Blogging Business

It just hit me as  I sat down to write this post that today is the 2 year anniversary of this blog. It amazes me how quickly time has flown by, and what this blog has become to me and my family!

When I reflect on 2009 I am extremely grateful for all of the blessing that came my way. Because of this blog I had the opportunity to travel to conferences and blogging events in Nashville, Chicago, Minneapolis and a few locations in Ohio. I had the opportunity to meet and connect with several amazing, smart, and strong women who I may have never met otherwise. For 6 months I participated in a live segment on NBC4 Columbus with Ellie Merritt. I taught couponing classes at two local libraries and to a moms group (more to come in 2010!) and was thrilled to meet some of my readers in the flesh. (Speaking of readers, I was thrilled to see my readership more than double in 2009!) I finally got with the program and created a Facebook Fan Page, and I have been thrilled to interact with many of you and to see your smiling faces in your profile pictures. In the spring I officially turned Stretching a Buck into my very own business by setting up an LLC, and a few weeks ago I finally got the nerve to migrate my blog from Blogger to Word Press in an effort to make it easier and more valuable for you to use (more about that soon!). I’m sure that I am forgetting something, but suffice it to say, 2009 was a year that I do not take for granted!

All of that being said, I still have much to learn when it comes to blogging and running a business. Therefore, I thought it would be helpful to set a few goals for myself for 2010:

• To continue offering timely, relevant and accurate content to you 5-6 days/week
• To offer money saving advice/tips or real world experiences at least once a month
• To double my readership by 12/31/10
• To find a better balance between my online and offline time by creating a set work schedule with specific tasks assigned to that time (even more important due to the upcoming arrival of baby girl #2 in the spring!)
• To continue finding ways to improve this site from a usability/design perspective

This blog would be nothing without you, the readers. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy lives to read, comment and send emails. While I may not always be able to answer each one of you individually, know that I do read each and every comment and email and I truly appreciate your feedback, advice and kind words.

May many blessings come your way in 2010. Happy New Year!

If you are a fan of Stretching a Buck on Facebook, you might have read earlier today that I have been busy behind the scenes making a few changes to this site. Over the next couple of days you may experience a few hiccups when it comes to receiving my feed (via email or reader) as well as viewing my updates. These issues should resolve themselves by the weekend (if they occur at all!).

My hope is that you will find the new Stretching a Buck to be more user friendly. I am currently working to update the navigation bar found directly under my header image. Take a few minutes to poke around and let me know what you think! I want you to be able to find the information that you want to find quickly, so I encourage your feedback if you think there is something that I can do better.

Thanks again for reading and for being patient with my slow down in posts the past couple of days. Things should be back to business as usual starting this evening.

Just in case you haven’t noticed, I have finally created a fan page for Stretching a Buck on Facebook! My hope is that I will be able to interact more with you in this space. If you spend a lot of time on Facebook you will also receive alerts to any new posts that I have written. Become a fan of the Stretching a Buck fan page on Facebook here.

To celebrate my new fan page, I thought it would be fun to pair it with a giveaway. I have one $25 Gift Card to Mimi’s Cafe that has one of your names on it! I haven’t eaten at Mimi’s Cafe yet, but I am excited to try it out soon because I have heard great things. :-)

Starting today I am going to do something that I have not done since I started this blog a year and a half ago….I am taking a vacation from blogging! I will have limited internet access starting today through July 8th, but not to worry – I am leaving you in very good hands!

My friends Summer of Everything Moms, Mercedes of Common Sense with Money and Cherie of The Queen of Free have graciously agreed to help me out over the next week and a half. It is my hope that you will hardly notice that I am gone! You will still be able to find all of my weekly store match ups, freebies round ups, giveaways and more while I am gone.

Because I will have limited access to the internet, I won’t be able to answer most emails and comments posted on this site until I return. You already do an awesome job of helping each other out in the comments, so I’m not worried. What I do worry about is that I might have Facebook, Twitter, and Skype withdrawal! :-) All kidding aside, I’m looking forward to the time away, and I know that I’ll come back recharged and ready to go.

Have a wonderful & safe 4th of July holiday!