(1) Three, but a very specific three.

(2) I don't have the third one yet; otherwise yes.

(3) It would appear that I do.

I'd like to say that I don't care if anybody reads my blog, but I think if readership suddenly dropped to zero I'd feel a twinge of failure. Other than that though, I'm not too concerned.

I don't really think of my blog as a success, but then again I didn't start blogging with any idea what success might mean. After six months of doing it, I'm still without a compass like that, but it's okay. I started to force myself to writer every day and by that measure it's been very successful.

I consider my blog a success for the following reasons:

It makes me write something almost every day. Something that actually has to be presented to others and, virtually, never taken back down. And presented to others who have zero barriers to firing right back. It has been wonderful practice. I don't know if I write better, but I know that I at the very least find it easier to write anything.

I like going back and reading something that I wrote a good while back and still liking it. (Always a risky adventure.)

I do love spikes and Instalanches, though. And getting to see something that was uncovered by us spread, literally, over the entire planet in a matter of hours just makes us marvel at the times we live in.

I wonder how many people actually ever read, say, Mark Twain while he was still alive and how that compares number-wise? (No, we are not Mark Twain. That is the whole point.)

What Natalie said.

I look at my stats a lot less than I used to. At least for the numbers. What I most look for are how people find me - google searches and referrals - and where they are in the world.

I have "Spammed" all my friends, classmates, relatives and former work associates into bookmarking my blog. They have been obedient.

Statistics say, it has worked.

I have used no other "techniques". I'm suspect of the systems designed to get Blog readership up.

Successful? I don't know. What is that? I yell, some listen. And, if it makes a difference to those who I care about, isn't that success?

My comments recieved are few. But I get this reaction (I read your blog the other day and I laughed out loud) often enough to keep on keeping on.

I really like the Mark Twain reference above.

The joy and catharsis of it all is worth it. If observing my joy entertains or get's readers I'm ok with that. If not, OK TOO~

I actually have two blogs. The first, is very specific, related to my work. It averages about 30-40 visitors a day. I don't know if that's good of bad, but that's not how I measure success. I'm humbled that others, whose work I admire, have seen fit to link to it permanently and that some will link to specific articles I post. That is gratifying. Like Jen, I look more to how people found my blog than the actual number of hits. I get a sense of accomplishment when I see what they googled and the page they went to on my blog and know that I was able to help them some.

Now the blog I'm signed in under is nothing more than my periodic rants and stuff I find interesting. I'm well aware that the number of people that actually care what I think about most subjects it limited to my wife and perhaps a few friends (and I suspect that even she is just pretending at times). But it's easier, cheaper, and more immediate than writing a letter to the editor or my congressman. So it satisfies me, so I'm happy.

Very interesting questions, Eric. Will have to think about it some more and post at a later time.

Will have to think about it some more and post at a later time.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts...

1.) just one: me (though I'm sometimes surprised and sometimes delighted to find that others read it, too.)

2.) yes, sort of. I think in terms of "success" but "numbers of readers" doesn't even factor in.

3.) Yes, I do. But I measure "blogging success" differently than most folks do, I imagine.

To me, "blogging success" is better defined by the accuracy with which my blogging activity describes me, warts and all. The blogging I do, though I maintain several active blogs, is only a small part of my total Internet presence and activity. Of much more importance to me is that the "Internet Identity" I establish truthfully mirrors the man I am.

If I was selling widgets for profit, I'd probably be concerned with the number of widgets I sold. If I was blogging for popularity, I'd probably be concerned with the number of folks reading my blogs.

But I'm not out for profit nor am I blogging to become popular. Rather, I'm carrying on an ongoing, internal dialog, as I slog through time, and I'm doing it in public, over the Internet, partly documented by my blogging activity.

These thoughts are half-baked, you understand, (sort of like me, Ha!),
but they're the ones milling about in my head at the moment.

Now, I'm off to fix some coffee.

Roscoe, thanks for dropping in. I don't think your responses are inconsistent with those of the other folks who have left comments here. Not surprisingly, each person's motivation appears to be derived from some internal goal and the achivement of that goal may or may not be measurable by quantitative indicators like hit counts or even number of comments.

And, in the end, the important thing is the ability to do what works for you, and then to have some coffee. ;-)

I meant to come back and do this and didn't - so here we go!
1. While it would be cool to have more than a 1000 people read my blog every day - It would totally change what I do and the way I did it prob. So I have got to say that the number of readers that makes me successful is two. Two you ask? One is obviously me and the other is God (not that He counts as a person but hey).
2. I'd say yes - it makes me think, makes me reflect and evaluate, Gives me another way to praise and worship God and I hook up with people I may have never met or known existed. These were my primary goals.
3. Some ways yes and some ways no. I think about whether I am including God enough. I also think about the relationships I have formed but in every other way, I don't really think about success (as I define it) and the indicators that I would see if I were to reach it - I just write... In saying that I am sometimes critical about writing too much fluff but the fluff is important too :).

Rachel, your comment in #1 is very perceptive, in my view. For whatever reason, knowing that I've got thousands of people coming by each day to see what I've written doesn't give me a comfortable feeling. I think I prefer the small but faithful group that knows me for who I am...flaws and all. Gee, that's almost like having friends. ;-)

I also think that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself for the "fluff." After all, it's the fluff that gives us a soft landing after the bumpy flights of reality, right?

"For whatever reason, knowing that I've got thousands of people coming by each day to see what I've written doesn't give me a comfortable feeling."

Agree with you here, Eric. If my blog readership got into the thousands, I'd start analysing what I wrote and wondering what they found appealing. Then I'd try and replicate it to please the crowds, at which point everything would start going downhill. I'd probably start drinking heavily to dull the emotional pain, and (the ultimate humiliation) my friends would arrange a charity gig in the hope of reviving my career.

Well maybe some of that wouldn't happen, but you see what I mean...

DVH

David, your comment has inspired an entire Gazette post.

I hope you're prepared to deal with the consequences.