Who would have thought the secret sauce for getting 4,000 unique blog hits in a weekend would be 1) write an article about a polka dot house + 2) wait for the article to sit unfound on your blog for two and one-half years then suddenly in less than two days 4,000 unique visitors and nearly 5,000 total visitors. A side effect of the post was it getting shared 2,000 times on Facebook.
I have been blogging for thirteen years on a very regular basis. The above results prove I don’t have a clue on how to build an audience. Oh, I write about growing up a military brat, trying to make it as a writer, and share a few book reviews and poems. My tastes and writing a very eclectic, Christian, and conservative. I know they aren’t for everyone. Every now and then I would write a poem or piece that would get nearly a thousand views. Numbers like that were the exception, not the rule.
If I wrote or mentioned Bob Dylan or Ray Bradbury, I would see a spike in the number of viewers. There was no doubt that their celebrity attracted readers. These had been my most viewed articles.
This past weekend’s phenomenon of getting over 4,000 views and 2,000 shares was different. My writing had connected with people. It wasn’t that I had written anything with shock value. It was just a simple nonfiction piece about a little house that brought some joy. For others, they wanted to share their knowledge of the polka dot structure. Some simply thought the house cute.
Amazing.
I’m smart enough to not try to replicate the story. I have been through WordPress’s Blogging 101 and Writing 201 course. I’ll just keep on keeping on. One thing I have learned is people read and share blogs for a variety of reasons. If I’m lucky, I’ll touch someone’s heart strings again someday. Until then I’ll just keep sharing a little about my journey.
I wonder, why do people read blogs? I have a few I read to improve my writing skills. I have some I read to help me better understand the business of writing. I read a few because friends write them and I have an undying loyalty to my friends. If you are my friend, I will support you to a fault.
Why do you read a blog? I would love to know.
Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Bewildering Stories and Beyond Imagination. When not writing each morning at his favorite coffee house, he supports his writing, reading, and book reviewing habit working as an IT application support analyst. He is a former Captain in the US Army. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. You can visit him at http://www.jimmiekepler.com.
