PluginID Turns One! Baie Dankie
Glen / 
76 Comments / 
July 22nd, 2009 / 
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I can’t believe that I’m writing this post exactly one year after launching the site, but I am, and I’m celebrating. Baie dankie simply means thank you very much in Afrikaans; a fitting phrase since I launched and ran the site for 6 months in Cape Town, South Africa.
I wasn’t totally sure what a blog post announcing this anniversary should include, so I decided to follow my general rule of thumb: write blog posts that you would want to read. And, when a site reaches a milestone, the thing I want to read about…is statistics.
From Left to Right: Diggy, Me, Alex, R – You can check out the wrist sock I’ve wrote about a few times on Diggy’s shoulder ;).
Top Content
I know most of you aren’t stats junkies like myself, so I’ll start with something you might be interested in, the content. Throughout the year, I’ve wrote over 100 posts for this site and this one is actually number 105. I’ve taken the top 10 articles based on pageviews and listed then in order below:
- How Much of Life Are You Actually Living – 63,799 views
- 21 Rules to Live Your Life – 47,862 views
- The 21-Day Challenge That Everyone Should Take – 30,633 views
- How to Get Someone or Something, Off Your Mind – 23,631 views
- Dream Lifestyle? Think Again! – 21,833 views
- 44 Essential Personal Development Posts from ‘08 – 15,392 views
- Are You Living a Scripted Life? – 14,728 views
- 14 Things I Strive to Do in This Lifetime – 13,626 views
- 5 Ideas I’ve Implemented to Get More Done – 13,271 views
- 8 Things to Stop Doing Right Now – 10,699 views
I was going to share another post which I think is my favourite, but I’m sure that view will change in a few months so I’ll allow you to pick your own.
Feed Subscribers
I use Feedburner, which is a Google service, to track the number of subscribers to this blog. Subscribers are people that opt-in to receive updates whenever I make a new post via a service like Google Reader or in their email inbox. If you would like to get free updates in your inbox, you can do so by clicking here.
I did not implement feed counts until the day after launch so my figures here are based on July 23rd 2008 and onwards:
- Month 1: 123 subscribers
- Month 2: 209 subscribers (+86)
- Month 3: 342 subscribers (+133)
- Month 4: 363 subscribers (+21) – I sold and bought back the website, here’s why
- Month 5: 544 subscribers (+181)
- Month 6: 798 subscribers (+254)
- Month 7: 1,084 subscribers (+286)
- Month 8: 1,697 subscribers (+613) – I was now working on the site full-time
- Month 9: 2,287 subscribers (+590)
- Month 10: 2,870 subscribers (+583)
- Month 11: 3,400 subscribers (+530)
- Month 12: 4,111 subscribers (+711) – A new record this month
Baie Dankie
There are so many people I want to thank that I’ve resorted to linking to their latest blog posts in this sentence; in fact, I even extended it to fit a few more in. It’s not just bloggers I want to thank though, it’s everyone. Everyone who is subscribed to the feed, everyone who has ever left a comment (good or bad) and anyone I’ve connected with in the past year.
I really do want PluginID to become a successful business that is able to help people. On the first ever post I mentioned how I would love to do something like Tim Ferriss and create a school for under-privileged children in a country like Vietnam or somewhere similar. That is the kind of grand dream I think we can all make into a reality.
I guess you could say this site is about me, but really, I view it as being about us and what we can create.
Personal Update
If any of you care about my personal life then I just wanted to share a quick update here. I’ve booked my trip to Amsterdam and will be leaving the UK on December 2nd for three months. I’m going with one of my best friends and we have plans to do things for this site which no other Personal Development website has even touched upon. I firmly believe that what we’re about to share with the world will blow some minds, and I’m not even exaggerating.
Around 20 people in the Netherlands have already gotten in contact with me asking if I can meet them and hang out. Generally, I’m happy to meet up with anybody, but not until I’ve been in Amsterdam for a few weeks. I’m going to be working on some street projects there and I would prefer not to have any distractions. After that though, it would be awesome to meet readers of the site.
