Top Posts and Commenters for November 2010

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In case you missed them, I have listed my top ten posts for November 2010, along with my top ten commenters. I am sending each of the top commenters a free copy of David Teem’s new book, Majestie: The King Behind the King James Bible.

wordle-graphic-for-november-2010.jpg

Graphic courtesy of Wordle.net

Here are my top ten posts. Interestingly, I wrote three of these posts more than a year ago. Yet they continue to generate significant traffic.

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  1. Why Do eBooks Cost So Much? (A Publisher’s Perspective)
  2. Creating a Life Plan
  3. Literary Agents Who Represent Christian Authors
  4. How Leaders Make Tough Decisions
  5. My Favorite WordPress Plugins
  6. Using the iPad to Take Meeting Notes
  7. How to Use Google Reader to Keep Up with Your Favorite Blogs
  8. Confronting the Curse of Busyness
  9. The Incarnational Principle of Leadership
  10. Writing a Winning Book Proposal

My top ten commenters were:

For December, I’m going to give a free copy of Todd Burpos’s New York Times bestseller, Heaven Is for Real to each of my top 10 commenters.

Ready. Set. Go!

Question: If you blog, what was your top post for November? Why do you think that was the case? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
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Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are snarky, offensive, or off-topic. If in doubt, read My Comments Policy.

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  • http://www.danieldecker.net Daniel Decker

    Love the Top 10 Post recap. Somehow I had missed one or two of those gems when they were originally published. Interesting how the lit agent list continuously stays on the top.

    For me, just about every month my top posts stay between two “List” type posts from months ago. “25 Free eBooks” post and “Top Books for Young Leaders” post.

    • http://www.danieldecker.net Daniel Decker

      And did you say you are using Google analytics to determine your tops posts for the month?

      • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

        Actually, I am using WordPress’s native stats.

        • TherExtras

          I use TypePad’s native stats. I tried analytics twice and could not muster the motivation to learn it – not intuitive for this ol’ gal.

          Now that you are back on Disqus, I need to sign my name.
          Barbara Boucher, PhD

  • http://fghart.wordpress.com FGHart

    2 weeks ago I commented on “the curse of busyness”, which inspired me to shake off some busyness and focus on writing a novel…which kept me pretty busy and interrupted any thought I had of marching into the Top Commenters Winner’s Circle in November. But I did finish writing my novel, so I guess that’s something.

    Thanks for giving us another opportunity to play! I’ll be perusing posts that I missed in November as well as enjoying December’s words of wisdom.

  • http://successbeginstoday.org/wordpress John Richardson

    Thank you Michael for putting together the best leadership blog on the web. I count it a privilege to be one of your top commenter’s.

    As far as my blog goes, my top November post was “No Excuses: Take 5 Minutes and Change Your Life.” http://bit.ly/duA4St
    This is a post about goal setting with a simple download to accomplish it in just minutes.

    The post that has had the greatest reaction with my friends ( loads of laughter) is my post on “One Reason Habits Are Hard To Change,” http://bit.ly/gKRU3N which is a painful story of falling off a bike. If you have ever pedaled a bike, you’ll be able to relate to this story… ouch!

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      Thanks, John. These two posts look very interesting. I have marked them to read.

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  • www.therextras.com

    I learn something from every post of yours, Michael. Last month, for the first time, I RT’d a few of your tweets. I really appreciate your embrace of social media.

    Oh, dear. Diskus did not give me a link with that reply I just left. I have avoided ‘registering’ and will see if there is any ‘workaround’.

    Barbara Boucher, PhD

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      Barbara, I would encourage you to register. You can then comment any Disqus site. Plus, we get to see your avatar!

