This blog has been open for a couple of years now. Initially it was just a place where I could write an opinion here and there but, over the past 18 months or so, the growth and interest in what's being said here has truly grown. So much so that it went from recieving several hundred hits over the course of the first 6 months, to recieving over 20,000 hits on some days.
The opinions and articles have ranged from general musings to more precise political and social commentaries. There have been some guest writers here and there and as of right now, there are currently three of us with a fourth expeced toin the SmokingHotCoffee team in the next few days.
The goal has always been just to assert opinions and make commentaries in as fair and honest a way as possible. Sometimes they have been justified, and other times we have stood corrected (I think might you remember my infamous Lady Gaga retraction?).
The bottom line is that none of us, certainly not me, expected the interest to become what it has. I recieve numbers of emails everyday from readers asking questions, some disagreeing and agreeing with what has been said, others just giving the blog a pat on the back for saying what, in some cases, needed to be said. But to have come to reach 1 Million hits is shocking when compared to the goals of the blog in its inception. For that, I can only say; Thank You x Infinity!
As a result of the response the blog has recieved, we have decided to definately expand the blog into its own website. In otherwords, it will become a '.com'. This should occur over the next few days and we see it as a good thing for the site for a number of reasons. Firstly, it will allow the blog to reach more people by having a more 'easy to remember' URL. Secondly, while for the time being, the site will keep its current format, it will be developed and redesigned with proper categorisation and filing. All entries that are here will be either archived or they will be migrated to the new site. Another advantage is that by becoming a '.com', it will appeal to more potential writers and, where plausible, more interviewees. We approached several musicians over the past year or so and recieved much the same responses from each of them; "my agent/manager think's that it is a bad idea for me to do interviews with blogs". I also want to include discussion forums on the new site. So, those of you that email me regarding articles etc. can feel free to drop me a line if you would be interested in monitoring the forums. But perhaps the greatest advantage that I see from this blog evolving to a '.com' is that it gives un greater outreach. You can see throughout the articles and blogs that when possible I like to speak out on certai issues. By becoming a '.com' it opens the doors to advertising. From that, there is the potential for revenue, which if attainable, I would like to put back into some of the causes that I, and we, feel are important. So, while you can expect change, expect changes that are for the better and that might actually help. Of course, it will mean more work for us, but that's what we are here for.
On that note, I am going to sign off for today. I just wanted to give a heads up to all of you that have been loyal and supportive readers over the past few years as well as saying "Hello and welcome" to people that are reading this blog for the first time and like what they see.
Once again, Thank You!
Until next time,
SHC
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