Business is doing great and the launch of Cloud Living far exceeded my expectations. If anyone wants to do the math, I’ve sold nearly 250 copies of the guide. Don’t forget to add taxes + affiliate commissions into your calculations though.
Family life is also good and I’m going to be an uncle for the first time in around 5 weeks. My brother, who is 3 years older than me, is the expectant father. I have also donated a lot of money this month to a project I’m very passionate about and I know it will go to good use and help a lot of people to overcome their troubled life situation.
Heading off on a different tangent now, one of my friends posted this on her Facebook account which I really liked:
Jennifer has cold feet, is tired after a loong day at work, has a head ache, misses Brent… but then again these are just feelings, life’s great & God’s good. : )
Emphasis is my own. I like the idea of non-attachment to emotions and just recognising them for what they are. Notice how I have no complaints about my life (and I like to think I’m quite personal) and that is simply because I don’t look for any to have. If you look for problems, you will find them.
Life’s great, I’m happy, and I’m following a path that just feels right. Based on my statistics, I’ve helped over 650,000 people from 133 countries over the last 12 months. That is why I jump out of bed in the morning and keep doing what I’m doing.
Thanks again to all of you; you rock my wrist sock (explanation)!
If you enjoyed this post, I would appreciate if you share it on Twitter, Facebook or Delicious!
Congrats Glen, this is amazing!
Lots of bloggers give up, but you have a great vision and a great blog
I think you deserve a standing ovation – I respect you enormously man.
Good luck to you and PluginID’s next year. ’nuff said
Anthony
Hey Anthony, I did give up, but thankfully realised my mistake.
Thanks, I really appreciate that.
Happy Happy Verjaarsdag
is that my sock on your wrist?! now here i am, middle of winter, freeeezing cape town, with one sock. thanks a lot buddy.
naaiyer
wow. epic huge stats. protein. everywhere.
yikes. feed stats scare me. and inspire. bit of both
the way you linked all those blogs was clever. danky vir ek in die ding is
yikes. my afrikaans is prolly worse than yours. frikken chav.
hope you’re rocking my idea for amsterdam. if you do, gotta post up at least one vid of rocking red light street times
preferably curvyness. not rishan’s type, my type, full yum curvyness 
haha.
inspiring stuff man. as always. great to see you constanlty growing, both online and personally.
can’t wait ’till we all meetup somewhere and unleash the glory on the whole town. maybe south east asia. or south america.
keep well bro. always.
alex – unleash reality
I understand your Afrikaans but none of your English
Yes, I promise to do your idea in Amsterdam, might be a private video. Oh and no, I’m not dealing with any prostitues (are you crazy?). Defies the whole point in going
I thought you guys were “unleashing your glory” on Costa Rica… didn’t we already vote on this with Rosa?
(Happy Birthday, PluginID!!)
PS: I’m eternally grateful to Tim Brownson for adding his stats in the comments. When I saw yours I wasn’t sure if I should be inspired or give up!
Hey Glen, Congratulations for your first year! I’m impressed with the number of subscriptions to your rss feed since when you started. I hope to meet you in amsterdam in December
Definitely Oscar, I’m counting on you to make that happen
Congratulations! You’ve experienced amazing growth here at PluginID and I congratulate you.
I think it’s funny that you sold your site and then bought it back again but I’m glad that everything worked out well for you there and you are back on track building your online empire.
Keep on posting because I’m looking forward to reading your updates for another year!
Nice going Glen, impressive stuff.
It took me over 2 years of groping in the dark to get to a measly 1,000 subscribers and another 6 months to get to 2,000! That is awesome in a year.
You can’t get there with just content or just marketing it is a subtle blend of the two and you have delivered.
Take it easy in Amsterdam. In my clubbing days I twice had the opportunity to go there and twice turned it down. I simply didn’t trust myself to embrace moderation and I’d probably have never come home!
Thanks for the link!
Tim Brownson had clubbing days?!
Mate I had a record store that supplied to vinyl to DJ’s for 8 years. I used to write club reviews for a now defunct magazine and knew a number of the top promoters. I had some mental clubbing days
One day I’ll post about a conversation I had with Boy George in the gay club ‘Heaven’. It was very funny and he was a lovely guy. Sad to see how it has gone for him.
