Time to Blog and a Few Thoughts

Occasionally the Rootdig.com blog languishes as other tasks are attended to. I'm hesitant to post something just to "post something" and bump up my site's traffic. Frankly much of my research I'm actually doing gets put into Casefile Clues. Most of what you'll at Rootdig.com will be some pitfalls, opinion and generally commentary that doesn't fit much of anywhere else.

Making Casefile Clues better by focusing on the "why" of research, the "how" of evidence and the "importance" of citation is high on my priority list. Also increasing the number of subscribers to Casefile Clues is important as well in order to keep the newsletter growing. It is all about balancing workload and fun versus frustration.

I won't post things here just to boost traffic and frankly I've never made enough off affiliate links and advertising to really make it worth the amount of time it takes. I'm always interested in the longevity of various websites, blogs, etc. Not that I'm being cynical mind you, but I've been in this "industry" for some time. I've seen websites, "experts," and the like come and go. Some come and stay, but quite a few don't. The new wears off, the income isn't there, life intervenes, and some just really don't have anything all that interesting to say.

I'm also not a big fan of "promote me and I'll promote you." I realize it may be "good for business" and "good for traffic," but sometimes I'm not all that worried about those things. Frankly, I'm more concerned about what is good for content.

And while I do tweet occasionally, I find the tags and all that at times a bit mind-numbing. The tweeting, re-tweeting, re-re-tweeting, etc. wears on my nerves. And yes, I know there are ways to avoid getting the re-tweets and all that so there's no need to make me aware of that. There is only so much time in the day and the amount of time I can spend on social networking limited. Frankly "social networking" seems a little redundant to me. Is there such a thing as "un-social networking?"

I may be old-school, but I've long thought that doing good work will bring a certain amount of reward. I know marketing is important, but there comes a time when one has to do the work to have something to market. Sometimes I think there are some who spend too much time on marketing and not enough time on actual work.

There's also the belief in some circles that "fancy computer enhanced work" is inherently better than something less "professional." I'm unconvinced.

But then again, I typed my first land record transcriptions on a early 1960 era typewriter too.