Who Else Has Started A New Blog Recently?

[The Honest Dollar]

Thanks, y'all! I'm doing my best to stick to a schedule and providing good, solid content. This is the most time I've put into anything outside of work, but I can say that it's sooooo rewarding and a great learning experience for me too.

amandajane, your header makes me want to dash out for a muffin pan. Too bad it's midnight. I am going to scour your blog for recipes.

[jhanseth]

Honest Dollar, I really like your blog! The post you have up top right now (about Bill Me Later and so on) is really well-written and USEFUL, even for savvy internet users. Nicely done. Consider me subscribed!

I started a food blog in November, listed in my signature. So far it's going well, though I'm getting sick of the minimalist design and have to resist the urge to tweak it!

[Jess]

I also have been reading your website, Honest Dollar. Looking good! You've got some interesting reads.

I just started a new blog, instead of reviving my old one. It's kind of a mix between food/recipes, books, and bare bones personal finance, although I haven't posted but two entries thus far. The link's in my signature if anyone's interested!

[Joanne]

Jess, good luck on your new blog.

[triathing]

My blog was about triathlon training, but I messed up my shoulder over the summer, so it's now mostly about sustainability. Our goal is to raise at least 50 percent of our food over the next year. We've got about 60 chickens and are buying a half-dozen spring piglets later in the year. We'll put in a decent-sized garden and are looking at some semi-dwarf fruit trees (apple, cherry, peach) and possibly a beehive or two.

Lisa, my wife, also raises Angora rabbits for the fur; she spins, knits and weaves a good amount of our winter clothing. She'll be in charge of the pigs and garden, and I'll hopefully handle the chickens, bees and trees.

We're currently negotiating with a publisher for a book on sustainability for people who don't want to homestead but who might want to go a step beyond replacing some light bulbs and buying a Prius.

Check it out at Diary of a Mad Triathlete

[The Honest Dollar]

Quite a few food bloggers on here, eh? And all your sites look delicious!

[Jess]

Thanks, Joanne!

Also, Honest Dollar, I love your blog. I spent some time tonight perusing your archives before subscribing via RSS. Keep up the fantastic work!

This is slightly off-topic but related to the blog world: How do you feel about blogs that "multitask," as in they cover a multitude of topics (e.g. personal finance and/or frugality, books, design, etc.). I'm delving back into blogging, and I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to start a personal finance/frugality blog just as a standalone or to combine it. I'm worried it might become muddled and unfocused if I maintain all the topics I enjoy discussing. Any opinions?

[Caitlin]

Originally Posted by Jess

This is slightly off-topic but related to the blog world: How do you feel about blogs that "multitask," as in they cover a multitude of topics (e.g. personal finance and/or frugality, books, design, etc.). I'm delving back into blogging, and I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to start a personal finance/frugality blog just as a standalone or to combine it. I'm worried it might become muddled and unfocused if I maintain all the topics I enjoy discussing. Any opinions?

I think multi-topic blogs can work, however I also feel it's important for everything to at least have a similar underlying theme. Otherwise it can get too confusing for some readers. Blogs can cover a huge amount of topics, but "pro" bloggers tend to focus on one thing and make sure all of their posts touch on that topic in some way. How to make money online, how to blog, how to cook, parenting blogs, these are all incredibly general subjects, but the most successful bloggers tie all their posts into their main theme. A cooking blogger can certainly post about money or books, but they'd likely do it in a way that directly related to cooking (e.g. by reviewing cooking books, or talking about how to decrease the cost of expensive recipes).

While personal finance and frugality can go hand in hand easily, adding general books and design into the mix could make it look like your blog has no focus. Perhaps you could talk about money-related books, and how to pull off expensive looking designs for cheap? Also, what kind of design do you mean? Graphic, web, structural, interior, etc?

However, it mainly depends on what you want your blog to do. Who is your target audience? The people reading personal finance blogs might not be interested in web (or home) design, and vice versa.

[Jess]

Thanks for the recommendation, Caitlin. Since I posted to the thread, I've been thinking seriously about my focus (and have been working on a plan). More details on that soon! But all of what you said makes a lot of sense. Thanks! I'm copying and pasting that into my "blog planning" document, so I remember to keep my focus.

[Michelle Dawn]

I've been thinking a lot about blog content lately too. I just posted for the second time on my new blog and I am afraid that the content might not be what some people are looking for. The title, Frugal Parenting, sounds a little limiting because althought the focus is going to be primarily on my new role as a mother (I'm due in April) I want to discuss lots of other PF and non-parenting frugal ideas.