As if you could not tell, I am really enjoying this blog. It is something that I have wanted to do for years and I finally had the courage to take the plunge. Lets be honest, starting a blog is not a high risk venture, but it has required some vulnerability. I have put myself out there without any certainty of what people would think or how people would respond to what I wrote. I also had no idea if anyone would want to read it and if they did, whether or not they would share or talk about what they read with others.
I created the blog through blogger.com and they allow you to see how many people have read each post and the blog overall. Part of why I am writing this post is that the blog passed 1000 total views this evening and it is my 25th overall posting. That is pretty exciting. While I have found that writing this blog has meant something to me regardless of whether or not someone reads it, the fact is that anyone who publishes their writings wants them to be read and I am so grateful to everyone who has taken the time to read something thus far.
I am also an old school sports statistics nerd, so I find the numbers to be fun. Of the over 1000 views of the blog so far, about 75% of them were direct links from the blog achieve or from one of my postings on Facebook or Twitter. The other 25% were people who opened up the main page (likely from a link using the home address or a bookmark). I have 3 subscribers (thanks!) and have had 4 comments posted (also thanks!). I am not sure what I expected in terms of comments as I have never run a blog, but they are clearly much less common than on facebook and I think I expected a few more than I have gotten. No worries, I have been able to adjust my expectations since it started.
The blog posts that have been viewed the most:
Do These Embarrassing Facts Make Me Unworthy (70 views)
On Love and Being a Parent (67 views)
Is God Laughing at Me (62 views)
The Power and Wonder of Crushes (54 views)
Both Sides of Bullying (52 views)
Am I the Only Person Who Has Ever... (52 views)
The posts with the fewest views:
Getting Started (my first post, 17 views)
I have always wanted a tattoo and will probably never get one (21 views)
My two newest posts from last night and today (which people are still checking out)
Making the Choice to Provide Fewer Choices (22 views)
All I Want For Fathers Day is a Nickname (22 views)
Here are a couple posts that I am extremely proud of that did not get the views I had hoped because of bad titles, topics without much interest, or poor timing of my posts to Facebook and Twitter:
Tuesdays with Morrie and My Fuller Life (26 views)
When Someone Believes in You (24 views)
I know each of the posts noted above has been read more than the number of views listed because 25% of the blog traffic has come from people who have either followed a link to the home page or who have the home page bookmarked.
For the most part people have been extremely supportive of this new venture, but I can tell that some people do not know what to think. I generally hope to post 4-6 entries a week, but we will see. So far there is not shortage of content. At any given time I have 5-7 drafts started and try to find time to finish them when I can. The time taken to do this has mostly come out of my meaningless television watching schedule. I stink at proofreading, so I usually have to space out a couple quick final reads to try and catch as many of my mistakes as possible.
Starting this blog was part of a greater effort I am making to be more active in following my passions and going after what I want in life. The first two weeks have validated my decision to do this and caused me to wonder what I have missed in the past by being too scared of embarrassment, failure, or what people might think. I know that some people have loved the blog posts and others probably have had their feelings about my own sense of self importance validated. The bottom line for me is that I am loving this experience and I always look forward to the next post after finishing the last one.
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