September 14, 2007
Who am I?
Hello, I am Dawn, and I will be your tour guide today here at The Dana Files.
In the last six months I started a blog because she made me, I have had one of these, was rocked by how I felt about it, and moved cross country with my husband to a place where we knew NO. ONE.
My blog started out private, and then I decided to throw caution to the wind and join the public world of blogging. I have been going through a bit of an identity crisis, so forgive me as I use y’all as the sounding board for my identity crisis cure.
(I so can’t believe Dana trusted me with actual responsibility. Joey Lawrence style “Whoa!”)
There are so. many. blogs. out there. I have hundreds in my reader. Hundreds. What I’ve learned is that most blend together into some kind of Queen of Suburban Wanna Lose Weight Soccer Mom-dom blur. We all have a lot in common. Which is A-Ok. We share common stories, and this motherhood thing is pretty universal.
Being the same can suck if there is a goal of creating a reader base, if the refresh button keeps getting hit on Feedburner to see what the reach is, if there are ads that only make money when they are viewed or clicked on. Then, blending in a big ole blur? … possibly not what we want.
From what I can tell, we are blogging for any or all of three reasons:
1) Community – because seriously, there’s a whole bunch of stuff we don’t want our MILs advice on … and we can always use more people to listen to our MIL stories…. which takes me to
2) Entertainment – we like to entertain people through our writing, and in return we get a charge out of people commenting and entertaining us back, cheap entertainment, which is good considering we need
3) Revenue – ads, or pay per post or reviews, if there is money to be made, then we want to be pocketing some of it ourselves.
Of all the blogs I read, I can think of one that stands out as unique from any other. Take a guess which one I’m thinking of and then click here to see if you read my mind.
Now, of course she’s living 20 miles from anywhere on a ranch with her hawt husband. So, she’s different from the start. Then there’s the photos, the contests, the cooking, the Ethel Merman, the 4 homeschooled ranch punks, the burps, and the totally self deprecating sense of humor. THEN, she’s even apparently really freaking NICE, AND shows a total interest in her readers. AND she answers email. (I sent her email one time b/c I realized I was looking at her cow photos while I was pumping for the baby, I thought that was really funny, so I wrote and told her so. She replied. I felt like I’d been noticed by a celebrity.) The three words I would use as a description of PW are: photos, ranch, punks. When I think of her site, I have a picture in my mind immediately of what that site is about (fortunately the calf nuts and preg testing don’t stay in my mind too long – effective mental floss I have.)
No pun intended, but what has happened with PW is called branding. You know what you are getting with her, and she rarely strays from the central theme of her blog. Lucky for her, it’s unique so it does make her more memorable. However, she’s just so damn cute and lovable that I think she could write out her grocery list and I would be entertained. I’m not alone.
Branding. This is what I’ve been mulling in my own mind. Mostly because I really want new banner swag for my site, and I think I should have a vision of just what my site is about before I spend any more money, and before I get a shiny new piece of bling that is supposed to represent my site. I also think that if I want people to read my site, that I should consistently give readers something of value. This is my lamest, most pointless post, ever. I mean, seriously, yawn. I might as well have listed how many diapers I changed that day.
I’d love it if when people saw kaiseralex.com, that there was an immediate connection to exactly which blog that was, which voice, which stories, which cast of crazy ass characters. My first step to this is to figure out just who I am. (Did I just channel Dr. Phil?)
I am:
The Mom (After all, the blog is titled Alex Year One. I can’t really ignore the Mom part of things. Unless he’s actually sleeping. Or the gypsies finally answer my phone calls.)
Retro-Progressive (This sounds way cooler than I actually am, but after I titled what I was doing Gen X Grandma Values, I found this term and figured I’d try it on for size.)
Appreciative (I love people total strangers taking time out of their life to read what I write. That’s a large Keanu Reeves style “whoa” for me. I also appreciate that people continually put themselves out there, busting their butts or their balls or their boobs to survive this parenthood thing. That people are trying to make something a little better than it was before. I’m trying to give props where deserved, and support where needed. We’re all looking for friendly faces, I’m trying to be that. Frankly, I also need the good karma points, because I keep flipping people off in traffic, and I’m pretty sure Alex’s first word will be f@ck.)
If I use this these three ideas to guide what I write about, it should save us all from me posting something that belongs in a diaper.
That’s me, who are you? I’d love to get to know you.
Posted by dawn224 @ 6:00 AM • Blog Exchange
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September 14th, 2007 at 8:10 AM, Red Says:
Excellent thoughts:)
My law firm has just spent a fortune on branding — it’s clearly the hot buzz-word right now. Of course, my 10th grad e Engligh teacher would have given the same advice and called it finding a “theme” (or possibly “topic sentences” — the bane of my paperwriting past).
So, how did you come to be the Dana Files tour guide today?
September 14th, 2007 at 8:32 AM, dana Says:
Dawn, thank you so much for guest posting today! And I love the “Whoa!” I’m still giggling.
Branding is such a hot topic, especially with mommybloggers. We just want to make a little revenue doing what we love! Writing!
September 14th, 2007 at 11:05 AM, Jean Says:
I’m coming out of lurkdom to ask What’s Happened to PW? She hasn’t posted in a week or so? I have to have my Pioneer Woman fix!
September 14th, 2007 at 7:33 PM, Mary G Says:
I don’ think this is awkward at all. You make good points — some similar to the BlogRhet meme, but uniquely packaged. Love it!
September 14th, 2007 at 8:00 PM, seejanemom Says:
When my stats starting popping from BLOGHER, I was curious and slightly thrilled. I was HONORED to be included in your Conservative Women’s Blogger round-up article. TRULY.
When I discovered blogging, I was reading dooce and mightygirl. I think Maggie Mason is a doll, an AMAZING writer and a Lady. She once replied to a comment I left (a RARITY!) and thanked me for my husband’s service (he’s a Marine) and told me how she admired me as a military wife.
I was saddened when I realized that most all of the amazing writers that I was finding AT FIRST were not of my flavor, politically speaking. As much as I couldn’t agree with them, I admired some the Bloghers style and talent very, very much.I knew they would NEVER have a place for me.
So I went in search of, and found what is the premiere Conservative women blogger’s group on the Net>>THE COTILLION. It is BY INVITATION ONLY and we boast Mary Katharine Ham as a charter member.
I see that you found us too, as you linked many of my sisters. And you linked many on the Right certainly worthy of the coveted tiara
.
AGAIN, let me say thank you for spanning the gap between the Left and the Rightosphere with such subjective grace.
The email I gave is my main and “secret” box, and I would value any thoughts you might wish to send my way.
Most kindly,
C. Jane Stewart
http://www.seejanemom.com
P.S.>>>that morning puke guilt???>>>SOOOoo done thAt. Made me want to call D.S.S. on MYSELF, it really did!
September 15th, 2007 at 9:47 PM, Amber Says:
I am Crazy.
I Blog.
And I am a Canuck.
Any guesses?
September 16th, 2007 at 8:28 AM, LuAnn Says:
I am an Invisible Woman, wife and homeschooling mother of 3, living in small-town Kentucky and working at a residential/teaching facility for adults with MR/DD.