Forgot Our Birthday!

The Online Photographer turned 16 this past November 28th.

Kept alive first by ads, then by affiliate income, then by affiliate income plus print sales, and now by much less affiliate income plus direct reader contributions via Patreon.

Best year: 2013

Most-viewed post: 74,000 views (happened in 2008, when the Web was younger and there was much less competition!)

Post with most comments: I don't remember, but I think the number was 205 or thereabouts.

Best print sale (numbers): 736 sold

Best print sale (dollars): $136,000, 80% of which went to the photographer

Best book sale: more than 1,100 sold*

Those were the days!

 

A great big huge THANK YOU to everyone who helps keep TOP alive here at the start of Year 17! Whether by reading, or by reading and using our links, or by reading and contributing through Patreon.

Mike

*Meaning, a single title sold through our Amazon links based on my recommendation.

Products of the Week

Which one is best? Panasonic S1R (47.3 MP), Sony A7R IV (61 MP), Canon R5 (45 MP), Nikon Z7 II (45.7 MP), or Leica SL2 (47 MP)? You know the answer.

The above are links to Amazon from TOP. Once you're at Amazon, anything you search and buy will be credited to TOP. The following logo is also a link if you click on it:

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Comments

[JOHN B GILLOOLY]

Congratulations Mike! Glad you're here! And seeing that, wonder why you don't do more print sales!

[Richard Alan Fox]

What was the book?

[Grant]

And a HAPPY 16TH BIRTHDAY to you. This is the longest that I've ever followed a blog. I've purchased a few things that you suggested and they were good. Some of your other ideas have left me rolling my eyeballs and shaking my head.
It's unlikely that I'll have a clue who you are, or who I am 16 years from now, so HAPPY 32ND ANNIVERSARY!

[01af]

> Which one is the best? [...] You know the answer.

Sure I do: Neither.

[Dierk]

Best congratulations Mike! Please keep the ship afloat for at least another 16 years hopefully. Would love to contribute with a 50/50 print sale, but seems unfortunately I‘m not very contemporary with my visualizations… ;-)

[Richard Skoonberg]

Happy Belated Birthday, TOP! May there be many more!

[Kenneth Tanaka]

Congratulations on TOP's anniversary, Mike. That longevity for an active personal blog on any subject is somewhat unusual and certainly notable. And that was quite a print sale, too! Whatever it was.

[Andrew J.]

74,000 views. Wow! Could you link to that post? I would be the 74,001'th to read it.

[Patrick J Dodds]

Happy birthday and thanks for all the fish.

[Chris H]

Congrats! So my question is, why not more print sales (occurrences of print sales, I mean)? I know your readership probably has finite funds for these things, but on the other hand a given reader might not be interested in a particular offering but perhaps a different one by another artist, so a diversity of styles/subject matter within a smaller period might be the ticket. I do get the impression that these are pretty hefty endeavors, from planning through execution, so that might be the answer to my own question.

[Dan Khong]

Congratulations and well done, Mike. TOP has enriched the lives of many. Thrice a week is still great achievement and a lot of information to read and digest.

[Adam]

I've been coming here for 10 years!

[louis mccullagh]

How have things been since change to 3 days?

[A.B. Cole]

Many more Mike!

[darlene]

Happy Anniversary Mike, and to all the wonderful commenters and followers of this great reading place on the web, thank you for your collective knowledge and kind participation.

[James]

Hi Mike,
Although I am sure I have read it, I would love you to link to (or re-post) the 'Most-viewed post'. I am probably not alone there.
Also, I would be interested to know what the *star* of the 'Best book sale was. ?Did I buy it?

[Ernest Zarate]

Since you dropped one shoe with this post, why not go ahead and drop the other?

By what measure was that the best year?
Which was the most-viewed post?
The most comments on which post?
…and so on.

You know your audience. I’m sure I’m not the only one who is curious.

[Lars Jansen]

Well, a big congratulations to you sir! That also must mean I'm reading all these ratings already for well over a decade at a minimum. Huh, still feels like yesterday.

[Gerard Geradts]

Congrats too.

Came here in 2014 thereabouts because bought a camera. Lost my interest in photothings 3 yrs ago. But keep coming back because all the wisdom that I read about, and the ideas for music, books, movies, web, and stuff.
Bought some coffee related things of which I would never have heard, if I wouldn't read about it here. Same thing with waterrower. Followed and mimic your journey with/ battling of your weight. Tried intermittent fasting and now plant based (sort of). Lost 10% of my initial weight. I feel so much better and for a small part I owe it to your experiences.
Thats all the goodies I have for you right now :)

[hugh crawford]

Well I remember one post from 2008 that upended my life.
My wife and I were at the local diner when Joe Holmes walked in and said that he saw the two of us on The Online Photographer.

[That was a major coincidence, wasn't it? That I happened to pick the picture of you and your wife for the post, without realizing it was you. --Mike]