What I’ve learned from one year plus one month of Blogging

I’ve seen a lot of posts that celebrate bloggerversaries, for lack of a better word. So, as my blog approaches 20,000 hits by the end of the month,  here are some things I’ve learned about blogging, and the blog statistics that keep track of how my blog is viewed:

• First, I am thankful for every hit to my blog and thank people for visiting Transplantednorth and the encouragement given through your comments.  To reciprocate, I do my best to read a few blogs each day and if I am searching for a topic, I search WordPress posts in addition to searching on Google.
• There is a definate feeling of euphoria after a blog post has become Freshly Pressed. I got freshly pressed after blogging for only four months. But after that one glorious time, I am forever chasing to repeat that high like  a common  street junkie. Checking stats has become an obsession. One blogger likens the additiction to getting a high score on video games.
• Like many bloggers, I am making no money doing this – yet. But like many bloggers, I am going to do my best to figure out how I can turn every hit into a dollar. Or at least a quarter.

Here is what I have learned from WordPress’s statistic keeping tools:

•  There are people out there who really want Trader Joes to come to the Rochester area. The proof:  Over the last year, almost 100 searches about “Trader Joes Pittsford” or “Trader Joes Rochester” or “Trader Joes Western New York” drew readers, or at least clicks, to my blog post about my longing for Trader Joes to find a home in Rochester.  This post has received 259 views since I first put it up in September. And, it still gets about five views each day.
• In spite of the ever-present permeance of  tweets and texts in everyday life, everyone still loves a good, old-fashioned, handwritten love letter.  There are people out there who are either lonely and want to read hand-written love letters, or who are searching for a love letter template to emulate. How do I know this? My post Hey…vs. the Love Letter, which I posted during National Letter Writing Week back in January, has received the most hits on my blog: a whopping 6,554 views.  I am almost tempted to take this post down. I don’t want to be pigeon-holed into becoming the love letter blogger. I never even posted an actual love letter.   But, it is a reliable draw to my blog, and it is my hope that once there, people will explore other dimensions of my writing. 
• Hits to my blog definately slow down during vacation weeks, like Christmas and Easter week, and are slower in the summer months.
• Bloggers are interested in gardening. At least they are interested in arugula:  I’ve had 172 hits to my blog in the last year as a result of people searching for “arugula.”
• Since I’ve blogged about a cleanliness checklist for sleepaway campers, many out there are searching for “shampoo bottle” or “fish shaped shampoo bottle” have discovered my blog. I have no idea what or why these searches were performed, but I hope the searchers were happy to find my blog.

Overall, I have discovered that I have things to say and thoughts to think and there are people who want to read them. Even more than writing my weekly column in Rochester’s main newspaper, the Democrat & Chronicle, blogging has given me the confidence to know that yes, I can come up with ideas that I can put down and express in written words. And these ideas are sought after and (hopefully) read. With some fine tuning, I can turn these ideas into articles that I plan to pitch to publications.  Then, at last, my dream of writing for my life will be fulfilled.

…..Well, one can dream, can’t they? In the meantime, I’m off to wake the kids and make breakfast.