Happy blog-a-versary, HHR Readers! HHR is turning 12 this year. I want to use this post to commemorate that, and give you all a bit of a behind-the-scenes update. The last year has been a busy one, and some of you may have noticed that content creation has slowed down a bit. While we’ve been getting regular blog posts, I’ll be the first to admit new permanent pages have been a second priority lately. Part of the problem is that grocery stores far outweigh other content on HHR, and I’m working towards adding a few non-grocery items before I go all in on some upcoming grocery projects in the archives. On the flip side, I’ve greatly increased my presence on social media over the past couple of years and have been putting a lot of effort into it. If you’re not following me on Facebook and you’re on the platform, I’d recommend it at this point. While there’s nothing “Facebook exclusive”, the exact posts made to FB aren’t usually replicated on the blog.
So what does the future hold for the HHR blog? Well, I’m considering a couple of different avenues at the moment. I have always had a great desire to produce videos, and I have an underloved YouTube channel. I want to put more effort into making videos, but don’t plan on giving up the blog either. However, with HHR still just me, this will become a balancing act of splitting effort across multiple platforms. This may result in fewer blog posts, but the overall amount of content shouldn’t drop.
So what does the future of HHR hold? Well, I’m planning new permanent pages for the following businesses: Luby’s, Food 4 Less, and the unbuilt Copperfield Mall. I also have a Patreon. I’ll be the first to admit I’m unhappy with how the advertising platform I’m using has changed. Originally, ads were minimal and pretty straightforward. Lately, the company that places ads has been slyly increasing the number and placement of ads and removing quality checks, leading to some ads that deceptively ask users to “click to continue”. While running HHR is far from a profitable business, the ads have been quite helpful in paying for hosting and related charges. I hope Patreon will at least partially make up for that; if not, advertising will likely be re-implemented.
What are y’all’s thoughts on Patreon vs Ads? What content would you like to see on HHR? I’d love to hear from my audience in the comments! Remember Name, Email, etc… are all optional. Comments are held for review, but non-spam comments will be published!
Happy blogiversary!! I’ve enjoyed this journey ever since your flickr days!
Thank you very much!
Happy anniversary to HHR! I certainly appreciate the blog side of the operation and like reading the blog posts. I’m looking forward to the unbuilt Copperfield Mall post and, of course, anything Luby’s will be sure to get a lot of attention. I hope the blog posts keep coming, but I can understand the reduced pace. I certainly couldn’t think much to make guest blog posts about in the past year. I think I only had one post, the Red Bluff Kroger one. That was fun, it certainly reminded me of The Year of Kroger posts we did back in 2023.
I hope everyone appreciates the effort that Mike puts into HHR! I know there are people in other parts of Texas and the country who wished they had a resource like this for their local areas!