The 2011 Blogathon has been a hit on many levels.
The number of people who signed up almost doubled from last year, to more than 200. A number of bloggers are reporting seeing traffic to their sites double, triple, even quadruple. Others are getting more comments on posts than they’ve ever had. Beginners have used the past month to start a blog, bring more structure to their blogging efforts or learn about blogging software. Several bloggers who are also professional writers have had posts picked up by national publications such as More.com and McSweeney’s.
It was the second year I hosted a blogathon Google Group where people could list links to their daily posts for others to see, share their successes and frustrations and ask questions about blogging basics. It was the first year I distributed a weekly blogathon newsletter to recap theme days and share details about upcoming events.
As the blogathon comes to a close, I’m already thinking about ways to make the 2012 blogathon even better. Since it’s is a community challenge, I’d like your input. Please take the following poll, and leave any additional thoughts you might have for improving the blogathon in a comment at the end of this post.
Thanks – and don’t forget to join us for the blogathon wrap party on June 1 at 10 a.m. Pacific time on Twitter. Use the hashtag #blog2011. Everyone who posted 31 days straight will have their name entered into a prize drawing with winners announced at the end of the hour-long chat. I’ll share more details about the wrap party in tomorrow’s post.
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Love most everything about this year’s blogathon. I didn’t really read the newsletter, however, just because I’d rather read your blog instead. Would love mentoring/coaching opportunities. Great idea! This is one of those things I really look forward to every year. It’s such a great way to build community, and I love how it really pushes the newbies to get out there. That’s always fun to watch happen.
Thanks Jackie, that’s nice to hear from someone like you who’s a 4-year blogathon veteran. I’m glad to know you’re still learning. Regarding the newsletter, I believe that the more ways I can give people to find what I’m doing the better, so if that means linking to blog posts from Twitter and Facebook, LinkedIn, a newsletter and an RSS feed, so be it. Different people prefer getting their information different ways and I’m happy to oblige them.
I’ll be interested in what the poll results show regarding mentoring and coaching. It’s definitely something I’ll start offering on a paid basis soon if enough people link it would be worthwhile.
Michelle
Michelle, you have done a tremendous amount of work as the organizer of the 2011 WordCount Blogathon. I wouldn’t change a thing. It seems to be working very well, and it was a privilege to be a part of it for the first time in May 2011.
Thanks Barbara, I appreciate the feedback.
Michelle
Agreed! I’ve learned so much from this experience, and can’t wait to do it again next year. Just one more post!
Loved everything about the blogathon, Michelle. I skimmed the newsletter but didn’t find it necessary if it meant one less project for you to do. I checked in on the Google group 2 or 3 times a day and felt very up-to-date with things.
Thanks for the feedback on the Google Group Jan; some people never use the group, though, so I feel like the newsletter is a way to keep those people people informed. And according to the analytics that come with the newsletter program I use, about 50 percent of each issue of the newsletter get read, which is a pretty decent open rate. After this, though I’ll drop back to sending out one newsletter a month v. once a week.
Michelle
I thought the 2011 Blogathon was an incredible experience for someone new to this. Absolutely loved the google groups aspect where I could seek out guidance or read issues that other bloggers were encountering and suggestions that were offered. I’m keeping those as reference when I convert to WordPress. I’m not sure what I’d change to make it better…it’s already pretty darn good!
Appreciate the feedback. The Google Group has been invaluable – once I realized that the blogathon was about building a community, providing people a place where they could talk about their goals, accomplishments, frustrations and ideas was a no brainer. Plus, I don’t always have the answers to people’s questions, so the G.G. was good for connecting people with problems with other people who could help them.
Michelle
I really appreciated the newsletter because at times the Google group was overwhelming and I didn’t have the time to keep up with all the messages, thus the newsletter helped me focus on upcoming topics etc.
Annette, it’s nice to hear that because so far most of the feedback I’ve received has been from people who prefer the Google Group. Just goes to show that different people consume information differently so it’s good to cover your bases.
Michelle