
Each year on the anniversary of launching GrowMap, I do a review of the highlights of the previous year and compare it to the years before.
Today is the third birthday of this blog. The past year has been simply amazing.
Besides the usual stats I want to share some of the highlights.
I especially want to say a special thank you
to the many bloggers who have provided
the wind beneath our wings.When we collaborate, the more each of us succeeds
The more ALL of us succeeds!
SPECIAL RECOGNITION:
- GrowMap and over a dozen other bloggers we collaborate with most closely were singled out as Twitter Influencers in a joint Cornell University / Yahoo! Twitter Influencers Research Study.
- Two bloggers who are both my friends and peers, Local Small Business Coach Vernessa Taylor @CoachNotesBlog and Queen of Blogging Tips @BasicBlogTips Ileane Smith aka @Ileane nominated GrowMap for a Small Business Trends Small Business Influencer Award. Thanks to them and many others, Growmap received 200 votes.
BLOG LISTS:
- GrowMap is listed in the Technorati Blog Directory and has been staying on the Technorati Top 100 Small Business Blogs list consistently and at times also appears on the Top 100 Business Blogs list.
- Successful and Outstanding Blog Directory published by @LizStrauss
- The AdAge Power150 listed GrowMap some years ago and we are happy to be maintaining our position between 107 and 115 much of the time. Many blogs that were right there with us have slipped and we attribute that to the many commentators willing to interact with us here. Thank you all.
UPDATE August 28, 2011
New Record position on AdAge Power150 of 97
97 10 39 7 30 20 106
TWITTER LISTS:
We are honored to have been included in these major lists of Twitter influencers:
- Big Money Web: 200 Most Fearless Women Online and in Social Media
- Stay on Search: 100 Marketers You Must Follow on Twitter
- Women in Blogging: 125 Fearless Female Bloggers
If you want to find even more influencers, see our Exceptional Bloggers for #FollowFriday Link Roundup.
SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCE / TWITTER INFLUENCE:
- GrowMap Klout Score: up +7 in the last 30 days to 74
- GrowMap PeerIndex rank currently at 71
- Our PeerIndex Influencers CommentLuv DoFollow Collaborators Group
- PeerIndex groups including Top PeerIndex Scorers (currently in the top 1000 of all the influencers they track)
We are especially pleased with our reach and the reach of our peers and collaborators on Twitter. The image below shows the power of social media savvy Twitter users who read one of our posts that Social Media Today chose to republish:

Note that image is from the free version of TweetReach so it includes only the last fifty tweets and not the FULL INFLUENCE of all the tweets of that post. Full reports can be obtained for $20 per search or by signing up for TweetReach Pro.
GROWMAP INTERVIEWS and FEATURED PROFILES:
- The Technorati blog published this Small Business GrowthGrowMap interview by Performance Marketing expert Pace Lattin
- Exceptional copywriting talent Vernessa Taylor wrote this profile: Who Helps You Map Your Path, Grow Your Business? Every Cause Needs A Champion …Profile: Small Business Advisor, Gail Gardner of GrowMap.com, A True Influencer.
- Multi-talented blogger Stephanie Suesan Smith who has blogs for gardening tips, woodworking, and photography wrote that she doesn’t see me as a guru because “they are usually egotistical jerks who might know something”, but as a blogger and small business mentor.
BLOGGING COLLABORATIONS:
- Rohan @365thingstododc wrote about my small business advice offerings and ran with my blogger collaboration ideas. He founded the most successful blog collaboration I’ve ever seen: 44+ Washington D.C. Food Bloggers which has grown into this formal Washington D.C. Influencers service.
- Homeschooling Deals blogger Kelli @momof3boys3702 is leading a formal blog mentoring collaboration and wrote YES! Collaborating with other bloggers works!
BOOK ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
I am very fortunate to know many bloggers who are also published authors and want to publicly thank these two authors who acknowledged me in their book forwards:
- Murray Newlands’ (@MurrayNewlands) new book, Online Marketing: A User’s Manual (Wiley, 2011)
- Marshall Sponder’s (@WebMetricsGuru) brand new book Social Media Analytics (McGraw Hill, 2011)
EBOOK CONTRIBUTIONS:
- Business Blogging Tips in The Synergy of Business and Blogging: Top Techniques from 31 Successful Bloggers compiled by Michelle Welch @NewBizBlogger features the hand-selected best content from 31 expert bloggers including GrowMap ~ FREE DOWNLOAD
- How to Make a Blog ebook: Secrets from Famous Bloggers compiled by @MurrayNewlands ~ FREE DOWNLOAD
GOING VIRAL:
I should probably have sub-titled this section the @TonyRobbins effect because it is by virtue of his choosing to follow and RT a couple of my tweets that two posts went viral, one a guest post here by Chris at The Traffic Blogger and another very recently for @AdamToporek whose blog will be focusing on customer service.
