Blogging 31 days straight is hard. If you’re not used to writing every day it gets more grueling as the month wears on.

Some people who signed up for the 2011 WordCount Blogathon didn’t make it past the first week. Others got to the second or third week before succumbing to a busy day at work, illness, lack of an idea for a post. Some just plain ran out of gas.

Then there was Blogger.com. A maintenance issue shut it down on May 12, taking posts and comments from dozens of blogathoners with it (most everything was restored a few days later).

But for the bloggers who gutted it out, the annual challenge to post every day in May was a rewarding experience in more ways than one.

On many levels, this year’s blogathon was the most successful ever. More than 200 people signed up, close to double the number who participated last year, though as I said before, not everybody made it to the finish line. Of the people who registered, 83 percent took the challenge for the first time, 13 percent for a second time, 2 percent for a third and only 1 percent had taken part all four years.

A healthy portion used the annual community blogging challenge to launch their first blog, or their second or third. Others turned a blog that had been all over the place into something focused on a specific subject. Some used the time to experiment with widgets, self hosted platforms, RSS feeds, adding links or images to posts and other technical aspects of blogging. They hung out on the blogathon Google Group to talk about how to get more comments and drive more traffic to their sites.

Some bloggers hit the jackpot.

• More.com picked up a post called The Middle Place that Rachael Vidori wrote for her East Coast Musings blog during the blogathon.
• Laura, who blogs at In My Little Town, had a post she originally intended to publish on her own blog accepted by McSweeney’s, the literary magazine and website.
• Pavithra K., a Indian software coder who wants to be a freelance writer landed her first paid gig.
• No less than three professional storytellers noticed and recommended short stories that Florida writer and storyteller Billie Oakes posted on her blog, The Billie Gram, during the month.
• Joan Lambert Bailey’s posts on her Tokyo urban farm blog Popcorn Homestead got her an invitation to blog at a new urban farming website.
• My editor at SecondAct.com asked me to write about people using the blogathon for a life transformation; you can see that post here: Blogging Their Way to a Mid-Life Makeover.

Many others reported huge increases in readership and comments during the month

During the month, bloggers shared their favorite books and places to write. They wrote haiku, exchanged guest posts and experimented with data visualization.

Yesterday, several dozen of them attended a Twitter chat to discuss about what they loved, hated and learned.

Here’s a recap of what they shared. Generally I write chat recaps in article form. But I thought people who missed being there would appreciate seeing replies in their raw state so it’d feel like they were there. To find out more about any of these bloggers, copy and paste their username into Twitter’s search window.

Favorite Parts of This Year’s Blogathon

@Tia_Bach_Author Finding a community of resources to continue to grow my blog (but shockingly also haiku day)

@teachwhatisgood Google Groups, without a doubt. Helpful and very supportive.

@bikelady The opportunity to meet a whole new set of bloggers. So many topics.

@lauranewmanny Sharing tips on better blogging and exchanging guest posts. Expanding audience for Patient POV.

@ClaudineMJ The community was great and I loved reading new blogs. Loved all the tips/tricks too. And the pressure to get it done.

@HarryCMarks Realizing my blog found a voice & actually fell out of the realm of the blogathon’s theme days. I’m different!

@radiatinggnome I appreciated having goal – the drive to write every day forced a lot of creativity.

@pegc Learning from the other blogs and reading how everyone handles issues that come up in blogging.

@jwalkerwrites The guest post exchange, meeting new people & just having a goal, which gave me a new enthusiasm for blogging.

@LaraSalahiABC There were so many times I thought that it wouldn’t hurt to skip a day… but I thought of the blog as a story I had to tell!

Hardest Part of Blogging Every Day

@reellifejane Posting every day was a challenge, but getting in a groove helps. Also seeing the boost in traffic numbers. And I must confess I actually back-posted a few times! So I’m not in the running for any prizes.

@MenaGrazie Finding time to read and comment on all the great content was the hardest thing. I’m sure I missed a ton of stuff.

@intralingo The time it took… loved it but sometimes it distracted me from paying work.

@billienoakes Not being able to read as many of the blogs as I wanted, then seeing comments about those I missed.

@babyhellfire Blogger failure. Posting daily proved tricky some days, goes without saying.

@Gardening4Life The hardest part for me was it took a lot of discipline to think about what to post about daily.

@BooksYALove Getting a blogging routine going during first week for brand new blog.

@Liz_Sheffield Time management with family, full-time job, blog management, deadlines.

