Kicked In The Gut

This is what one person had to say about my blog,

“Dummies of the Year” is an awful blog.  What bothers me is how terrible all the articles are.

Talk about a kick in the gut.

I have to admit that most of my articles are kind of crappy.  Last week I set out to sharpen the focus of this site.  This means that I am now trying on 100% of my posts to make them noncrappy and more engaging.

Pros

• My blog is nearing two years.
• My traffic isn’t too bad. 5,000 visits/9000 page views in the last month.
• Google Page Rank 4.
• A key article that is linked in a popular Wikipedia article (without me spamming them).
• I have a plan to improve my blog.

Cons

• I went so long being sporadic.  Not being consistent in posting.
• Not publishing my best content.
• Almost zero community.  I have two loyal commenters (that’s a pro but I need at least 8 more).

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Kick Me In The Gut

Okay don’t kick, I already hurt enough as it is.  Rather, give me some friendly advise.  What could I do different that I am not doing now.  As always, share in the comments below.

[This is part of the How to do Everything Correctly Series. Check out the other posts!]

Is Your Blog Traffic Code Blue?

Are you tired of writing tons of blog posts with very little return?  Do you want to know how to really boost your blog traffic?  Allow me to share with you 3 tips that have really helped me gain a nice size amount of daily visitors.

Break News

January 12, 2010 I accidentally did something in blogging that I had never done before.  I was the first person to blog about Glenn Beck’s new intro music.  I wasn’t trying to be first, it just happened.

People came to Dummies of the Year looking for information about Glenn’s new song.  I didn’t have any information, just questions.  Because I was the first and I had a really good title filled with keywords, I ranked at the top of the search engines for Glenn Beck New Theme Song 2010.

Over the last 12 months that small post has accumulated 114 comments and 33,881 hits!  Why?  Simply because I was the first one to write about it.  It can be difficult but if you are first about a fairly popular topic you will see your traffic skyrocket.

Write Pillar Articles

Pillar articles answer timeless questions.  An example would be “How to make no-bake cookies in 5 easy steps.”  That post will just as popular in one year as it is today.

In order to have consistent traffic one needs a handful of pillar articles on their site.  Make sure that your post title asks a question and that your post content answers that question.

Want to see a really good post explaining more about pillar articles?  Then visit How To Write Great Blog Content – The Pillar Article.

Submit to StumbleUpon

Create a StumbleUpon account.  Make friends.  Submit their posts and ask them to do the same.  Tip: Only submit your best work.  I have noticed that some of my posts never really catch on at StumbleUpon.

Those are just 3 of my tips that can help boost your traffic overnight.  Do you have any other great tips that work for you?  Share in the comments!

Boosting Your Dummy IQ,

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Sylvester Stallone Doesn’t Use Roids

I researched and I couldn’t find anything but hearsay about Stallone and steroid use.  When accused of steroid use Stallone claims to use Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

Who normally uses HGH?  This is what Wikipedia had to say,

In recent years in the United States, some doctors have started to prescribe growth hormone in GH-deficient older patients (but not on healthy people) to increase vitality.

Considering Stallone is 64, maybe he does need to use HGH.

Here are his before and after pictures of using HGH

He doesn’t look too bad for a man in his 60′s but…

HGH makes a person look weird.  When I see close up shot of him before and after I can tell how distorted his face has become.

HGH?  No Thank You!

Please share this post then see Rocky Movie Guide to view even more!

Say what you may about #4 but Brett Favre is truly an Iron Man!  Last night when the Vikings took the field to face the Giants, Brett Favre was forced to watch from the sidelines.

Last week when playing the Buffalo Bills, Favre sprained his throwing shoulder.  I thought he would heal and play this week.  He even had an extra day because the Vikings roof caved in because of too much snow. Favre’s hand is purple and he doesn’t have total feeling in it either.  This is what Favre had to say,

Relief, in one sense. There wasn’t a whole lot of pressure on me today.  It’s been a long time. I’d much rather be playing, that’s just my nature. I don’t want to say it was time, but it’s probably been long overdue. There’s probably been a lot of times the streak should have ended.

Brett Favre’s Impressive Career Stats

• Consecutive Starts: Holds the record at 297
• MVP: Only player to win 3 in a row!
• Division Championship Appearances: 8
• NFC Championship Games Appearance: 5
• Super Bowl Appearances: 2
• Touchdown Passes: Holds the record at 507
• Career Passing Yards: Holds the record at 71,775
• Pass Completions: Holds the record at 6,280
• Interceptions: Holds the record at 335 (but who’s counting??)
• Most Wins by a Starting Quarterback: Holds the record at 186

Favre is my faviorte player of all time because of his never say quit, play through injuries spirit.

Who is your favorite player, and why?  Share in the comments!

New England Patriots Went Bear Hunting

The Patriots and the Bears are the same team on paper.  Yeah right!  That is what we were led to believe before the game Sunday afternoon.

The Patriots came into snowy Soldier Field and dominated the highschoolish looking Bears.  The winds were gusting up to 50 mph during the game and it appeared Tom Brady was the Wind God.

Tom Brady didn’t even have a problem with his pretty hair getting messy.

Who Will New England Patriots Play In The Super Bowl?

I have it narrowed down to two maybe three teams.  Here they are:

1. New Orleans Saints

The saints are in the hunt but are they still hungry?  I think they are because they’re smart.  They understand that good teams only shine for a little while before they burn out (unless that team is the New England Patriots).

2. Atlanta Falcons

I haven’t seen one Falcons game this season but I don’t have to.  Their record of 11 wins and only 2 losses speaks for itself!

3. Chicago Bears

Heaven forbid we see a rematch of this game… unless they learn from their mistakes.  The only way this game would be interesting is if it went down to the wire and the Bears pulled off the upset.

My Super Bowl Pick

The New England Patriots will demolish the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl XLV.

What is your Super Bowl XLV pick?  Share in the comments!