Blogger Dilemma and a Toasted Croissant with Honey Butter

Last evening, I attended my first Atlanta Blogger Meetup at Gordon Biersch. The guest speaker was Dan Morris of Letterswithdan.com. The focus of the session was to “Build a Blog Empire Through the Power of Leverage, Repurposing and Passive Income.”

With comedic timing, Morris explained the importance of viewing your blog through an income-based lens, stating “Bloggers must be repurposing time, systematizing and measuring to grow successfully.” It takes a good use of time to optimize and monetize a blog into a business that's a thriving interest. Morris encourages bloggers to determine their target audience, build a fan base and to post every day to improve your presence in search engine indices.

After spending some time reviewing keywords, updating meta tags and investigating a multitude of SEO options to improve our blog’s authority and page rank, I came to the realization that this could become a full-time job in and of itself. So in considering this dilemma, I had an epiphany: “It’s the content, stupid.”

Before relating the reasoning behind this slogan, however, I am recommending a contemplative snack. My new favorite treat is a pan-toasted croissant served with honey butter and a hot cortado.

Honey Butter

• 1 pound butter, softened (but not melted)
• 1/4 cups honey
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place the butter into a mixing bowl and beat at low speed, using the whisk attachment to whip the butter. Increase the speed to medium and add the honey, cinnamon, and vanilla extract and beat for about 5 minutes until well combined. Remove butter from bowl and spoon onto parchment paper or plastic wrap. If you can wait for it to chill, roll the butter into a log and refrigerate for 2 hours. If not place the butter in the freezer for a few minutes while you toast the croissants.

Pan-Toasted Croissants
Take a good croissant and slice it in half lengthwise (along the equator). Place the croissant halves, cut-side down on a preheated, lightly buttered griddle or heavy skillet and toast over medium-high heat. When the cut-side is toasted to a light golden brown, turn the croissants over and toast the second side.

Now, with snack in hand, I hope you can follow my thought process. First of all, anyone who thinks that blogging is a lucrative occupation is sadly mistaken. Yes, there are a few success stories, but the vast majority of bloggers barely recover their costs (time, internet fees, ingredients, etc.) Food bloggers typically include a recipe with their posts which requires additional time to prepare the dish(es) and take photos.

We started this blog to chronicle our cooking adventures both for ourselves (so we could remember what we did to make a certain dish) and to record recipes and techniques for our two sons. As friends and family learned of the project, the blog snowballed into the site you see today. And while we have received some good publicity and even a few awards, the blog has always been about cooking good food (for Dom) and the catharsis of writing about it (for me).

During Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, his campaign manager, James Carville coined the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid” to keep campaign workers focused on the issue. For our purposes, I have revised the saying to “it’s the content, stupid.” So while Dan Morris advocates the concept that “just because you started your blog as a hobby, doesn't mean you can't make it your full time profession," we have adopted the reverse philosophy. Rather than sacrifice our lifestyle for the blog, the blog must sacrifice for us to maintain our lifestyle. Thus dear readers, we hope you will be content with our blog just the way it is as we continue cooking, eating, enjoying each other’s company and occasionally writing about it.