@alisonlaw I didn’t realize how much time it took to visit other blogs and comment. Wanted to cast a wider net, but it was impossible.

@teachwhatisgood Keeping my mind focused for blogging besides my normal life…and keeping up with my normal life.

@LaraSalahiABC Hardest part was not having enough hours in the day!

@pegc The hardest part was feeling as though my blog niche was so narrow that it did not relate to many of the other blogs.

@mamahhhjenni Still learning how to use the RSS reader more effectively.

@klgr360degrees Most difficult was not having a robust blog. Our webmaster is doing an overhaul on it so I can add pics, links, etc.

Blogging Lessons Learned

@mamahhhjenni It takes time to build blogging muscle, just like any kind of workout.

@jenwillis I re-learned how important it is to read and comment on other people’s blogs.

@MenaGrazie I’m trying to do the whole news site thing and wow, talk about a learning curve.

@Tia_Bach_Author I learned how very little I knew before 5/1.

@teachwhatisgood That I’m better than I thought. That was very encouraging.

@Liz_Sheffield It’s all about the blogging calendar.

@mamahhhjenni WordPress Editorial Calendar: http://bit.ly/aJMcZ6

@babyhellfire I didn’t know there were so many different kinds of bloggers, and so many different preferences of blogs among them.

@BooksYALove Feeling OK that I had few followers, as I’m building up collection of great YA book reviews. Being able to schedule posts for later release is WONDERFUL.

@billienoakes I didn’t expect to have as much fun with this as I did. The BillieGram is now something I look forward to, no longer work.

@pegc The importance of community and commenting. It really helped get people to visit my blog, even if it was once.

@AnneWainscott I learned that content curation is a survival skill if you write often, especially daily.

@HarryCMarks Curation. It’s all about writing and finding the content you want your readers to come back to each day.

@reellifejane Like the ‘War of Art’ guy says, just get up and do it every day. Never a shortage of ideas in the entertainment world.

@Gardening4Life That blogging under pressure helped me to see what needed to be fixed or added to my blog.

@bikelady Oh, wait! I learned that I should have a “Best of” page, like @MichelleRafter’s 101 list. Looking forward to creating that.

@AnnetteGendler I was also amazed how loyal, generous and steadfast some of my commenters are.

Blogging Apps to Learn More About

@mamahhhjenni Totally need to learn more about Google Analytics. I have a video to watch from Appsumo, but no time yet. And photo editing. That’s a steep learning curve for me. Trying to learn my camera. And mobile blogging. I’m clueless about that! I’d also like to learn more about keywords.

@teachwhatisgood Video blogging. And I’d love video tutorials for some of the basics we discussed this year.

@MenaGrazie It’s not exactly an app but blog directories and affiliate programs (not sales but social networks like SheWrites).

@radiatinggnome Maybe some on deeper and better on social media use.

@JanUdlock I’d like to learn more about growing traffic.

@reellifejane Maybe something on time management, how to fit everything in without going crazy.

@Tia_Bach_Author Me, too (re: learning about growing traffic). I don’t want to go back to my lonely blog world.

@milesaustin Would like to learn more about tools that help conversion into relationships, how to get reader to take action to further the relationship. Landing pages, appointment setting, contact forms. Also mobile-optimized blogs: best practices, plug-ins, tools and strategies to reach the mobile reader.

@chezsven Emphasize importance of comments. Blog need comments. How to get them?

So why not take it a step further and put WordCount on your blog reader, or sign up to have it delivered directly to your email inbox?

It’s easy. Click on the orange subscribe button in the upper right corner of the page to add WordCount to your blog reader. If you’d rather get WordCount in your email inbox, click on the little envelop right next to it.

Sign up for WordCount and you’ll receive an average of three posts a week on subjects ranging from the best ways to do research online to top digital media trends to how to break into hyperlocal news.

Need more encouragement?

Here are 8 reasons why you should put WordCount on your blog reader:

1. You’ll get WordCount posts delivered to your email inbox or blog reader as soon as they’re published.

2. You’ll be joining more than 400 other WordCount subscribers – truly a well-informed bunch.

3. You’ll never miss an installment of WordCount’s Recommended Reading for Writers, published every Friday and chock full of links to interesting articles on writing and the writing business. For a sample, look here.

4. You’ll be among the first to get notices of upcoming WordCount Last Wednesday monthly chats on Twitter, where I lead discussions about the latest tech tools for writers and other topics of interest. For a sample chat, look here.

