Happy Two Months, "NOT a How-To Guide!"

Today is the TWO MONTH anniversary of my blog!  I have to say, I wasn't sure the initial hype would last this long, but so far I remain amazed that people are reading and keeping up with the blog! I've gotten a lot of good feedback and when y'all message me about what you love the most and what your reactions are to my writing - you become an inspiration and a part of my writing process!  Feedback is GOOD, keep it coming!  (Even if you want to tell me that one of my posts totally sucked - I need to know that too! Haha)

 I'm still just as clueless when it comes to the stats as I was last month (sorry I'm a writer, not a data analyst); but here are the numbers showing how much "Marriage, Kids, Life...NOT a How-To Guide" has grown this past month:

 -The page had 5,355 "hits."
Right now we have 8,987.

 -There are now 52 total posts and they are all still averaging around 150 views each.

 -Last month's two most popular posts were High on Aspiration, Low on Ability and Love...With or Without the Memories.
This month's two favorites have been May I Have Your Attention, Please? and High on Aspiration, Low on Ability...Part 3.

 -My Blogger audience last month consisted of readers in the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Poland.  This month we have added Brazil and Botswana.

 -The blog's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/notahowtoguide had 282 "likes." We now have 511.
*Sidenote: At this time last month, I set the goal (publicly...like an idiot) of 500 likes by the 2 month anniversary.  I almost had to eat my words because 3 days ago we had 336 likes - readers to the rescue! ♥

 -The Google+ account
  google.com/+NotahowtoguideBlogspotM  and the Twitter account
 https://twitter.com/NotaHowToGuide
(follow @NotaHowToGuide)
are both kind of "meh."  This could be because I have no clue how to market myself on either one of them.  That's one of those "backburner" things.

Some of my daily followers noticed that I slipped into a more "every other day" routine than a daily one with the posts.  I was starting to worry that daily posts were too much - that they might seem forced if I didn't give them breathing room.  Feel free to comment and let me know what you think!

I'm still enjoying the journey and hope you enjoy reading along, too!  As always, if you read something and enjoy it, please continue to share, share, share!  I still don't know where all of this is going to end up, but let's continue to see how far we can take it!

  

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU
 to all of my readers! 

Y'all are what started this...
AND
...what keeps it going.

  

♥M

Happy One Month, "NOT a How-To Guide!"

Today is the ONE MONTH anniversary of my blog!  I wasn't sure about starting it originally, but it's been an interesting endeavor so far.  I love turning thoughts into writing and, to a degree, this has just been a self-assigned, extended creative writing exercise.  I've experimented with different genres and topics, and I thank you all for being my guinea pigs! :) 

 

 I don't know what's "good" or "bad" as far as stats go because I have ZERO experience with all of this; but here is where "Marriage, Kids, Life...NOT a How-To Guide" stands as of now:

 

 -The page has had 5,355 "hits."

 

 -I have 30 total posts and they have all (with the exception of the 2 newest) been viewed anywhere between 104 and 250 times each.

 

 -The two most popular posts have been High on Aspiration, Low on Ability (250 views) and Love...With or Without the Memories (229 views).

 

 -My Blogger audience consists of readers in the United States, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, France, and Poland.

 

 -The blog's facebook page https://www.facebook.com/notahowtoguide has 282 "likes."

 

 -The blog has a new Google+ account  google.com/+NotahowtoguideBlogspotM  and a new Twitter account https://twitter.com/NotaHowToGuide (follow @NotaHowToGuide)

Sidenote: You have no idea how much mental energy it took for me to join the masses on these additional social media sights.  I'm not the typical member of Generation Y.

 

 I'm honestly not sure what any of these "stats" and updates mean in relation to whether this has been a successful venture or not, but it seems like a good start.  Either way, I'm enjoying myself!  If you have enjoyed reading along on my journey, then please continue to share, share, share!  I don't know where all of this is going to end up, but let's see how far we can take it!

  

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to all of my readers! 

Y'all are what started this AND what keeps it going.

  

♥M

Cheers!

So I thought my first post should be a bit of a cheers to all of the people that encouraged me to start a blog. Or maybe I'm just trying to get out of having an actual New Year's Resolution...I dunno.  I've been writing since I was a child, but it's always been just for me.  It never occured to me that anyone would want to actually read what I wrote.  My friends have recently become rather persistant that I have something to offer the world, however, so...no guts no glory, right?

These are the reasons I have given them for me NOT starting a blog:
1. Who on God's green earth cares what I have to say? (I guess we shall see.)
2. When in the world will I have time to really write? (Looks like I found time.)
3. Don't you think, given my personality, that this will result in ENTIRELY too much freedom of speech for me to handle gracefully?! (This one will really be tested...really.)

And yet, here we are. I've started a blog. If you don't have a sense of humor, are horrified by less-than-perfect parenting, are appalled by marriages that hit bumps in the road to forever, or just kind of generally have a stick in the bum...you may want to move on. This blog will NOT be for you.

Cheers to a new year, a new journey, and my new blog!

♥M