On The Map

After three straight posts about social media, I decided to give that dead horse a break.

Yesterday marked two months since this blog was started. Not an exciting anniversary, I know, but considering I figured this blog would get abandoned after the third post, it's a noteworthy occasion.

So, what have I done in 2 months of blogging?

28 posts (29 when you count this one), including: A six pack of book reviews, a post about a crashed B-17, a guest post by N.L. Gervasio to help promote her new book, a look at what the impact of airline deregulation can teach us about the current state of the publishing world.

1706 views. I'm sure most of these are search bots, but I do appreciate my real human viewers. :)

34 different countries I've received views from. This is a number that I am certain of, there maybe more. Blogspot's statistics are a let down here. The stats only list the top 10 most viewed from countries for any time period selected (now/day/week/month/all time). So, I started a notepad document listing any new countries I saw in my stats.

In addition to the list, I started a Google map and pinned each country on the map. Anyone who knows me for very long has found out I have an interest in maps. I've made maps for critique groups before, to plot out who was located where in the metroplex, so we could decide on where to meet in a centralized location.

My viewer map can be found here. If your country isn't already on the map, feel free to leave a comment with your country and I'll be glad to add you to the map.

Blog Lessons and ROW80 Check In

30 days into blogging and I see a couple of points that are starting to become obvious.

• No matter what time of day or night you post a link on twitter. you're going to get some hits on it. Hits yes, but very few (if any) comments. This leads me to believe that mostly I'm being read by bots. This would also explain why I've gotten so many one-off views from foreign countries.

• I can't compare my blog to others. My blog is mostly personal and boring, and I know this. Still, it's having some kind of online presence, a platform. That's what publishers and agents want to see, right?

• I don't have enough interaction with my human viewers. I'm not sure if it's the site design, some option I don't have checked, or if I'm just that boring with my posts (likely!). It's something I need to work on.

• The other thing I know is that this post is over and I can go have breakfast!

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ROW 80 Check In:

9 days in, 9 daily goals exceeded. I'm getting writing done every day, but I'm finding that most of these goals are being met just under the wire! I seem to write better/more consistently at night than I do during the day. This makes it a challenge when you haven't written all day and it's 10:30pm, and you still have 750 words to meet your goal. May not sound like much to some, but I type slow. Word goal for every day this week is 750. Until Sunday's check in then.

Comments always welcome. (hint hint!)

Blog Stats

I'm new to blogging, and one thing I've found I really enjoy looking at is my blog's stats. Now, I'm not obsessive about it or anything (okay, maybe a little bit), but I find it interesting to see all the information I can track. Page views, views by operating system (including, smart phones, iPads and oddly enough, an iPod), views by browser, traffic sources and more.

The stat that interests me most of all though, is the world map marking countries that I have received page views from. Three days into this blog, I had already been viewed in six different countries - US, Canada, UK, Germany, South Africa, and weirdly enough Algeria.

I know the name of the game here is brand recognition, and the blog is a step on that path. Getting my name out there and recognized through blog readers, which I hope to one day convert to book readers.

Question is this: How can I increase my viewership? Especially those international page hits? I already post links to the blog on twitter 2-3 times a day when i have a new post up- don't want to become an annoyance with it, or blow my own horn too often. I've also had a couple of folks add my blog link to their facebook pages. What else can I do to (unobtrusively) put myself out there?

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Programing Note: On June 23rd, Twitter's own @Jinxie_G (author N.L. Gervasio) drops by to share her new book "Nemesis" with Brain Drippings. Don't miss it!