Remembrance Day...

The shall not grow old,
As we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning
We shall remember them.

-- The Ode.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance or Armistice Day commemorates the end of hostilities that brought World War One to a close. These hostilities ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.

I am anti-war. I just do not see the point of sending young men and women off to get killed. However, I appreciate those that do join the armed forces and serve their countries with dedication and honour. For those of us that do not serve, we must never belittle the sacrifices that these brave men and women make in order that we sleep snugly in the warm blanket of freedom.

My brother serves and I am immensely proud of his service, his dedication, and his courage.

We must not forget those who have served and fallen. This is why I take a moment on days like today to remember those who have fought and fallen in order that I enjoy the freedoms that I currently have.

I hope for peace.

Making Money From Your Blog

I post a lot to my own blog and I tend to blogwalk and post on other blogs as a means of attracting some traffic to my humble little abode. I have often wondered what it takes to make serious money from blogging and having done a little research now I know.

Now that I know it is a little sad really because I am so far from making a really decent living from blogging that I do not see myself quitting my current job any time soon to take up full-time blogging.

Technorati released its 2008 State of the Blogosphere report last week and it states that there are some 900,000 blog posts made each day worldwide. I know where 3 -5 of those blog posts come from. But here's the catch. To be making a really decent living off of full-time blogging you need to be generating some 100,000 or more unique visitors per month. This will earn you on average USD 75,000 per year. This means that full-time blogging is not such a bad gig if you can make it work for you.

The biggest problem for me as I see it is the 100,000 unique visitors per month. I have about 3,000 unique visitors per month. So, I am guessing this means I need to find another 97,000 or so to be making it worthwhile.

It would be nice to have a blog that is as popular as the blog of Perez Hilton who is reportedly seeing more than USD110,000 roll into the coffers each month! I hope he appreciates my visits! I reckon I would start working part-time if my blog was able to provide about AUD 5,000 per month. I wonder how the tax works? I am going to have to do a little research on that part of the deal.

I guess if I want to boost my readership I need to start or get involved in some "flame wars" or post some viral videos, or start getting really into Facebook, Friendster, and other social networking devices. I know the social networking thing is likely to work because I am getting a few requests to become people's friend on Facebook. I only started the Facebook account because I needed to get info about my upcoming 21st Hurlstone Agricultural High School Reunion.

Once you become a full-time blogger and your income is dependent on your blog, I would imagine this ups the ante and the pressure to produce more and more quality blog posts to keep the unique visitors rolling in and to keep me rolling in the cash.

Some thoughts to ponder.