Posted by Grant on December 31, 2008 – 9:08 am
Through the power of Google Analytics, I can get a crazy amount of data regarding traffic to my blog and website. Here are some stats from 2008…
Top 5 Blog Posts of 2008
- 10 Things NOT To Do When Sharing A Hotel With The President of China – This was by far the most viewed blog post of 2008. I wrote this while speaking at a conference in DC where the President of China was staying. It was one of the bigger events I spoke at with over 2,300 students in attendance, so when I announced the post, traffic went sky high!
- De-Motivational Pictures
- 8 Lessons Learned From The Election
- Behind The Scenes Pics of the Obama Family on Election Day
- I’m Glad I Had A Camera Phone For This Moment…
Busiest Traffic Days of 2008
- BLOG: November 17, 2008 – this was the day I posted the blog about the President of China, which got lots of attention!
- WEBSITE: December 3, 2008 – I posted a free e-Book for teachers and advisors called “I Just Wanted To Say Thanks” which has been downloaded over 1,000 times.
Top 3 Traffic Sources
- 43% – Direct
- 20% – Google
- 9% – Facebook
Where Are Visitors From?
- 93% – United States (Top 5 US States: Missouri, California, Illinois, Florida, & Virginia)
- 1% – Canada
- 1% – United Kingdom
- We had traffic from 86 countries and all 50 states
Browser Choice:
- 57% – Internet Explorer
- 35% – Firefox
- 7% – Safari
Mac Vs PC
- 86% – Windows
- 12% – Mac
- 1% – iPhone
Random Stats
- Average time on site – 2:10 minutes
- Average pages per visit – 3.01 pages
- Users on Dial Up - 2.54%
- New Visitors – 69% / Returning Visitors – 31%
All in all, it was a great year on the website. It was my first full year doing a blog, and I found it to be a rewarding experience. I look forward to a great year in 2009!
Posted by Grant on December 26, 2008 – 7:23 pm
Filed under Family, Personal
Once again, it has been several days since I last posted a blog, but I have some valid reasons. I’m technically on vacation through the end of the year, so I’m working at doing a lot of nothing right now. Well, not entirely nothing, but not doing anything even remotely work related. Not exactly easy for me.
But nonetheless, I have been up to a few things I wanted to update you on…
- Had a phenomenal vacation with my family. My wife and daughters and I went down to Orlando for a few days. We made two visits to Sea World, a trip to Busch Gardens in Tampa, a run over to Daytona Beach, and spent an evening at Downtown Disney. While not a sleep-in-and-chill-out type of vacation, it was a great time with my girls.
- Christmas was a lot of fun. We’re still in the midst of it with multiple family functions still to attend. That certainly has it’s pros and cons.
- Went and saw the movie “Seven Pounds” with Will Smith. Well, I didn’t see actually see the movie with Will Smith. It was quite different and somewhat depressing. Not even sure what the main message of the movie was. I’d wait for Netflix on that one.
- I’m getting antsy to get back to work. A love for what I do + a mild case of ADD = I want to do something. Time away from work is a good barometer for what you do. If you can’t wait to get back, you should keep doing it. If you dread going back, find something different. Life is too short to do something you hate.
- Finished my 2009 goals. I made a list of personal and professional goals, and one of the personal ones is running a half marathon. Praying I don’t die. On the professional side is plans for a new book. More details to come later.
- I’ve had a couple of ideas for new blog posts but really not trying to do any work. Easier said than done.
- I got my first Mac. I’m a convert and so far, so good. Forgive me PC.
That’s all for now. If you don’t hear from me again until 2009, happy new year, my friends. And buckle up for the new year…lots of new stuff in store.
Posted by Grant on December 15, 2008 – 7:19 am
If you’re an active reader of this blog (that means both of you…hi mom), then you may have noticed it’s been several days since I last posted. Here are a few things I’ve been up to…
- Working my way towards vacation mode…our family leaves Thursday to go to sunny Orlando to enjoy Sea World and Busch Gardens for a few days. I’m slowly beginning to transition into mental shut down mode…
- Once we leave for vacation, I’m going to try and take the rest of the year off. That’s not easy for me to do because I love what I’m doing. But I’m looking forward to doing a lot of nothing and not feeling guilty about it.
