300,000 Points as of Today - This is a nice early birthday present!

Well, I was watching the points number creep up lately, and I had a feeling it was going to happen before our party tomorrow. Thankfully, I was right, and earlier today I passed the 300,000 mark for points. It sure sounds better than saying, "Almost 300,000" in case anyone happens to ask during the gathering.

It took me 376 days to hit this milestone, although I must admit that I haven't had a vacation or missed my daily allotted comments for points other than once or twice. My mother-in-law lives with us and she is unable to walk, which makes travel pretty tough. That being said, we are going out of town next weekend to Houston (like you actually care, right?).

Most of the more profound thoughts about my experiences here over the past year were summed up in this post I wrote a couple of weeks back:

One Year at ActiveRain - What Have I Learned?

At any rate, there are a few questions which will inevitably surface in the comments if I don't just address them here:

1. "How much time DO you spend on ActiveRain?"

Well, it really varies. I always spend at least 20-30 minutes per day if I am not writing any posts (just to comment), but sometimes I spend a few hours at a stretch. I would estimate that I spend 1-2 hours daily here. My wife would estimate that I spend 19 hours per day.

2. "How in the heck did you rack up so many points in just over a year? That seems impossible."

To be quite frank, I never would have imagined that the points would have come so fast when I started last August.

I write consistently, and (I think) well, and I very rarely write less than 10 per week. I also very rarely write MORE than 10 posts per week. Sometimes, I have more good posts waiting than I can actually write. Other times, I am heavier on local content and market reports, which don't generate as many points.

I have also been featured on AR and Localism a lot, which is a blessing. I have had 51 featured posts on ActiveRain, and 14 on Localism. Some of these were featured in both places. Obviously, this adds a lot to the point totals, since some of those posts got 600 points, and many were in the 500-575 range.

Lastly, I have been fortunate enough to have developed a big following here, with 729 subscribers as of this moment. THANK YOU to all of you who enjoy my writing enough to subscribe. Without the give and take that your comments provide, I probably wouldn't have stuck around very long.

As you can see, it's quite simple - write a LOT, get featured a LOT, and get a LOT of subscribers. Like falling off a log, right?

3. "Can you help me figure out what to write about? I can't get the hang of this yet."

This type of comment or email almost always appears when I write milestones. The answer is, "Yes". I would be happy to help. I have coached a few other members (who shall remain nameless) with regard to their blogging, along with answering a slew of technical questions about AR. Part of this comes from the fact that I wrote a good number of tutorials at one point. If I am around, I don't mind helping.

4. "Do you have any plans to stop writing milestone posts?"

Despite Paul Slaybaugh's attempt to derail my milestone posts with his recent roast, I will continue to write these as I see fit. :) I think I have written about 10 or so out of over 540 posts, so I feel okay about that percentage. Also, I do try to add some value and entertainment with these, rather than just patting myself on the back. However, let me pause for a second and pat myself on the back....there, that felt good.

5. "Are you human?"

The last time I checked, I can say with certainty that...I think so.

Here's my personal "box score" if you are curious:

Although the song below might seem a little trite, I chose to include it here for three reasons:

1. I think it sends a good message to newbies on ActiveRain

2. I like the song.

3. It was one of my late friend David Wilder's favorite songs: