Some comments about your blog. First, I have 800X600 resolution on my screen ( I know, it's a little outdated and most people have at least 1024X768) so I have to scroll to the right to read your whole page. As I mentioned, I don't you have to worry too much as most people don't use 800X600 nowadays. I like to keep fonts large so that it's easier on my eyes.
Second, I think it's great that you put your photo on your blog. I think you gain more trust as people can see who they're dealing with. You have a nice smile BTW.
I think you have a face that people trust.
Third it's great that you use the Google feed to have current news articles displayed.
Fourth I think that the JDAnswers ad thing that you have takes up too much space on the page.
Overall I really like your blog and I like your choice of free blog service providers.
As for my sites having a free angle, yes we have a lot of users, but since most of our stuff is free it's hard to earn revenue. I think that I can take lessons from Lisa on monetizing a website. She's got a lot of the angles covered.