My 2011 Blogging Highlights

(UPDATED: January 6, 2012)

This is a quick post where I look back on 2011 while also looking ahead to 2012. The year 2011 was more about keeping the wheels turning while motoring forward. That motoring forward, however, has been fairly rough. Disappointments and rough blogging times have me feeling less than stellar in trying to keep John's Blog Space going strong. I am going to take a wild guess- I've done at least 250 blog posts for 2011. They have ranged from completely new topics to old posts that have been deleted and replaced with new versions.

LATEST UPDATE:

JAN 6 2012 - a very important part of 2011 was omitted in my initial post! That highlight was added.

--- 2011 Blogging Highlights ---

I am making my own highlight package for 2011. Each heading indicates personal highlights I want to focus on. So enjoy this lookback with me. If you want to read the blog posts I am associating each section with, links to all will be indicated for you to read. Just because this is John's Blog Space means that JBS material is not the only thing that will be covered. In fact, I have some thoughts on my other two blogs, "John's Shop Space" and "John's Gran Turismo Space." So read on:

Viral Success.

Among my 2011 blog posts, the first major hits were my blog posts on singers Charice Pemgengco and Sarah Geronimo. I had no idea so many people would actually read my posts on these two young singing sensations. I picked up a huge deal of hits from that as well as some Twitter followers. People were reluctant to see my post as well as videos on both of these singing stars. I had even launched a blog label called "Philippines and Filipino," dedicated to topics regarding the Philippines and Filipino topics. The Philippines remains as one of the most popular places where I get blog hits from.

Making People Happy.

John's Blog Space is about anything and everything, and when "anything and everything" includes interesting posts about interesting people, there is that surprise factor that often times arise. I have posted "Famous People" posts about various people. I felt like some comments had to be made about certain people I've featured. One post I felt a bit emotional about this year was when I posted about Keira Kang. Keira is a singer whom has been through a lot of tough times. She loves music as well as fashion. I felt like my readers need to know more about her as I shown my appreciation for this person. I then extended my Famous People looks at many others. I had thoughts on Rebecca Black, whom I don't like music from, but I also wonder why people hate her so much. She is not a good singer at all, but I just failed to understand why people hate her like she did something totally wrong. Just recently, I blogged about Arielle Lee Bair- a woman who has taken on and defeated eating disorders in her life. I praised her for her motivation and her insight.

So I do what I can to make mention of certain people... even if they don't suspect it right away. Sometimes, I wonder who would ever make anything appreciative of me and my material. It's not like I ask for anything in return, though. It would just be interesting to see someone show some love and support for my own material with their own compliments.

The Beauty of It All.

I took a stand to try to talk about beautiful women from around the world. Starting in a post on February 22, 2011; I devoted an entire post to women from certain regions, countries, continents, and the like. I began with a post to try to draw more blog readers from Africa. I posted about African beauties. One loyal reader was satisfied that I broke up and divided African beauties by the region they are from. It was a taxing effort, but I managed to find as many different women as possible to help spice up the post. The biggest name I mentioned in "African Beauties" was Charlize Theron of South Africa. However, I became fond of the ultra-sexy Candice Swanepoel, also from South Africa.

Because of that post's success, I took my "Beauties" posts to include many more parts of the world. So I took my focus elsewhere. It began with a look at beautiful women from Latin America. That was the initial plan. However, I changed up my focus to try to be better categorized with the names I was featuring. I began with Mexican and Central American Beauties- focused on Mexico and some of Central American women. The next post in the series regarded beautiful women from Caribbean islands. Finally, I ended with beautiful women from South America. In a still incomplete series, I shifted my Beauties post from the Western Hemisphere... to Asia. It began with a look at beautiful women from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and ended with South Asia. I still haven't ruled out beautiful women of Central Asia as well as the Middle East.

There are many more posts I am considering for next year in this category. Here are some of the ones I hope to work on and complete (YOU READ IT FIRST!): UK and Irish beauties, Australian and New Zealand beauties, American beauties, and even beautiful women of continental Europe.

My latest "Beauties" post was about plus size women from around the world. I appreciate the support I've gotten in response to me mentioning plus-size women. That even includes bloggers whom I follow here on Blogger/Blogspot. I am considering doing one regarding petite beauties.

Shoe Focus.

The most popular shoe-related post of 2011 was my post on the Jeffrey Campbell "Lita" booties. Many people who visit John's Blog Space to see that blog post were treated to various facts and figures on these popular shoes. I even linked to various blogs and videos featuring these boots being worn. Any time A blog post is successful, I try and hope to add more content to help make the post more interesting and useful. Those efforts seem to have worked for the most part.

