One year ago today I opened up The Rantings of an Amateur Chef to the world. I have a few posts that have earlier dates out there because I think there are few sadder things than a blog with a single post. But in reality, 2/19/12 is when I started posting in earnest. Wow! What a year it has been.
First, and foremost, THANK YOU! You, and all the other readers of the blog, have made this what it is. Your constant positive feedback has made this little endeavor completely worthwhile.
Next, I’d like to share in some of what has happened over the year. First a very interesting story:
I put a post, not unlike any other post, out on the blog on July 1 of last year. As part of my normal posting process, I also “pin” a picture to my Pinterest account. The post received a “normal” amount of attention and life went on. Several days later I noticed I was getting a decent amount of traffic coming from Pinterest. All the traffic was going to the July 1st post, No Chipmunk Cheeks Here. First there were 50 visits from Pinterest. Then 200. 500. 1000. 2000. That was 2000 in a single day! To date, there have been over 77,000 views to that post. I am amazed. It shows the power of a good looking photo. By contrast, the next most popular post (excluding the “About” and main pages), Cake of the Irish (2,422 views) pales by comparison.
I have been very fortunate to feature over 40 different guest bloggers. I love to hear their different writing styles and love to see different approaches to food beyond my own.
While most popular in the United States, I love that I have both regular and occasional readers from around the globe. There have been visitors from 167 countries, both big and small. My top 10 countries for visitors are:
- United States (by far)
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- Australia
- India
- France
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Germany
- New Zealand
I’ve also received visitors from much less populous places such as the Isle of Man and Monaco. Many of the countries that I have not yet had a visitor are generally small and not English speaking (French Guiana and Saint Pierre) or are highly restrictive on their Internet access (Iran, Cuba, North Korea).
The blog has received over 235,000 views, has 5170 subscribers and each post generally receives dozens of “likes” and 10-15 comments. There is more than a year’s worth of recipes and millions of calories to be had!
Ensuring you have a new post to read every day is important to me and I hope you like the regularity of it as I know many blogs are sporadic or fizzle out after a few months. I am ready for the next year and hope you are too. If you enjoy the blog, tell a bunch of friends to come check it out and subscribe. Once again, YOU GUYS ROCK!
*** REMINDER ***
If you have an interest in participating in DICED! A Ranting Chef competition, the deadline is midnight on February 28, 2013. For full details about the competition, see the original post by clicking here.
Rantings of an Amateur Chef 
cool success story!
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HAHA!!!! Its my birthday too!
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Congratulations on your success! Happy Birthday!
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Happy one year!! Amazing accomplishments!
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Happy birthday! It is our one year birthday, as well!
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Congrats! You’ve been an inspiration to the deerslayer’s wife. I just started my blog in August. It’s been so much fun. I can tell that you have a great time sharing with your blogging friends. I, for one, have thoroughly enjoyed your blog.
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Congratulations! Surprised at the success of your blog? NOT. The blogs that get swarmed out there are not only consistent, but they have great personality as well. Just thought I’d point out (since you have omitted to do so, no doubt out of modesty), that this blog fits the bill on both counts!
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Happy Blogthday! Kim*
http://www.travelphotographyblog.wordpress.com
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Longtime fan, almost since Day 1…thanks for your terrific blog. We love it.
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Congrats! You rock! 😀
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happy blog birthday.. and congratulations on your accomplishment 🙂
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Congrats!!!
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I have enjoyed following your blog! All the very best going forward…
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Happy 1st Birthday! I only just discovered your blog maybe one week ago or so? But am hooked! Hope you enjoy it as mush as your readers 😉
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Happy Birthday! Here’s to another successful year!
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Congratulations! 🙂
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5k subscribers is huge. I’ve blogged every day for three years and in only a single year you’re 25x bigger. Nice.
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Happy blogoversary! May you have many more!
*throws confetti and applauds heartily*
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Happy Birthday to your blog! You have done an amazing job! I am slowly working on getting mine to be consistent!
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Congratulations on a successful year. Your blog is one of the best for food.
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Congratulations! Good wishes for many more years of blogging:)
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Happy birthday!!!!
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Happy One Year!! 🙂
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This was one of the first blogs I ever saw when I first started blogging last summer! I have thoroughly enjoyed your recipes! Congratulations to one year!
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Yay! We rank 8th. Is it only a year? Happy blogiversary! An amazing accomplishment in a year.
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Congratulations on such a successful year! Interesting story about Pinterest. I recently started posting there and now I feel more encouraged to do that.
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Congratulations! My first blog birthday is coming up soon too.
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happy birthday blog, indeed! Thanks for sharing the story!
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Congratulations on a year! Keep it up.
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Big congrats Pat!
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Yeah! that’s great news for you & your lovely blog! We like it here!
Congrats & cheers to many more readers & more interesting & tasty posts to come! Greetings from a Belgian fan! 🙂 xxx
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Congratulations on your wonderful year of sharing great recipes with the world. So glad that you have. Now on to a better year yet!
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Happy Birthday, Mr. Ranting Chef! Your fans look forward to more comments this year.
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Wow, I didn’t realize I’ve been following since about day 1 – or that you were so new! Congratulations on a wonderful first year! I’m excited to see what the next year brings you, because I know it’ll be good things! KC
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While not a cook, have enjoyed reading your work & have learned a lot from your comments, those who comment to you & enjoy the upbeat level of how you do things. Congratulations & Happy Anniversary!
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Happy Blogday! Best wishes going forward….
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Congrats and Happy one year!
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Congrats on a big year!
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Happy birthday! 😉
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Yeah, you are like a rockstar out here on wordpress. I mean 235000 views. Is that even a real thing??? 😀
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Congratulations – I can’t believe it’s only been a year! I’ve been reading since around then and I love it. Well done!
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