  • Jeff Clarke

    Even though I normally write about various biblical and theological ideas, my top post in November was my review of the 3G Amazon Kindle. What does that say? :)

    http://jeffkclarke.com/2010/11/17/review-amazon-kindle-3g/

    Blessings,
    Jeff

    • http://twitter.com/JBMavrich JB Mavrich

      I’ve found that while my favorite thing to write about is theology, very rarely is it my favorite thing to read or for others to read. My first blog was a failure (in terms of hits), and the title, “Ipsum Audite!,” was brilliant theology but dull writing. When I posted an anecdote about my wife (she wixed her mords up and said the very cute “a-plomb bomb”), my readership soared. Lesson learned.

  • http://twitter.com/toddburkhalter Todd Burkhalter

    My top post was Part 1 of The Foundation: A New Lens. Probably since it was my first video post and since it was marketed as Part 1 of a series. A portion of the views were created through You Tube Ad words marketing. Also my first attempt with that tool. Still most of my views were through my natural mailing list and LinkedIn.

  • Edwina Cowgill

    My top post for November was “Slow and Steady She Goes.” I’ve been holding mself accountable to my readers in a new lifestyle of eating healthy. People responded to encourage me.

    Interestingly, my second top post was “Traditional Hymns.” Almost everyone loves the contemporary praise and worship, but we all agreed that we miss the traditional hymns, such as “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”

  • http://twitter.com/dale_schaeffer Dale Schaeffer

    Love your blog Michael! I consistently find myself referring people to it.

    My top post for the month of November was a post called “Spankings, Polyester Pants, and the End of the World” which is a reflection on my private school education. http://www.daleschaeffer.com/2010/11/spankings-polyester-pants-and-end-of.html

    The other post that ranks close month after month is a post called “Preaching from an iPad”. This post is the top traffic producer for me month after month. http://www.daleschaeffer.com/2010/07/preaching-from-ipad.html

  • Judith Robl

    I’m not surprised that three of the top ten posts are not “new” ones. Truth delivered in a palatable form is always useful. You have a way of clarifying things we thought we almost knew, but just couldn’t define accurately. Thanks for your continuing efforts on behalf of your writing readers.

  • Michaelhyatt

    This is a test.

  • http://studio27b.net Dave Nash – Studio27b

    Oh, and by the way, “Heaven Is For Real” is a fantastic book! You guys did a great job with it.

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      Thanks. I really enjoyed that book, too.

  • http://studio27b.net Dave Nash – Studio27b

    That’s a great question. First off, I have serialized my children’s book “The Sheriff and so it receives the majority of site trafic (which of course makes me happy). Why is it the most popular? It’s gotta be those lovable cowboy dinos (yes, I am biased).

    If you don’t include the book trafic, it would have been the “My Word Is His Honor” post followed very closely by “Our History Of Promise.” From what folks have shared it seems that they are infusing the right level of challenge and hope together. Challenges to rise to Christ’s standards, and the hope that He can make it possible.

    I also love to write, and I hope that it shows through my work.

    I’d love your thoughts on the site too! Feel free to share any time, and thanks for being a great inspiration.

    Blessings!

  • http://twitter.com/ThatGuyKC K.C. Procter

    Thank you Michael!! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve recommended this blog to coworkers and leadership at my company. Even directly to a VP!

    Keep ‘em coming!

  • http://twitter.com/BLichtenwalner Ben Lichtenwalner

    Thank you Michael, I look forward to reading the new book! In addition to the usual suspects of the servant leadership quotes and servant leadership companies list, my most popular post, probably due to the passion behind it was definitely:

    Servant Leadership Manifesto: We have a crisis of leadership…You see it in every sector, industry, region & country when leaders forget their priority is to serve their stakeholders first.

  • http://www.christopherscottblog.typepad.com/ Christopher Lynn Scott

    Thanks for sending the book Mr. Hyatt.

    My top post for November was a post entitled, Leaders Need Fellowship. It was part of the One Word at a Time Blog Carnival which I participate in.

    I think it was popular for two reasons:
    1) It was part of a carnival so it received a little extra exposure.
    2) It was a post that is very relevant to leaders who need to be able to have fellowship.