I then tried to mention other shoes- such as the "Snick" sandals from Jeffrey Campbell and the "Dany" sandals from Jessica Simpson. Those two, unfortunately, were nowhere near as popular as my Jeffrey Campbell "Lita" booties post. Even my old post on Converse sneakers remains popular.

Going Aussie.

This year was magical for me because I was able to see the Bathurst 1000 live on TV in the United States. I posted a blog entry regarding Speed Channel's coverage of the Bathurst 1000. The praise came in the fact that this series was so loved in the States that it was shown live for the first time ever in the US. However, some NASCAR-type elements were to my disliking. I otherwise enjoyed the coverage.

An element I changed up about labeling blog posts is that I now include topics regarding Australia and New Zealand as part of my "Pacific and Oceania" label. The "Pacific and Oceania" topics were primarily about the many South Pacific island nations, but I've also included Australia and New Zealand as part of my range of topics in this category.

A Makeover.

The biggest change to "John's Blog Space" was a new layout and feel. I was convinced to change the theme of this blog from its blue and gold to a blue/gold/teal combination that I called "Sea of Stars." I initially had teal graphics in the sidebar to resemble an underwater adventure. But because it was hard to read, I deleted the underwater graphics and just replace it with a solid teal background. I even added a slider to make my blog feel more like a proper home page. The point of all of this was to make the blog a lot more interesting to look at. Equal treatment was given to "John's Gran Turismo Space." Speaking of which...

Attempts to Impress JGTS.

Rather than post a review of Gran Turismo 5 to "John's Blog Space," I instead chose to use "John's Gran Turismo Space" to make my review of GT5. JGTS needed more views, and I thought this would help. I even managed to move over a lot of my GT-themed topics to JGTS to make it better. It was not too long ago that John's Gran Turismo Space surpassed 25K views. I hope to get more views and involvement there in the future.

The Ones That Got Away.

Some blog posts never got the amount of views I think they would get. Here are some of the many- Ballet, Cats, (almost any music-related post), (almost any race track post), Attention to Booty, and more. I guess I got to a point where I feel certain blog posts would be so popular that they'd rake in views. Sadly, I was wrong. Most of these posts don't have anywhere as many views as I think they'd be capable of getting.

There's hope! Please contribute views to the following posts to help me feel a bit better about my blogging work:

• Ballet - a look at ballet as well as dancer-inspired fashion.
• Cats - meow! A fun post about cats.
• Bahrain International Circuit - Bahrain's fabulous international race track.
• Attention to Booty :) - a fashion post about making your backside fashionable.
• Wild Side - animal-inspired fashion topics.
• Arielle Lee - my post about a young pop singer (not to be confused with my post on Arielle Lee Bair)
• Deals - my review of the Live Well Network show hosted by Katishia Cosley (or Kat Cosley)
• The Jeremy Kyle Show - daytime talk show controversial for how the host treats guests in trying to gain resolution.

Making an Experimental Blog.

Did you know that the recent layout changes were actually set up by an experimental blog? I created a fourth blog specifically to test layout changes. I did not want to ruin the layout of any of my existing blogs to any substantial degree trying to edit it in real time. So I was finally compelled to make an experimental blog to test out blog templates and learn from these templates to edit my own blogs. The "Sea of Stars" theme for John's Blog Space was created through extensive modification and testing of various blog formats I have downloaded and play-tested online. There is no easier way to test out unique templates, so you may as well practice using other blog templates while modifying your own.


But among all highlights, this one was the biggest for me in 2011:

1,000,000 Hits!

(ADDED: January 6, 2012)
When you work with something for a long time and reap the benefits from your audience, you end up in rare air- 1M hits. On June 26, 2011; Blogger/Blogspot stats shown that my blog crossed the 1M view mark all-time. I credit this to the many people who even cared to visit my blog and share my content. I don't view my own blog; that's just cheap views in my estimation. I even don't let a browser track my own page views. In my initial version of this post, I absolutely forgot to mention crossing the 1M view mark! I have no idea how I could forget the most important highlight of 2011 for John's Blog Space.

--- 2011 Blogging Lowlights ---

This post is about HIGHlights, but this one was a potentially hurtful LOWlight:

Nearly Killing a Popular Post.

One time in updating my post on Plus Size fashion, I accidentally copied and pasted my "Sweet Petite!" post in place of "Plus Size Fashion." I IMMEDIATELY changed this over and saved my post from any further disarray. I'd hate to imagine what damage I would have done long-term in trying to avoid destroying one of my most popular posts.


