The end of summer is upon us and the firewood is in. During this video of gathering firewood over the course of one day, I discuss why the Living a Sustainable Dream YouTube Channel is not successful. I also explain the importance of taking a much needed break from social media. If you have struggled with your own YouTube channel or blog; perhaps, you can relate.

“Post much, post often,  and hopefully the algorithm will pick you up.”  I wonder sometimes how many of us are in the blog-o-sphere trying to promote our own businesses to help make ends meet, but find the amount of hours to produce a blog  or YouTube video is really wasted energy compared to the rewards.

I started a personal blog back in 2015 explaining how to live off grid.  I addressed a variety of off grid issues free, and as the site grew, I tied it to our homestead business to hopefully earn a profit for our efforts.  What I discovered was quite the opposite.  We are in a pool of other bloggers, hoping to achieve the same means. In the pool, there are none spending money, but all are hoping to make money through promoting their business using social media.  Those who use social media to connect with their friends or learn something new, enjoy the free information and move on to the next search engine result.

As I reflect on this reality, it seems somewhat depressing.  However, social media has nothing to do with my income as a teacher.  What started with blogging, I now use for my classes which has become more valuable to my students as I share with them my experiences creating and editing videos or sustainable living techniques.  Our homestead business has grown through the email list my wife creates at craft shows and farmers’ market, not through her use of Instagram and other social media outlets.  What we discovered is the the virtual world is not as profitable as face to face sales and conversations.  We are transferring our business efforts back into the real world and we have discovered this is more valuable to us and our relationships with others.

So what does all this mean?  I am returning to my roots as a blogger more humbled than before.  I am not an authority of anything, just another voice among millions.  I still want to blog and create videos.  I do it because many find it useful, entertaining, and it’s a great outlet for my creative side.  Plus, it helps me remember how I did some of these projects in case I would like to repeat them.

Thanks for following us at Living a Sustainable Dream.  We enjoy what we do, and we hope you do too.