  • http://solyoung.com Sol Young

    The listing of one’s top commenters is brilliant. That’s a great way to share some spotlight and good will.

    BTW, I like the Disqus on my iPhone.

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      I think it is a good experience on the iPhone, too.

  • http://twitter.com/sundijo Sundi Jo

    My top post for November was “Let’s Get This Show on the Road”. The post announced a new women’s radio show titled “Living Truth”. http://bit.ly/i1jyGv

    Thanks for your blog. It’s full of insight and wisdom.

  • http://thewritelife2.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/the-phone-calls-are-different-now/ Nikole Hahn

    http://thewritelife2.wordpress.com/2010/11/11/the-phone-calls-are-different-now/

    My top post was, “The Phone Calls are Different Now.” It seems when I blog transparent and bare my heart that I garner the most comments or readers. People more and more want to see less advertising on social networking and more realness.

  • Brandon

    Wow! I didn’t know I was a top commenter! :)

    It’s really cool how you recap on the month… keep up the great blogging! I really enjoy reading what you have to say!

  • http://mttoolsonline.com/blog Kathy Nicholls

    I do enjoy your recaps. In November, I did a 30 Days of Gratitude challenge on my blog, where each day was something new. Day 9 was the most popular. In looking at it, I think it’s because of the story it tells. What I’ve seen the last month or so with my site is a big increase in traffic when we simply talk about handling life, even though it’s a site for medical transcriptionists. I think the group is simply tired of talk always being about work and so am looking at how to restructure the site for the first of the year.

  • http://twitter.com/paulsteinbrueck Paul Steinbrueck

    Hey Mike, kind of off topic, but since you’ve been encouraging people to register with Disqus, i was curious as to what the problem was with the native WordPress commenting system and then why you went with Disqus instead of back to IntenseDebate?

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      I do intend to blog about this. However, I am still experimenting. I may go back to native WordPress. We’ll see. When I blog about this, I will share my perspective on IntenseDebate, too.

  • http://blog.cyberquill.com Cyberquill

    I just installed Disqus on my blog as well. Here’s what annoys me about it, and I wonder if I’m the only one who finds this painful to look at:

    Above the comment input text area it says “Add New Comment” with a capital “C,” and below it says “Showing 28 comments” with a lower-case “c.” It’s the same on all blogs with Disqus.

    Aside from the fact that I’m not sure what kind of comment one could add other than a “new” one, the capitalization inconsistency is glaring. But because it’s all hosted on the Disqus server, there’s no way to change this.

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      Actually, I hadn’t noticed this until now. Thanks a lot. Now, I have one other nit to annoy me!

      • http://blog.cyberquill.com Cyberquill

        So how did you fix it? What’s the secret?

        I also noticed that when there’s only one comment, it says “Showing 1 comments” (plural). I’m assuming that can be fixed by the same method you obtained the capital “C.”

        • http://www.stormyfrog.com/ Andrew Buckman

          I noticed this comment while working on something else for Mike and added this to the Custom CSS in the Disqus control panel:
          #dsq-comments-title h3 {text-transform: capitalize}

          Unfortunately I can’t cheat for the Showing 1 comments.

          • http://blog.cyberquill.com Cyberquill

            Thanks so much. BTW, I posted my personal list of Disqus issues HERE. Perhaps Michael or other users have some of the same problems. I’m adding the solutions as I discover them.

          • http://www.stormyfrog.com/ Andrew Buckman

            This should fix #4 in your list, add to the Custom CSS
            .dsq-autheneticate-copy, .dsq-authenticate-copy {display:none}

            (note the poor spelling is intentional, we can’t correct their typo, however in the event they fix it, I did include both above)

          • http://blog.cyberquill.com Cyberquill

            Beautiful. I had to add an !important, but it worked! Thank you!

          • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

            Isn’t the “Showing 1 comment” text inside of Settings | Appearance?

