Good morning, Houston!
I am often amused (sometimes frustrated) when trying to explain why I am a walker, cyclist, cat lover, and more, letting my creativity lead to journalism, storytelling, poetry, essays, inspirational prompts, humor, and more, while other people were building bike and hike trails, or going on to profitable careers of various sorts.
The funny looks one gets, the puzzled, hesitant laughter as if the person is not quite sure you are being serious and not just yanking their chain.
Handing out my business card I accepted that there might not be a comment to a blog post, a sharing of some blog post on a social media platform, or an e-mail in my in-box (Actually, once I DID get a paying gig as a writer, after passing my card out the first time I attended a Blog Paws Convention a few years back) to let me know the person at least took a brief look around.
There is something that some people don't seem to realize: A good story, a thought-provoking bit of poetry, an informative essay or bit of reporting are some of the most important things in people's lives.
Without them, in some form or another, they might go off the deep end.
I feel that through your writing if you are able to inform, entertain, even inspire people, no matter how few, you're doing a good thing.
Never, ever, give up! God willing, your break will come.
(Inspired by Stan Lee, who died at 95, on 11/12/18).
From my earliest days as a blogger I have had stat counters on my blogs, the longest such stint for one brand was from June 2007 thru March 2016.
They told me my blogs each had hundreds of thousands of page views and similar numbers of visitors by the time I ended the service.
While the stats told me what site, or search term, led them to pay me a visit, very few were from blog posts, or social media which commented on or plugged a blog or post, even when I was the one who left a link somewhere, such as a comment, blog carnival or my own social media accounts.
Most of those triggering a stat count have been from bots or are un-identifiable as human or bot.
After leaving Statcounter.com I eventually decided to add Shareaholic buttons and see what would happen.
Because my laptop died in the Summer of 2017 I had no idea just what effect those buttons were having in bringing attention to my creativity until I got a new, desktop, computer, last Spring.
I started noticing numbers attached to different buttons, not just for each blog as a whole, but on a select few individual blog posts.
I had intended to explore this in more detail after returning from the Cat Writers' Ass. conference, last Spring, but I have been in a funk since mid-Sept., especially creatively, plus I was a bit bummed out by work hours being occasionally reduced from 40 a wk. to the likes of 30, 33, 34, and 36...Oh, and my cell phone has been having issues such that I could not download all my hiking and conference photos, from the past year, so I could do planned blog posts (I still need to find out the cost to fix the phone, or at least retrieve the pics before getting a new phone).
The one thing I DO know about the Shareaholic is that the shares did not lead to new comments, from the sharer, or from those who came by for a look from the site where I was shared.
I do not even have a way to tell me who did the sharing and where.
Maybe if I had a Pro account I would, but I was on the basic, non-paying, account.
My analytics told me basic numbers for up to the previous 30 days (Pro would go back 90 days).
And, as with Statcounter, most of the numbers come from bots or are un-identifiable as human or bot.
My Typepad stats will show me links from sites, but again, most are from searches.
One thing I wanted to do was look at various posts, such as stories and poetry, or series of posts, and see the Shareaholic button numbers, if any, for an individual entry or series.
In April I wrote a blog post that celebrated 1200 entries on this blog and extended an invitation:
"I want to remind myself of some of my triumphs and celebrate my milestones by inviting anyone who comes across this entry to read, comment on, even share some of my proudest creative moments from 10+ years on this blog (Take your time, this stuff will be here waiting for ya! Maybe you will find inspiration for your own creative pursuits along the way.)"
2 days later there was a comment...and nothing since.
Shareaholic registered no shares.
Until Tuesday one could see a running total in my sidebar for shares of the blogs and at the foot of each post for shares of an individual post.
You could see that both blogs had under 100 FB shares, with one blog closer to 100 and the other less than 50.
Less than impressive, I know.
For individual posts, the last time I looked some posts, on both blogs, had a couple dozen FB shares and a few on Twitter and a few on a handful of other sites.
Again, less than impressive.
Thursday, when I wanted to begin to delve into this further I was not seeing the numbers anymore. On anything.
A visit to my Shareaholic account provided no answers as to why.
So, I deactivated the account and removed the buttons from both blogs.
Where I will go from here with regards to finding something else similar I do not know.
As I return to regular blogging I want to not just encourage anyone stopping by to check out the above-linked post, leave a comment and share it, but do the same with these posts if they so choose:
The 3 most recent posts on this blog... (3 comments between them!)
Book Lover? Asked to Do a Review? Being "Old School" Not Always a Plus These Days
6 YRS. IN HOUSTON: Exploring The World Around You Not Just Something You Need a Car or Plane to Do
A Moment in the Life of a Walmart Cashier
Oh and to remind myself I still had what it takes...I spent all of August participating in the 30 day Frost Bank Optimism Challenge...beginning here (31 posts with 13 comments between them! A few of those by me in response to others.).
3 recent posts on Opinionated Pussycat...(11 comments between them!)
God Bless the Feline: A Little Ditty by Daddy Kiril
Decoding the "More Praise" Special Page For the News Cycle & Literary Challenged
FNN Special: 100 Years Ago Today...
As you can imagine comments to my blog posts are few compared to many people, but that is to be expected when you don't exactly have a regular readership, especially one that has an interest in letting you know what it thinks in one form or another, from comments to social media to e-mail.
To the few regulars who continue to let me know what they think, in various ways...the cats and I love you dearly. Your encouragement means a lot and some of you are bloggers in your own right that I want to get back to checking in on when I can, too.
This blog is just 46 comments shy of reaching the 1000 mark since it began in Oct. 2007.
Opinionated Pussycat is just 19 comments shy of reaching the 5000 mark since it began in Jan. 2010.
Yes, I know, some out there would look at those numbers and wonder what the heck took so long, especially for THIS blog, but what can I say...
The interesting thing, by way of comparison, is to look at my 2 retired blogs...
Sneakeasy's Joint (2002-2007) = 1359 comments, with the most recent being in 2015, 2016, and 2017! (After 6 yrs. of nothing!)
Cycling Dude (2003-2010) = 935 comments, with the most recent being in 2015, 2016, 2017 and Aug & Oct. of this year! (After 4 yrs. of nothing!)
I try not to look at statistics for my blog. I get too depressed. I just write a post daily because I enjoy it and hope for the best.
Posted by: Ellen Pilch | November 20, 2018 at 09:21 PM
My friend, that is how I tend to look at them as well...
I may wish I had more readers and feedback, but I have always found the stats that indicate real human reaction and interaction, not bots and spammers, to be interesting.
Posted by: Kiril Kundurazieff | November 21, 2018 at 07:28 PM
I used to refresh my stats many times a day, but every stat counter I used counted the visits differently and I have neither the time nor the brains to figure it out. I get very few comments. I know I get some shares on Twitter because I'm notified of it, but not many. I've sold a few books thanks to blog posts, but, again, not many. ~shrugs~ I've met some very nice people through blogging (yes, I'm looking at YOU, Kiril!), and that's my payback. I do understand that you're looking for paying gigs in addition to the other, intangible rewards of blogging, so I sympathize. Stay strong, my friend!
Posted by: Marian Allen | February 26, 2019 at 08:20 AM
Thank you, my friend.
Posted by: Kiril Kundurazieff | March 02, 2019 at 11:06 AM