Happy 1st Birthday, PluginID!
And congrats, Glen!
I wish you many more successful and enriching years to come!
And baie dankie for providing us with your wonderful content.
Thank you Haider, loving your posts lately by the way. I’ll have to leave a comment on the next one
Hi Glen,
Congratulations on one year here at PluginID! You’ve done an amazing job, and I believe it really shows you dedication to what you believe in, and how you’ve connected with people. You’re doing awesome!
Thanks Lance, it has been so long since I’ve seen you over here!
Congratulations =)
Baie Dankie
First, congratulations! and second, thanks for the link.
I have to confess I just can’t believe you build all this in just one year. Keep going, Glen.
You’re welcome Ivan, thanks!
You can check the date of the first post http://www.pluginid.com/welcome/
Congratulations Glen that’s great!! I have to agree with Tim that you couldn’t have gotten here with only great content or effective marketing it’s both which you do well.
I’m glad to hear that life is going along well for you. Have a good three months in Amsterdam I’m sure you’ll make the most of it.
All the best,
Sherri
Glen, congratulations on your 1-year anniversary and all the great success you have had. You truly deserve all of the rewards. Thanks for the link and I can’t wait for what is yet to come. THANK YOU!
Yay, feliz aniversario for PluginID!!!
Haha sorry, I just had to say that in Spanish for a change
. The work you’ve done in this site so far is awesome, Glen! Hope you have fun in your trip (saying that months ahead, just in case!)
ViCtoria~
Hey Victoria,
My peruvian princess
Thanks for stopping by, I’m sure we’ll still be in touch in a few months, so you can say it to me again
In just one year, you’ve made a great impact on all of us. It’s no surprise to me that you’re a great success. Thanks Glen for the great articles, because I’m definitely tagging along for the ride.
Congrats, Glen.. Its always nice to read a success story of a fellow personal development blogger.
Looking at the stats, makes one go “wow”. But I am sure it didn’t come easy. Hard work, scarifies, discipline, [your list here
] .. I bet all that’s worth it and you are rewarded.
Wishing that the coming years will bring you more success…
Shamelle
Happy Birthday, PluginID!
Congrats on all of your hard work paying off!
I wish you much success on your journey my friend.
Congrats Glen,
Amsterdam? Dude you are in the wrong city
.
When you have seen Amsterdam I am happy to show you the rest of this amazing country!
I have been to the Netherlands 5 times…Rotterdam, Eindhoven etc
Amsterdam is best suited for my plans
I have no idea what these plans are, but even I am really excited now!
Haha, I’m sure Diggy will stop by and share some secrets here
(Diggy is the dutch guy in the picture who’s going with me)
Happy birthday to PluginID!
And big congratulations to you, Glen: as I’ve probably said before, I’ve been really impressed watching you grow PluginID over the past few months — it’s fascinating to see the stats, too! Sometimes it seems like you’re guest-posting on half the blogs in my feed reader…
Anyway, it’s great to read something so encouraging and inspiring, showing how far it’s possible to come in a year. Well done again!
Happy birthday to you, happy bithday to you, happy birthday dead pluginid…:P
Vet cool man:)Vet cool!
Congrats on growing the blog so much, i remember the day you told me you sold it, and then the day you told me you got it back!
Amsterdam is going to be fantastically cool, we are going to capture it on video,blog and books, and share our journey with all of you. I still need to gain more awareness and subscribers on my blog, im not as good with the seo as Glen yet:)
Glen is gonna learn some Dutch soon,
Amsterdam 2009!!!!
Ciao
Diggy
Upgradereality.com
Hi Glen,
Happy One Year Anniversary! I have no doubt that you have many wonderful years ahead. Thank you also for the link back to my site. It is much appreciated!
OMG major typo!
Change it quick!
Hahaha, no, I think it is hilarious
Oh, I’m late to the party! Oh noes! Glad you made it with this project. You deserved it.
Congrats, Glen! You deserve it!
Honestly, I have become a regular reader of your articles ever since you did the guest post on our site. You’ve got a remarkable mindset and a polished way of expressing your points.
Keep on kicking butt!
