Believe it or not, time flies very quickly when you are doing a lot of things. With that, my blog finally turns 8 years old. To celebrate this, I share my reflections on a year of blogging and what future plans I have in store.
I have to admit, the 8th year of blogging was a mixed bag. While I got to write about my favorite anime, there is certainly an editorial post drought. It’s not so surprising since I only wrote 12 (including the guest editorial) of these posts last year. I simply ran out of ideas for these posts. To make matters worse, there was a drop-off of comments and traffic, which didn’t help either.
I have to admit, facing unemployment is something I don’t wish on anyone since it’s a bad experience. After quitting my job in September, I am extremely worried about my future. Even if the economy is doing well, looking for a job is very difficult. Despite receiving several rejections, I got three interviews so far with one that I did this month. I already hit the bottom and things can only go up from here. Still, I have hope that things will turn around soon since I am confident that I passed the most recent interview. As they say, there is always up and downs in life.
With that, I have plans in store for the 9th year of blogging. If you noticed recently, I have placed advertisements again. It’s because I got approved for the WordAds program. Unlike the Adsense ads where the clicks determine how much money one gets a month. In other words, the page views matter more. I only plan to place only one advertisement on every page, so it shouldn’t annoy anyone.
Next, let’s talk about Patreon. I have relaunched my campaign and it’s disappointing that I don’t have any supporters yet. I have to admit that it’s still a work in progress and there always room for improvement. Perhaps I can try to expand my content while I gain more supporters. Some examples include doing weekly streams of me playing Japanese video games on twitch, podcasts or anime reviews done in a video format.
With that, if you like to see more reviews of Japanese video games, editorials or even convention coverage in the 9th year, I need your support. You can support me by not using ad block on my blog and white list it. Aside from getting rid of the message, you will help support my ability to create anime related content in the future. If you want to support me directly, you can support me on Patreon. I will also provide ways to make one time donations as well. The money will go back into creating content for my blog in addition to hosting costs and redesigning the overall appearance.
In short, hopefully the 9th year of blogging will be better. From the look of recent trends, there is signs that things will improve. Hopefully I will turn around soon as I continue to create content, both reviews and analysis about anime that people enjoy. With that, I would like to thank all my subscribers, followers and visitors who read and enjoy my posts, both old and new. I hope you will continue to support me into the future.
Overall Statistics for the 8th year: 1954 posts and 4932 comments
Congrats on your 8th anniversary. Here’s hoping your 9th will be a great one. I have a feeling it will with GOD’s blessings. Don’t give up and keep up the good fight dood. You, your opinions and your delightful catchphrases are a welcome sight in all of otakudom.
Hopefully it will be better… sure things look bad, but it can change in an instant. Either way, I have a lot of stuff planned in the feature, so hopefully it should be fun.
Congrats man! Hope your life will turn out for the better soon, but glad that you are at least feeling optimistic about it.
Sure things got bad in 2016, but this situation makes me realize that I don’t have it as bad compared to others since I still have family to help me. But yes, I already hit the bottom and the only direction I can go to is up.
You’re so old now. Congrats! Hope things start looking up for you soon.