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I’ve Got Belly Button Lint

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Pet Blogger Challenge
Confession time at Casa de Kolchak. 
Our blog is a bit of a bully. I don’t mean it goes out there and pushes around other blogs on the playground. (Or at least, I hope it doesn’t. I supposed I don’t really know what it does all day while we are doing other things. If our blog is bullying yours, let us know. It’ll be grounded like forever.)
Sometimes, my blog is a bully to me. There are definitely days when I feel like my blog has shoved me in a locker or given me a swirly.
Turns out, we’re not alone.

Lots of our fellow bloggers have been feeling a little bullied by their blogs lately. It’s really easy to get caught up in the day to day schedule of writing and then realize, that somewhere along the way, you got lost. I feel like that has happened to us a little here at Kol’s Notes.
We’re taking part in the Pet Blogger’s Challenge
To help combat this writer’s fatigue and to Just Say No to being bullied by their blogs, Edie Jarolim at Will My Dog Hate Me? and Amy Burkert at Go Pet Friendly are hosting the second annual Pet Blogger’s Challenge. We’re all going to do a little navel gazing.  To help us really get in there and see our own belly button lint, Edie & Amy have created a handy dandy set of questions for us to answer. So, um yeah, with the awkward belly button lint moment out of the way…let’s do this!
1. When did you begin your blog?
We briefly blogged in 2010, but abandoned the place like one of those creepy old theme parks in a bad episode of Scooby Doo. The technical aspects of blogging simply overwhelmed me.
We made our haphazard triumphant return in January last year. Much to our surprise, we’ll be celebrating our first Blogoversary in just a few days!
2. What was your original purpose for starting a blog?
I was supposed to have a purpose?! Geeze…now you tell me. I really didn’t know what I was doing when I started, I just did it. If I had to pinpoint what it? I had gone back to school to study canine nutrition and I was avidly studying natural wellness. A lot of my friends seemed to be asking the same questions and sharing the same misconceptions about common health and food questions. In part, I wanted to tackle canine nutrition in a fun way – plus, I’m pretty sure my family and friends were pretty much done hearing me regale them with “neat dog facts”. Apparently, I’m “that crazy dog lady”. I know they were done playing taste tester for my recipes. (To this day when I tell my Mom to taste something, she looks me right in the eye and asks “Is this dog food?”.
3. Is your current purpose the same?
To a degree, yes. I still want to keep sharing nutritional info and dog treat recipes, but I think there needs to be a balance between fun and function. All work and no lay makes Koly a dull boy.
If not, what’s different?
We’re having more fun here at Casa de Kolchak than I think I originally intended. A lot more laughter. More silliness. Giveaways, reviews, challenges – these are all things I had no idea were even a possibility when I got started.
If so, how do you feel you’ve met your goals?
I would like to bring my goals a little more into focus and make sure I am committed to sharing nutritional and health info on a more consistent basis, for sure. Sometimes it’s to easy to be carried away with the fun stuff.
4. Do you blog on a schedule or as the spirit moves you?
I blog about 6 days a week and there are set days I participate in, such as our Tasty Tuesday blog hop, but as far as knowing what I am going to post about in advance and scheduling content? LOL, I am no where near that organized! Most of the time, I am flying by the seat of my pants over here. I find that if I get over scheduled I lose my inspiration and forcing myself to write on a particular topic when I’m not really feeling it usually ends up with a really crappy post.

On the flip side, when I take more than a day or two off, Kolchak has a really hard time finding his voice again. I need to stay “in his head”, so to speak in order to keep the creative juices flowing.

Do you worry about… well, whatever you might worry about (e.g. losing traffic, losing momentum)?
I worry about losing focus and the quality of my work. I don’t want to get into the habit of posting just to post. I also worry about losing that balance between humour and information. I get writer’s block sometimes and I usually take that as a sign I’ve been blogging to much and living too little. Balance is key.
5. Are you generating income from your blog?
If so, how (e.g. sponsor ads, affiliate relationships, spokesperson opportunities)?
We do have a bit of affiliate advertising on our blog, though, we don’t really make much off it. It was a huge hit the first month, but not much since. I’ve been considering taking it all down. Every time I look at it, it feels a little crazy that someone would pay me to advertise here! It would be nice to earn a little extra at this and maybe give the money to a favourite dog charity or two, but I’m content to have enough income to cover costs. What I would really love is to have a more consistent Giveaway schedule.
6. What do you like most about blogging in general and your blog in particular (bragging is good!)?
I love the creative outlet. We have a lot of fun here at Kol’s Notes. I love sharing our recipes and I get giddy with excitement when I hear someone actually made one of my recipes. SQUEEEEE! Y’all don’t understand. This time last year, I was “closet” dog crazy. I feel free again.
More than anything, I think I love the community. Y’all got a good thing going on here. I’ve always known that dog people are the best people, but turns out, they are the best bloggers too. I love getting to know the other bloggers and I love reading about all the crazy things your dogs get up to.
7. What do you like least?
Why didn’t y’all tell me how much work this is?! I had no clue how much was involved. Design? Social media? Publicizing your blog? Never even occurred to me. I though you wrote, then you posted and that was it. **sigh** Such a small part of what us bloggers do! As I learn how to actually do all this stuff, I struggle a bit with time management. Has anyone invented the 36 hour day yet?
8. How do you see your blog changing/growing in 2012?
Well, I’d like to become incredibly famous and rich would be super awesome, too. If someone wanted to give me my own doggy cooking/talk show that would freakin’ sweet. LOL, just kidding… kind of.

This year, I would like to try to grow our Kol’s Notes community. I would love to learn more about the folks who visit us – what you like, what you don’t like, and if there are food, health & wellness questions you have. I would love to be able to give back more to the community – both online and locally.

So there it is. All of our belly button lint. 
Got lint of your own? Join us and do a little navel gazing. We can’t wait to read about your blog and goals. Major thanks to Edie and Amy for helping us take a good look at ourselves. We needed this and we sure appreciate it.
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Navel Gazing With the Pet Blogger's Challenge | Kol's NotesKol's Notes

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