And then, this:

Nearly Killing off John's Shop Space?

Though I get a bit more traffic to John's Shop Space (JSS) than John's Gran Turismo Space (JGTS), I feel that JSS seemed to have been created out of trying to decrease the workload off of featuring items on John's Blog Space. It used to be that I'd create posts on certain topics, then post some material people can shop for online in case they are interested. So in case I thought people would be more interested in shopping for material rather than reading my posts and then shopping for material, I created "John's Shop Space" as my alternative blog to JBS.

There was a reason why I never seriously promoted "John's Shop Space." The big reason why was because I set that blog up specifically to have would-be shoppers be more interested in a more shop-friendly environment. I was too lazy to set up and maintain a proper store, so my would-be store is also its own blog. I have now used JSS to mostly feature certain things and allow my visitors to go see related websites in case they are interested.

I disallowed comments because it was specifically about whatever was being offered for each topic. That blog was not designed to be a place of great debate or discussion. I don't mind Followers for John's Shop Space, but it was never meant to be a proper blog people can actually enjoy.

Finally, there was a point where I felt like "John's Shop Space" just wasn't performing well, and that my vision to try to expand upon JBS' success just wasn't working. I didn't know what to post about and how often to post to better service my audience. So I had almost considered getting rid of John's Shop Space.

--- Looking Ahead to 2012 ---

Among other things for 2012 for John's Blog Space, I have expressed some interest in doing some tech product reviews. There are some products that I've read about and wanted to learn more about. Maybe I get to be so cheap to purchase certain items, but I do wonder about certain products.

The Money Factor.

There was a reason I created "John's Shop Space." I feared that people may think I'm blogging for money. I do not predicate the success of my blog on making money. And besides, it isn't like I am actually making real money (if any). There are other bloggers out there who get a lot of views and probably rake in more cash than me. I'm only talking about money because I'd like to actually see my blog's success translate to money. Of course, I care more about speaking my mind than any sort of financial aspect of my work.

Getting Noticed.

You only know me in a few ways- if you're a personal friend of mine, if you're a family member of mine who somehow reads my blog or sees my YouTube videos, you somehow follow my work online. I guess I am pushing to become better noticed and respected among a certain audience. I can not guarantee that I will actually be saluted by someone or greatly featured in posts and websites. What I do hope for someday is that I can actually be (at least) noticed and admired by people on some sort of public forum for my blogging and video work. My work may not be spectacular, but I am far from being truly mediocre.

More Fans and Followers.

I don't know what it is with me. I get a lot of traffic, but not a lot of loyal readers willing to show their support of my work. Only so many Facebook fans. Only so many Followers. I hope to TRULY change that. How, though? I am not sure. Maybe being better noticed will help.

More Topics and More Labels.

To better sort blog topics, I have set up and utilized various labels. What labels am I talking about? Stuff like "Fashion and Style," "Gaming," and more. Use the labels in the sidebar to find the latest posts to some of my many different topics. Speaking of topics, I hope to discuss more things and find more ways to keep all of my blogs intact and active.

A Return to Prosperity.

If "disappointment" was my word for my 2011, I am hoping "recovery" is a word that describes 2012 for me. This blog used to get about 3K hits daily. Then, I was fortunate enough to get between 2K and 3K hits daily. Nowadays, I am fortunate to get 1.5K to 2K hits. My blog is slowly dying if you go on these figures alone. I can only hope to regain my audience and win some new fans and subscribers. Only YOU can make it happen. I can only do so much.

More "John's Corner" Posts.

The "John's Corner" posts are casual posts where I Simply discuss certain things with you all from a mostly lighthearted perspective. They even involve certain comments from me about a few issues, like why I post on certain topics or why I express certain views. Even if to casually grow my audience, I'll try to make more of my "John's Corner" posts so you can have a piece of my mind free of charge. :)


I am hoping to expand upon and grow my blog and my audience.





No matter what, I am thankful for the support I have from many people the world over. I will try to get with other peoples' blogs and try to expand my international audience with original content. I hope my audience can support me in their own way by getting involved with me and my content. Here's to a happier and more promising new year. Well...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Thank you for reading all year long! Have a great 2012!

Become a Fan (or Like) my Facebook Fan Page and subscribe this blog (and my others) via FeedBurner (or any other aggregator in the sidebar)! Visit (or subscribe):
• Subscribe to John's Blog Space!
• Subscribe to John's Shop Space! (http://jbmshopspace.blogspot.com)
• Subscribe to John's Gran Turismo Space! (http://johnsgtspace.blogspot.com)