10,000 VIEWS – Milestone or Millstone?

When I first moved into this cyber-neighborhood last October, I had no idea what to expect. In fact, I was a bit skeptical as to how effective this blogging platform could be for what I had to say. I also had serious doubts as to whether one could really form any kind of meaningful relationships through the exchange of "follows," "likes" and "retweets."

AFFIRMATION FIX
Those first few weeks, it seemed I checked my stats almost hourly. I'd get excited if I'd had five or ten page views. And I was blown away when the occasional visitor from another country showed up.

And why have I been getting hundreds of visits 
from folks in the Ukraine, of all places?

Well, this morning I logged my 10,000th page view. I realize that, for a top blogger, that's about the number of views you might expect in a day, but to me it's huge. It shows me that at least something I've been doing has been making an impression. (The way I see it, no matter how telling page views may or may not be, 10,000 is a whole lot better than zero!)

And I've now had visitors from 64 countries. For some reason, this strikes me as even more amazing than the page views. Maybe it's the intrigue—wondering what kind of person each new tick represents, imagining the perils they might encounter for subscribing to the free expression of ideas in countries like China or Iran. And why have I been getting hundreds of visits from folks in the Ukraine, of all places?

Well, I guess it's kind of like flying for me. I know there are good solid reasons why it works. Still, no matter how often I do it, I just sit here like an awestruck kid, thinking it's nothing less than a miracle.

It's not about the numbers; it's about the dialog, 
the relationships you make, how you're affecting 
your readers.

WHAT REALLY MATTERS
At the same time that I celebrate this little milestone, I must keep in mind what the wisest and most experienced bloggers have told me: it's not about the numbers; it's about the dialog, the relationships you make, how you're affecting your readers.

I've realized for myself the validity of this advice, often succumbing the seductiveness of the numbers, only to have that temporary burst of energy and confidence fall off like the rush of a cheap drug. What truly energizes me—and keeps me energized—is the writing and the responses of readers who find it interesting and inspiring.

So I'll continue to deny my admitted need for affirmation and keep my focus where it belongs. Among my goals for the coming months:

• to learn more about my visitors—what your interests are, where you're coming from, how long you stay, etc.
• to offer content that's engaging enough to convert visitors into subscribers through the RSS feed
• to elicit more of your comments (I've always intended this to be a dialog, not a soliloquy.)
• to broaden and strengthen my connections with other bloggers
• to find more and better ways of participating in the growing movement to rescue and restore children's natural affinity with Nature.

THANK YOU!
Many thanks to all who've visited One Man's Wonder, those who've taken the time to comment, my faithful RSS-feed subscribers, and to those who've shared, liked and tweeted about OMW.

Thanks to my fellow bloggers who, as a rule, have proven to be kind, generous and supportive.

Very special thanks to Meg Pier at A View From the Pier, Robin Easton at Naked In Eden, Karen at Univisions, and Lori Deschene at Tiny Buddha, who've mentioned or shared my posts with their followers, offered suggestions, posed challenging questions, and/or agreed to share my work as guest posts at their sites.

And Rob Whitehead at Zihua Rob's Zihuatanejo/Ixtapa Message Board has generously allowed me to include a link to OMW in my comments there, as well as slipping in an occasional, shameless plug for one of my posts.

My friends, your encouragement and support has been a great blessing, often coming, miraculously, at just those times when I most needed a pat on the back. THANK YOU!