400 Posts in 400 Days

It’s just like brushing my teeth. Disclaimer: I actually like brushing my teeth.

The brushing-the-teeth comparison doesn’t stop there because:

1. I know it’s good for me.
2. I’ll regret it if I don’t do it.
3. You can’t brush twice the next day to make up.
4. The pain of getting it done it is far, far greater than the pain of not doing it.
5. No one cares but me.
6. I actually enjoy brushing my teeth.

It’s just going to get done. It’s as simple as that. Sick, traveling, tired, kids biting my ankles, dog peeing on the carpet, or I-just-don’t-feel-like-it-today but … put it in front of me and it’ll be done. Today. Boom.

WordPress U.

What that assembly line of determination translates into is 175+ posts on WordPress U. It’s been the focus of the past 100 posts and it’s paying off. Not all of them are award winning, but every single one is helpful in some way to someone.

In the past few weeks, I also went public with WPU in an entrepreneur mastermind group I’m a part of. It’s been an enormous help to better define my audience at WPU, strategize about the direction of the service, and help produce the next round of posts to best serve that audience.

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Traffic, comments, and feedback are all on the rise. Traffic just keeps moving upward at a respectable pace. October almost hit 8,000 page views with the single best day almost at 500. Again, not bad for a site with no design, not much of a strategy, and no overview page. It’s just been Google search results and that because I’m learning what people want and giving it to them. It’s about as simple as that.

It’s just a rough sketch, but I finally hit publish on a Getting Started page. As expected, newbies are lost in the overwhelming number and content of the help posts. They need guidance. That’s my next step.

I also created the beginnings of a Portfolio where I’ll showcase sites using Canvas and, in the near future, sites that I don’t have a hand in at all–they built them only with the help of WPU. I’m looking forward to that day. I’m also helping them get to that point by creating WPU’s first ever child theme: Canvas Kaapstad. It’s just a first-round go at it, but it looks great and is already racking up the downloads.

Can’t wait to see where WPU is when 500 Posts in 500 Days comes around.

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It’s just become a habit. But actually better: no matter what, it’s going to get done.

Repossible

With the main focus on WPU, Repossible has also found a steady rhythm: maybe once a week. I’ve also, not terribly consciously, turned it into my Weekend Writing Exercise whereas WPU is my weekly day job. It’s working well.

I know when a topic is hot as I can’t get it out of my head until it’s noted, expanded on, roughed out, and published. I couldn’t get Just Ask out of my head until it was live. You know a piece is good when you know there’s good advice in there that’s hard to swallow … but it’s hard. That’s the good stuff. One more in the good-stuff-because-it’s-hard is the realization that you don’t have time, you make time. Deal with it: If Only …

I also (finally) wrote up a piece I’d had as a draft for quite a while. It’s one of those you actually tell people about in conversation, it’s a topic you have in your head and an opinion you hold strong, but you need to get it onto paper: Eat Healthier, Lose Weight, and Save Money … with One Machine. On my To Do List is a short e-book about Home Exchange. It’ll be live before I hit 500.

On my success chart, Repossible is doing just fine.

Pass The Sour Cream

I recently submitted some writing samples for a potential guest writer gig on a popular website. It was nice, no, it was critical, that I had some links to send them of writing samples. I had them, they were fresh, they were good–and they were public. I also got to hand choose them.

I’m very much enjoying writing about what I love: writing, travel, kids, and language. In the same perseverance chapter comes work such as Raising Kids Bilingual is a 24/7/365 Task. But my favorite topic of all time remains–as I’m learning through my much joy I get out of it–travel, especially slow travel: Slow is King.

The focus on WPU is certainly putting a damper on my Sour Cream creativity, but WPU has become a snowball and I’m running down the hill alongside it–and thrilled. The Cream isn’t going anywhere and I’ll be back.

Likoma

Likoma is suffering as a site as so much of the focus has gone to WPU. I’ll add the occasional portfolio item and maybe a write up of some techo babble, but it cruises along with Google search traffic … answering searcher’s questions that are no longer terribly relevant to my business: Using Google Apps email for [email protected]. I’m curious to see what the next year will bring for Likoma.

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It’s good to stop, take a breath, and have a look around. But part of me is just itching to get on with post #401 tomorrow. The momentum is there for WPU and I’m going to ride it out. There’s one thing for certain: none of this would have been here had it not been for Writing Every Day.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]