5. If you miss WordCount chats, you’ll be able to read recaps online. For a sample, look here.

6. You’ll get the scoop on the annual WordCount Blogathon, held every May, where writers and bloggers take part in a communal commitment to post 31 days straight – a great exercise if you’re starting a blog or need motivation to work on one you’ve already got.

7. You’ll be able to take “Put WordCount blog on blog reader” off your to-do list – such a good feeling.

8. You’ll become one of WordCount’s BFFs!

With WordCount coming up on its third anniversary and continuing to grow in traffic and reach, I realize how grateful I am to everyone who has added it to their blog reader, posted comments, participated in the annual May blogathon, and generally made it possible for me to talk about what I love – writing and the business of writing – for a willing audience.

As was the case in WordCount’s first two years, some of the posts I wrote this year drew more readers than others. In some cases it was because I touched on a topic that was in the news, or covered something with universal appeal. Other times it was because I stumbled onto the right set of tags to get a post to appear at the top of Google search results.

Whatever the case, here are the 12 most popular posts on WordCount in 2010.

1. 10 things J.K. Rowling taught me about writing – I hit the jackpot with this post on Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s writing style, which I wrote after finishing the seven-book series. The post tapped into interest in Rowling and all things related to the boy wizard. It also helped that I included a publicity photo – images help posts show up higher in search engine results. I wrote the original in summer 2009 and when it continued to get traffic after more than a year, I wrote an update this fall to coincide with the release of the “Deathy Hallows” movie. The new post was also among the top 20 most visited on my blog this year as well.

2. Best of WordCount – Beat the recession – This January 2009 compilation of posts on how freelancers can deal with the recession is proof that if the information is good enough, people will continue coming back to it.

3. The 2010 WordCount Blogathon - The third anniversary of my annual month-long blogging fest was the biggest ever, which helps explain all the traffic to this page, which describes the event.

4. Top 10 qualities of a good editor – An oldie but goodie, this 2008 post continues to draw traffic, mainly because it’s the No. 1 result in Google searches for the term “qualities of a good editor.” Takeaways from this post: write about things other people aren’t, and pay attention to keywords or tags you use to describe a post.

5. In Portland, the big story is snow – Another instance where including a photo has helped drive traffic. In this case, the photo that goes with the post drives most of the traffic – a good reminder that it’s important to tag photos so search engines can find them.

6. AOL’s Patch hiring spree – boon or bane for freelance writers? – This post drew traffic because I wrote it the day AOL announced it was expanding its Patch hyperlocal network – and hiring lots of journalists to staff it. Sine I’d blogged a lot about hyperlocal news, I was able to add my own opinions to the basic facts, turning into more of an editorial than a straight news piece. In the days and weeks immediately after, a number of prominent online publications referred to it. Moral of the story: it pays to write about the news, and add your own take to what’s happening.

7. Top 10 blogs for freelance writers – Posts about writing resources are always popular on WordCount, especially lists of writing-related blogs that freelancers should follow.

8. Back to basics: the nut graph – A while back I started a series called Back to Basics to cover fundamentals that all freelancers, writers and bloggers should know. This post on nut graphs – a paragraph high up in a story that explains what it’s about, puts the subject into context and tells the reader why they should care – has been the most popular entry in the series to date, with many other blogs linking to it.

9. 10 businesses freelance writers can start today – When the recession shuttered magazines and forced newspapers into massive layoffs, it irrevocably changed the way the freelance writing business works. Now more than ever, independent writers need to think like small business owners, and be more assertive in running their own show. This post was popular because it spells out 10 different writing related, single-person businesses a freelancer can start, with examples of writers who are doing just that.

10. Best WordPress plug ins for writers – This post about plug ins for WordPress blogging software with special appeal to writers was based on information shared during the inaugural WordCount Last Wednesday monthly chat I hosted on Twitter. Website developer/writer/tech guy Ron Doyle was my guest, and provided a lot of the material in the post.

11. WordCount Q&A: Suite 101 CEO Peter Berger and a question of quality – This is one of many posts I’ve done over the past two years on the pros and cons of writing for so-called content farms, sites that pay extremely low wages for people who may or may not be professional writers to crank out copy (I can’t even use the word “stories” to describe the end product) to draw in eyeballs and hopefully, money from click-through advertising.

12. 7 simple SEO tips for writers – Another post based on a WordCount Last Wednesday live chat, this one about search engine optimization (SEO) that I hosted with special guest Jason Lancaster, head of Spork Marketing, a Denver Internet marketing firm. I’ve purposely used my background covering technology and consumer electronics to blog regularly about tech tools for writers and it’s paid off, as traffic to this post attests.

