Where's the beef?

I understand that many blogs are profitable - some insanely so - that the owner(s)/writer(s) live off these blogs. Some of these profitable blogs have professional content, which gives value to readers in that particular field of interest, others are filled with inane - tantalizingly so, even bordering on the pornographic. These, I suppose, give value to readers and lookers too.

This blog isn't one of these profitable ones. It is more a labour of love. 5 years ago, after I left my last job and began my current one, I promised myself, and rather bravely told some others, that I wanted to do some writing. And I mean serious writing. Well, I somewhat achieved that, having a piece of work published in a digital media. But, sadly, it was a one-off thing, as I found that my current work demands just as much effort and time as my last, maybe even more. I used to move around more in my last job, but I now push more 'papers' across my desk. Sigh. Blogging is more of a personal thing but about writing no less. I have taken pleasure in doing so for the last 2 and a half years. My first post goes back to 24 July 2005, when Singapore was in the midst of its greatest controversy over the National Kidney Foundation's practices.

But blogging does 'suck' away a lot of my time, so much so that I have a whole backlog of things that remains undone. Some of these have to do with more writing (of another 'more serious' genre) and others having to do with another type of creative writing. I have always read voraciously, but have slackened in this 'department' also.

What is the occasion for this reminiscing? Simply because I just cross my first US$100 in Adsense earnings. US$100.70 to be exact as of this writing and Google will be sending me a check (cheque) towards that amount. You earn US$100 after 2+ years of effort? That's hardly 11 cents a day, and all this time, Google's stock has skyrocketed to well over US$600 a share. (For the un-initiated, Google owns Adsense). Worst, US$100 was worth more 2 and a half years ago, so my earnings actually depreciated while my blogging effort remained unabated. Inflation has eaten away a whole chunk of value. How I wished I would be paid in Euros or Aussie dollar instead of the once almightly Dollar. Talk about a losing proposition. But I console myself that my blogging is a labour of love, so monetary gain is secondary.

Let me go think about how I would want to spend US$100. Probably a luxury dinner for the family. At least I can tell my child how difficult it is to earn a living as he gobbles down my 2+ year's worth of labour...


Source image: www.morguefile.com