The White Oaks Blog Turns 5.

November 16, 2012

5-can

An Anniversary I Never Expected to See.

I was going through my expenses this week when I came across a bill for the renewal fee for a particular domain name that I purchased back in November of 2007:  WhiteOaksBlog.com.    Back when I purchased the name, I didn't even know what the heck a  “blog” was, let alone what I'd do with one.  But what I did know is that I really wanted the flexibility to write my own online content about life and real estate in San Carlos, and I was not satisfied with the restrictive and static nature of websites that were available at that time.  So it seemed like a good fit…

At first, I had no idea what to write about or who my audience even was.  But I soon found that there was never a shortage of interesting things going on in San Carlos if I just opened my eyes and looked around.  The City of Good Living has gone through quite a few changes in the past half-decade with the resurgence of its real estate market, the outsourcing of police and fire services, and the exponential growth in enrollment in our schools…just to name a few.

Despite the unlimited amount of things to write about, I never imagined that I'd be penning this post five years later.    After all, I'm not a journalist — I make my living helping people buy and sell homes, not by writing articles.   And blogs take a TON of time and effort to keep alive.  Back then, I honestly expected that blogs would be just another short-lived fad that would go the way of the pager or the Palm Pilot.

But 931 posts, 2,789 comments, and 3 facelifts later, it's still plugging along.

Writing this site has taken me places I would have never expected to go — both good and bad.  It landed me interviews on the Channel 7 news, KGO and KCBS radio, and even garnered a few mentions in the newspaper.     But it has also enabled me to step on my own garden rake on more than a few occasions.  I guess sometimes we can't get out of our own way fast enough, and in that respect it has been a very good learning experience for me.

Thank You.

Writing a blog is akin to throwing a rock in complete darkness — without some sort of feedback, you never really know what you hit.   But the changes that have occurred on the site over the past 5 years were predominantly driven by the feedback (both positive and negative) that I received from readers of the site, and for that I am extremely grateful.

So this starts the next era of the White Oaks Blog.    The appearance of the site will likely change again in 2013 — I usually try to change the structure every couple of years, and it's really ready for a refresh.   In my mind's eye, I envision a more streamlined site with more multimedia presence (audio, video) to make it more appealing.

But for now, thank you for being loyal readers of the site.   It has been an amazingly fun 5 years, and I hope to write another post just like this in 2017.

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