October 2013 – Top Posts and Commenters

Here are the highlights from October 2013.  Thanks to everyone who read along and commented.  Your readership and participation in the daily discussions are what make The Stretched Community.  Thank you!  Overall, traffic was up from September (5.31%).  Traffic was up 44.70% compared to a year ago.  The top 10 posts again included two posts from 2012 and one post from previous months in 2013.  If you missed any of these posts, I hope you’ll go and check them out now by clicking below.  The post with the most engagement was #6 from the list below (The Power of A Positive Attitude).

Top 10 Posts:

1. Ten Things Every Small Group Leader Should Know  March 7, 2012 (132)
2. I’m Losing My Patience – 6 Ways To Rediscover Patience April 2, 2013 (107)
3. Book Idea…Moving Ahead…Asking For Help October 21, 2013 (99)
4. Ten Reasons To Attend FamilyLife Weekend To Remember February 27, 2012 (97)
5. 7 Ways To Help Your Marriage Today October 30, 2013 (83)
6. The Power of A Positive Attitude October 22, 2013 (79)
7. Book Review: The In-Between by @JeffGoins October 10, 2013 (57)
8. Can I Get A Witness October 2, 2013 (56)
9. Life Is An Adventure – Are You Living Like It? October 9, 2013 (45)
10. Priceless Popsicles October 8, 2013 (43)
11. A Vision For San Antonio October 7, 2013 (43)
12. Ice Breaker – Athletic Claim To Fame October 25, 2013 (43)

Top 10 Commenters:

• David Paul Stolpe (51)

• Steve Y (34)
• Larry Carter (29)
• Dan Erickson (10)
• Matt McWilliams (9)
• David Bartosik (8)
• TNeal (8)
• David (6)
• Bill (cycleguy) (5)
• Dan Black (4)

As promised at the beginning of the month, I have randomly chosen someone from the top 10 commenters list to receive a copy of The In-Between: Embracing the Tension Between Now and the Next Big Thing [A Spiritual Memoir] by Jeff Goins.  The winner of this book is…(drum roll)…David Stolpe.  Congrats to David!

For the month of November, I’ll be giving away a copy of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars.  This month, the winner will be chosen randomly from the top 10 commenters.

Thanks to each and everyone for reading and for commenting.  I’m looking forward to November with The Stretched Community!  The month of November will include a couple of book reviews, more reflection on my Guatemala trip, and opportunities to express gratitude.  If you’re interested in guest posting here, leave a comment to connect with me.  November should be another great month!

How was your month?  If you’re a blogger share a link to your top post in the comments?  What was your favorite Stretched post this month?  How were you STRETCHED in October?

In case you’re interested, here are a few other interesting stats about October (based on Google Analytics):

• Visits – Increased 7.93%
• Unique Visitors – Increased 7.26%
• Pageviews – Increased 3.93%
• Pages Per Visit – Decreased 1.24%
• Average Visit Duration – Stayed the same
• Bounce Rate – Increased 3.74%
• New Visits – Decreased 0.83%