Hugh Hollowell

As I have said before, I have wide and varied interests and hate to be tied down. However, I feel that right now, my conversation is scattered. And that is simply no good.

So, here is the deal (for now, anyway). This is my hub, if you will, on the Internet. It is where I will post personal bloggings and so on, but it will also serve to link to my other writings elsewhere.

Here I am free to be political, to be tired, to say ’shit’ (sorry mom).

It means a lot to me that you guys tune in to listen to me ramble. I appreciate it more than I can say.

If you want to keep up on my postings on Jesus, theology, Incarnational Ministry and so on, I recommend you go to my other blog and subscribe to the RSS feed.

If you are reading this, that means the new ‘aside’ feature of my humble blog is working.

Basically, it is a hack I put into the WordPress code (got the idea from Matt, the WordPress master) that lets me post short, tidbit type posts without having to have the pressure of writing ‘a big important post‘.  Hopefully, this will let me do quick, simple updates that all of you will actually read.

They are full blown posts, with comments enabled, just like any other post on the blog. Hopefully, these are just faster and more streamlined.

I agree with Matt’s sense of liberation when he implemented asides on his blog. He said

I fully expect to post in this category with a much higher frequency than my normal posts. I come across things all the time that I want to link so badly but I just don’t have the time to write an entry about. Now every interesting tidbit I come across is just a click of a favelet away from my readers. It’s liberating.

See you around.

About 2 months ago, I tackled about 7 big projects all at once, the biggest being a move across the country to Raleigh, North Carolina. It has been an interesting ride…

I will be open and honest with you: I almost quite this blog. It may have seemed to so of you as if I HAD quit this blog. Over the past 6 months or so, I struggled to find my voice, to find something to say in a unique way. I wanted to be able to ad to the conversation, not just regurgitate what everyone else is saying. I think the last thing the world needs is another link blogger.

A lot has changed in my life. For one thing, I closed my biggest business and entered into the wild and woolly world of freelance writing and blogging for pay. Yes, it is ironic; about the time I quit blogging over here, I started blogging for a living. I have helped launch about 6 blogs for clients now, and regularly contribute content to 5 more. I intend to talk more about this in a future post, so I will provide some links to the blogs that aren’t ghost written then.

For several years I have made some part of my living from writing, but I wanted to see if I could make a healthy living from just my writing and, while healthy may not be the word for it just yet, it is a living. I am managing to piece together a patchwork quilt of income from blogging for pay, from adsense, from Text Link Ads (Google can Kiss My Butt!) and full blown writing gigs, such as articles, web content and press releases. Nothing sexy or stuff you can use to pick up chicks in the bar with, but respectable, all the same.

My dear readers: I know I have jerked you all over the map the last few months. I am very sorry for that; life got in the way.

The fact that I have not lost more RSS subscribers simply amazes me. That I still get linked to regularly blows my mind. You guys are simply the best.

Anyway, I am alive, and I am back! Next time, I will talk more about just what that means, and where I want to go with this blog. Stay tuned!

As I am sure you have noticed by now, there are lots of changes going on here.

We have a new url, a new theme, a new mission, heck, a new name.

I have about 10 posts lined out, but want to make sure there are no hiccups with the new design. I will be testing throughout the rest of the week, so expect to see some strangeness.

One favor: If you linked to me in the past at http://www.hughhollowell.net/blog, I would really appreciate it if you would change the link to reflect the new site: http://sboinsights.com.
Thanks for sticking with me through this, and I look forward to seeing you on the other side!

Life has a way of changing. It was John Lennon who said that life is what happens while we make other plans, and the older I get, the more I think John was right. As I look back across the winding road that has led me to this point, I see many places where had I done just one thing different, my entire life would have changed. Sometimes, I think life all comes down to a handful of choices we make.

About 2 and a half years ago, I took up blogging for the first time. I was about to do a major change in the way my store I owned at the time operated and I thought that a blog would be a way to keep customers updated on the progress.

A good friend was a problogger, so I had some exposure to the field, but to be honest, I did not have high expectations. I went over to blogger, put my fingers to the keys…and fell in love. I liked the cathartic experience of getting it out there, I liked the feedback from readers, I liked the community of people I met and got to talk to.

Fast forward a few years (and a few blogs, to be honest), and we come to spring of this year. I had some ideas for an edgy, in your face sort of business blog, one where we did not truck with bullsh*t, one where we spoke the truth. In this blog I envisioned, it would be no place for sissies. Here people would hear about how hard business is, what it takes to persevere and how to take control of their lives.

Dear reader, I want to apologize to you, for I have failed you. Let me explain.
Over the last 4 weeks, I have thought a lot. Some of you know, but I am going through huge life changes right now. I closed a business, moved across the country and am in the middle of starting another. My life is a bit nuts, to say the least.

