I have a bit of fear publishing a post diving into such topics as page views, money, and blogging…from a personal perspective, no less. You know me, though - touchy topic and I’ll suck it up and jump right in. Mainly in the hopes of opening up some good discussion and giving you a glimpse into my perspective on blogging and why I emphasize what I do.

super attractive action shot of me writing this very post

At the Healthy Living Summit conference, Ashley from the blog Coffee Cake and Cardio asked Lisa, Janetha, Beth, and I if we could give any specifics related to our blogging. I will own up to feeling like a deer caught in headlights in that moment.

I imagine that moment is when this picture was taken.

After some adequate time to think and mull this all over, I now have a lot I can discuss. So, let’s get the ball rolling!

In the discussion, I brought up that I have some blogging related goals. I don’t think I have ever shied away from the fact that I make a small amount of income from the blog. When I set out to start blogging, I did not have it in mind to earn a cent from this little hobby. I didn’t even know you could! I simply loved sharing my life and having a place to ramble about fitness with other like minded people.

With more time, I fell more in love with blogging, putting my story out there, and connecting with others. I signed up for BlogHer when they offered me a spot in their publishing network because I figured “why not”.

With time, I realized that this blogging venture could be something amazing for myself, as it continuously helps me grow as a person, and also for my family, giving me the opportunity to help support my family (even the smallest bit) financially in a flexible way that still allows me to be a mom first

I have goals to see my blog grow and develop for a few other reasons too:

• it will work in conjunction well with other goals I have (personal training)
• I truly believe God put blogging on my heart and that I’m meant to do it at this time in my life

As I blogged, time passed and this happened…

My little baby blog began to grow little bit by wee little bit and then hit steady increases in readership since April or May of this year. I won’t go into specifics, but I can tell you that my readership has increased 500% in the past year. You can decide if you think that means going from 100 to 500 page views a day or 100,000 to 500,000 a day. Although I can tell you right now it’s not even close to the latter. Haha! I laugh at the thought of that ever happening.

I think people have a skewed impression of my blog’s reach. In fact, I know some do. After some discussions with a few other bloggers, my thoughts were confirmed that people think I have a much larger readership than I do. I’m okay with that. Do you know why?

While I do have goals for my blog, I do not emphasize the numbers. I value the relationships, living out my passion, and sharing my story. I allow those things to grow my blog as they will in a natural way.

I only really keep track of my blog’s readership, so I can:

• know what works and what doesn’t in my blog’s layout
• understand the content you value most as a reader
• have accurate information to give companies who request the information
• see what ventures outside of writing my own posts most effectively use my time

Page views, subscribers, and my paycheck are never the goal for my blog.

Despite not coming close to comparing to some other bloggers’ statistics out there, I have found opportunities through blogging outside the publishing network via review programs and sponsorship opportunities. I cannot emphasize enough that I think these come because my goals for the blog lie in being real and building relationships.

Companies will work with me because they know I will work hard and that you and I have a bond *likethis*. They can see I care about what I share and how much I love you all. They notice the community I strive to create here in FFF-land as I hopefully encourage you while you motivate and inspire the heck out of me in return.

I think (and hope) my determination to keep this blog a place of positive community makes an impact – it may not always show up the highest page views, but it does show up in trust and connection. That’s what matters to me and what helps my blog reach expand. That is why I don’t get caught up and put too much time into the numbers game when it comes to blogging. I know I can only do what I do and then I have to trust God to take it where it is meant to go and reach just who it should reach.

I always say money (and with money, page views and all other related numbers) can't be the motivator behind blogging. I ask myself - if I wouldn't make a cent off my blog...would I still do it? And if that answer ever becomes "no", I will stop. Plain and simple.

I honestly blog because it is my passion and something I feel I need to do. This quote about sums it up for me:

I quite literally cannot go a day without thinking about FFF and you all.

That's my passion in blogging...that's why I do it. The passion. The connections. The deep down in my gut feeling of rightness. The fact that it can lead to opportunities to help support my family just acts as icing on the cake.

I never view you as page views, subscribers, or clicks to spike my checking account. I love YOU for reading. For supporting. For showing me I can trust God and His plans. For helping me to grow as a person day in and day out. Thank you for reading. I look forward to continuing this discussion in a post later this week or next that will focus on why I think my page views increased and more specifics in the goals I set for my blog. I hope you stay tuned!

