26 letters in the alphabet.26 blog posts in the 2012 A-Z Challenge.
60+ videos.
And countless comments and opinions!
Okay, so trying to keep this quick.
What worked for me:
- As usual, I enjoyed the HUGE range of topics.
- I was amazed--on a daily basis--by the number of commenters who I *knew* were making the rounds on as many blogs as possible. Tip of the cap to them.
- The super Challenge leaders. Thanks, leader gang, for putting on another wonderful challenge.
- In terms of my own challenge, it was a huge help to have my theme (music) ready in advance. I made the first 9 posts in advance, and then spent the rest of the month catching up. It helped that I had the template of what music I'd highlight ready to go, all I had to do was dump in the videos and add some commentary.
- Commenters gave their own music recommendations, which has given me new music to check out. Perfect!
Lessons learned:
- This was my 2nd A-Z Challenge. Last year, it was my debut into the blogging world so I paid close attention to my follower count. This year, I was happy to just focus on something other than writing blogs. I wasn't as concerned about improving my follower count.
- I signed up late for the challenge, placing me somewhere down in the 1600s. It was my fault for waiting so long to sign up. If I do it next year, I will sign up earlier. I think the fact that I was so far down on the list effected traffic to the site.
- It was nice to see some non-writing blogs. But I came across a number of blogs that seemed to be thinly-veiled sales sites. (Real estate sites, really?!) I didn't check back at the end of the month, but I understood the Challenge leaders were working to clean up the list throughout the month.
- I think the size of the Challenge is both a challenge and an advantage. It will be interesting to see next year how many people register.
I enjoyed the challenge. I founds some great theme ideas for next year. Let's just hope I remember them!
You had a fun theme! And the consistency of a theme is a plus not only for the host but for visitors, because they know what to expect.
ReplyDeleteIt is tough to be at the end of the list, which is why the hosts divided up the sections and we encouraged others to start with the blog after theirs. Didn't always work out. Something we'll try to make better next year!
I really enjoyed your posts for the A to Z challenge.
ReplyDelete{ami}
http://sundrysumthins.wordpress.com/
This was a really great recap and mirrored my own experience, though I was closer to the top. I did not pay that close of attention to my visitor spikes, though I had a few appreciable days. I was a lot more interested in the dynamic comments I received - very few "hi just stopping by!" comments and a lot with real value. It was a good month long conversation about comics.
ReplyDeleteYour theme was awesome! I can't imagine how much work it took for Alex to weed all the spam sites out of the list. It had to be a lot.
ReplyDeleteLoved your music theme! I added new songs to my own "writing playlist." Way to go!
ReplyDeleteI tried to start from two different places in the middle of the list and go from there so I would see blogs not at the start of the list... but I still only got to about 300. Perhaps, I need to sign up earlier next time to bring more traffic, too.
ReplyDeleteI will also have to sign up way early next year. I was below 1000 as well.
ReplyDeleteYou know I love music, so it was a complete joy to check in on your blog throughout the challenge. I discovered a ton of new music that has already found its way onto a couple of playlists. The number of challenge participants is staggering and I'm amazed that the organizers are able to keep it all together. It would drive me crazy!
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