I’m Back; A Hodgepodge Of News And Things To Come
April 26th, 2008
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I’m back from Japan, and continuing with live posts (no more “portions of this broadcast were pre-recorded”). I just wanted to quickly reflect on some recent events, and let you know what’s in the pipeline.
Blogging Developments
I’ve recently had some success on the blogging front, for several reasons but most notably because The Zen of Blogging was highlighted by Darren Rowse of ProBlogger. Before this happened, I was happy that my subscriber count had broken 40 after more than four months of blogging. Shortly after Darren’s post, it shot up to 64. Right before I left for vacation, it was at 84! But my shock was premature. When I came back from vacation, I had 205 subscribers!
I also achieved positive cash flow with Google AdSense for the first time (making enough money to pay for my domain and hosting costs). It’s not much money, but at least now it’s flowing in the right direction.
The Zen of Blogging has now been translated into Russian by Олег Сатов, and into German by Jan Tißler. Having just returned from a situation where I desperately needed a translator on many occasions, I greatly appreciate their efforts to make my ebook easily accessible to people in their countries.
Along with all the traffic came a bunch of comments and emails. I’ve responded to most of them, but not all. If I haven’t gotten back to you yet, I will soon.
For people who might think that AdSense always gives relevant ads, I just noticed that The Zen of Blogging is now showing this ad:
Meet Gay Men
No Credit Card Req’d Online Dating.
Create Profile & Send Emails Free!
Methinks their algorithm might need some tweaking.
Upcoming Posts
My 15 minutes of fame on ProBlogger has given me some things to write about, both on how I got linked and what the effects were. For those of you who are new here, while I cite specific examples in my posts, I also try to make the lessons generic. So you should find these posts useful whether or not you happen to be a fellow blogger.
I’ve been getting inquiries about what Japan was like, and I’m sure many more people are silently wondering. Since this isn’t a personal blog, I can’t just write a post about “What I Did On Vacation.” It would be too off-topic. I do have some ideas for a couple of Japan-related posts I can write, but I have so much I want to say that I decided to write an ebook about it. That way, people who aren’t interested can just ignore it, while people who are interested can get plenty of details. Since the ebook will just be a story instead of a solution to a problem, it will be free. (Note to self: stop writing free ebooks! That’s why you’re not making much money!)
One of my upcoming posts will probably include a link to all my Japan pictures, but I don’t have the pictures yet. Not being much of a photographer, I don’t even own a camera. Instead of shelling out hundreds of dollars for a digital camera that I’ll never use, I bought three disposable cameras. When I finish up the last few shots on the last camera, I’ll get them developed. My friends are also going to mail me a CD of the pictures they took.
It will take some time to get this all done, especially since I don’t believe in posting too frequently (I don’t think it’s a good deal for either you or me). So I’ll appreciate your patience as I slowly answer the questions you might have about these recent events.
A Question For You
By the way, does anyone know where I can convert my last ¥10,000 ($100 U.S.)? The currency exchange station at the airport was closed, and my bank can convert the money but they don’t recommend it because of the delay and the fees. Alternatively, what do people think about the dollar’s short term prospects against the yen?
April 26th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Hi Hunter,
Welcome back! You were missed.
Congratulations on your spike of feed readers, your AdSense earnings, and having your ebook translated into different languages. Those are all great accomplishments.
Barbara Swafford’s last blog post..Blogging - Year One - Lesson Eight
April 26th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
When I came back from a gig in Tokyo I saved my last Y10,000 — it was one colorful bill that I folded into my wallet in the clear pocket behind my license. Each time I pull my license out I see that HUGE DENOMINATION and it serves as mental trickery and positive reinforcement that I have an abundance of huge bills on me at all time ~ HA! Welcome back, keep up the good work.
April 27th, 2008 at 7:49 am
Hey Hunter,
Great to hear that you will be publishing more posts, now that you are back in Japan. Hope you had a great holiday, nonetheless. Congrats about your recent successes!
Evelyn
Evelyn Lim | Attraction Mind Map’s last blog post..7 Jazzy Ideas To Making Affirmations FUN
April 28th, 2008 at 1:50 am
Welcome Back!
Although I didn’t make it back to your blog until tonight, I knew you must be around as your name was popping up in various posts comments.
Sorry no YEN help here.
Harmony’s last blog post..What if You Lost Your Mind?
April 28th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Welcome back and congrats on the blog success.
I love it when bloggers share their success stories, and their struggles. I find it inspiring.
Can’t help much with the cash issue. I do invest in a Japan ETF but that’s quite different.
Vered - MomGrind’s last blog post..Public Speaking is More Painful Than a Root Canal
April 28th, 2008 at 10:06 pm
@ Barbara, thanks, they feel like important milestones.
@ GirlPie, I thought about doing that with a 500,000 lira note, until someone reminded me that Italy is on the euro now!
@ Evelyn, actually, it’s back FROM Japan. Japan was great, but it’s also good to be back in the USA!
@ Harmony, hmmmm…you must have eyes everywhere if you saw me popping up in different places!
@ Vered, it’s good to know you like to hear the struggles as well. Sometimes we only hear about the successes, because people don’t want to talk about their struggles.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:17 am
hi there. i found your free ebook in the blogosphere land… it was really very inspiring for a newbie blogger like me.
btw, cn i share this free ebook to filipino bloggers as well?! thanks
i hope youl come up with more…. be waiting!
more power and congrats
barefoot_alchemist’s last blog post..wats up doc?!
April 29th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Hi, barefoot_alchemist. Glad you found my ebook. Yes, of course you can share it with Filipino bloggers! It’s not meant to be restricted to any particular group. Thanks for visiting!
May 1st, 2008 at 1:07 am
hi hunter!
thanks for the reply and visit..very much appreciated!
gona defintely share it to evryone… such an inspiration!
may the ZEN be with you as well…
barefoot_alchemist’s last blog post..a ZENsible BLOG
May 2nd, 2008 at 12:16 am
I enjoyed reading the book - liked the style.
Reminded me a lot of “Peaceful Warrior” with Nick Nolte
“What time is it?”
“The time is now”
Good stuff!
thanks for sharing
alikl
Alik Levin | Practice This’s last blog post..Experience Is The Most Valuable Product
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:50 am
Hi, Alik. Glad you liked my ebook. A long time ago I read a book called “Way of the Peaceful Warrior” about a gymnast with a strange Zen teacher. Is the Nick Nolte thing the movie version of that book?
May 2nd, 2008 at 5:43 am
yes , this is the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsS3cXGs2GQ
“That’s the difference Dan. You practice gymnastics. I practice everything.”
alikl
Alik Levin | Practice This’s last blog post..Experience Is The Most Valuable Product
May 4th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
Looks good, Alik. YouTube was down for at least an hour recently…makes me wonder what’s going on over there.