Goin’ For The Page Rank Juice

Hey, I just read that Google says the more often you post to your blog, the better your page rank.  So maybe I oughta publish my Highly Exciting Polls here in my regular posts instead of wasting all that tasty Google juice on sidebar antics?  I actually have no idea what my page rank is, (nor how to find out) but whatever my PR may be, I sure don’t want to upset what I imagine to be its delicate eco-balance.

Plus, how much Really Interesting & Potentially Funny Stuff can I actually come up with on me EVERY day, anyway? 365 days a year?!  For the next 55 years?!  Oy.

So the “Daily Polls” will be posted HERE in my regular posts, and occasionally – not daily.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, sighs with relief.

Edit: Check back Thursday morning for the plane-jumping answer in a comment at the bottom of that poll. I know you’ll not feel like sleeping or eating until then, but try to okay?!   🙂

And below, the scintillating polls that have come before, may they rest in eternal sweet peace.

And So On. And So On. And So On.

photo credit: photo bucket

Well hey, Lovely Peeps: I have actually veered a bit off the Daily Poll Sidebar Plan.  See here.  And now… back to this post below, as it appeared in  its original form…

Has Jannie ever jumped out of a perfectly good airplane?

Does Jannie sleep in her bra?

Does Jannie love or hate pickled beets?

Which did Jannie study for 2 years as a child — pan flute or accordion?

How old was Jannie when she took her first private singing lesson — 10, 16, 22, 34, or 41?

Well, guess what, Peeps!!?  You will learn the Absolutely Truthful answers to those and many more never-before-asked Jannie questions!

Yes — more Jannie tidbits than you ever dreamed possible or probably ever wanted to know are coming to this blog in the form of my new — ta da — Daily Poll.

Whoo-hoo.

A new Jannie poll will be posted every morning at or near the top of my right sidebar!  (Notice one up there now?)  And right after I post my new Daily Poll, I’ll post the Absolutely Truthful answer to the previous day’s poll question.   And how do you find the previous day’s answer exactly?  Great question!  Well, just click the button on my sidebar — the one that looks exactly like this…

Then follow the easy directions laid out on that page.  Simple, eh?  (I hope.)

Does Jannie want you to pop in here often for some silly stuff?  Yep!!

Does Jannie hope to grow her readership like Thomma Lynn Grindstaff grows corn and tomatoes?  Yep!!

Does Jannie yearn for her Google Adsense revenue to skyrocket from $100 a year to possibly $105?  You betcha!!!

But mostly Friends, I’m instituting this new 100% PTS (poll transparency system) because I feel a little bad about that whole weekend in Bulgaria thing.  Tho my recent poll showed most of you realized I was kidding (I thought a Mach-17 private jet might have been the first tip-off.)  🙂   I do apologize to those of you who either thought or weren’t quite sure if the President of Bulgaria whisked a bunch of us away for “the flaming marshmallow toss, the trampling of the moldy tomatoes” and other time-honored Bulgarian camping traditions.

I’m thinking I might even start adding some kind of “this post was created with considerable leg-pulling in mind” disclaimer at the bottom of any future fanciful flights, because you are all such dears and deserve the Absolute Truth in Jannie Blogging, unless otherwise specified in the Funstering Codebook — page 47, section 12, article B-21.

And just so you know, I am not privy to who clicks what on the polls or from which I.P. address the votes come, so don’t be shy to pop in and test your skill on information that will amaze and astound, if not change the very course of cosmic arrangements.  🙂

Yes, folks!  All this, in addition to my regular blog postings every 2 to 4 days! Could blogging wonders possibly get any better?!?!  I don’t see how.  (Well maybe if I finally get an iPhone, but that’s another story.)

Isn’t this all too exciting?

I’m going back to be [edit: bed. I’m going back to bed, — thanks Chrissy for pointing that out!] now.

Well… I’m sure you now need a nap or a tranquilizer, after the sheer excitement of what’s just been revealed here.   And as soon as you recover from the bliss and shock of all this I bet you’ll rush out to tell two friends, and they’ll tell two friends…  🙂

46 Blogging Observations So Far

1967: Me, Brother Joe, Brother Harry & Tom the cat  (See # 36 below.)

During the course of my extremely long blogging career — almost eleven whole months now,  I’ve learned a thing or 46 I’d like to share …

1.   Blogging can take up a LOT of time.

2.   Blogging can be addictive.

3.   Bloggers need just as much sleep as non-bloggers.  Sleep — right up there with oxygen for humans.

4.   I will not die if I run out of time to read every single word of every single post of every single one my blogging buddies, it only feels that way.  (I hate getting behind.)

5.   It’s okay to post on my own schedule.

6.   Since I can’t do justice to ALL 137 social media sites, I’ve picked a couple favorites to learn inside-out — Stumble Upon and Twitter.  Facebook I use more for long-lost cousins, whom I’ve found 296 of so far!  (Long Canadian winters and no tv for my grandparents made for lots of bouncing Funster babies.)

7.   The wild beast of Efficient Twittering can and hopefully will be tamed by me. (I’m up to page 177 of “Twitter For Dummies” at this writing.)

8.   Bloggers are a super nice bunch of peeps.

9.   Bloggers are a supportive bunch of peeps.

10.  I can go from laughing on one friend’s blog to crying on another’s to laughing again on another’s in the space of minutes.