Hey, Congrats! and Pa pwoblem! (You’re welcomein Kweyol – St. Lucia’s native language) literally ‘No Problem’, the universal Caribbean, ‘You’re welcome’, from me as a subscriber – definitely feel I get my subscription’s worth times over!
and a little local proverb that seems suited to PluginID
“Chak betafe ka klewe pou lam yo” Each firefly shines for it’s own soul
Hey Glen, congratulations on PluginID’s first birthday. You write outstanding articles and I’m not surprised you’ve been so successful with this site. Can’t wait to see what’s coming down the pipe in the 2nd year.
Have a good time in Amsterdam!
Happy birthday PluginID! Congratulations Glen! If I can remember it correctly, I found your blog from one of your post at ProBlogger. I really enjoyed that post and I’m glad I followed the link to PluginID.
Thank you so much for putting up HQHow. I decided to take affiliate marketing seriously and enrolled myself at the best internet marketing education online.
http://www.bestimeducation.com/
Congratulations again and thanks for the revolution!
These are amazing results Glen. You should be really proud of what you have achieved! Congratulations!
Happy birthday to you PluginID!
Great stuff! Well done Glen and thank you for the inspiration.
I’ve nearly finished putting together my new blog (www.reachourdreams.com) thanks to Blogging Blueprint…made it alot easier! although I think I’m turning into a computer geek…abit addicted!
Rock on, Glen.
I am just hoping I can achieve a portion of this in my first year!
Keep on inspiring us!
Thanks for the link.
You’re an extremely driven person and it shows in every blog post you do.
Your rate of growth has been amazing. It’s clear you’re a real tactician.
Have a great time on your trip to Amsterdam and I look forward to seeing where this is all headed.
Cheers,
Bamboo Forest
Congratulations! I just found this blog and I will definitely be back.
Congratulations and Happy Anniversary! What an amazing year you’ve had! And I’m sure many more such remarkable years are lying ahead. Keep rocking!
Cheers~
Mark
Congrats Glen!! That’s such an awesome accomplishment. Your stats are amazing… especially in only one year! It’s fun to read, as well. I’ve enjoyed watching your site grow, even in the past few months, and your content has made a huge impact on my life. So, thank you!
Glen,
The success you had this year is just a small sample of how far you can go with your talent. Thanks for all the great content!
Rock on!
Luciano.
Congrats man.
All that hard work is worth it
Keep it going man !
Happy Birthday, PluginID! May you have many more successful years!!!
Congratulations Glen! You have had an awesome first year! Your writing and your accomplishments are inspiring!
Enjoy Amsterdam!
Fantastic, Glen! Happy Birthday, and we’ll look forward to even more over the coming years.
Fantastic, Glen. Thanks for the useful, insightful service you provide to me and so many other readers. It continues to amaze me.
In related news, I’m nearly through my second read of Cloud Living and I am still soaking it in. I am shedding some other commitments so that I can focus more intently on my online stores (to shed stuff I no longer need or want) and continue moving my blog in the direction I am moving myself (to simplify life).
Right now, that’s enough for me, although I will probably set up some mini-websites this fall.
All the best to you,
–Bill
Congrats Glen!!! That’s really great for a years time. I have truly enjoyed your writing. Something to learn, inspiration, motivation and more. Appreciate your help too.
You’re doing a great job. Keep it coming.
Good job, Glen!! What an inspiration you are! Love your energy!
Have a great trip to Amsterdam!
Congrats Glen! I was quite surprised your site is only a year old. You’re like a household name already.
I would like to meet you too but I’m not from Amsterdam. Hehe!
Good luck on your ongoing and future projects. Have fun!
This is a bit late due to internet issues but,
Happy Birthday en veels geluk! You continue to be an inspiration to so many. Thanks for a year of total committed sharing,learning and growth.
Congrats, you deserve it.
Here’s to many more.
Well done my friend, didn’t doubt you for a second!!
I’m proud of my actual brother, Glen
— I’ve watched him grow this site over the last 12 months and I’ve realized how passionate he is about Personal Development. Being a blogger who makes his living online as well, I know that nobody could make it If they are only in it for the money. If you have doubts, Glen aint in it for the money and that’s why he spends a lot of time on this blog rather than on his affiliate sites (correct, Glen?)