Got a favorite WordCount post you’d like to see again? Or an idea for a subject you’d like me to write about more in 2011? Please let me know. I’m mapping out future posts and would love to hear your thoughts.

Not only did it make 2010 especially fruitful financially, it’s helped me grow as a writer, line editor and manager.

That alone is enough to be thankful for.

But the past year was good in many other ways too.

As I get ready to shut down WordCount Editorial Services for the day and step into the company kitchen to roll out dough for pumpkin pie, here’s everything I’m grateful for this Thanksgiving:

1. My husband and kids, for understanding my passion for what I do.

2. My editors, who push me to excel, even when I’d rather not be pushed.

3. The writers I work with, for putting up with my pickiness and tendency to overuse Track Changes.

4. A former colleague, for suggesting me for what turned into a wonderful job opportunity (see above).

5. The talented web designer who gave this blog a much needed makeover.

6. All 110+ writers, bloggers and other freelancers who took part in this year’s WordCount Blogathon – you turned an event into a tribe.

7. The talented media industry professionals who’ve shared their wisdom and time making guest appearances on WordCount Last Wednesday Twitter chats.

8. My travel agent (and friend), for booking business trips so I don’t have to – wish you could go through those full-body scanners for me too.

9. My workout instructor, for giving me 90 minutes twice a week when I can do instead of think.

10. My Droid.

11. My dog, for all the years he’s curled up under the desk while I work.

12. My mom, for being this blog’s first and biggest supporter.

13. The creative minds behind WordPress, you rock.

14. Bluehost, a blog hosting service that’s up and running 99.99 percent of the time.

15. The writers whose work inspires me to challenge myself to do better.

16. Portland’s digital journalism community, for creating a congenial co-working environment so being a journalist entrepreneur here doesn’t have to mean writing alone.

17. My readers, here, at Inside Edge, SecondAct.com, Workforce.com and wherever else you’ve found me.

18. My Facebook, Twitter and Linked In friends; I may spend the majority of my time in Portland, but I travel the world vicariously through you.

19. The members of the online writers’ groups I hang with – thanks for being there to share the troubles and the triumphs.

20. The economy, for turning around this year, at least for some of us.

Michelle

When I started this blog in January 2008 I was like a first-time mother. I devoted all my time to it because there wasn’t anything else clammering for my attention. 

Today as another project I’ve been working on for months launches, it feels like having baby No 2. I’m excited but nervous I won’t have enough time and love to go around.

Being the mother of not two but three, I know that’s a crazy way to think. Of course you can love two or three kids – or in this case blogs – just as much as you can love one. But that doesn’t stop you from wondering how the heck you’re going to make it all work.

And now I’ll stop with the motherhood analogies.

First the part I’m excited about. I’m happy to announce the launch of SecondAct.com, an online magazine for people over 40 from Entrepreneur Media, the publisher of Entrepreneur Magazine. Cynics will call SecondAct a magazine for boomers. But really it’s not. It’s a publication that celebrates people who may have gotten older but haven’t stopped discovering new things, about the world and themselves.

At SecondAct.com, I’ll be reporting on the same things I’ve covered most of my career: business, workplace issues, technology and careers. You can see some of the first stories I’ve done now, one on bridge jobs, and another on people who start a company for the first time in their 40s and 50s.

I’ll also be contributing to SecondAct’s group blog, called PrimeTime. That’s exciting in and of itself. But it also represents my first paid blogging gig, something I consider to be a pretty major career milestone. I wouldn’t have landed it if it wasn’t for this blog, which showed SecondAct’s editor Donna Wares that I could do it (at least that’s what she’s told me). My first couple posts are up too, one on using LinkedIn, and another on why when it comes to the world of work, older really can be better.

Which brings me to the part that’s making me nervous. How will I adjust to blogging here three times a week – or more during the blogathon that starts next month - and stick to my SecondAct two-times-a-week blogging schedule? I’m not the world’s fastest blogger; even posts like this that sort of write themselves, take time because of the tags, links, pictures, etc., etc., you need to add after the writing’s done.

I’m giving it my best shot. But if my posts here seem suspiciously short or if I start running lots of  best of lists, you’ll know why.

If you’re reading this and you write for multiple blogs I’d love to know how you manage to juggle it all.

Wish me luck.

