The blogging world can be quite the roller coaster sometimes. You are flying high one week with a great feature and then wallowing in discouragement the next week with little to no response to a post you had high hopes for.
It can be brutal to share so much of yourself in your blog and then feel as though it’s going nowhere. That… in essence, you are being rejected.
One great way to combat those feelings is to CELEBRATE THE HIGH POINTS! Keep a running record of your victories so you’ll be able to look back in a moment of discouragement and see how far you’ve come!
I started keeping track of my Blog Stats last year using a tab in MyListy. It’s so convenient adding info there quickly since it is RIGHT THERE on your browser. No other program or application to open… just simply enter a line or two of info and you’re done.
Every now and then when I happened to think about it, or when something “big” happened, I entered in all my current stats with that date… and I liked being able to see all the growing numbers that way.
You could say that this has been a REALLY BIG year for me and the blog.
My very first record was 50 followers on Google Friend Connect in April of last year. Later that month I took the plunge and started a fan page for my blog. I felt rather silly doing it, but decided I would risk failure and go for it. :)
One year later I’ve been able to celebrate 850+ likes! And the majority of those have come since January… after my new Pagemodo Landing Page and viral Crockpot Ranch Pork Chops!
Um. Say what?
I think that it is awesome to be able to look back at where I was one year ago and celebrate how far I’ve come! Without my running record though, my little brain would have forgotten lots of the details. :)
After my blogger blog was disabled for no reason and without warning by Google, I took the plunge into WordPress waters and promptly lost 272 Feedburner subscribers.
I am ecstatic to look at my stats now and do a little jig that my Feedburner numbers have slowly/quickly/finally grown all the way back up to past what they were before the WP move.
Woo to the double Hoo!
All my bloggy drama and history is right there for me on My Listy, but it really isn’t all that secure. One careless move of the mouse and an entry could be gone with no possibility of an “undo.”
I decided to create an Excel file where I could move all that info over and save it for posterity. :)
I will still enter my info initially on MyListy since it’s so much more convenient, but this will give me a safe copy I can’t wreck as easily. Every month or so, I can update my Excel sheet with my current bloggy info!
If you want to join me in celebrating our bloggy victories, just click here and then click download for your own blank copy…
Then save it to your computer and make your first entry! If you are able to remember any numbers from the past, it wouldn’t hurt to enter some “back dated” info too! :)
What about you? Have you ever wished you could take a peek back at your past numbers and give your yourself a bloggy high five??
*Sometimes I link up at these parties… Weekend Bloggy Link up, Tatertots & Jello, House of Hepworths,Bowl Full of Lemons,Organize & Decorate Everything, Not Just a Housewife, Funky Junk Interiors, Shabby Creek Cottage, Skip to my Lou,Today’s Creative Blog, the 36th Avenue, Thrifty Décor Chick, Home Stories A-Z, Five Days Five Ways, How to Nest for Less,Positively Splendid, Six Sisters Stuff, and Someday Crafts. You should check ‘em out!!
Hi Renee, thanks for sharing this! I know how you feel about the highs and lows of blogging, I get them too, but you are right, we should celebrate the highs (and try to forget to lows). Hope you have a great weekend.
Kristel
Thank you so much for this! It is such perfect timing. I am a fairly new blogger and have been keeping track on paper (cause I’m a numbers nerd). I have a longer trip coming up and can’t bring all the paper stuff, so I was thinking I needed to create a spreadsheet…poof…one appeared in my google reader feed! Thanks!
Thank you so much for sharing this Renee, I wish I would have started tracking my stats sooner. But I am still a fairly new blogger so this sheet came at a perfect time.
First off, Renee, thank you for your blog. I recently found you when searching for DIY tricks to beautify my blog, and I’ve used several of your suggestions. Your instructions are clear, and the images are very helpful.
I immediately became a fan on Facebook and subscribed via email.
I got this post in my email this morning, and it made me smile. I can totally relate. I’ll also point out the obvious, which is, based on your stats, even though you may not get the feedback you were hoping for via comments, people ARE reading your posts and appreciating them.
Thank you SO much for the spreadsheet. What a great idea. I’ll be downloading one today. This was really nice of you to share this tool of encouragement. And, you beautified it, too. :) Thanks again.
I do this too! I also track my pageviews through Google Analytics. Then I can try to figure out if there is any pattern to what/when/how much I am posting. Also to make sure my pageviews are actually going up. :)
Great idea, Renee! I have been doing this since day 1 and it can be so encouraging! I update it on the first of every month and then also I do it right when something big happens – guest post, feature, viral pinterest post, etc. and then a few days later so I can track the growth. Fun stuff!
and I do have to say, for anyone wanting to start this now but didn’t keep track of this from day 1 – there are ways in some of the applications you can go back and find stats. In feedburner you can select dates and go back and find some previous stats. On facebook in “insights” you can go back and find your “likes” stats.
WOW! Good for you, and what a fun way to keep track of your success! came over from Serenity Now!
I track mine in a similar way but yours is just so pretty :)
I have a spreadsheet going back to 2008, but it’s not nearly as cute as yours!! But it IS fun to go back and peek.
Also, using Google Analytics and Statcounter can give you some great long-term data analysis as well.
Hi Renee,
I work on writing just for me, not my stats – if I get too caught up in the stats I self-censure and brood and ugh… not nice! I see it as, it’s not *me* being rejected – other people just have lives that sometimes keep them from catching up with mine! Sure, it’s possible they may not like a post sometimes but hey, I’m not doing this to win friends, I’m doing it to speak my truth. Friends are a bonus.
I also make sure to also comment on other people’s blogs as I discover them, hoping that what goes around comes around! :-)
Thanks for making me think about how I deal with the stats.
Loved reading your post- never thought to track my blog numbers since the blog keeps track. I’ll follow your advice- thanks!
Great idea…Im toying with the idea of blogging – havent jumped into it yet- work full time out of the home and a single parent of 3..not sure I have the time to blog or figure out getting started on blogging…but i saved this page in folder for creating a blog..just in case lol….Im an excel junkie so I love your spreadsheet regardless!