Reflecting on the future of my blog

I am by nature a very introspective person. Before you say “wait a second, aren’t you an extrovert?”, let me tell you that both personality traits can be (and in my case are) compatible. Don’t be mistaken. I love flying “by the seat of my pants” when necessary (I did on Thursday) and have no qualms about doing things without thinking much about them. However, as a Virgo, I am analytical by nature. It’s also part of my job description. I ask questions, I look for answers, I find the empirical evidence to back up my claims.

This week, I have had a very, very, very intense work/socializing week. I attended Third Tuesday on Tuesday night, Green Drinks on Wednesday night, Vancouver Tweetup on Thursday night, and had the pleasure of going for drinks with a few blogo-friends (new term that I’ll describe in detail below) to the Tequila Kitchen last night. Today I have a brunch with CS (who is the significant other of one of my best friends, HZ), I’m supposed to meet with AF for crepes and tea at La Bretagne, have to come down to EPIC ’08 to do some live-coverage, and going for dinner with other blogo-friends (DKM and AM). Tomorrow, I have my usual volleyball and JT time routine, with the probability of a brunch somewhere in between, and will try to drop by a 4/20 rally downtown that Phaedra is attending.

Of course, most likely I’ll need to work from home on Monday because I’ll need a break from so much socializing. Yes, even hummingbirds get tired. Which leads me back again to the title of my post. This week, I have been reflecting A LOT on where my blog is headed. My readership has increased steadily, even breaking my own record (when I liveblogged Michael Geist’s lecture) by a good 4 unique views. I know I’m nowhere near the readership of many, many local bloggers, but my writing is getting out there and people seem to be liking what I write.

I need to decide if I’m going to take the next step. I recently shared this idea with Rebecca, with whom I discuss many of my thoughts and ideas on blogging, and who kindly has offered advice and tips when she thinks she can help. I also have grown to develop a very good friendship with Phaedra, and while we were at Tequila Kitchen, shared my thoughts on this issue. And since I haven’t had a chance to talk in person to many of my other blogo-friends, I wanted to share these thoughts with the blogosphere, first looking for feedback and comments, and second looking to examine my thinking (as someone would say, “thinking out loud”).

So here is the thing. My blog is a personal blog. I write about my journey through life in Vancouver and I pepper it with restaurant reviews, movie reviews, some political commentary, pretty pictures, etc. My blog is not monetized (although I have thought about it, and I have seen lots of local blogs who insert ads and are still very classy) and it isn’t a corporate blog. This blog is about Raul and his life in Vancouver, and how his life is inextricably intertwined with that of his friends, new friends and family. That’s pretty much what this blog is about.

A couple of weeks ago, I started feeling the need to upgrade, in many ways. First, my laptop died (I still haven’t contacted eMachines to see if they might be willing to toss a new laptop in my direction). Then, I just had too many pictures in my Flickr account so I had to upgrade to Flickr Pro. And then, I have started to have more of a physical *and* online presence on the blogosphere (I started twittering and if you are so inclined, you can follow me as @hummingbird604) and participating in MANY more social media events. And to top it all off, I went to an absolutely AMAZING party that Tanya organized at her place, which included many local bloggers. At this party, I met many blogo-friends that I had just had very positive and sweet interactions over email AND our respective blogs (some of these wonderful people include Corinna and Adam, MJ Ankenman and Colleen Coplick).

So you’ll see, even though I am very well connected in the environmental field, I am becoming much more connected in the social media field. I want to be able to bring them both together, to make my currently personal writing mesh with my future professional career (as I am in the process of assessing my career path).

THE QUESTIONS THAT I AM MULLING OVER

Basically, I am trying to decide on the next steps for my blog, IF AND ONLY IF I decide to take them. In my view, these steps are as follows:

a) Buy the domain for http://www.hummingbird604.com – that, of course, requires shelling out the cash that I’m not 100% sure I can shell out right this very moment.
b) Upgrade both of my computers (desktop and laptop) and POSSIBLY go Mac. I see how much easier my friends’ lives are with their MacBooks and stuff, I am sure I could adapt.
c) Come out publicly with my last name and include it on my blog. This would mean that a LOT of my personal information would be on the blogosphere, something I’m not 100% sold on.
d) Possibly monetize my blog. Obviously, I wouldn’t expect this to be a steady source of income, but … whatever.
e) Upgrade my technical skills (including learning to code PHP and all that jazz).
f) Geekify myself (I just made up that word, and submitted it to the Urban Dictionary for consideration). That is, I will probably need to upgrade to several levels and scales, including maybe buying an iPhone, or a relatively more sophisticated cell phone (right now I don’t have one). You could argue that that’s the same as (b) but I don’t agree.

I think that geekifying myself would require going beyond what I estimated was my original baseline for blogging. So far, thanks to the kind help of many people (including, but not limited to, Rebecca, Nomade Moderne, Arjana to name a few) my blog is where it is right now. I am very proud of where my blog is now and what I have accomplished, and as Sir Isaac Newton put it, “if I have seen a little further, it’s been because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”.

THUS, IN CLOSING…

As I was wrapping up this conversation with Phaedra last night, I told her what I told Rebecca on Thursday, and my Mom on Wednesday. NOBODY can make this decision for me. I value (and I make a point to tell every one from whom I seek advice) their advice, but only I can decide what is best for me. Rebecca was in fact the one person who brought up the issue of buying the domain for Hummingbird604.com (it was SO cute to hear Lisa say “I can’t believe that I am sitting in the same table as Miss604!” on Thursday at the Vancouver Tweetup). I completely agree with Rebecca. If I want to be recognized as ‘the brand’ Hummingbird604, I might need to switch from a WordPress.com hosted blog to actually going all the way to http://www.Hummingbird604.com. For example, a few other great blogs out there are .com – Maktaaq.com and GusGreeper.com, to give you just two examples. John Bollwitt recently switched from being Audihertz to now JohnBollwitt.com. John Biehler (who was in Hawaii with his wife for a much deserved vacation) is also .Com.

So, the question is out there, and any and all advice will be gladly received, either via e-mail (hummingbird604[a]gmail.com, substitute [a] for @) or Twitter (@hummingbird604) or in person at one of the WordPress camps, Third Tuesdays, Green Drinks and the myriad of other social engagements I have. Thank you in advance.