So, if I’d started college at the same time I started this blog, I’d be done (at least with a bachelor’s degree — luckily I’ve already got one!). Well, that certainly puts things into perspective. But hey, happy anniversary anyway. I doubt I’ve had as much time to devote to the site in 2011 as in years past but I hope it’s been valuable or helpful to you in some way. Regardless, thanks for reading.

On average, the site gets about 1,000 visits and about 1,500 page views per week. In all, there have been almost 181,000 visits, more than 284,000 page views, and 57,500 visitors. Some other statistics about the blog:
– 380 Facebook friends
– 247 Facebook fans
– 161 Twitter followers
– 302 e-mail subscribers

People seem to have really gathered on Facebook in the past year, while email subscribers fluctuated, strangely, between 300 to as many as 330. Facebook and Twitter have been used to sprinkle in some related or interesting development-type stories that might be linked to at the end of an original blot post. Whether it’s a story from a Jersey media source or maybe something in New York or nationally-focused, there’s always something interesting going on elsewhere that provides perspective (or a good idea to steal) for local issues. Let me know if it’s worth continuing, or if you hate it.

Some ideas for the coming year, if I can keep it up, are doing a blog poll more often, and since we’ve got four years worth of writing, maybe a “retro blog post” occasionally, to revisit certain places or projects. Perhaps you have some other ideas for the future? Of course, I know we’re long overdue for another Rahway Rising happy hour.

And of course, here’s how it all started, with the very first blog post.

It may not be specifically about a Rahway business, but this nj.com story from last week got me thinking about what it takes to start a small business and keep it going: “NJ Couple’s dream of owning business ends in disappointment.”

Nov. 1 really snuck up on me this year. I don’t think I expected to still be doing this when I started three years ago, but here we are with Post #373.

I started out looking to post once a week — at least according to the very first blog post. I’ve gotten into the habit of aiming for two to three times a week if there’s something to tell, but it really ebbs and flows: some weeks I can’t find the time to get to the computer, other weeks I’ve got blog posts piling up (at least in my head).

I usually aim to provide some readership data in my anniversary posts but I haven’t had much time to compile anything about the most popular individual posts over the last year. Perhaps you’d like to share some your observations of the changes you’ve seen around town since we started?

We do get about 1,000 visits in a good week, and more than 200 visits during an average weekday. Since we started tracking data on Google Analytics in January 2008, in all, we’ve had 36,000+ visitors, 125,000+ visits and 205,000 page views. Some other current stats:

– 289 e-mail subscribers
– 190 friends on Facebook
– 183 fans on Facebook
– 95 followers on Twitter

All that has translated to maybe a penny a week through Google Ads since we gave that a shot starting in summer 2008. That’s not why I do it (thank goodness!). We’re always open to trying new stuff, even doing the Facebook and Twitter thing, as well as two happy hour events in the past year (and yes, we should do that again soon…). The mission of the blog remains the same: to provide information about what’s going on with redevelopment efforts throughout town, given the dearth of coverage.

I think the most fun for me are the random emails from readers, either inquiring about a certain project or something they saw, offering suggestions, or just a pleasant note to tell me how much they enjoy the blog. Whether you take an active or passive role in this little effort of mine, thanks for reading.

2nd anniversary blog post
1st anniversary blog post