• What is something you can’t go a day without thinking about?
• Do you have anything you want me to discuss in the next post?

And if interested in learning more about money and blogging - Katy has already done a wonderful post on different ways to earn revenue,

I hope you all had fabulous weekends! Mine was superb. Thanks to everyone who weighed in on my special decisions. I will have to get to the date night one in my next post, because in today’s post it’s all about recapping the special holiday. 🙂

Sunday morning, we all got purtied up for church service.

As I expected, going to worship on such a special day had me all emotional. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t tear up at an Easter service. I take that back – I actually tear up in many worship services. What can I say? God’s love never ceases to amaze me.

After church, we went out for brunch with my family.

We had coupons my family wanted to use to save some money. For IHOP. I never really had a problem with IHOP before, but it’s been awhile since I have eaten there. Let’s just say my tastes have changed. I hated it! I ordered the Nutella crepe which came with banana and topped with strawberries according to the menu. This is what I got…

The crepe may have tasted good. I don’t really know because all I tasted was strawberry juice with unnecessary whipped topping. Plus flimsy bacon with cold, dry eggs. Sound delicious? I ate it because it was 12:30 by this point and all I had eaten was a small bowl of cheerios 5 hours earlier. I just know that, from now on, I will go with my gut to pay the extra $10 for brunch at The Flying Biscuit. At least I had time with family!

An early dinner with Peter’s family made up for it all though. We did the normal Italian thing there with a large get together and copious amounts of pasta, salad, and sweets. I had some ravioli, garlic bread, half a spicy sausage, and some salad for my meal.

Then, we let things digest for awhile with lots of chatting, goofing around, and preparing for fun with the kiddies. More egg hunts! M has certainly caught on and was on a mission to fill her basket.

The day finally finished off with sweet treats. I ended up making the triple layer cookies & cream bars per Peter’s request and they seemed to be a hit again. I nabbed one for my plate, along with a vanilla cupcake with lemon frosting (courtesy of my sis-in-law), and a small bite of lemon cake.

I was actually happy that I didn’t overstuff myself with the sweets, which I can easily do on special occasions. I know I would have if sweets were what I had given up for Lent!Speaking of which, I wanted to finally share some things with you all.

For Lent, I gave up some of my morning “me time” and viewing blogging as more than a hobby. What does that mean? For starters, instead of waking up around 6 am to type up a morning blog post for the day, I traded in the blog writing for time in prayer or to read my Bible and devotional. That meant only having time during naps to prep posts…which in turn meant me dropping to posting typically only once per day instead of twice per day like often before.

During Lent I also gave up checking any and all blog stats. Page views, subscribers, ad revenue, etc. I had come to a place where I no longer cared about “building my blog” and I wanted to make certain my actions reflected that. My view of blog success had changed – because I admit to getting caught in the appeal of growing my readership - and I took the 40 days of Lent to solidify that change in perspective. To me, blog success has nothing to do with popularity and page views. Blog success for me is the following:

• having the opportunity to share my passions
• creating mutually beneficial relationships with readers/bloggers
• perhaps motivate someone in the process – to care for their health, grow closer in their relationship with God & Jesus, take on pregnancy with a fun approach, adopt a more positive daily attitude, etc

The past 40 days confirmed for me even more that while my path does involve blogging and sharing my story (from overcoming binging to my faith to motherhood to my weight loss), it is no longer my GOAL. My goal is to ever grow closer to the God who loves me. My goal is to have the strongest relationship I can with all my loved ones.

My goal is to live a healthy, fun-filled life. My goal is to inspire others to health and hopefully one day pursue something along the lines of personal training. Instead of trying to one day reach the point to blog for some income, I hope to continue living my life and fit blogging in where it will. The money it brings can simply add to my life – you know…funding things like races and blog conferences and dinners out. 😉

I guess what I’m trying to share is that Lent means so much more to me than going 40 days without something. It means sacrificing something so you can learn and grow during that time. I know I did. I hope, with or without Lent, you have strived to learn and grow personally too. And that you always strive for the most fulfilling life possible – whatever that may be to you!

• Heavy: What’s something important you have learned recently?
• Light: What was the best thing you ate this weekend?