We (these bloggers and I and possibly other bloggers whose content I share) are fortunate to have Leadership Coach Tony Robbins sharing with his almost 2 million Twitter followers. I have been reading him since I bought a copy of his original Personal Power tapes. He now offers many personal achievement systems.
This screen capture shows the traffic to the su.pr shortened link I used for @AdamToporek’s Google + and the Illusion of Privacy Post:

Note that many who retweet use their own shorteners or let Twitter change the shortener so that is NOT all the traffic generated by retweets of this post.
The image below shows the Topsy stats for this post:

STATS ON POSTS, COMMENTS, TRAFFIC
I wish I had known what I know today as I would have kept more numbers such as the progress in moving my Alexa score down (now at 9,420 U.S. and 24, 235 worldwide). I would regret not keeping my Compete stats if their numbers had not become so inaccurate since April.
The most disappointing change on the stats and influencers front is that Google acquired PostRank and chose to remove the public visibility of PostRank Connect which was THE most valuable data we had on ours and others’ blogs.
This is a great loss to businesses and bloggers. A search today turned up no new news on whether Google will ever make that information available again.
Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total | |
Published Posts | 130 | 84 | 158 | 372 |
Active Comments | 2,402 | 5,777 | 11,329 | 19508 |
Subscribers | 1,300 | 2047 | 1,526* | 1,526* |
Twitter Followers | Not saved | 12,024 | 21,421 | 21,421 |
Visits ** | 23,699 | 45,900 | 129,843 | 199,442 |
PageViews ** | 40,681 | 77,555 | 206,280 | 324,516 |
* How Feedburner counts subscribers may have changed OR more of my readers may be using Twitter to see new posts instead of RSS readers.
** Google Analytics data Aug 18 through Aug 18 of each year
MOST IMPORTANT CONTENT:
We have added so much top information, but these posts are among the most often shared:
- Small Business Internet Marketing Priorities
- Twitter Best Practices
- Why Blogs Going Local is Where the Money In Blogging Is
- Blogging Collaboration Processes
- What Blog Outreach Is
There is much more here including a Best of GrowMap page, a search box in the top right corner of the blog to make posts easy to find and visible categories at the bottom of the right sidebar. If you can’t find something easily, just ask in the comments or Tweet to @GrowMap and I’ll provide a link or answer directly.
We just sent Sammy Russo at Search Friendly Web Design domain renewal fees for the next three years so we’re not done yet! We hope you’ll all come along for the ride as the climb continues to spiral upward and get more exciting with each passing year.
If you have any special requests for content, leave a comment. And as always, if there is ever ANYTHING we can do to support your efforts and causes, all you have to do is ask.
Gail Gardner
Latest posts by Gail Gardner (see all)
- Free Mentoring: How to Use the Inexpensive CRM Bigin to Increase Income - December 9, 2020
- How to Create a Blog to Promote Your Services - December 9, 2020
- Influencer Marketing Guide For Maximum Business Growth - November 26, 2020
Happr Birthday GrowMap! Keep on sharing relevant information on how to succeeded in online businesses.
Happy Birthday Gail! Your stats are really impressive and show what you have accomplished with GrowMap You really have some excellent information resources here.
The Tony Robbins “event” was great fun, and I certainly appreciate your tweet that started it all!
Thanks for the shout out, and best wishes for even greater success in year 4!!!
Adam Toporek would love you to read ..The Definition of Customer Loyalty
Happy birthday. It’s a great site! I’ll keep coming back for more information.
James Rauch would love you to read ..A (Possibly) Presidential View of Osteoarthritis Treatment
Happy birthday and congratulations. Your accomplishments, as seen in your stats, are remarkable. Keep up the good work and I’m sure next year’s birthday will show even more amazing growth.
Kevin would love you to read ..Shoes Magento Theme – Gala Spendisse
Happy Birthday Growmap[dot]com. Gail will take care of you as she is doing till now. Congrats Gail for growing success.
