End-of-the-year post

It seems like most people write a year end summary post so I’ll do the same and talk about where my website and I have gone this year.

I went back to the Site Meter compilation I had from 2006 and found out that I had a good year indeed. My average readership for the second half of this year was up 147% from the second half of last year. (Yes, that includes the Rushalanche I had in October but even without it I’m still up 107 percent.) On three occasions I was rated as the most influential political website in Maryland, a distinction that only nine websites in Maryland held, with just three achieving the milestone more often.

I also got to expand my influence in other ways as well. While I maintained my position as a contributor to the Patriot Post newsletter, I also got to host my first blog carnivals (Carnival of Maryland 7 and 17), watched as the Maryland Bloggers Alliance I belong to expanded to over 40 members, and became a contributor to the Red Maryland website that also was rated the most influential political website in the state three times. (Did you know that only three websites were in the top 20 every week they did a rating this year? Mine was one, along with Free State Politics and Brian Griffiths’ website.)

Another milestone was getting my first advertiser, dullscrews.com. So for the first time in 2007, monoblogue turned a profit!

However, as the kids used to say that was so last year. I’m hoping for bigger and better things in 2008.

First off, for a guy with a politically oriented website I’m going to have a hell of a lot to write about. The Presidential culling process begins in earnest on Thursday in Iowa and by the time the smoke clears after the New Hampshire primary January 8th, we’ll likely have a couple fewer candidates on each side as they run out of money or otherwise decide their campaign is doomed. Our primary turn comes February 12th, and while the Presidential race may be all but decided on both sides we have some of the keenest competition for a Congressional seat in the country. Will the moderate GOP incumbent be turned out by conservative voters or can he survive as two candidates to his right split that vote?

Don’t forget also that in a week or so we begin the sausage-grinding in Annapolis as the regular General Assembly session commences and people start to see the impact of taxes wrought in the special session last fall. (Look for a run on cigarette sellers tonight.) Maryland voters shouldn’t forget that we vote not just for President and Congress come November, but both legalizing slot machines and early voting are on this fall’s ballot as we speak.

I’m planning on covering all of that and telling you what I think about it in some shape, manner, or form. But I have a few other changes in store too. Hopefully in the next few weeks monoblogue will have a fresh new look and more advertisers of both a local and national nature. And I’m going to keep trying for that number one influence ranking despite more and more competition by some seriously good writers who continue to jump into the blogosphere.

So I leave this year behind with a standard wish and prayer I always give at this time of year. May the coming year be both your best year and the worst year of the rest of your life.

See you in 2008!!

 

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

One thought on “End-of-the-year post”

Comments are closed.