A DELICATE MATTER
Some of you may be wondering why I haven't posted anything for the past several days. The answer is that I've been trying to figure out how to bring up a very touchy subject. I've decided that the wisest strategy is simply to dive in and hope for the best.
Here's the problem: I established "Grin" several weeks ago, and I'm still not rich. My understanding going into this venture was that publishing a blog would make me a lot of money. My experience has turned out to be precisely the opposite; I'm actually LOSING money with this blog. Running a blog is not cheap. I have to pay the two fact-checkers who work for me, as well the student intern from NYU who does reporting and handles light secretarial duties. One of the fact-checkers has a dog for whom I provide limited health insurance. The dog ("Woodrow") has a chronic illness and is in and out of the vet's office on a regular basis. Thus far, my best estimate is that I am about $700 in the hole as a result of starting this blog.
Several friends of mine (Denzel W., Barry B., Cameron D.) established blogs at about the same time that I did, and now they're incredibly wealthy. I don't get it. While it is true that some folks have sent me donations (for which I am very grateful!), most of these have been cash gifts in the $5, $10, and $20 categories. I have only received one check for more than $1,000, which came from a Mrs. Manila Squires, a 93-year-old widow from Bismarck, North Dakota. She writes: "My doctor said I would never walk again after the incident involving the wheat thresher, chain saw, and pneumatic drill, but two days after I started reading Grin, I took my first tentative steps since the accident. I immediately tumbled down the stairs to the basement and fractured both of my hips. But I don't blame you, Mike. I want to thank you for giving me the courage to try. God bless you, Mike of Grin!"
God bless YOU, Mrs. Squires. With readers like you out there, I know I'll make it.
Some of you may be wondering why I haven't posted anything for the past several days. The answer is that I've been trying to figure out how to bring up a very touchy subject. I've decided that the wisest strategy is simply to dive in and hope for the best.
Here's the problem: I established "Grin" several weeks ago, and I'm still not rich. My understanding going into this venture was that publishing a blog would make me a lot of money. My experience has turned out to be precisely the opposite; I'm actually LOSING money with this blog. Running a blog is not cheap. I have to pay the two fact-checkers who work for me, as well the student intern from NYU who does reporting and handles light secretarial duties. One of the fact-checkers has a dog for whom I provide limited health insurance. The dog ("Woodrow") has a chronic illness and is in and out of the vet's office on a regular basis. Thus far, my best estimate is that I am about $700 in the hole as a result of starting this blog.
Several friends of mine (Denzel W., Barry B., Cameron D.) established blogs at about the same time that I did, and now they're incredibly wealthy. I don't get it. While it is true that some folks have sent me donations (for which I am very grateful!), most of these have been cash gifts in the $5, $10, and $20 categories. I have only received one check for more than $1,000, which came from a Mrs. Manila Squires, a 93-year-old widow from Bismarck, North Dakota. She writes: "My doctor said I would never walk again after the incident involving the wheat thresher, chain saw, and pneumatic drill, but two days after I started reading Grin, I took my first tentative steps since the accident. I immediately tumbled down the stairs to the basement and fractured both of my hips. But I don't blame you, Mike. I want to thank you for giving me the courage to try. God bless you, Mike of Grin!"
God bless YOU, Mrs. Squires. With readers like you out there, I know I'll make it.
posted by Mike | 5:36 PM
2 Comments:
Funny thing is..that's the reason I went into acedemia- I wanted to make the BIG BUCKS (the BB's)!!! However, it seems no one told me the BB's were not to be found in acedemia. As a result, I can not contribute to your Blogger fund. But I will cross my fingers, so that the other readers/contributors will continue to keep you afloat!
Dear Mike Grin,
You have my sympathy. A fellow entrepeneur, I have found my income from my worm castings business to be far less than the "filthy" rich level I had imagined. So far, I am only "slightly soiled" and that is a direct result of the worm castings themselves.
I do have one practical suggestion for you: lower your overhead by dropping the fact checkers. They are totally superflous in today's news/blog world. Do you know that ABC, CBS and NBC have all dropped their fact checkers? (Fox tried to drop their's as well but realized they had none.)
This may sound crazy, but how else could you explain coverage of the lead-up to the Iraq war, Hurricane Katrina, etc.. The days of lots of facts are behind us. They have been replaced by a deeper gut level decision of whether you think its worse for a president to falsely lead a nation into war and bend the constitution to suit his needs or for a president to have oral sex in the oval office.
So my wealth seeking brother, drop the checkers like dogs involved in an old political scandal.You, and your readers, will be better off for it.
Dave
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