This is the quandary that I have been in these last few months: Time, as they say, is money. The end product might not seem like it, however, this blog takes up a goodly amount of time. There is the writing, research, taking pictures, editing, and whatnot. Then there is back-end stuff, updating software, plugins, etc.
Then there is actual money expended: domain registration and website hosting.
In short, it is not free, at least not for me anyway.
I did place a few Google Ads in line with some of the content to offset the money part, which they have met that goal, but not much else.
While it is nice to have a hobby, and fun to tell stories about radio engineering, in the end, it really does not help me earn more money, support my family, advance my carrier, or my standing in the community. The children are young, but that will not stay that way for long. Before I know it there will be braces to pay for, a car or two, a college education, and whatever comes after that. Not to mention my own superannuation to look forward to, with such considerations as adding to the retirement account.
There is another shift in my status coming up, with my wife off to work again as a school teacher. I find there are not enough hours in the day to work the part-time radio engineering gig and meet the school bus to offload the children. Therefore, something has to give, that being the part-time radio engineering gig.
I am, therefore, looking for ways to make money at home. Developing this blog or turning it into a full-fledged radio engineering news website might be fun, but it would be much more work, and there is the rub. I can’t do more work on this site without seeing some return. I don’t mind working, in fact, I enjoy working, but I can’t do it for free.
So, I am open to ideas on how to monetize this blog or develop it into something else that will make some money. The third option is to let it go… I’d rather not do that.
A set of options as I see it:
1) Drop it completely. As you say, that would be a shame. This type of site is a rarity. Hosted by someone who’s “BTDT” (been there, done that) but who can also communicate well.
2) Share the load. Find someone else whom (a) you get along with, (b) is in the same business as you and (c) would like to share some of the responsbilities. If you’ve ever been to “Blackfive” (http://www.blackfive.net), that’s what I mean. They post on matters relating to the military. If you could find someone else in your business who would like to post articles similar to yours, you’d be in business.
3) Cut back how much you’re doing. For someone who is doing this solo (as you appear to be), getting an update every day WOULD be quite an effort. So cut back. If you update once a week, again, for a site of this type, I would see that as sufficient. Just find a pace that you’re comfortable with.
4) A combination of the above.
I have no ideas for the monetizing part. That one is definitely. Not. Easy.
What are the costs of hosting? There must be a way of “horse-trading” bandwidth out there??
Cut down on the daily additions, to One a Week.
That would be a start, right?
Truth be told, the hosting is not that much, at least or unless the traffic picks up, then of course there will be bandwidth considerations. I could cut the posting back, that might happen, but for right now, I am content to let ‘er rip. I work ahead and generally have about 4-5 posts ready to go on any given day. If something important happens, I try to move that to the head of the line.
In any case, I have received a few interesting e-mails and good suggestions. Stay tuned.
I noticed an amusing (perhaps intentional?) Freudian slip: “… advance my carrier ….” I guess that is what radio engineers do. Many of the rest of us think about advancing our careers.
@Dale, that is hilarious, I must be typing too many technical articles…