I find that it is in these times that we look inside ourselves, that we become more introspective, that we take stock of how things are working out, that we look inside ourselves for insight, for answers. Well, I did, and when it came to this blog, I felt like I was coming up short.

Not counting this one, I have exactly 87 posts on this blog. There are only 25 that are worth anything, and less than 6 or 7 I am actually proud of. The rest is filler: blog memes, writing contests, admin stuff…filler. I have failed with the promise I made all of you when I started this blog, and for that, I am sorry. All of that is about to change.

What does the future hold? Well, I have some plans that will be unveiled next week, but for now, let me just say that big things are underway. For me, Very. Big. Things. Stay tuned and hold on.

I hate MySpace. I really do. It has a clunky interface, the “blogging” function is horrible and it has taught a generation of people to use the word “blog” incorrectly.

That being said, it does have the real estate. Almost once a month or so someone from my past who I want to talk to finds me on mySpace and sends me a message. It happened just last week when my friend Anthony found me over there. (What up, A!).

I feel forced to keep my page up over there, but because of the clunkiness, I just hate updating the thing or sending messages or whatever it is you do over there. Luckily, I found a solution (I think).

I do all my personal updates on this blog here (hughhollowell.com/blog). I was actually considering duplicating my posts over there, but decided I would rather take a bullet in the gut first. I found this page, which made a small dingus which I put in my mySpace page. This dingus now shows my last five blog posts from this blog on that page, so my mySpace peeps will know what is going on. It might also draw some of them away from mySpace and into the real internet…

Well, one week ago today I left for Raleigh, and one week ago yesterday I closed my bookstore in Memphis for the last time.  It feels very weird not having a shop for the first time in nearly five years. I keep feeling guilty for sitting in a coffee shop, writing on my laptop.  My cellphone, which rang nearly off the hook in Memphis, is strangely silent, prompting me to check it every 20 minutes or so to make sure it is still on.

On the up side, I am getting a ton of writing and web-work done.  I have re-activated several old sites I had in hiatus:

Book-Links is where I moved all my book selling articles I had written over the years.  In addition, I am now updating it regularly with tools and tips for booksellers.

Small Business Owner Insights was originally to be a newsletter, but that never panned out. Now I have it set up as a site for small business owners, where I point out deals and free stuff for business owners and hopefully, over time I will be able to add more resources.

I do make money doing this stuff (it is hard for me to believe some times), but often it has had to take a back seat to running the store.  Here is hoping that with increased attention  the blogging income will grow.

It is no secret that I am a big fan of Wendy Piersall. Truth is, she just plain rocks.

Well, earlier today she announced the expansion of her emomsathome brand; she has expanded into a full blown media empire, with a total of 7 blogs and 9 authors all under the emomsathome umbrella.

From her announcement:

• Ebay Selling for eParents is authored by Megan Jordan from Velventeen Mind
• Dad Balance is authored by Derek Semmler from DerekSemmler.com
• Freelance Parent is authored by Lorna Doone Brewer from Something Good & Tamara Berry
• CraftBoom! is authored by Lisa Lam from U-Handblog
• Parent Product Reviews is authored by Erika Jurney from The Plain Jane Mom Blog
• Seasonal Kids’ Activities is authored by Shannon Hutton from Believer in Balance
• And [the original blog] is staying put. For those of you worried about anything changing too drastically, my blog, the “Original Recipe eMoms at Home” will always be here to talk about affiliate marketing, parenting, blogging, social media, empowerment, and everything else that you have come to know and love.

Our congratulations to Wendy and company. She just keeps raising the bar higher and higher.

Yes, I know I said I was done worrying about stats and from now on I was just going to crank out good content and let things fall where they may. That is still the case, but you do like some external validation when it happens.

Way back on May 25th, I wrote that my goal had been to break the Technoratti 100K in 2 months, but that I had done it in 28 days. Then I bet that I could break 50k by the 15th of June, but it just did not happen.

Today (August 23rd), just over 2 months later than I had intended, I finally broke the 50K barrier. Yes, I know I probably could have done it sooner had I not taken those weeks off in the middle of the summer.

Thank you all for your links, your loyalty and your readership. I could not (and would not) do it without all of you.

I was just sitting here, reading over some of my past posts ( my insomnia is acting up) and realized it is just over a month since I started this blog.

25 posts later, it is still a blast. I have blogged for years, but never just for fun. It was always to market a business, to gain an audience, to increase my profile. This blog is just for fun.

It is my stress release valve as I deal with hard issues I am having to face right now. I have found old friends through it and people who care about me can keep up with me.

This is just a note to say thank you for reading and I hope you stick around.