Thank you Imran. Hope all is well with you. I’d love to connect and catch up with what you’re doing.
growmap would love you to read ..PageRank Down? How to Improve Site Load Speed
Happy Birthday To GrowMap 3
Awesome news. It is amazing how fast 3 years can go by. Great stats too by the way. Hope you might double your visitor stats and pageviews over the next 3 years.
Ray would love you to read ..Instruction About Church
Good progress in three years.It is time to celebrate your happy birthday. Congratulation.
Congratulations! As a new reader I love your articles and can see your growth from your earlier articles to your articles today!! good luck to many more years of success.
TweetReach is great and its well worth it to upgrade to the Pro version.
Congrats on your good fortune and keep fighting the good fight!
Happy Birthday to you GrowMap. I think it online university. Each day I wait for new post.
Congrats on completion of 3 years of successful business !!
Salman would love you to read ..4 Great Printers for Internet Printing
Hi Gail, what a tremendous list of achievements! You deserve all the success coming your way and more. We are so fortunate to have you here to guide us and help us navigate toward small business success. You get my vote and my nomination any day of the week. Here’s to a bright future ahead. Thank you for everything!
Happy Anniversary!
Ileane would love you to read ..Does Guest Blogging Really Build Traffic? The Stats Say Yes!
Happy birthday growmap. I wish you all the success in your life.
Imraan would love you to read ..Current Youth Issues
Nowhere else to go but up! Congratulations on your 3rd year! I am sure you are looking forward for another great year ahead.
congratulations everyone because all comment did you post was great…keep it up guys..:)
Congrats on 3 years of operations. That’s a great accomplishment.
It’s great to see the efforts paying off isn’t it?
Barry Wheeler would love you to read ..Why Would You Use PLR Content?
Thanks for a great blog with many interesting posts!
Happy Birthday GrowMap! Gail, I’ve learned a lot from you over the last 16 months since I first found your blog.
Congratulations on all of your well-deserved success!
John Soares would love you to read ..Life Isn’t Fair: On Freelance Writers Who Write For Free or Low Fees
Happy birthday! How time fly so fast, its now 3 years active. You’ve done the job so well. Hope you still continue to share a helpful and informative post. =)
Zara would love you to read ..UGG Boots – The Everyday Winter Boot For Comfort and Fashion
It deserves you bro. keep up the good work. ^__^ cheers
Happy Birthday Growmap!
Would be nice to see a few screenshots if there are any theme changes in the past!
Hope you will keep your good work for a long time to come!
You passed three years . it means going with your web also benefits us a lot. anyhow congrats on completing on your 3 years.
You can be proud of yourself as it is just three years and you have done so much. My best wishes to you and I hope you will be doing in the same way!
Many Many Happy Returns Of The Day 🙂
A journey of 3 yrs is not very short. Awesome work people.
All the best for your future . Keep rocking.
If you look at 3 years it definitely looks like a long journey, but i think it’s not because i know that you’re really passionate about blogging. Congratulations for your great success and good luck with your future projects.
Chris would love you to read ..Catfish Nutrition Facts: catfish calories
Congratulations & happy Birthday. Those are some nice status, Gail. You’re doing awesome work on your blog.
~Dev
Happy Bday, Growmap! It’s clear that you are moving forward and making good progress. Here’s to another 30 years!
Ana would love you to read ..Is CommentLuv the Plugin of the Past?
Nice work. Looks like your website is growing substantially every year based on your stats you shared. Always a good feeling to see positive results. Keep it up, and hope for an even better 4th year.
Ray would love you to read ..Firefox 6 Released
Congratulations for the three years of working great and I know there’s more amazing things will come to this site that I’ll be expecting from you guys. Keep up the good work 🙂
Claire would love you to read ..angry birds game
Congratulations! You have done a great job with growmap!
Happy Birthday, my blog is closely coming up to it’s 3rd Birthday, here’s to another 3 years and more 😉
Happy birthday GrowMap.
Gail, I know for me it has been a real treat finding your blog and reading your content in the past few months. I have to say, as a total newbie to world of small business and blogging, I have truly learned a lot form your posts. And thats not just a compliment to make you feel good, I truly mean it.
Thank you and I wish you and GrowMap continued success.
