Since we have no new info from Eric, we might as well talk about something else for a moment…..
Why Blog and give personal details of your live online....three reasons:
1) $$
2) Ego
3) $$
We made an "easy" $150 to $250/mo from our blog while actively cruising. The more traffic you get to your site/blog then the more
money you can make. You don't really think the Bumfuzzles blog just for "fun" do you? I put "easy" in quotes because keeping interesting posts up on a blog is
WORK. Once you start making a few hundred dollars a month from writing and sharing your adventure, thoughts and opinions, it's addictive and besides $200 goes a long way on a cruising
budget.
I fell into all three of the above. Sure I enjoyed it, but I also viewed and referred to it as "work" needing to write a fresh blog post 2-4 times a week to keep interest and most of the other cruising bloggers I met out cruising had the same feelings about their blog, which was: It started out as fun, then became a way to make some extra cruising
money, then it was an ego stroker, and then it became
work. The better the blog, the better the writers ability to make it seem less like work and more like talking to 1500 of your closest friends via
email and being a "normal guy".
Once a week AT LEAST, I get a call from a cruiser outfitting their
boat asking if I will give them a discount because they have "a very popular cruising blog". In exchange for a free
water maker or
Refrigeration unit they will talk favorably about us on their blog, I'm told. I've already had 3 of that type of call just this week! I tell them what I tell everyone, no thanks. We are happy to have our clients blog about our
water maker or products, but we don't buy favorable blog posts with discounts.
This money making mindset out there these days. I'm not saying Eric and crew thought this way and viewed their blog as a money maker....but heck...you don't write a Cruising
Mexico Book after a year of being down there with limited anchorage experience because you want to share your expert knowledge with your fellow cruisers. Eric did it to make money and publicity. There is nothing wrong with this...but we also need to be realistic about what blogs are and how people are using them these days for "fame and fortune".
One old time cruiser I met while we were in
Mexico asked me if anyone just buys a boat and goes cruising anymore without having the need to grab a slice of fame with their blog. He has circled the world twice and lived aboard with his wife for 30 yrs, but no one knew him. He wasn't famous. He didn't have a blog, facebook page, or
internet presence. I have learned more from him about cruising and boats than from any other person…yet you have never heard of him, read his
books, or helped him make money with his blog with a “Donate to us” button.