11.  Blogging connects souls.

12.  I care as deeply for some bloggers as I do for real life friends I’ve known for years.

13.  My blogging buds often, if not usually, know more than I do on topics I post about. I never cease to be amazed.

14.  I am surprised there are still psychotherapists around with all this blogging love and wisdom to be had for free.

15.  It’s great to share helpful things on blogs.  Why hog the good stuff?

16.  Being controversial for the sake of pageviews is not something I’d ever feel comfortable doing.

17.  I must be kind, I never know how my words will affect someone.

18.  I must be sincere, I never know how my words will affect someone.

19.  Commenting is fun, free and easy.

20.  Linking a great blogger up is fun, free and easy.

21.  People like me to be ME. (Go figure.)

22.  Commenters appreciate the gift of shorter posts once in a while, or maybe more than once in a while.

23.  If I write a long post I think is compelling, I don’t feel the need to inwardly apologize for “taking up” so much of my readers’ time.

24.  Sometimes writing a post, letting it sit, then trimming the fat is good.

25.  My best posts are usually the ones that bubble up and write themselves quickly.

26.  I catch inspiration when it hits for rainy-day post ideas.

27.  Sometimes I wonder “Why the heck am I even blogging at all?” But those moments pass and lead to moments of “I LOVE blogging — it’s the best.”

28.  Blogging enthusiasm ebbs and flows.

29.  When blogging growth stalls I keep going.

30.  It’s good to be patient with blogging, to keep moving optimistically forward and making connections.

31.  Blogging cream rises, but good blogs must be promoted.

32.  SEO can bring a ton of traffic.

33.  Using stats can be very helpful to draw traffic, maybe even loyal traffic.  By poking around in my Google Analytics a lot has been revealed to me.  (Google stats are free.)

34.  I still don’t know how to write a proper About page. And I keep hearing About pages are important.

35.  Getting away from the computer into the wilds of Real Life is a wonderful thing.

36.  People love photos in blog posts, especially ones from my personal life.

37.  I love photos in posts, especially ones from bloggers’ personal lives.

38.  Commenting on an A-List blogger’s post can bring in traffic, but there is a way to overdo it.

39.  Some blog communities are not so much communities as cliques.

40.  I never want this blog to become a clique and will continue to be aware of that.

41.  As to content, the mind’s the limit. One can never get TOO creative in blogging.

42.  Once in a while I’m a little fearful before I publish something weird or potentially that people might not approve of, like what may or may not be a funny photo session,) but as Bold Tess says in her Inspirational Book, your successes are usually preceded by fear.

43.  I CAN be bold — do reviews, guest posts, put ads on my site, switch to a crazy background color, etc.

44.  I wonder if I’ll ever reach a satisfied place as I strive for bigger and better blogging things?

45.  The more I realize just how deeply I can get into blogging and the promotion thereof, the more I realize just how deeply I can get into blogging and the promotion thereof — which leads right back to point #1 …  TIME.

46.  I’ve got a whole heck of a lot more to learn about blogging.

Any observations on my observations or ones of your own to add?

Yep, Problogger Darren Rowse And Me – We’re Like This. Like This, I Tell Ya.

It was this past Wednesday, about 1:30 p.m.  Central Standard Time.

I had just finished yoga and a bean taco.  Kelly had played and sang “Ain’t She Sweet” on piano 39 times and was settling into Spongebob as l was logging onto Darren Rowse’s ProBlogger.

Knowing full well that Melbourne 12:07 a.m. was hours ago and I’d have zero chance at being even remotely close to Darren’s first commenter, I was still looking forward to gleaning something great on blogging… when what to my wondering big eye did appear at the top of THE super-super blogging A-lister’s post – but MY NAME linked in flashing lights.  I’m serious!  (Well, maybe not about the flashing lights, but it sure felt like it.)  Little Jannie Funster featured and linked on ProBlogger in a post called How To Improve your Blog – Learn How To Take Criticism Well.

Holy freaking cow.  And calf.  And a 3-legged goat or two.

It felt nice to be shouted out by ProBlogger for something I’d said in a comment the day before and probably always.  Yes, upon my deathbed I shall still be basking in the glow of my ProBlogger link.  “Hey Dearie, pass the prune juice and step up my morphine, will ya?  And did I ever mention the Summer of ’09 when ProBlogger linked me up, when my traffic zoomed from 300 daily uniques to over 1000 for two days in a row?  Oh, I did?  Sorry.”

Hey, maybe it’s just the first of more links to come if I submit something cool as a guest post to ProBlogger.  Or to other bloggers.  Hey, why not?!  The mind’s the limit.  And if I can do it, so can YOU. 

Anonymous, I wish I hadn’t spammed your comment on my Blogging Addiction Survey post, else I’d email to get your physical address so I could drive or fly over Right Now to give you a big ol’ bear-hug, yep squeeze the stuffing right out of you.  Sounds like you could use some hugs.

And Anonymous, you might just have jump-started my Twitter recalcitrance too.  I bought “Twitter For Dummies” yesterday.  Thanks!  I now owe you two.  Or three.

74% blogging addicted. And you?

Yep, this Blogging Addiction Survey claims I’m 74% addicted. How ’bout you?  Takes about a minute to fill out.  [EDIT: After you finish the 14 questions you can ignore the “Okay, Sign me up” and click the “no thanks, take me to my quiz results.”]

To me that survey feels more like entertainment than legitimate concern for a potentially serious and debilitating addiction, but this survey from The Center For Internet Addiction (Net Addiction,) seems like the real deal; it suggests I may “surf the Web a bit too long at times but I have control over my usage.”  Yep, sounds like me.

Net Addiction also cites additional quizzes and useful links for Internet addiction recovery and treatment resources.

So?  You addicted too?

photo credit: digital digressions