Celebrating 1 Year of Sharing My Thoughts at RaulColon.net

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

I am happy to mark this small milestone on a something that has become a clear part of my life. I have been writing for blogs for quite some time. I had my website since 1997, and I use to host it on Tripod.com which I shared content and informed those people close to me.

The primary purpose of creating RaúlColón.net was being able to take all my thoughts and share them with you. On many occasions I found myself writing at Twitpuerto.com, which focused on Twitter, limited me from expressing thoughts and ideas on a variety of subjects. Buying a domain with my name empowered me to share even more with useful information to my readers.

After coming back from @chirp (1st and only Twitter Developer Conference) in San Francisco last year, I knew I had to consolidate my efforts online in a central place. I wanted to share my experiences on using an app, reading a book, or talking about the awesome people I meet and what they do. A few days before I took off for the @cmsummit (Conversational Marketing Summit) last year I decided to set up the blog with the purpose of covering that first event on my new domain for others to benefit.

My life was about to change completely. I had just found out that I was going to be the dad of a little girl who we decided to name @danielalcolon (she turned five months two days ago). My mom traveled to help @lucymfel while I was on that business trip. While on the trip, things started to go south. My Mac died the night before the conference, and my mom got extremely Ill on that same day. I spent most of those days trying to absorb as much information from the @cmsummit, trying to get my laptop running, and staying up to date on my mom’s sudden illness. I have to say that all those issues (especially the most important one My Mom recovering) where resolved in weeks and I ended up moving my big launch of the blog for a later date or another event.

Going to another conference such as Inbound Marketing Summit, SXSW, and Hispanicize taught me that keeping the blog up to date is not as easy as you would think. So maybe trying to launch my blog at that @cmSummit was my first big mistake. If you go over my first posts, you can see the many errors I made and some of the successes. Just thinking of the whole year of this domain, I did the exercise of going back through a few posts, and I realized how much I have learned in only 12 months.

These last 12 months have been full of new lessons from learning how to write content that might be of interest to my small community, to quickly picking up on being a first-time dad (and enjoying every second of being @danielalcolon’s dad).

I have used many of these experiences to fill the white screen. From complaining about terrible service with some companies to expressing gratitude to the many people that keep me motivated, and directing you to resources that I think might be of helpful.

At approximately 3,500 unique visitors per month (these last few months) I am very happy that many of you decide to stop by periodically and read what I have to say.

For those of you who have not subscribed to the Blog via Email, please feel free to do so. It would help me celebrate my blogs 1st year anniversary.

Another big favor can you give me is feedback. If you are getting value out of what I am doing, let me know what can be improved from your perspective. Please be as detailed as possible! I look forward to reading your comments below!

Thank You for reading my blog and visiting me. Here is a list starting from June 2010 of my favorite post for each month:

 

photo credit by by ewan traveler

8 Comments

  1. Prometeo on May 30, 2011 at 2:27 pm

    Happy Blogging birthday Raúl. I’ve been a visitor of your blog and have learned a lot from you. You are passionate about what you do and that shows in the success you have had this year. I’ve translated some of your posts to my blog and they become instant hits. Your human quality makes your blog a place worth visiting many times. You are one of my favorite bloggers. Let this be the first year of many to come filled with success every day. God bless you.

    Adelante y éxito. 



    • Raul Colon on May 30, 2011 at 2:39 pm

      Michael, 

      I wanted to keep this post short. That is why I forgot to thank you for the support you have given me throughout the year. I have been able to establish an awesome relationship with you where I have many things in common. 

      You are one of my many mentors especially on the side of keeping consistency. You are my top commenter and I really appreciate that you take the time to comment on my blog almost every day. 

      thanks again for allowing me to post on your site the same goes here when you want to do a guest post in English. 

      Un abrazo Hermano! 



  2. Anonymous on May 30, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    Congrats Raul. Because 140 characters are not enough for you to convey all of your thoughts.



    • Raul Colon on May 30, 2011 at 3:53 pm

      Thank you for always proofreading documents! 



  3. Ryan Critchett on May 30, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    Very awesome Raul! This is a huge milestone. I love your entrepreneurial vibe and your demonstration of great web communication. Great stuff! Congratulations. Keep cranking it out. Looking forward to more awesome stuff from you in the future Raul. 



    • Raul Colon on May 30, 2011 at 5:50 pm

      Ryan, 

      I appreciate the support you have given me these last few weeks. It has been a pleasure to interact with you and read your awesome blog. 

      People like you and @Prometeopr:disqus motivate me every day into continue cranking it out. Thanks again! 



  4. Anonymous on May 31, 2011 at 4:25 pm

    Firstly Raul, congratulations on reaching the 1 year milestone. Most blogs don’t make it anywhere near that far. You’ve got some great content on the site and you’re doing a great job sharing your thoughts and insights, please do keep them up!

    looks like you had an eventful year, sorry to hear about your mac, hope that was fixable and at least replaceable. Your mum of course is not. Glad to hear she made a speedy recovery.



    • Raul Colon on May 31, 2011 at 9:30 pm

      Thanks for stopping by and the compliments. I try to keep the content fresh and write every day … 

      Any suggestions would be more than welcomed. Thanks for commenting !