Getting Started with The Next Phase Blog
When I started The Next Phase Blog, inspired by my friend Martha Schaefer’s blog, Therapeutic Misadventures, my goal was simply to share some thoughts with friends and former colleagues who might find them interesting. Once started, I really enjoyed writing it and topics began presenting themselves to me on a regular basis. Right now I have new ideas stacked up next to my desk like planes coming in to Logan International. At a party in February, someone asked me why I was blogging. I replied blithely that the blog was a perfect medium for someone who is as opinionated as I am.
And so it began.
A Surprising Response
Over the last 5+ months, the response to The Next Phase Blog has constantly surprised me in a variety of ways. First, I am thrilled to have readers around the world—really! While the bulk of folks reside, as expected, in the U.S., there are also readers in Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada, and Latin America. The attached chart shows the top countries over the blog’s lifetime but the long tail also includes Japan, China, Indonesia, Poland, Russia and the Czech Republic (Jozef is that you?).
Second, the most popular blog posts are not the ones I would have expected would gather a large audience. On the left is a list of the top blog posts by page views. Grouping them by topic shows an interesting pattern, shown in the chart below.
Encouraging Readership
With the help of my friend and website master, Jon Rider at JetStream Consulting, I’m converting The Next Phase to that platform. Don’t worry, this process should be painless for readers but I’ll let you know when the new URL goes live.
Expanding the Readership
In the meantime, if you enjoy reading The Next Phase Blog, please help me to expand readership by sharing posts on Facebook, retweeting my Tweets about new posts, or sending an email to friends who might enjoy a particular topic.
Also, if you sign up to be a blog member or connect on Google Friend Connect, you’ll receive notices whenever a new post goes live.
Commenting on Posts
And feel free to comment whenever you want. I enjoy hearing from you and will try to reply to any post that opens a dialog.
Thank you all for reading The Next Phase Blog and for going on my journey along with me. I look forward to more of the trip.