AONC Is Now a Top 5,000 Web Site (+Update from Chile)
Greetings from the mobile version of World Domination HQ, currently roaming throughout South America on my recent tour of the known universe.
Thanks to everyone I’ve met so far on this trip – Alastair, Karen, Ryan, Angela, Gabe, Toby, Ellie, Alan, Emily, Eileen, Gonzalo, and Alberto. Traveling is a lot easier when you have friends waiting to show you around and introduce you to pisco sours, my new favorite drink that claims its origins in Peru.
Good News and Bad News
First, the bad news: I left my iPod in a taxi the other day. How could I be so dumb? After two days of getting mad at myself over it, I decided I’d try blogging therapy. My loss is a Lima taxi driver’s gain. It could always be worse. Who needs iTunes, anyway?
These are the things I tell myself to compensate for my mistake.
Anyway, the good news: My iPod loss should be more than balanced by all the great things that are happening in my world. I try to practice gratitude in all circumstances, even if my success rate only hovers around 85%.
Also, AONC Is Now a Top 5k Technorati Blog
I check the site metrics just once a month (if I do it more often, I start focusing on them too much), and when I updated my spreadsheet the other day, I noticed that AONC is now in the top 5,000 blogs tracked by Technorati. Last month it was 8,000, before that it was 11,000, but I really didn’t expect it to climb so fast.
What this means: in some ways, absolutely nothing. You can have a great site offering great things that is much lower ranked, and you can also find ways to engineer the ranking process to rise to the top without an active group of readers. Different topics also tend to respond better to link campaigns, so it can be an apples-to-oranges comparison to stack one site against another.
In other words, it’s much better to focus on building a community and doing great stuff.
However, as an external measurement of relevance and influence, rankings are somewhat useful. If I wanted to offer sponsorships, for example, I could probably do that now thanks to the validated popularity of the site. (I don’t want to, FYI.)
There are more than 100 million blogs on the list, so I figure that a ranking of 4,624 (as of today) is pretty good, especially for a site that is devoted to contrarian thinking and global adventures. When i started the site last year, I thought it would be a niche project for a small, select group of people. Much to my surprise, it seems to have become a niche project for a larger, select group.
That Means Thanks!
When I saw this news, I knew I needed to give a huge thanks to everyone who has read along, linked in to the site, or otherwise rocked my world.
Technorati’s rankings are determined based on inbound links. Links are the currency of the internet, and whenever I look at the list of new links that come through to the site every day, it feels like I’m getting paid.
If you want to help, link to the site from your own online hub, or tell your friends through Twitter, Facebook, sandwich boards on the sidewalk, etc. Many of you have done that and I am very grateful. Muchas gracias, amigos.
Tips for Fellow Bloggers
The way I’ve been able to rise in the rankings is related to two things:
1) I try to create helpful and interesting content on a consistent basis
2) I make it a priority to connect with people and build real relationships
When I’m not traveling, writing my book, or working on related projects, I spend most of my time dong those two things. If you’re trying to gain some traction in your own online project and are wondering where to spend your time, I recommend you pursue both of those strategies. If you have to choose between them, choose number one, because without something to show off, no one will care.
Oh, and I’ve also learned over time that consensus is overrated. It’s better to be bold, take a tough stand from time to time, and preach to the choir instead of the unconverted. That’s pretty much it. Again, thanks for caring about what I have to say.
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A few other notes for this weekend update:
Unconventional Writing Contest – Here are all the details. I’ll do a formal update on this before the week is over, but for now, please enter! Your voice and contribution is most welcome. There are only 6 days to go until I turn over the entries to the Supreme Court, so don’t delay too long.
Tip: If you have problems with the email address that entries should be sent to, log into Google Docs and share it with “aonc.contest@gmail.com.” If you’re really stuck, just email it to me and I’ll do it for you.
Completely revised email list coming soon – One of the things that’s been bugging me is the lack of full branding integration with my email list. We have been working on it for a couple of weeks and are almost done – if it wasn’t for my habit of continent-hopping, we’d already be done, but I can’t do much about that.
At any rate, if you’re on the list and are wondering where the extra mailings are, why the formatting has varied lately, etc. – that’s why. It will all be fixed very soon.
Saudi Arabian Visa – A six-hour effort from four different people has gone into getting my visa for the kingdom so far – and it became even more complicated yesterday. Perhaps after I finally enter (and leave) Riyadh next week, I’ll tell you more about it.
Business News – Will have to wait for next Sunday, since I’m having too much fun on the road. Suffice it to say that good things are on the way, and I work on them every day no matter where I am.
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I had a great week in South America and managed to visit each country that I hadn’t been to before. In other words, I’ve now officially been to every country on the continent. Ironically, I still haven’t made it to Australia, so South America is the first complete continent on my 5-year 4-year goal. I’ll write more about this on Thursday.
Starting today, I’ll be in transit for a while – Guayaquil, New York, Amman – and then in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia (I hope) for the rest of the week. I look forward to writing you next from one of those places.
Good luck with everything, wherever you are (not that you need luck).
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