It’s just my second day back of blogging, and already I’ve become obsessed with my stats, again.
I had done a pretty good job of only looking at my stats about once a day since I stopped blogging on March 31, but today I must have checked them at least 20 times.
There was a nice little bump in the number of views today, which I had expected since it was the first time I posted something in a long time. I thought the four-month pause from blogging would have given my followers enough time off to have forgotten how much blather there really is in my posts, and they would make the mistake of clicking on my new post either to see if things had improved (that’s laughable) or just to confirm that things were as bad as ever.
But perhaps the stat that sticks out the most to me, and concerns me the most, is the growth in the number of followers. Over the past four-plus months during which I did not post a single blog, I picked up 159 followers. To put that in perspective, after my first 50 months of blogging every single day, I had 50 followers.
That seems to suggest that I can pick up more followers by not blogging. It seems like people are essentially sending me a message – if you don’t post anything, we will gladly follow you. But once you start posting again, forget about it…
In other words, I am better rewarded for not publishing than I am for publishing a blog post…
So you may wonder why I am writing this post.
It’s a legitimate question for which I have no answer.
But at least the stats give me something to write about, like the good old days.
Plus, I think I will start a new online certificate program:
“How to Get More Followers by Doing Nothing. Literally, Absolutely Nothing”.
That sounds like the kind of course I would sign up for…
Lmao!!!! I just hit my 25th month and only have 50 followers. I think 17 are my family members. I started to wonder if I was beginning to count my stats as my validation to do what I love. I am trying not to look anymore- but I fail daily lol.
If it makes you feel better- I am glad your back. It’s nice to make a come back- new material and new perspective.
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checking stats can be quite addictive. and 50 followers after two years was way ahead of me, and like you, most of them were family members.
and thanks for the welcome back!
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Welcome Back, Jim!!! You were missed. I took about a 3-month hiatus late last year … lost some readers, but most were still here when I returned. I didn’t gain any new ones that I know of during my absence, but I’m betting it’s those who see something they like one time, sign up to follow, then never visit again! I have nearly 5,000 followers, but only about 75-100 regular readers, if that. Some drop in only for Jolly Monday or Good People Wednesday, others read nearly every post. But, y’know … I’m happy with what I have. I wouldn’t wish to have to answer 200-300 comments every day, and with the group of readers I have, it’s a more … intimate group. I think of them as family, not just casual readers. Anyway, welcome back, Jim!!!
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thanks, Jill! It feels good to be back. And like you, I am sure most of my followers don’t read my blog, it’s just a small group that comes back consistently – which makes it much easier to manage! I look forward to getting back to reading your snarky snippets!
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My mentor in my early days of blogging has over 100,000 followers and gets hundreds of comments daily. I simply couldn’t do it! I like the close-knit feel of my readership, and I can manage the level of comments (most days, anyway), so I’m happy where I am! Snarky Snippets are alive and well, so whenever you feel up to it, come on over!
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who was your mentor? that would be incredibly hard to keep up with so many comments! is blogging a full-time job for this person?
and there is a sweet spot there somewhere between having some nice dialogue with fellow bloggers but not being overwhelmed…
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I keep trying to remember the name of his blog, even went back through some of my super-old posts, but no luck. This was back in 2014-2015. He didn’t care for my politics when my blog changed from being book reviews and an occasional personal observation to being a political blog, so we parted ways. But I will always remember some of his advice, such as ALWAYS answer every comment, and keep the length between 800-1200 words, and use between 11-15 meaningful tags/categories. He actually worked full-time, plus had small children, so I don’t know how on earth he kept up, but he did! Sooner or later his name & the name of his blog will pop back into my memory and I’ll let you know. ‘Twould be interesting to check it out, see if he’s even still blogging.
Yep, my blog is very important to me, but I do have a family and a home and I like to read, so I don’t want to spend 20 hours a day writing/editing/commenting, etc. As it is, I spend probably 8-10 hours a day on it!
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I think blogging, when done right, is a serious commitment. I have always struggled to keep up with responding to comments and reading other people’s blogs. That’s part of the reason I took the break. And after just four days back, I feel like I am behind already…
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I feel the same. I take my blogging seriously, and I figure if people take the time to read and comment, the least I can do is appreciate and respond to their comments. I also try to research thoroughly and get my facts right, making sure I used reliable sources, double check, and triple check my grammar and spelling, though I still make mistakes! I took that hiatus for about 4 months due to heart/health problems, and I’m still not back 100%, but doing somewhat better, and blogging gives me a purpose, a focus, not to mention interaction with lots of people and lots of different ideas! Funny, but it takes very little to put us behind! Skip a day sometimes and let yourself breathe! You’re in it for the long haul, so don’t burn yourself out.
