Broke Grad Student is one year old today! (The blog, not the person.) We all know that it’s not a proper celebration unless there’s cake, so I got this one for my blog. Does anyone have a light?
Photo by smcgee
Broke Grad Student’s First Year
366 days ago, one broke grad student sat down at his computer and, in an effort to put off his thesis, started this blog. He succeeded, and the rest, as they say, is about to be explained in the following paragraphs.
It started with the obvious. Broke Grad Student explained how the best way to get out of debt is to get paid to do something. Fortunately, his writing would improve as the year went along.
Shortly after starting the blog, Broke Grad Student got a job offer that he couldn’t refuse, so he took it. He struggled to keep the blog going after moving halfway across the country, starting a new job, and working on his thesis after hours.
He eventually defended his thesis and received his master’s degree. Apparently, giving your blog a name that still makes sense after you graduate is not a requirement for earning a master’s degree.
With his thesis out of the way, Broke Grad had more time to work on his blog. Instead, he launched the College Money Network, a network of twenty-something bloggers who write about money-related topics as they relate to the lives of future and current college students and recent grads.
Broke Grad’s (relatively) “big” breakthrough came when an article about one of his articles was linked on the front page of MSN Money. Any subsequent successes have been pure luck.
As Broke Grad starts his second year of blogging, he hopes to continue this lucky streak. And despite everything being pure luck, he would still like to thank all of his readers and fellow bloggers for their support.
One Year Statistics
For any stats junkies out there, here are some fun numbers from the past year.
- 232 Published Posts
- 1,387 Comments
- 430 Subscribers
- 121,309 Visits
- 237,023 Page Views
And here’s a picture for people who are afraid of numbers.
Most Popular Posts
Finally, here are the 10 most popular posts over the past year based on page views.
- 50+ Tips, Ideas, Resources on Saving Money for College Students
- 6 Reasons Why I Hate Cash
- Girl Selling Her Virginity To Pay For College
- The CashCrate Scam
- Halloween Costume Ideas For College Students
- 25 Tips, Ideas, Resources for Paying Back Student Loans
- Make Money with CashCrate and Pass It On
- College Student’s Guide To Roth IRAs
- 6 Reasons Why I Love Cash
- What Is Your Deepest, Darkest Financial Secret?
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Congrats on the success, and more will come and your writing will further develop on even more over the second year. What are your plans for the second year? Have you thought about extending the direction and content? Possible in appearing as guest author? Looking forward to reading your posts in year 2 of your great blog.
Craig
http://www.budgetpulse.com
Wow congratulations! Very inspiring to see… those stats show that it is important to be consistent and post / promote regularly and the big break will come at some point… your break came after 9 months… I wish you even more big breaks in the future!
Marko
http://www.howtomakemyblog.com
Whoa, what happened between June and July? That’s an awesome jump!
Congrats on being 1 year old! (was the cake good?)
Congratulations!
Enjoy a cake!
Congrats, BGS! Mmm… imaginary blogoversary cake…
Happy Day, Happy Day!
Good for you.
Here’s to another year my brotha! I send you an imaginary six pack. (don’t drink them all at the same time though, you might get *drunk*…gasp)
Craig: I plan to continue growing this blog over the next year. I’ve thought about extending the content and direction, but I’m not sure if I’ll be doing that on this blog or making a spin off. Being a guest author is definitely one thing I hope to do more often in my second year.
L: July is when an article with a link to my blog got featured on MSN Money as an Editor’s Pick for a day, sending over 10,000 people here in a single day. At the end of the month, one of my other posts got stumbled, sending over 2,500 people here in a day. Since then, it’s been a combination of luck and momentum that has kept the numbers up there. Now I just have to keep at it to try to reach the next big break.
paranoidasteroid: Thanks for the laughs
mfaorbust: Hope you enjoyed your imaginary slice of my imaginary cake.
Carol: Thanks for joining in the celebration.
Budgets are Sexy: Too late, I already shotgunned them while my friends chanted, “Chug! Chug! Chug!”
Congrats on blogging for one year!
Here’s to another 20!!!
Congratulations on your blog birthday! And all the best for many more birthdays to come.
Best regards