          • http://blog.cyberquill.com Cyberquill

            Modifying the Comments Count Link text in Settings/Appearance only affects the Word Press “comments_popup_link” value. It has no effect on the “Showing X comments” text at the top of the Disqus comment list.

          • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

            Okay. Thanks for the clarification.

  • http://twitter.com/JBMavrich JB Mavrich

    My best post (measured by total views and total interaction) was “Slumdog Tourism” on my blog, “The Love and The Dread.” I think the rising trend of poverty tourism (or poorism) is such a jarring juxtaposition of research, entertainment, awareness, and suffering that nobody can remain indifferent when they first hear about it. Everyone has an opinion and they can barely be restrained from sharing it.

    http://bretmavrich.posterous.com/slumdog-tourism

    • http://twitter.com/JBMavrich JB Mavrich

      Oops, I didn’t really read the question thoroughly. My top post for November was “Dude Saves His Baby Jack Bauer Style.” This amazing video was caught on a gas station camera just a few minutes from where I live. I think it’s telling of the kind of TV we’re watching and how it’s affecting our responses to crisis.

      http://bretmavrich.posterous.com/video-mom-gets-dragged-by-carjacker-to-save-h

  • http://paulgardner.info Paul Gardner

    Just a thought. Is it because of Disqus that you often have a different comment count at the top of your post compared to the count at the bottom?

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      Actually, it is because the count bubble at the top of the post includes comments, reactions, and trackbacks. Sometimes, it is off because of the way Disqus syncs and caches the comments.

  • Revres

    I read every post. I just as well start commenting. Maybe I can snatch a free book. Always informative posts. Enjoy the information

  • Revres

    I read every post. I just as well start commenting. Maybe I can snatch a free book. Always informative posts. Enjoy the information

  • http://betterlifecoaching.wordpress.com/ Darren Poke

    I’m always a big fan of your blog Michael and regularly refer others to you as well. Alas, I don’t comment enough to rank in your top 10, but I’ll get there one day.

    My most popular post for last month was one written containing “50 great Coaching Questions.” It continues to generate a lot of traffic for me even though it was first posted in August. http://wp.me/pRM84-gY

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      Thanks, Darren. I appreciate it the referrals.

  • Anonymous

    Wow, Thank you! I love your blog. I enjoy reading it and usually do go through and re-read older posts.

  • http://twitter.com/AndreaAresca Andrea Aresca

    I really like this kind of post and I am glad to be one of your top ten commenter in October!
    I think it’s also very useful to regularly consider which are our top posts!

    My top post of November is an old one, which is still generating a lot of traffic. It’s on the use of “checklists” and I think may people read it because it is a very practical time management tool!
    http://recuperandoiltempo.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/ricordarsi-le-cose-quando-serve/

    • http://michaelhyatt.com Michael Hyatt

      Congratulations, Andrea! Thanks for being an active part of this community.

  • R. Wayne Powell

    Hi,
    Wayne powell here. This is my first post to your blog, Michael. And from a mobile at that! Just discovered you, and looking forward to consuming more. Be well.

  • Andrew Pressfield

    This is a test.

  • http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org Jeff Goins

    This is awesome. I love your generosity, Michael.

  • http://jeffgoins.myadventures.org Jeff Goins

    Oh, and my most read post was this one (curiously) about what Bon Jovi and many American churches have in common: http://ow.ly/3kEVH – I’m pretty sure it was because of Google images.

  • http://twitter.com/irmbrown Irmgarde Brown

    My top post for November was called Be Alert! This post came at the culmination of a 19 day fast and the day before Thanksgiving. I had a clarity of spirit that day about prayer and how “dangerous” prayer should be. Why else would Paul tell us to “be alert?” From this day forward, I have approached prayer with a deeper sense of importance and relationship with the Spirit within. http://meditationsfromzion.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/be-alert/
    Interesting too, this post had the highest number of hits for the month.

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