My friend Alex King writes a lot of wordpress plugins. Some he wrote to solve problems on his own blog, some were written for clients of his company, CrowdFavorite.

He is one of the few people that if he said, ?Micah, I have an idea and I need your help/cash,? my head would be nodding before he finished his sentence.

Now that I am done singing Alex?s praises (no cash exchanged hands, by the way, you damn cynics!), why did I bring him up?

One of Alex?s plugins is called Popularity Contest. It basically allows you to understand which posts are read, commented on, linked it, etc., not just viewed. Combining that with the stats that the Lijit plugin provides plus Google Analytics, you get a very interesting view of your content.

My Top 10 posts of 2007:

1. Relationships Can Be Based On Money - Makes sense. It got picked up in Business Week.
2. Confessions of an Apple Fanboy - This one was interesting. It hit the front page of Digg?s Apple page. Who knew it would be interesting to people?
3. Its Alive! And It Has Babies! StartupWeekend is Six Weekends Old - I have met many people through StartupWeekend, and this post half way through StartupWeekend?s season seemed to be well received.
4. Maybe the Weird Science Guys Had It Right - I was really surprised at the response at my post on my perfect woman. In the sense that 1) there was a response and 2) it was positive.
5. Micah Goes Lijit - The news of my return to the Startup Life was also well received.
6. Confessions of a Failed CEO - I actually thought people would find this one more interesting that the angel investing one. It got picked up on MSNBC.
7. Taylor Checks Out The Neighborhood - My dog made the top 10? Jeez.
8. It The People Stupid - Title says it all.
9. The Unthinking Environmentalist - As a new blogger, I wanted to know what the effect was of participating in a world blog event. I chose something that was interesting, and here it is on my top ten.
10. First Denver Smart Boot Recipient - Yes, there is humor in the fact that in something I was first in, it appears last on my list.

My Top Ten Incoming Searches:

1. iphone flip
2. Micah
3. iphone flip phone
4. micah baldwin
5. First Flip Phone
6. hot yoga chicks
7. learntoduck.com
8. startup ceo
9. denver boot
10. learn to duck

Which would believe that my post on losing my iPhone, The iPhone Flip Phone - First Look!, which was written both in jest and as an experiment on linkbaiting, would be my #1 post, or at least make the top ten. I wonder if there is value to the concept of “popular” being integrated into the concept of “relevant”?

Have a great 2008 everyone!

Popularity: 7% [?]

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I recently wrote a post on if it was better to comment on a post, or to write your own post referencing the original article.

I got some interesting responses, both on Twitter and in the comments of the post, as well as being directed to other posts from Todd Vernon and Chris Brogan.

To further my exploration, I decided to install CrazyEgg on my home page to see what people were clicking on. Crazy Egg creates a heat map of the clicks on a page. Its free for small page view tests, and I certainly didnt need to conduct a long test.

So the results?

Over the past week or so, more than 15% of the clicks on my home page were on the comment links.

Seriously. Coming in second? The color chooser. Favorite color? Green.

So I guess comments do matter, and people do find them an important part of the blog conversation. Which means, I will try and do a better job of leaving comments on posts I find interesting, and ask that you consider doing the same. And, if you have comments turned off, you are probably missing out.

Popularity: 7% [?]

As the year rolls to an end, a plethora of top ten lists start to emerge. Top 10 records, Top 10 hottest chicks, Top 10 biggest mistakes, Top 10 biggest wins, and Top 10 Top 10 lists are just a few examples.

Given the randomness of my brain, I figured it would only be right if I presented my Top 10 Random Realizations of 2007:

10. Where is the humor is using words like “internets,” “interwebs,” and “the tubes” to ridicule ridiculous people? There comes a point when its just stupid.

9. There is a point when too many gadgets is just that…too many. Where that point is, I still dont know.

8. The greatest feeling is the vibration of laughter.

7. The worst feeling is trying and failing and realizing there is no trying again.

6. It’s easier to be sober than lose weight.

5. Luck is opportunity recognized and realized.

4. People seem to like what I have to say. Just not all the time, and all at once.

3. Over time all people show their true colors. Its not their fault for my lack of recognition.

2. I hate apostrophes. I dont ever use them, but cant stand grammar or spelling errors, even though I make them.

1. The secret to success / a perfect life / happiness is really, really simple: do right; be right / do good; be good.

Popularity: 5% [?]