- 2008 has been a phenomenal year both professionally and personally. It was about a year ago, I started this business as a speaker, and I’m blown away by the progress we’ve made. On the personal side, I welcomed my 2nd daughter, Emilee Beth, into the world in July. And thankfully I was in town for the arrival!
- My wife and I paid off our last debt this week. We started January 2007 with the goal of being debt free and almost two years to the day, we completed that goal. We paid off a little over $26,000, so I’m completely stoked! And Dave Ramsey is partially to blame…
- I can’t wait for the New Year. I truly love what I get to do and look forward to the events I’ll get to be a part of, the students I’ll meet, and the memories that will be created. I’ve got a lot of new ideas I’ve been working through that you will hear more about in the coming weeks.
That’s all for now. I just didn’t want you to think I forgot about you.
Peace out girl scout.
Posted by Grant on December 9, 2008 – 11:44 am
I’ve got a new website project I’m working on that I want student feedback for. This new website will be designed to answer students’ questions about money and will hopefully help you to earn it, save it, and spend it!
So as we’re creating this site, I wanted to get some feedback from you on it. I created a simple 3 question survey that I’d like your feedback on. It will literally take you no more than a minute or two to complete and it is completely anonymous, because we want you to be totally honest with us. Sound good?
Here’s the link to the survey: http://www.polldaddy.com/s/29DA8CCC53208417/
Gracias.
Posted by Grant on December 8, 2008 – 7:32 am
If you’re in southwest Missouri, be sure to pick up the latest edition of 417 Magazine and turn to page 43. There you’ll find a great review for my book Reality Check. Good stuff…
Posted by Grant on December 4, 2008 – 6:54 pm
I really lucked out today.
I’m speaking at a Student Council conference in Florida that happens to be held at the Kennedy Space Center. So I was invited to come in early and take a private tour of the Space Center prior to the event.
Let me just say…that was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Here are some pics…
This is called the Vehicle Assembly Building where they actually assemble the shuttle before taking it to the launch pad. It is the 3rd largest building in the US based on volume. There is a US flag on the other side of the building that is as big as a football field….that’s insane.
When you look at a space shuttle, it has that big orange tank in the middle…this is one of those tanks that will be attached to the Shuttle Discovery for their next mission. The top 2 white tubes coming out is where the tank actually attaches to the shuttle.
While it’s tough to tell, this is the nose of the Shuttle Atlantis. It was in a very concealed building that required major security clearance to get into….pretty cool.
Once the shuttle is upright, it rolls on this gravel road up to the launch pad. They had a launch about 3 weeks ago, so these tracks are pretty fresh.
This is the back side of the launch pad. It is a concrete slope that shoots out all the white smoke you see during a launch.
Posted by Grant on December 4, 2008 – 4:24 pm
Throughout this year, I’ve been trying to think of a present I could give to advisors, teachers, and administrators to show appreciation for all the hard work they do. And I realized, who better to say thank you than the students themselves, whose lives have been impacted.
So I worked with 30 students from across the country and collectively, we wrote an e-Book titled, “I Just Wanted To Say Thanks…” It is a series of short messages from middle school, high school, and college students who wanted to say thanks.
You can download the e-Book for FREE at this link: http://grantbaldwin.com/extras.php.
If you know of any teachers or advisors who have made an impact in your life, feel free to forward this on them as an early Christmas present. Like I said, it is completely free to pass around and share with anyone you would like.
Posted by Grant on December 4, 2008 – 4:24 pm
Filed under Events, Travels
I’m in route to Florida this morning where I’ll be speaking at a Student Council conference tomorrow. I’m excited about this event for two reasons:
- One of the students who scheduled me has a connection at the Kennedy Space Center, and he was able to get me a private tour of the place this afternoon! Pretty stoked about that! I’m kind of hoping I get to go up in Space for a tour of the moon, but I’m thinking my odds are not good. And they would probably make me sign something that if I die or if they lose me in space, it’s not their fault.
- This is my last event of the year, so after this I’m looking forward to taking some time off to hang with my girls. (By the way, when I say “my girls,” I assume you know I’m talking about my wife and two daughters. Just didn’t want you to think I was a pimp or something…)
Posted by Grant on December 1, 2008 – 10:47 am