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I can tell of the care that you put into your blogging. I hope your health continues to improve!
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Thanks, Jim!
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👍
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I was also very surprised when my followers steadily increased while I was not Blogging for 34 days and only once a week after that. But views and visits plunged to about 25% of their former level which was expected. So good to see you active again.
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I just read your retirement blog; I hope you enjoyed your time with Tom Brady. But it looks like he may have kicked you out after 34 days. Looks like you have found a schedule that works for you. I am going to be trying to do the same thing.
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I don’t follow my stats closely enough to know if this is true for sure, but there seem to be times most months when I hardly add any followers and then follow that with quite a few in a short time. It’s too bad there’s not a stat for bots. For those of you keeping track at home, the Ripken count is now up to 2.😊
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My stats are the same; the number of followers ebbs and flows, as do the number of unfollowers. Thanks for the Ripken update; at some point, I’ll figure out a schedule with my return to blogging…
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Welcome back Jim, I’m still trying to catch up with writing blogs and reading them let alone checking my stats. My new followers often turn out not to even have a blog let alone be human…
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thanks, Janet. And I suspect most of my followers are just like yours… I’ve got some catching up to do as well. I hope you are doing well…
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To think that all you have shared on your blog suddenly disappears and can garnish no attention in your absence is unrealistic. Even if you never posted again, you have left such great writing behind that it moves with its own momentum. That being said, I am still so happy to have you back. I need a little blather in my life!
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Thanks, Brad. I think one of the things that people may enjoy about reading my blather is that it helps them to feel good about their own writing ability…
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Sign me up! My stats have really nose dived this year, and I’ve probably posted more frequently than in previous years. I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere 🤣
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I find it hard to imagine that your stats have dropped. You provide such wonderful content and are such a pleasure to chat with through the comments. Maybe once Boris is gone, the stats will start picking up again…
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Kind of you to say that, Jim, but it’s true! Last year was an exceptional one, but at the current rate I might match 2020, which was a better year than the previous three so I can’t really complain. Even I couldn’t blame Johnson for my stats, much though I’d like to try 🤣
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I hope you get back to 2021 levels soon!
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Thanks, but it would take a seismic shift for that to happen! Keeping pace with 2020 would be good, though.
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I’ll do my part 🙂
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Thank you. Every little helps, as a major grocery retailer here would say 😊
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or, “I get by with a little help from my friends.”…
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I can definitely sing out of tune…
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I wouldn’t walk out on you. well, maybe. if you’re really out of tune 🙂
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I am. Very.
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maybe if you sing really loud, no one will notice…
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I’m pretty sure they would 🤣
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well if you’re going to sing, I guess it’s better to sing loud 🙂
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I’d probably be evicted from my flat 🤣
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maybe you can become a busker…
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I think the idea of busking is to make money, not pay people to listen to you 😉
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maybe you could be a different kind of busker. imagine the crowds you would attract if you were paying people to listen to you!
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If I win the lottery, maybe…
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it’s music and socialism combined 🙂
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I think others might have beaten me to that!
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🙂
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it would be a great inspirational ted talk! this could apply to other parts of life such as: will I get a larger salary for not working? great business model aside, I knew I was missing something, and like brad, I needed a bit more blather in my life, my own blather grows tiresome at times.
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and perhaps the reverse as well – maybe the key to losing weight is to eat more. there was a Seinfeld episode where George decided to do the opposite of everything he would have normaly done, and it seemed to work great, for a while. it’s nice to know a fellow blatherskite…
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)))
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😀 Welcome back, Jim.
You probably have celebrity status; which could be the reason for you gaining followers while posting nothing on your blog.
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thanks, Renard. Or the bots have been working overtime 🙂
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Following stats can become a addiction. The dopamine released starts out pleasant but can become obsessive brain activity. Just sayin.
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and unfortunately, I am addicted. and it took just one day of getting back into blogging 🙂
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It must be your magic Jim. I’m pretty sure a lot of the rest of us wouldn’t garner such success. I personally don’t have a large following and only publish about once a week. My momentum falls two days after I publish. I prefer to a lazier style of blogging.
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more likely, it’s the magic of bots. and I like your style of blogging!
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I had a similar experience five years ago, when I took most of the year off from blogging. To my surprise, my followers kept increasing by fairly respectable numbers. It was a real head scratcher, because my ego refused to believe that a dearth of posts was what made my writing attractive. And to this day I think the real answer is that people were eagerly anticipating the brilliance of my writing, when I returned from my sabbatical. That’s probably the same case with you.
