Look at this! How did this happen???
You are no doubt reading along enjoying today’s post, “20 Questions With Author Barbara Tarn” – as well you should be –
and LOOK what’s also happening today
(more or less).
LOOK!
What, you don’t see?
Step closer to the glass, Clarice.
Closer, please.
Closer…
What?????
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat???
We are almost at 1,000 followers? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
You remember a few weeks ago I was talking about this and saying we might have a party at 1000 and we’d probably get there in March (I hoped; maybe by the end of March)? It’s freaking February second! And I honestly questioned whether we’d ever reach 1000 followers.
And, to be honest, I’m still pretty sure WordPress has made some huge error in calculating all this. The real number is probably around a hundred, but
scorecard, baby!
We will probably reach 1000 today! Or this week!
Can you believe it?
I can’t. I mean, I can, but I can’t. It’s crazy.
I don’t know why this has me so excited. Except it does.
My little blog that just over a year ago had NO followers except a spambot and a confused but sympathetic friend, now has almost 1000.
I’m probably jinxing myself for posting this now, but after I saw 994 I was pretty sure I’d miss 1000 when it happened and as a result you’d all miss the party!
Well, party on, people!
I think if a lot of you guys re-blog this to your followers, we’ll hit 1000 today. That’s kind of how this stuff works. Otherwise it’ll happen in a few days and we’ll all miss it. That’s kinda like missing the ball drop on New Year’s and watching it on the news the next day, or not seeing you car’s odometer roll over to some big round number. Not nearly as exciting. Hell, I’d gone dark, remember? I wasn’t even paying attention.
Anyway, we have a little bit of time to plan a party. If you want to come over to the house, I’ll be home most of the day compiling The Navigators into one file. (I should probably let you guys see a few sample chapters of The Navigators, too. Hmm… and the cover. It has a cool cover. And a really fun story. Remind me about that later and I’ll do it.)
I can run out and get some champagne but otherwise we have plenty of wine. Do you wanna bring stuff? We only have either two or four beers, but we have LOTS of chips for some reason. And a little leftover hummus. It’s red pepper style. Do you like hummus? The red pepper is good. We just opened it Sunday, so I’m pretty sure it’s still okay to eat. Oh, and cheese. We have a lot of cheese. because we have a lot of wine. And because we like cheese. But bring whatever you like if we don’t have it. I think there are frozen meatballs in the fridge, too.
Anyway, what I’m saying is it’s a party!
And it’s be cause YOU amazing people have read and commented and reblogged and followed and subscribed. (And because of me a little, too.) But now I get to stand here looking smart as a result of all YOUR hard work getting word out there about this blog. (And mine, a little, too.)
Let’s face it, you guys make me look good. So you deserve the cheese and hummus. And a lot more
THANK YOU
(in advance, I guess, but still.)
You’re the best bunch of folks I’ve gotten to know on the internet. I love you guys.
Probably.
No, really, you’re the best.
You really are. I promised myself I wasn’t gonna cry.
Let’s Celebrate!
Thank you for being there. Remember, your blog can do this, too. And a lot more.
You guys rock.
Well congratulations are in order I guess.
Thank you. We’re almost there.
Congrats.
Thanks. WordPress send me a big fat check at 1000, right?
This is super! Congratulations. I am off to celebrate in a suitably debauched fashion.
That’s hilarious. I guess I should have expected that. Well, maybe send some pictures of the festivities.
Maybe I should. Maybe I’ll wear the dress.
Now, see, I’ve lost all concentration…
Sooo easy to distract…
Congrats ! For having 111 times my follower size. They will come to my blog too. One day or another. Patience ! (this was just for me). Congrats again
They will, really! I got some GOOD TIPS about making the blog more accessible-looking, and then just had fun with it. You can do that. Your blog is fun.
Nice job! Now tell us how you did it. LOL
Please don’t encourage him:):)
Congratulations
Too late!
I followed some tips a very smart friend told me. Okay, it was you.
Originally the blog was called Savvy Stories and the image was of a book cover. You said people don’t want to talk to a book. After a few months of you saying that, it kinda sunk in. After all, I wasn’t talking to books. I didn’t WANT to talk to books.
I wanted to talk to authors ABOUT books and stuff like that.
I started reading a few blogs every day, and you know I don’t do many things in a small manner, so I’d end up waking up at 4am to write and when I took a break during the day I’d read blogs instead of email or Facebook. Then I’d find blogs that were interesting to me and I’d follow or subscribe just cos I knew I’d never find them again otherwise. Poetry, dog training, painting, cooking – I’m a guy of varied interests. A lot of blogs followed me back after they stopped by to check things out on my blog site.
I wrote less about my stories (like, I posted fewer story pieces from my books) and blogged more about the struggles I and other authors were experiencing, and what I learned along the way trying to figure stuff out. What I learn, I share, and since nobody wants stuff rammed down their throat, I tried to make it humorous and didn’t take on too much at once.
We goofed off as often as we learned things, and I kept reading new blogs just about every day, liking a good or funny post, and tweeting them, or making an occasional comment…
Then, on my blog, I started doing weekly writing challenges and posting almost 7 days a week. That was big effort! There were different reasons for different people to be here, and while a lot just stopped by, a lot followed. Some – many, in fact – told their friends and reblogged me. The warm fuzzy feeling of seeing a list of “10 or 20 or 30 or more bloggers liked this post” first think in the morning, or seeing that a handful reblogged it, that was pretty cool. So I added it onto my little signature at the end of a post, basically asking people to reblog me, or letting them know it was okay. (When I started, I always asked first if I could reblog something, because I thought you needed permission.)
