This whole week has been a struggle. I’ve been stung by the flu bug. My site has suffered for it. I’m sure most people have been sick at one time or another. This can often times lead to calling into work, missing appointments, and spending the days watching bad television instead of doing the much needed work. So how can a blogger, who should be on point everyday, recover and stay strong through the sickness?

First, a little backstory to get the muse primed.

This afternoon I went to the bank to deposit a few checks. Afterwards, I went to the office taking a backroad. The backroad has one stop sign behind the Assembly Hall (where the college basketball team plays here). For some reason, I followed the car in front of me right through the stop sign, not paying attention to anything I guess. I’m out of it. The combination of a sinus cold and medication made me entirely not focused. Anyways, there was a cop sitting at the stop sign. That’s right — a cop! I had run a stop sign with a cop right there. When he asked what the hurry was, I told him I was in no rush, just had the flu. He let me off with a warning, but I couldn’t help but wonder how much else had I missed in the past week.

The muse seems to take a vacation when I’m sick. I usually just sleep it off, similar to how sports players just walk off injuries. Occassionally I’ll catch something that digs its claws into me and doesn’t let go. Such was the case this week. So how can I expect my blog to survive the next time this happens? Cause, I’ll be frank (instead of Jason), my site statistics have fallen dramatically. Here’s how I plan to combat the flu in the future.

1. Write extra blog posts, at least five. This way I won’t be without material when my head feels like a logger has done his business to my noggin’.
2. Invite guest bloggers to come on in and take over for a few days. I’m sure some of you out there would write something compelling for the extra exposure.
3. Never get sick again. I know — I should be superhuman. My head shouldn’t be what’s exploding, right?

I think I can do one and two. So my advice would be to find a few bloggers who could take over if things get too difficult. Aside from that, I’m not sure what else to do in a situation like I’ve been in. Do you have any advice and/or comments on the subject?

This week has showed me the power of social media sites like StumbleUpon. Sure I knew my site could receive tremendous exposure through stumbling, but I didn’t realize how quickly it could happen, and just how quickly it could dissipate. My recent article Ten Reasons to Write Well Not Good received a lot of exposure on StumbleUpon in a short amount of time. It was like one of those summer rains — soaking the site, then soon the sun was back out drying up the traffic.

I’m not complaining about StumbleUpon traffic. I received quality stats during that flash flood. My bouncerate was extremely low. I’m happy with the overall effect. I want to know how to sustain it. Does StumbleUpon traffic stop by a thumbs down? Does anyone have an article?

Happenings this Week

This week I wrote the previously mentioned article, which received the most hits of the week. I also wrote the two part series on How to Podcast with Audacity and Wordpress. I tried to name this article with a more SEO friendly title to see if it brought more organic traffic. So far its brought three visitors, who stayed over ten minutes a piece on the site. I’d say it pays to target your titles with specific keywords.

New Milestone! I’m not a RSS jockey, but I’ve been riding a fairly strong horse upward these past few weeks. I’ve surpassed 70 subscribers. If you haven’t subscribed, now’s your chance. It’s free.

Site Tweaks: I did add an ad above the Spottt widget. I think this ad relates to what a lot of my surfers have interest — making money with their blog. It’s Darren Rowse’s Six Figure Blogging course. You might want to check it out.

I’ve also added a Digg This button to each individual post page, below the article itself. I hope this encourages everyone to Digg their favorite Jason Boom posts from the past and in the future.

Guest Post I have been writing a guest post for a neighboring blog. I’ll update everyone next week when I’ve finished that post. It’s taking longer than expected.

Upcoming Explosions

This week should see the second episode of the Boombox podcast early in the week. I’ll also be writing about site traffic, nurturing killer ideas, and another top ten list. I’ll have a Powder Keg review thrown in there too, for those who enjoy the series.

Other’s Explosions

I’m really enjoying Stephan Miller’s blog of the same name. He discusses his adventures in making money online, his blog, and other ideas for productivity. He has a clear, distinct voice that carries his articles along swiftly. His recent article entitled Spread Your Feed details some finer details of an RSS feed, which I hadn’t even considered. This is why I love his blog. It’s taking things I know, and showing me them from a different angle. Good work, Stephan.

Andrew Pavelski is back this week with a new successful blogging article. His look at John Chow seems like a natural step for this new series. I can’t wait to see what next week brings. Andrew also had extremely well thought out posts during this week. Everyone should be reading his blog.

I also enjoyed The Blog Entrepeneur’s posts this week. His writing has definitely made me want to elevate my own posting style. Just take a look at this rant on Make Money Online blogs or this one about developing blogs that stand apart from the masses.