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I can’t argue with your logic, so I’ll assume that’s the case…
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“Brilliance”…???.Hmmm…….😄..But your posts are entertaining for sure.
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Entertainment is all that matters. I can also fascinate large audiences with my agility at twiddling my thumbs in opposite directions.
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Do you charge for admission for them to watch?
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Not yet. I’m waiting for Carnegie Hall to book me in for an appearance.
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Oooh, yes, they will probably be calling any day.
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I hope so. Otherwise I’ll have to settle for Madison Square Gardens.
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😶🤚!
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👍👍
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Can I be your agent, Tippy? I don’t know what that would involve, except this could be my golden ticket…
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I guess in the meantime, you can just twiddle your thumbs…
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Yep. I never lack for excitement.
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something to look forward to in retirement…
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It’s amazing how easily us retirees can be entertained.
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I’m easily entertained now, I can’t imagine what it will be like when I’m retired…
I might start watching Accounting vieos…
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I’ll bet you will. That adds up.
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I’ll be sure to give credit to the video creator (and a debit too)
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That sounds like a good idea, on balance.
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accounting is kind of zen-like…
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Do your students call you “Master Borden”?
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that sounds like a way to end up retiring early…
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Especially if you ask for donations.
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I’d need them…
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if he could chew gum at the same time, that might be something I’d pay to watch…
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I would watch it from my Tv instead of paying. 😉
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but it’s Tippy!
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if I could do that, you can be sure there would be a blog about it, with video of course…
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That would go viral and you’d be an instant star.
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maybe I should start practicing…
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👍
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I feel for you with the draw of checking your stats. It’s actually an area where I’ve improved marginally over the past few months–now I only check 50x per day rather than 100x. I get about 150 new followers a month and I think 85% of them are BS accounts made by WP to keep people like me interested in blogging. With that said, I’d guess the more posts you have, the more times your post is recommended at the bottom of someone else’s post causing more page views and follows. My ‘secret side project’ blog that has sat idle for months gets almost no attention at all.
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that’s impressive growth – 150 new followers a month!
and you’ve got a secret side project? does it have anything to do with double secret probation?
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I tend to be more concerned with my Flickr stats, which aren’t all that great either. I think probably the more content you have posted, the more likely you are to pop up in searches. I am doing good to publish one post a week, so I probably don’t get very many hits.
Anyway, so far I have made 2 sales of photographs based on people finding my website and 1 sale based on people finding me on Flickr. So, the average money per post I am making on WordPress is negative I’m sure because I pay for a domain. I use free Flickr, so I have made literally fractions of a penny posting on there.
So in summary: stats schmats.
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your summary says it all, but it still doesn’t stop me from checking my stats constantly. and congrats for making some money from your photos – quite impressive!
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Great about selling some photos . I am guessing that the starry sky was one?
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Most of them were from wildlife refuge that people wanted for one brochure or another. There was one from a lake in Arkansas that someone wanted as well.
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Impressive! Your photos on brochures. 🙂
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One was for a Hindu (or something similar) temple somewhere.
My theory is that it is hard to get really good landscape photos of central Texas. I know this because I have tried to take such photos for several years now. This is just not the prettiest part of the country.
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It may not be the prettiest part of the country but you do a good job of showing the beauty it does have!
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indeed he does…
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isn’t that what Photoshop is for?
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how nice that the people creating the brochure didn’t just steal your photos off of Instagram…
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Yeah, that was nice. Who knows how many times my photos may have been used without my knowledge. If it was a source of income for me I guess I’d worry about it and do regular reverse image searches or something.
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This doesn’t mean that you are going to start charging when I use your photos for one of my blog stories, is it? LOL!
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What? And be paid in gold stars, I suppose
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Yes, I can pay in gold stars 🌟 no problem. 🙂
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or bottles of wine…
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Well now we are getting a little pricey!
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🙂
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uh-oh…
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must be a tough time for photographers to make a living…
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Its hard not to check constantly. Once a day should do.
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a normal person can probably check just once per day…
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I think WP was adding followers to entice you back. WP checks its stats constantly as well. It must have noticed a sharp decline when you stopped posting.😉
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then I guess I should thank WP, or maybe not…
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Well I missed posting last night but I haven’t gained any new followers today. Hmmm….
I am glad you are back, even if ot ups my quota of “head smacks” now! LOL!
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there’s a no money back policy on my advice…
you can never have enough head smacks!
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Thats what I keep hearing from certain people! Not convinced though!
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we’ll let you know if we ever get tired of them…
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Haha! I am not holding my breath.
