How Much Is That Bloggie In The Window?

On a lark Mister Americano decided to calculate the financial value of his blog. At this "business opportunities" site he found through Technorati.com (here) he entered his site's URL in the handy calculator provided there and got the answer he expected. misteramericano is worth nothing. Zip, zilch, nada. Or to be precise, $0.00. Presumably that sum is the same in any currency.

Blogging is a hobby and Mister Americano seeks no financial reward for it. At least not yet. If he wanted money for it he'd put as much time into it as he puts into his job, which, for the record, in case his boss has found this site, is a lot. Hours and hours of time is spent on the job, which pays handsomely, and for which he is grateful. As are his cats, friends, family, creditors, and all the contractors being paid to upgrade his home this year.

If he ever leaves his job, which he hopes does not happen anytime soon. (For the record, in case the boss -- well, you know.) He has no intention of quitting the day job and there is no reason why he should be told to leave involuntarily. (For the record. Just in case the boss has found this site. You know. Just in case. And please note, boss. This post is written on a Sunday. Granted, it's on an office computer because Mister Americano has got something due tomorrow. For the record, he'll get right on that.)

So why blog? For personal satisfaction, mostly. Readers are nice and Mister Americano loves them. But the biggest thrill from blogging is finding an idea or coming up with one, researching it, thinking about it, writing it up, and then seeing it in print. It satisfies a creative urge that otherwise might not be fulfilled. There's a certain feeling of accomplishment that comes from pushing that "Publish Post" button.

The trick of course is to have something worth saying that adds value to the discussion of an issue or to a reader's knowledge. That's the hard part of doing a worthwhile blog. All Mister Americano can say to that is, "I'm workin' on it, okay!"

-tdr