It’s been almost two years since I launched WordCount: Freelancing in the Digital Age as a way to get back into the writing business after an extended break, get myself up to speed on changes in the media industry, and continue a passion for writing on a weekly or biweekly basis I’ve held since the time I worked as a newspaper tech columnist.

A lot’s happened in the past 20 months. The start of this blog coincided with the biggest upheaval the media businesses has seen in my lifetime (and I’m no spring chicken), thanks to the twin whammies of the Internet and the recession. Those changes have wreaked havoc on newspaper and magazine advertising and employment. More to the point of this blog, it’s pulled the rug out from under independent writers who aspire to work for them. Old markets are drying up, and new ones emerging.

As my favorite TV character says, change isn’t good or bad. It just is (thanks Don).

So just as freelancers have to change to keep up with the times, WordCount does too. In short order, expect to see a new look here as well as some revamped content and other additions.

What I won’t be changing is my exploration of what it means to be a journalist and independent writer today.

When I started out, I thought of blogging as a solitary experience. It isn’t. Good blogs are like good conversations – stimulating, provocative – and two-sided. That lesson hit home recently in the very lively debates that have happened here over content sites and the rates they pay.

Since I value the WordCount community – including everyone who visits here and leaves comments, as well as my freelance tribes and my blogathon buddies – I’d love to hear what topics you’d like to see covered in coming months. Let me know by taking a minute to fill out this quick poll. Your reward – a preview of the new WordCount logo.

Take Our Poll

Before then, here’s a look back at the top WordCount posts of 2008, based on the total number of page views.

Some interesting things about the most popular posts: a few of them got lots of traffic because Google searches caught the images I’d included, such as the post on Tina Brown launching The Daily Beast and a post on my trip to New York City to visit editors that I paired with an image of the Manhattan skyline.

Other popular blog posts covered areas near and dear to freelancers figuring out how they need to change their businesses or skills to keep up with the times. Here’s a baker’s dozen of the best:

Best blogs for writers – Far and away my most popular blog post ever. Stay tuned for an update in February.

Tina Brown to head ONA September conference – When it comes to page views, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

I’m in a New York State of mind – Another popular picture.

Asking the hard question – top 10 interview tips – A version of this post appeared in The New Writer’s Handbook 2008, published by Scarletta Press in August.

What freelancers should know about SEO – A lot, as it turns out.

10 ways to promote your freelance writing – List posts are always popular, and this one was no exception.

Promote yourself through your email signature – Some writers have turned the humble email sig into an art form.

Freelancers’ strategies for prospering in bad times – Good advise from writers of all backgrounds.

Paging Dr. Sawaya, Milton is hip again – I’d like to think this paean to a favorite college professor was popular because it was so well written but I think the traffic had more to do with the picture of an old copy of “Paradise Lost” I included.

Guest post: Going freelance in a down economy – The Urban Muse blogger Susan Johnston weighs in on what led to her decision to leave a full-time job and why she’s never been happier.

10 top Web tools for freelancers – Google News Alerts, Delicious and a whole lot more.

Avoiding data disasters – Links to a story I wrote with a great photo of a really old mainframe computer.

How writers can use LinkedIn, Part 1 – LinkedIn transformed my business and this helps explain why.

Portland gets white just in time for Christmas

WordCount is busy celebrating the season and playing in the snow. Beginning  Monday, Dec. 29, I’ll spend a week rerunning some of the year’s most popular posts on freelancing, digital media and the news business. Until then, Merry Christmas!

In the past 12 months, I’ve written for close to a dozen magazines and Websites, reconnected with former colleagues I hadn’t talked to in years, discovered LinkedIn and Facebook, started this blog, joined a writer’s group, went to New York to visit editors, sold a blog post to a writer’s anthology, and met up with a handful of fellow freelancers in their travels here to Portland. And those are just the highlights.

I had taken off the better part of seven years to help raise my family, so the thought of re-establishing my professional career was more than a little daunting.

During my time away, thought, I never completely stopped writing. I wrote and produced auction catalogs for my kids’ school fundraisers. I wrote weekly newsletters for schools, sports teams and other groups. I also taught a graduate-level journalism class for a semester, served as communications committee chair for a non-profit group, helped family and friends with writing and editing projects, and even wrote a few obituaries.

None of it was as intellectually challenging as the paid work I was used to. But it kept the old brain cells from atrophying completely. And I bring it up as a way of pointing out that, if you need to take time off for family or other reasons, there are ways to do it and at least keep the pilot lit on your writing.

Now that I’m back, it feels like I never left. Bad economy or not, here’s the the next 12 months.