Welcome to Something for Nothing

Many of you know that I was one of the first bloggers to sign up with PayPerPost. In fact, I believe I was the 61st blogger. Am I happy with my decision to sign up with PayPerPost? Absolutely!! I love being part of the PayPerPost community. I’ve made a ton of blogging friends and made a chunk of change.

Well, one day about 2-3 months ago PayPerPost did an upgrade to their blogger dashboard (in fact, really created the blogger dashboard). One of the major parts of the blogger dashboard was a list of the top 10 bloggers according to how much they had earned. Well, it turns out that my name was near the top of the list. I was surprised and excited at the prospect of being at the top of the list. I don’t exactly know why. PayPerPost didn’t even put links to our blogs on the dashboard, so there was no traffic gain for being on the list. The reality was that no one even knew who was on the list.

I can only attribute my desire to be on the list to the fact that it’s a great feeling to be at the top of any list. Translation: PRIDE. I think many PayPerPost bloggers will understand this feeling. Let’s just say that this feeling pervaded my blogging over the past 2-3 months. I was driven to stay at the top.

Well, a week or two ago I hit a wall. I realized that I was blogging to stay on top and make more money. That wasn’t fun anymore. I’d done that. Sure, I can use the extra money. Sure, it is fun to be on top. However, I hated the feeling that I HAD to blog each and every day. In fact, I had to blog 3-6 times each and every day. Now all you naysayers out there shouldn’t read into what I’m saying. No, I never sold out on my blog. Everything I’ve written on my blog I’ll stand behind. In fact, my blog readers got all sorts of great stories that they never would have heard otherwise, if it weren’t for PayPerPost. I think I found some pretty creative ways to integrate PayPerPost in my blog. In fact, my wife and I would often discuss how I integrated it into my blog.

All I can say is that I’m glad I nearly stopped blogging for a couple weeks so I could fall of the PayPerPost leaderboard. In fact, I was falling so quickly on the leaderboard that one super-nice postie (I still hate that term) messaged me, asking if I was ok.

My answer is, “I couldn’t be better!”

Dropping off the PayPerPost leaderboard has been liberating for me. The one thing I hate most in life is being forced to do something. Ask the two people who know me best, my wife and my mother, and they will tell you that one thing that makes my blood boil is being forced to do something. Being on the PayPerPost leaderboard made me feel like I was forced to blog every night. I know I still had a choice, but my pride didn’t want me to drop from the leaderboard.

Well, I’ve turned my back on my pride and dropped off the leaderboard. That doesn’t mean I’ve stopped blogging. It also doesn’t mean I don’t love PayPerPost. In fact, to the contrary. I still love both of them. In fact, now I love them even more. I’m just focusing more on what I really love most. Traffic and content.

If you don’t believe me, then check out all my blogs:
Smuggle Me
Something for Nothing
EMR and HIPAA
BYU Sports
Lynn Family Blog
Sports Fundraising
So You Think You Can Dance
Cambrian House Blog - Spoil My Spouse
Original Something for Nothing
Personal Journal Blog (You wouldn’t be able to access it even if there was a link)
and a few more not worth noting.