Satrap would love you to read ..Get Paid to Complete Free Offers
Congratulations Gail, I’ve been following GrowMap since the beginning and no one can dispute the fact that you’ve worked your tail off and deserve every bit of the success now and the success that will certainly follow. Great job!
Brian D. Hawkins would love you to read ..Bloggers Are Cross Promotion Experts
Those are some pretty impressive statistics! Congratulations, and happy blog birthday! 🙂
Congrats Growmap & Gail! May you have many more years of success.
Pace Lattin would love you to read ..Internet Advertising Bureau Bashes New Domain Extensions
Congratulations! and Happy Birthday GrowMap! Wish you many…many…more…
Danny Calloway would love you to read ..How To Make Money from Mobile Marketing
Saying it once is not enough, so …
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
Vernessa Taylor would love you to read ..Who Helps You Map Your Path, Grow Your Business?
😀 😀 😀
growmap would love you to read ..Social Media: Why You MUST Specialize
Happy Bday, GrowMap. Thanks for all the help and mentoring you have given me in the last year. Truly you are the hub in a wheel of many spokes.
Stephanie Suesan Smith would love you to read ..The Latest and Greatest Might Not Be
Hi Stephanie,
Thank YOU for all YOUR help. (When I am too busy with projects to learn a new skill or read through research results, Stephanie is the one who makes the time to go in-depth and then share with me her findings! Invaluable assistance!) It takes all of us to accomplish great things.
growmap would love you to read ..Klout Topic Pages Coming – Sign Up Link Here
Thanks for the shout out Gail. But more importantly, thanks for all you do day in and day out for small businesses, bloggers, and the benefits that trickle down to local communities across the country. I know Growmap will continue to grow and wish you the best in the upcoming year.
Congrats on everything!
Hi Rohan,
Thank you for taking the time to wish me well. You and I both know that the trickle is already a fire hose and can have the power of a waterfall – all because we choose to work together. Don’t forget to let me know what that company thought of our launch ideas!
growmap would love you to read ..Case Study: How to Deal with a Negative Review on Google Places
Happy birthday, GrowMap. Tremendous achievements, Gail. 🙂
Hi Sharon,
One my list of things to do THIS year is to work with YOU! I hope you’ll be in touch.
growmap would love you to read ..Guest Blogging: Five Blog Schedule
Happy birthday! 🙂
Marion would love you to read ..Park my train
Thank you Marion.
growmap would love you to read ..Social Media Sharing – How to Make It Fast and Easy
Woohoo! HAPPY BIRTHDAY GROWMAP!
Three years, wow Gail, that’s awesome. I’m nearly at 1 1/2 year mark with NBB and it’s crazy how the time flies.
But what you pointed out about this all being a collaborative effort is so right on. And I think it great that you have taken the time to give shout out to everyone (incl our ebook The Synergy 😉 ).
Much more continued success my dear. You are awesome and I expect this next year will even be grander. 😀
Michele Welch would love you to read ..10 Useful Tips to Help You Get Paid By Your Clients on Time
Wow Michele,
You have accomplished SO MUCH in that short time. What I hope other bloggers (and even those only thinking about blogging) realize is that we can grow new blogs far more quickly with the great people we know now!
Do remember me when you do any new ebooks or projects – except video or audio because those really aren’t my thing. I’ll be watching for your two year highlights!
Let me know if you’d like to get a guest blogger on PerformInsider. (Details in the post I’ll put in CommentLuv.)
growmap would love you to read ..Get Bloggers to Notice You at PermformInsider
Definitely will… on both counts. 😉 Thanks for the heads up on PerformInsider.com!
Ciao!
Michele Welch would love you to read ..10 Useful Tips to Help You Get Paid By Your Clients on Time
Happy Birthday, GrowMap!! You’ve come a long way, darlin’ 😉
Thanks Kelli. Just think how much more there is for us to accomplish! Here’s to another great year of collaborations and mentoring.
growmap would love you to read ..Bloggers And Small Businesses Can Conquer Cyberspace With Collaboration
Well done, Gail.
I’ve learned a lot from you in the past year. Keep it up!
Regards,
Ivan
Ivan Walsh would love you to read ..Email Marketing – How to Increase Customer Signup Rates
Hi Ivan,
What I hope everyone realizes is that we all learn from each other. One of the main reasons I have plenty of ideas to share is because of my relationships with so many others who brainstorm strategies, share tips, and cause me to get even more ideas.
growmap would love you to read ..Open Source: Two Paths Diverged