One Year

Posted on July 31, 2006 - Filed Under Personal |

Holy Cow.

It has been one year since I started this blog.  Happy Blogoversary!  Have a piece of cake.

Gateauxchoc

This actually is my second blog.  The first blog I started was this little site called "Baguettes and Spam".  It’s still out there.  But it was quite different.  I decided to  start yet another food blog.  It was fun while it lasted BUT the houses became the central focus of my life.  Thus, this blog was born.

Yet "Changing my Direction" is the second incarnation of this blog.  This was once called "Mes Maisons:  My adventures as a Slum Lord".  View the header  This was done kind of "tongue in cheek".  The houses were in really really bad shape when I purchased them.  My friends and family were affectionately calling me "The Slum Lord" which I picked up and ran with.

At first, it was only my closest friends and family who read my blog.  I wasn’t interested in promoting my blog and getting millions of hits.  My point: tell my story but only tell it to those who wanted to listen.

Along the way, I started having more pride in my houses.  With that, the vehicle to express that pride, this blog, improved as well.  My writing became better.  I think my stories have become more interesting.  Then the moniker of "Slum Lord" just didn’t fit with the spirit of the blog.  I changed it and thus "Changing my Direction" was born.

Then something interesting happened.  You came.  On average, I have 50 consistent readers.  These readers are not only US based.  Readers from Canada, France, Germany, Romania and Malaysia visit me daily.  Plus on the eve of my one year anniversary, I sailed past 15,000 hits.  That’s not too shabby.

But it’s not the numbers that have touched me.  It’s the feedback, comments and emails that I get from you.  I read every email; I post every comment (good and bad); and I’m happy beyond words that you give me a few minutes of your busy day.  In exchange, this next year I’m going to work harder to not only improve my blog but the content in it.

If you liked that post, then try these...

Sometimes on May 1st, 2006
Sometimes, I find myself in a lull.

I've been tagged. on May 4th, 2007
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Comments

6 Responses to “One Year”

  1. Matt on July 31st, 2006 6:41 am

    HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

    Your blog is excellent Cliff, keep up the great work!

  2. Mikki on July 31st, 2006 8:14 am

    Every morning, I read:

    CNN.com
    NYTimes.com
    Changingmydirection.com

    Not shabby company!

    I’ve also added you to my blogroll!

  3. moom on July 31st, 2006 8:47 am

    Congratulations! This is a blog that is fun to read.

  4. Clifford on July 31st, 2006 1:53 pm

    Thanks for the kind words everyone!

  5. Anonymous on August 2nd, 2006 1:19 pm

    you´re read in santiago, chile too (on a frequent basis) along with trishas blog

  6. Clifford on August 2nd, 2006 2:00 pm

    Here’s a shout out to Chile! Thanks for reading!

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