Twelve years a blogger..

I have had this blog since late 2002. Before that I had a personal blog talking about myself and what not. Back then a blog was like Facebook is today only you only got to see one person talk at a time. I would share things on my blog that I see others share on FB now. I know because I've been attempting to clean up the old posts, making sure links work, photos aren't broken, etc, and I'm a little amazed at what I see.

I figured it was time for a little self reflection

A few years ago I went to my first BlogPaws convention.  I am not quite sure why I went. I guess it had something to do with seeing more and more people make money from their blogs and become independent; I had an inkling that I would so very much love that. I had also met a few other cat bloggers when I went to Hills to tour their plant and I had really enjoyed talking to other people who love their cats enough to blog about them. I had come to the wonderful conclusion that cat bloggers are freakin awesome and I wanted to spend as much time with them as I could.

Truth be told, I was disheartened by my first trip to the blogging conference in regards to the conference itself. It felt like it was more for the 'professional blogger' and were talking about things I hadn't done and probably never would. I'm not sure what they could have done in 1 hour classes that could have improved my little hobby blog, so I guess I really am kinda bloggin in the wind if you will.

At the conference I also saw an over abundance of the dogcenteric focus that is so prevalent in the pet industry - despite the infamous cat ladies (and fellas) tried their best to remind everyone that this was a PET conference.. Sadly all too often pet has come to equal dog.. and I just hate that. (don't even get me started on BarkWorld which seemed far more cat friendly the year before) Not that I hate dogs. I have just come to the belief that they do not need the advocates that cats do. Cats are still considered disposable animals in our society. They are the pet of the crazy person. Cats are destructive and disgusting and aloof and mean..

oh goodness I can't even type that out without shouting in my head THEY ARE NOT!!

So anyway.. I walked away from that conference wondering what my goals were and I wanted to do with this blog, and the only answers I came up with in the two years since have been: 

• I wanted to share the joy and beauty and love that is the cat.
• I wanted to make money with my blog.
• I did not want to sell out.

I joined the BlogPaws blog share programs where you help other bloggers by visiting and commenting or liking and basically showing up. I have met some wonderful bloggers through that and read some incredibly interesting posts. I have also come to the conclusion that #3 on that list is pretty important to me. I have stumbled upon far too many blogs that appear to be simply infomercials with one pitch after another. I have no trust or faith in what they are sharing with me because they pitch constantly. To me a blog is not an ongoing commercial nor should it be.

Do you know how sponsored posts started? The reason sponsored posts came into being is because back in the day someone with a blog with a lot of readers one day said "OEMGEE I found this product and I LOVE this product, it does just what it says it does and it is awesome!"  We have all had those moments right? Well back then there was trust in the blogger when they said something like this and people rushed out and bought the product if they had such a need..  When brands figured out what was going on, they started offering free product to popular bloggers hoping they would fall in love with them and would blog about it. Then marketers started asking for a blog post about the product in exchange for a product.. then it was we'll pay you to blog about it and then... infomercials.. here say this and we'll pay you.

Well the FTC (Federal Trade Commission - who is in the business of protecting the consumer) realized that a lot of people were being subjected to these 'commercials' but had no idea they were commercials.. that is when they started cracking down on sponsored posts and requiring that people label their posts sponsored or advertisements. This started with the "mommy bloggers" and the "fashion bloggers" because there is a boat load of money to be made with those types of products.

Cats and dogs, not so much.

There are a few big powerhouses of Big Pet Products that are sinking a lot of money into pet bloggers, and sadly most of those are business I simply do not want to do business with. So it pretty much comes down to my third item on that list is really number one.

I have decided that I am an old school blogger.. and I choose the definition of that based on the definition of the term:

Blog: a Web site that contains online personal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer; also : the contents of such a site

So I am the person who authors a website that contains personal reflections, comments and hyperlinks ;) and a few million photos.. in a series of reverse chronological order posts. I can't tell you how much I wish someone would pay me to do this on a regular basis.. but I have chosen to advocate for a throw away species. There is no glamour in cat rescue. Sometimes it is cute - heck sometimes it is freakingly adorable but convincing people that doing so is worth more than a toaster.. *shrug* You just don't ever see that every day.

I am happy to take money in exchange for blogging about a product, but I will tell you and it will be a completely honest review.. the good and the bad; personally I learn so much more about a product by how it went wrong for someone else that I always read the bad reviews first.  I'm still at the stage where I am happy to take product in exchange for a review too.. the former will be 'ads' the later will be 'sponsored'.  I want to build that trust with my reader so that when I talk about a product they trust that it is my voice and not an infomercial.. which I think is far more powerful an advertising tool than all the copyright and flashy graphics an ad-person can come up with..

So I have come to accept that TFK will probably never make me rich, and I'll have to win the lottery in order to quit my full time job.. I just hope you'll enjoy the journey with me and help break a few stereotypes along the way.