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that’s probably a good idea… 🙂
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It’s so nice to see you back on WordPress! If it makes you feel any better I always get more followers when I don’t post even if it’s just for a few days 😐
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thanks, Pooja! ahhhh, the mysteries of WP…
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Lol it’s a platform that keeps you thinking…
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indeed it does…
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I think it’s a devious ploy to get us all to stop blogging so that you don’t have to read too many posts every day 🤣
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dang, was it that obvious? 🙂
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😊
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Jim, I can tell from this piece of blather, that you are right back in the captain’s seat. When I had to put my own writing/blogging on a two-month hiatus when I was away helping my mom, I honestly sort of forgot about Big Sky Buckeye. Fortunately, the wheels are moving again.
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I’m happy to hear the wheels are moving again!
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haha welcome back, Jim! Maybe they followed because of your prior material and they were in the wings, waiting with bated breath that you’d come back, and soon as you did they’d be the first to know!! 😀
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thanks, BB! it’s nice, although it’s been hard to get back into the old routine!
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To me it suggests you either got featured on the Discovery page or got noticed by a spambot.
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I’m guessing the spambot…
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Believe to God and also yourself, you must do better. And also success in blogging. You are welcome. Thank you so much.
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thank you…
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Welcome back.
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thank you!
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Setting goals should help me get to where I want to be. I’ll definitely be checking my stats weekly 🙂
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be aware of the possibility of becoming addicted… 🙂
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Lolol oh wow, totally not what I expected. Maybe I should try ending my run too to see if that’s true. Great to have you back, Jim. And here’s to getting right back on the blogging horse!
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thanks, Stuart. It’s probably no surprise that one of my first posts after my blogging break would be about stats!
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IKR! Checking the stats can be addictive.
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indeed it can be!
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I can totally relate to the preoccupation with stats, followers, etc.! I am feeling the same way in regard to my new blogging gig! Unfortunately, there is a need to be seen and “liked”, if only to stay relevant (in the standings)! I am finding that the real purpose I started my blog (which was to have the freedom to share things about myself, my life, my experiences and my thoughts about all of the above) has been giving me greater drive to post. I just need a place to “document” my feelings and hopefully, I will garner some like-minded followers along the way! Continued success with your journey; I look forward to reading more from you!!! 😊
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I wish you the best with your new blog!
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Thank you so much!!! 😌🙏🏻
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👍
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He’s back!
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🙂
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Lol, I had to laugh. Who knew, we can get so many followers without any effort. I may have to try not blogging. LOL. Welcome back Jim! 🙂
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I wish I had known this when I started – I wouldn’t have driven myself crazy posting every day! 🙂
and thanks for the welcome back, Debby!
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Lol Jim. Yes you would have! 🙂
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you’re probably right!
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The world and people living in it is full of surprises.
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that’s for sure!
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You always make good points, Jim, and give pause for thought. I think once your followers see a new post after a long break, then whamo-o. After that, the likes keep coming even when you don’t post.
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thanks, Jennie. and that’s my hope! 🙂
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😀
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Numbers are addictive! I took a random break from blogging and stepped away from bookstagram for a bit and honestly I think I started enjoying my books again!
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I’ve never heard of bookstagram – what is that?
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Instagram accounts devoted solely to books!
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hey me too! i am a bookstagrammer but really prefer blogging honestly! starting to analyze stats here way more 😂
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I’ll have to check out bookstagram. and have fun checking your stats!
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I want to know more about developing sir . Please can you teach me more , I like how you work set
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I feel like if I blog more I’ll go down that route as well!
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enjoy!
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Can you help me
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interesting!
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Welcome back! You may have done nothing, but the content you posted before is nothing to sneeze at. I’m not sure how wordpress recommendations work, but it’s very possible that your old posts get recommended to wordpress users who found them interesting and since you already got a lot posted, they thought it would be a good idea to follow you.
It was not the lack of content, but rather, the content that you have built.
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Thanks for contracting me . I’m interested to learn I’m self learning no one show me how to do it I want to learn me please
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thanks, Jomz!
I guess part of it is just a numbers game. with so many posts, the odds are better that someone will stumble across something I’ve written…
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Welcome back to blogging, its been months since you wrote a blog since March was so far away. Also, congratulations on getting new followers every day. Moreover, being obsessed with stats is not a bad thing if you ask me, I too check my stats every time I wrote blogs but not too often, I do it once a week if I remembered to. Lastly, great blog post Jim
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thank you!
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I decided to follow you and add to your stats 😂😂 Im relatively new to the blogging world I only began earlier this year I’m still finding my feet. Im enjoying meeting the authentic people here amongst the chaos. It’s nice to meet you Jim.
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thanks for the follow, Emma. and good luck with your blog!
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First day for me, wish me luck
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good luck!
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