Anyway, I just would like to say well-done and grazie for all the content you’ve produced. I learned new tricks and you have become an inspiration for everyone, including yours truly.
I hope we could meet up in December but alas I have other commitments, though how about If we can set up a conference call or a Skype meeting all of us just to chat and spend sometime unproductively lol
Just an idea.
Ciao!
Adam
I meant ” I wish we could meet up..” not “hope we could meet up”… blame my brain who is dealing with 4 languages!!!! I need an additional RAM.
If you don’t have 10,000 readers by next year, I’m stopping reading.
Well deserved!
brian
Keep it up, Glen… you are inspiring and awesome!
I’ve only recently discovered PluginID but it’s already one of the list of sites I read regularly.
Congratulations on one year and may you have many more!
Although you run a personal development blog, you openly admit to your mistakes, and admit that you gave up at one point. It makes it a lot easier to trust your advice on other things, knowing that you are “human” just like us
Because there are far too many self-help “gurus” out there that, while provide awesome advice, fail to present themselves as people that WE can actually relate to.
Thanks for all you do…
Congrats Glen!
Hope PluginID can have many more years! I think you will have a great time in Amsterdam, you mindset is good for that city!
Congrats Glen. You’re very young and you’ve did a fantastic job.
Thanks for all your posts all this time.
Nice. I also started a bog recently.
But I have one question to you Glen. You say that you share your wisdom. Thats okay I do the same thing.
And then you said that you share it because you like helping people and sharing….
You like the gratification of helping people?
Somehow I do not understand it.
I am not financially abundant (yet) and I only share my value because I want money out of it in some distant point in the future …
But maybe my viewpoint will change when I am financially abundant… but now I think I will stop helping and sharing if I have enough money!
So are you in it for the money ? Or does it really make you happy to share?
And what part of you does it make happy? Is it maybe just a new trick of the ego? Do you really need to do this?
Thanks
Michael
Let’s say you were making a lot of money online
Would you like to teach your brother, sister, cousin (whoever?) the same? Let’s say they were in dead end jobs or needed more money…what about now.
Well, that is my situation. I created an original guide (as you will see in the post) to teach my friends in south africa how to make a living online. Then i expanded it on there.
Whether I get ‘gratification’ is irrelevant. It helps people. Fact. (Oh and whether I get gratification, who knows…maybe on some ridiculously deep level)
Nobody needs to do anything
- Glen
I don’t really know. Yeah I think I would help them a bit.
But I would rather spend my time doing what I love which is developing video games
But who knows …
Look – I am interested in your motivation.
You say that they needed money and that is why you helped them.
So your motivation is other people’s need?
You read Ayn Rand?
Michael
If you read the guide, in the first few pages I mention how this site makes me the least money, yet I spend 90% of my time on it. That’s because I love giving value and what I do.
I don’t love setting up small minisites that sell products, but they make me money.
No I have not read anything by Ayn Rand but I have ‘The Fountainhead’
Hey Glen,
Or “Boldog Szülinapot!” in Hungarian 
congratulations, and a Happy Birthday!
I wish you a success- and helpful next year with your blog.
All the best,
Zoli
Hey Glen – Congrats on such tremendous success with this blog and a very Happy Birthday to PluginID! I still remember when you first commented on one of my posts back in 2007 and then when you launched this site. It’s been a delight to read and learn from your perspectives ever since.
Good luck with Amsterdam project.. looking forward to the results.
Pearl
Hey Glen,
Love your blog. Looking forward to reading Cloud Living. Being almost twice your age, I can honestly say that I wish I had figured things out at your age. Life is an amazing gift to be truly lived everyday. Savor the present because you only get it once.
Hope Amsterdam is everything you want it to be and more!
Cheers,
Stephen
Hey Glen, just wanted to wish you a belated happy birthday and wish you well for the future. I can see another ‘ZenHabits’ story coming soon
It’s taken me three years to get 3600 subscribers and you surpass that in a year, great going.
Hey! You ve been my source of inspiration ion the past few hours. This blog is awesome. Keep up the good work. Ciao!