Each little thing added up, and after a while a snowball effect happened.
Some posts caught on in the blog/reblog atmosphere, being reblogged by my followers and then reblogged by their followers, like the one about My Blog Sucks And I’m Kinda Clueless (which was also featured in some online magazine type blogs); sometimes (but rarely) I guest blogged; I did lots of interviews for other writers and some of their fans would follow me; I did a series of blog posts for my online critique group. Mostly I was myself and shared what I was learning with a humorous style, and it connected more often than not. My cardinal rule is, what works for one form of social media works for just about every form of social medial IF YOU ENJOY IT, and blogs are social media – or can be – and I LIKE blogging. It’s not a chore to me like it is to some people, and I think that shows.
That’s it.
That’s my secret, more or less.
Well, I’m happy to take the credit for getting you started, but you definitely ran with it. Posting 7X per week – that’s a lot of work! You’ve earned each of your followers.
Okay. I’ll take that. But you were a big help. And of of the first followers of the new wave.
How exciting! Congratulations! 😊
Thank you. It’s crazy. How did it sneak up on me? I barely even remember to look, and BOOM there it (almost) is.
Don’t forget, I’ve been watching patiently (and quietly) for an update about your book too, young lady.
You won’t have to wait much longer…With only around 4K words left to write, you can expect to see a very excited update by the weekend!
Awesome! Can’t wait.
I’ve been blogging for a few years and still not there! Congrats! 🙂
Well, me too. About three years, I think. But it’s really been the last year that things clicked. I stopped doing things wrong and started doing more things right; that helped a LOT.
Hm, I will have to figure out what I am doing wrong then!
Just have fun, that’s the biggest thing.
Comgratulations 🙂
My blog just hit 50….. so I imagine your excitement is astounding.
Dana, I had NO FOLLOWERS for so long, I guarantee I was more excited about getting to 50 than I am about getting to 1000. There’s an old rule in business that doesn’t make sense until you do it, but it’s something like it’s easier to go from $5,000 in monthly sales to $10,000 in monthly sales than it is to go from zero to $1,000. I knew that. The first fifty followers took forever and were very hard to get. (Maybe I should explain this in one of my marketing books sometime.)
Anyway, hang in there. What they say is true, your audience finds you eventually. I big part of it for me was NOT doing things that caused people to not want to read or follow. That took a while to learn, too.
Congrats on your almost 1000 milestone. This is great news! Let me know when the party is, and I’ll be there with champagne and my trusty boombox! 🙂
Well, see, learning about blogging from people like YOU, Amanda, helped a LOT. You won’t remember but way back when I asked what your secret was and you said just being honest and being yourself. Great advice.
Aww. I’m glad to see my advice working its magic! Here’s to more blogging successes and beautiful community! *raises glass*
Thanks, you’re the best. It’s always a thrill to see you here commenting.
You are too kind! *Blushes* 😊
I’ll be watching that thing all day like a stock ticker now.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, look at that! You guys are reblogoing and we added 5 followers.
We’re at freaking 999 now!
Okay, obviously nothing’s getting done today. (Stares at screen and repeatedly hits refresh.)
Just to bring you back to earth, still no book in my inbox. Seriously though, congrats!
That’s ridiculous. And embarrassing. Send me your email address through the Contact Me button and I’ll send it to you myself.
Sigh. Done that twice. Emailed you directly too. I think your mail monkey hates me. Should I send it a case of bananas?
Wait, I HAVE your email. Let me go into MailChimp and see what’s up. I’ll send you a PDF directly from my verizon email.
Okay, I just sent it to you from my Verizon email account.
YEAH!! Congratulations 🙂 Extra 1000 Pawkisses for the occasion 🙂 <3
Pawkisses, huh? Okay, this one time. But just cos it’s a special occasion.
That’s fantastic. Congratulations. I can’t have a glass of champagne because I’m working tonight. No drunk nurses allowed. But I’ll have one on my next day off. Cheers
Definitely do that, Annette!
Africkenmazing. I’m not surprised in the least. This is by far my favourite blog!
You can do it, too, jenny. I’ll show you how. I’m hoping it’ll help for a bigger book launch.
Btw the auto reply is working like a charm to get likes for my FB author page.
Great! Bring on the tutoring session!
(Auto replies, done properly, are the bees knees.)
I do not argue with success.
Congratulations! I’ve only recently hit 100, and that was really exciting and affirming, I can’t even imagine how great it must feel to have 1,000 followers.
Good for you!
I’ll be honest, it was more work to go from 0 to 100 than 100 to 1000. And maybe more thrilling. But hang in there, you’ll make it. In some of the replies above I discussed some tips.
Very cool. I saw your replies about “how you did it,” which I thought was really great to share. Congratulations, again, on your success, you’ve clearly earned it! 😀
Thanks. And you know, everybody will have their own methods to add to what I did, and I probably did a few other things, but those are the basics.
Sure. It’s all about finding what works for you, and about being clear what your “goals” are, first. Everyone will have a slightly different “goal,” too. 🙂
Congrats, Dan! Looks like you now need only 2 followers to hit the 1K mark.
Uh-oh. We’re going the wrong way!
Bravo! 🙂
Thank you!
it looks like you’ve hit 1000 before I’ve even read this post 😀
Congratulations!
It happened over night, I think. So the party will be orange juice and cinnamon toast.
have fun with it 🙂
Thank you!
Well wouldja look at dat! You are now well OVER 1000!!!!
Congrats… 😉
Thanks. Whodathunkit
😉