Futura – Surprise, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

“Time keeps on slipping into the future,” Steve Miller sang. The book has officially closed on 2017 and 2018 has begun, just hours old. May it be a year filled with adventure and happiness!

I started the Fuji X Weekly blog on August 21, 2017, as an online journal for my (what was then new) Fujifilm X100F camera. That was just over four months ago.

This isn’t my first photography blog. I used to have a “general photography” blog, which I closed down earlier this year after seven years. It had some success, and even a viral post. But a few things happened that convinced me that it was time to give it up, that it had run its course, and to pull the plug.

Flat Tire – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

One issue is that my photographs and even my words were being stolen frequently. I discovered that people were posting my articles and pictures on their websites without permission, and sometimes even claiming that they were the author and photographer. I was working hard, only for others to profit from it by theft. Unfortunately you cannot prevent people from ripping off what you post online, but I’m hoping that I have better luck with this blog.

Another thing is that it was taking up too much of my time. I was posting a minimum of five articles a week, and more if I could. Now I’m posting much less frequently, with one article per week as my goal (that’s why I call it Fuji X Weekly), and, if I have spare time, well maybe I’ll write one or two more.

Also, I felt like I needed a change in direction. I was writing a lot of Fujifilm specific posts, but it wasn’t a Fujifilm blog. Prior to ending it, I had thought about renaming it more than once. In the end it made more sense to simply start over from scratch.

I was trying to make a profit from the old blog. I had Google Adsense advertisements placed strategically. You don’t make much money from that, Google keeps most of the profits for themselves. You get tiny little crumbs, basically. The ads you see on Fuji X Weekly are placed by WordPress, not me. If I paid WordPress money they’d turn them off. I might do that in the future because the advertisements are annoying. I apologize that you have to see them. I don’t make a single penny from them, but I do get free web hosting.

Classic Dash – Peoria, AZ – Fujifilm X100F

Because I was trying to earn money from the old blog, I was promoting it whenever and however I could. I was constantly striving for attention and clicks. I’m taking the exact opposite approach with Fuji X Weekly, doing almost nothing to promote it (most of my friends and family are completely unaware that it even exists), and being content with however many people read it. I decided to write articles simply because I like to write. And I want to be helpful to others. Lots of people have been helpful to me over the years, many of them are strangers that have no clue who I am, and so I want to do the same, being a positive part of the photography continuum.

Interestingly, even though I have done so very little to promote Fuji X Weekly, it’s gaining steam quickly. People are finding it and reading it. I have three times more followers in four months than I had in seven years with my old blog. Fuji X Weekly had about 50% of the page views in December 2017 than I had in December 2016 with my old blog, which is incredible considering that it took many years to get to that point. If the trend continues, this blog will grow bigger by next year than the old blog did in seven years.

This is not to brag. It’s not about me. I’m not trying to gain anything out of this, except perhaps writing practice. I’m doing this for you and hopefully you find it beneficial. Whether Fuji X Weekly continues to grow in popularity or fizzles out to a small following, I will continue to publish articles once per week, or more if time permits. I appreciate you finding this blog and being a part of it by reading it. Thank you!