Well, well, well. Today is December 31. Ready or not, here comes 2011. This coming new year holds so many promises to each of us. As we prepare to welcome 2011, I thought I’d take today’s post to reflect on how far we’ve come since we launched The Upbeat Dad.
On Monday, October 4, 2010, I introduced this blog to the world with the post The Official Launch of The Upbeat Dad. As I mentioned on The Story Behind the Upbeat Dad, the vision has been years in the making. But I strongly felt that the timing was right to launch this project.
Here we are, just under 3 months later. And oh, what a ride it’s been! I set a dream goal of 3,000 pageviews worldwide by December 31. That milestone was passed well over a month ago. And yesterday, we hit the 5,000 pageviews milestone - yes, 5,000! What an accomplishment! I could tell you the different things I’ve done to reach this milestone but quite frankly, the credit goes to you for tuning in on a daily basis. I try to touch on different areas in my posts each day but without you, it wouldn’t be possible, so I thank you.
We have established a worldwide following. As I’ve said before, we have readers on every continent except Antarctica! Here is a list, in order of number of pageviews, of our top 10 countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Jamaica, Croatia, Japan, Russia, India, Germany, Australia.
Here's a highlight of some of our accomplishments thus far:
1. In mid-November, I wrote a post entitled NBA Star Dwyane Wade's Got His Priorities Straight. In that post I shared how Wade prioritized being a loving father to his two boys. I later wrote the post A Big Boost from NBA Star Dwyane Wade to share the story about how I sent the article to Wade and he replied saying, “Thanks for noticing” and then he sent it to over 700,000 people who follow him on Twitter.
3. With the holiday season approaching, we did a two-day post about drunk driving and its effects. Our post Put Down That Drink, Aren’t You Driving Home? highlights the general impact of drunk driving. The next day, our post Person of the Week: Myra McRoy Constable told the story of a lady who became a young widow after her husband died in a single car collision after a night of drinking. This post is quite popular. To date, it’s our 3rd most read article.
1. In mid-November, I wrote a post entitled NBA Star Dwyane Wade's Got His Priorities Straight. In that post I shared how Wade prioritized being a loving father to his two boys. I later wrote the post A Big Boost from NBA Star Dwyane Wade to share the story about how I sent the article to Wade and he replied saying, “Thanks for noticing” and then he sent it to over 700,000 people who follow him on Twitter. That kind act on his part brought hundreds of new readers to the blog over just the next few hours. Still, to this day, that article is the most read of any post I’ve written. We have readers who tune in on a daily basis because this article brought them to the blog and they like what they've seen so they come back often. Kudos to my fellow Miami resident, D. Wade for that!
2. In November, we launched a weekly feature called Upbeat Dad of the Week. In this feature, we highlight fathers who have demonstrated that they are exceptional dads. Here is a list of all the features we have done in this series thus far:
- Inaugural Upbeat Dad of the Week Spotlight
- Upbeat Dad of the Week: Melvin Thompson
- Upbeat Dad of the Week: Your Dad
- Upbeat Dad of the Week: Edward Rapier
3. With the holiday season approaching, we did a two-day post about drunk driving and its effects. Our post Put Down That Drink, Aren’t You Driving Home? highlights the general impact of drunk driving. The next day, our post Person of the Week: Myra McRoy Constable told the story of a lady who became a young widow after her husband died in a single car collision after a night of drinking. This post is quite popular. To date, it’s our 3rd most read article.
4. In posts such as When Good Fathers Go Bad and Cats in the Cradle: A Life Lesson for Working Parents I implore fathers to ensure they prioritize time with their children, especially when marriages and other relationships end.
5. I visited the city of New Orleans just after Thanksgiving and wrote the post Profound Lesson for the Divorced From New Orleans Visit. In that post I wrote about how the city rose to its feet after the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Then I shared how the divorced can make a comeback after going through their own catastrophe. That post is quite popular among our readers as it is one of our most read posts to date.
6. When Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former presidential candidate, John Edwards, passed away, I wrote A Tribute to Elizabeth Edwards: A Lasting Legacy. That post seems to have struck a chord with our readers. It's the 4th most read of our posts.
So that’s a bit of what we’ve been up to these past few months. What an exciting journey it’s been! I try to do a post each day so that there's always something fresh and new. Beginning this coming Monday, January 3, I will preview where we’re going in 2011. I have a great vision so I invite you to remain engaged with us.
As always, our Facebook page is a way to make the experience interactive. If you haven’t already done so, please visit the page and if you like what you see, “Like” it so you can follow our posts.
Also, we are quite active on Twitter so I encourage you to follow us. We constantly send out messages that we think will help families to become closer. And as with our Facebook page, it makes our experience interactive.
I hope that you ring in the New Year with a great, safe celebration. I wish you and your family the very best for a prosperous and successful 2011.
The best is yet to come. See you next year!
The Upbeat Dad
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