Counting: 8 Ways to Keep Your Blogging Life Simple

It occurred to me yesterday that I needed to simplify my blogging life...a lot!  Passwords, social media and time spent maintaining might be sucking the life out of me and the payback is not worth it.

I do earn a little money from my Adsense account linked to me blog and an Amazon account (which I would love you to visit) but it has come time to remind myself why I began blogging back over 8 years ago.

The blogging idea was so appealing...I could see my words in print, tell stories and even share pictures I had taken of faraway places. Best of all the thrill of having even one reader put me over the moon.

I loved the process of writing and learning while I was doing it. It never occurred to me that people would want to use my blog to promote their products. When they did, I jumped at the chance. However, when that happened, I then felt the need to promote my blog more. Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and even following followers took over the computer time that I had been spending just enjoying writing.

And it turned out Google really doesn't want me to use my blog to make money unless it is through Adsense. Even when I linked to a business for no money but simply to share information, Google asked the business to remove the links! It was getting just too twisted for me to deal with on a daily basis. So my blogging life is changing for the better I think.

Here is what I have done so far:

1. I have withdrawn my option to promote any businesses with a link on my blog and will just support those businesses that have used the blog up until now. That was big step for me. It was a relief!
2. I do not participate in Linkedin. They were contacting people on my email list without my permission and it became embarrassing after a time. Plus I did not see that it helped me at all.
3. I now use Facebook almost entirely for promoting my blog with friends, contacts and family. I do not post anything personal or an update of my day to day activities there. In fact, I use private pages that different groups have to post questions or special blog titles that those groups may find helpful. That has turned out to be a very positive change.
4. I have blog articles automatically posted on Facebook and Google. I never think about it at all.
5. There is a need for a hard heart. Sometimes it is a good idea to be less visible. I block people on my Facebook account...especially if they seem to be lurking. I just don't want anyone following me like a needy dog or even contacting me there instead of using email or calling. I generally tell the person that I am not going to be a visible so they will know what I have done. 
6. The passwords needed to be dealt with. What a pain in the neck those have turned out to be. I have actually found that doing things the old fashioned way can be less bothersome than trying to do everything online. A simple phone call can suffice in a lot of cases and I don't need a password to do that.
7. Restraint in my blogging life is all about actually never signing up with anything new that requires a passwords or even more of my attention. Honestly, I don't want to join every website I visit. It drives me nuts! In fact, some websites may be losing business because they require a password to even take a look at their products. I will pass thank-you-very-much.
8. I am now using that unsubscribe option...a lot. While I don't want to live in a vacuum, I don't feel the need to see a newsletter from anyone more than once a month. If I get them anymore frequently I unsubscribe. TMI is not good for me. 

Now I am back to simply writing about what interests me on a daily basis. The series on "counting" is one new twist I have added. Numbers appeal to me somehow so I thought why not pursue it FOR AS LONG AS IT INTERESTS ME.

I will continue to use Adsense advertising so my readers can click on products linked to what I write about.  I love my Amazon affiliate account and would love it if you began to buy your Amazonproducts through me...including Amazon Prime which turns out to be the best deal around if you order online. I will keep my twitter account (barbblogtwits) and Facebook because they are very simple once I got it under control. But that will be it...for now.

Do you have any ideas about how to make your online life simpler? I would love to hear them.

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