Project Blogger: A Loose End - the Budget. . . And Moving On, Not Moving Away

Today's the final day of the Project Blogger Contest, so a lot of the apprentices (and some of the mentors) are looking for some kind of closure as they wind down the efforts that will "count" in the competition.

This is not goodbye! For most of us apprentices, it's more like a small graduation day. But we're not packing off to college - we're just getting out from under the microscope, stepping offstage. I think most of us are ready for the pressure part of this great adventure to be over. We have learned a ton, and I think so have the folks who were running this contest for the first time!

Judges, please don't zap points from me for "blogging about blogging". There is a loose end that the contest required be addressed. Something we were instructed to do, but I haven't seen anyone else mention in these 14 weeks but myself, is budget. Here's what was written on the initial post by Jonathan about the contest:

Budget: 
Each apprentice will bear the costs of their own blogging efforts.
No budget restrictions
Budgets must be published in the Project Blogger blog on ActiveRain.

So, here is what I have spent:  appx $100 to my 17 year old whiz kid son to help me with some formatting, template editing type stuff and the creation of the banner for Live in Los Gatos.

That's it. Real Town is a no-cost platform. There are no setup fees, no monthly fees, no renewal fees. I did not pay for a professional web designer to come in and get me started (as did most of the apprentices, I believe).

I have not paid for any SEO work. (Maybe I should have.)

Now I am not sure which blog is "the Project Blogger Blog on Active Rain". This may be a community blog that was intended but didn't get off the ground. So I'm publishing my info here and ask the other apprentices to do the same.

And in conclusion. . .

In previous posts here on AR, I've talked about the experience of being involved with Project Blogger, what I've learned, how confused I've been at times (conflicting advice and judgements), what has worked for me, and how very thankful I am to everyone involved for their gazillion contributions. Special thanks, of course, to Frances Flynn Thorsen for her guidance and encouragement! And also to Joeann Fossland for getting me into this via Fran!

What is next? Just getting the Google Cloak of Invisibility off. Fran (my mentor) has been working hard on that. So have the IT guys at Real Town. And I owe special thanks to my friend, Realtor and fellow blogger Steve Leung (see www.1SiliconValley.com) for his input and advice there too. So I'm not done yet!

I pondered about what kind of post to have on Live in Los Gatos today  - though that blog will continue to grow and develop, I wanted something relevant to the milestone that today is for those of us involved in Project Blogger. It's a transition day. Often I work with seniors who are selling the family home and either moving in with family, or downsizing to a condo or moving into a senior residence of some sort. This struck me as a great piece to write today since this is a huge transition for them and so I wrote "Retiring and Downsizing in Los Gatos". My blog there is not just about buying or selling in Los Gatos, but making this charming town one's home. Living there at various stages of life (not just connecting when there's an immediate need) is all the fodder for Live in Los Gatos. I know when Jim and I retire, and when we need more help, this is where we'd like to stay too. So moving on, but not moving away.

Just like with Project Blogger and Active Rain. Moving on, not away.

~~~~~~~PS to this entry~~~~~~~~~~~

I was mistaken, Tisza DID post her cash outlay in her blog post How To Build A Blogger From The Ground Up - 1st In A Series Of PB Round-Up Posts - she spent just shy of $65 to buy her domains and pay for hosting.