but I'm really getting tired of the whole advertising thing. Maybe a backlash is even impending? This attitude could change at some point in the future, but for now, I like going to my new site and not seeing those same old ads.
But back to the bathwater. So...I'm throwing out vain attempts to draw in traffic by catering to a secular world. Now, I have a Christian friend in marketing who has suggested that I keep my blogger account; it's a tempting suggestion, as he's probably right. The google search engine LOVES blogger! (All in the family, right?) So I might suffer some on search result pages, if the google search engine favors its own blogger sites when directing traffic. Alas, I may sacrifice some traffic...
But the bathwater is getting dirty. Although there may be many completely sincere food bloggers out there, I was beginning to feel like my posts could potentially be nothing more than futile attempts at self-promotion. I might not post here because I was inspired, but because I figured I had to, to keep the traffic coming in. I become a slave to a chore list of posting content that I think contains those magic keywords, instead of just posting what comes from my heart.
So now, about that baby: I created jennifercote.org as a place where I could really be me. I could be a Christian who puts God first, and food somewhere farther down that list. I'm not a real "foodie"; I just want to share the recipes I'm actually making for friends and family, because those recipes are healthy, easy-to-make, delicious, or all of the above! AND, I want to be able to post here and there about a favorite Bible verse, or a lesson God's teaching me.
No more slave to some self-inflicted, ambitious attempt at SEO search engine optimization. IF folks find me on this world wide web, and find that they like what I'm talking about (and even want to join in, comment, etc.), then hurrah! I must be on the right track.
On the other hand, if my website just slides into oblivion, that's OK too. I don't think it means I'm on the wrong track; just that: God must have other plans for me. And that's all right!
