2016 Blog Review: 10 Years and Counting

Wow, I’ve been blogging for 10 years now! It’s time to step back and review what I’ve accomplished and what I’m planning for next year.

By the Numbers

I am less obsessed with my statistics than I was in the early years, but the numbers seem like a good place to start.

Overall statisticsNumber 10 candle

  • Total number of posts (including this one): 1008
  • Total all-time views: over 1.2 million
  • Total visitors since 2012: around 350,000 (WordPress has only been tracking visitor count for 4 years)
  • Total comments: 2847

My total views are down a bit over 2015 and 2014, although I still average about 500 views per day and 15,000 views per month. Although I had 20K fewer views this year than my high point of 2014, I received more comments in 2016 (202) than I did in 2014 (152).  I’ve seen an increase in sharing over LinkedIn this year as that platform has become more focused on content.

Subscribers

I estimate I have around 5000 subscribers now. I have around 3400 blog subscribers plus 2100 Twitter followers. While WordPress adds Twitter subscribers to my follower count, I’m sure there’s overlap between the two groups. It’s hard to get an exact number of subscribers with RSS. Feedly shows I have 1000 subscribers, but I know that number is rounded. I also have around 200 followers on LinkedIn, plus 500+ connections. About half of my subscribers read my posts via email. 2016 Subscriber Pie Chart

Most Popular Posts

I published 40 posts this year. As in 2015, I set a schedule and published a new post about every 2 weeks, plus ID links posts about once a month. I have been focusing on writing more about storytelling and scenarios, but some of my most viewed posts are on more general instructional design topics. The broader topics like my blog list and portfolio ideas were shared by many people, while scenario-based learning is more specialized.

  1. 35+ ID & eLearning Blogs
  2. 30+ Ideas for eLearning Portfolio Samples
  3. A Range of Options for Scenarios and Storytelling
  4. Broad and Deep Instructional Design Skills
  5. Scenario-Based Learning: Why & How

As in past years, several of my older posts on instructional design careers continue to be very popular. In fact, these 5 posts were the most popular posts last year as well.

  1. What does an instructional designer do?
  2. Instructional Design Hourly Rates and Salary
  3. Time Estimates for E-Learning Development
  4. Instructional Design Skills
  5. Getting Into Instructional Design

What’s Next in 2017?

I’m looking for ways to reuse and expand my existing content to do more and reach wider audiences.

More Scenario-Based Learning and a Possible Book

I keep a running document with blog post ideas, including another 20 ideas for posts related to scenario-based learning. That has become the focus for my consulting, so that’s also the focus for my writing. Eventually, I’d like to gather all these posts for scenario-based learning into a book and self-publish it. I don’t think that book will happen in 2017, but every blog post I write on this topic gets me a little closer.

Voice Over Scripts Presentation and Course

In March, I’m presenting at the eLearning Guild’s Learning Solutions Conference. I’m reworking material from my blog post series on voice over script pitfalls into a presentation with new sample script sections. I’m also planning to turn some of this content into a course I can sell for an additional income stream.

Consulting

When I started this blog 10 years ago, I had no real intention of leaving my job and becoming a consultant. However, it’s one of the primary ways new prospective clients find me. This blog has allowed me to become independent. One common piece of advice to consultants looking to grow their businesses is to become recognized as an expert in a specific niche, and this blog is how I earned that recognition. I’ve never really had to hunt for clients; they have always found me. That lets me spend more of my time creating and less time marketing.

Thank You

For those of you who have been with me since the beginning and those who just discovered my blog, thank you! Writing a blog would be much less rewarding without all the great readers who leave comments and send emails with great questions and thoughtful responses.

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