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Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number: 2268
Registered: 06-2002

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Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 07:51 am:

Way back in about 2001, The Unreal McCoy did something inexplicable. It sold over seven hundred copies in less than six months; and it was a PA book. I don't know what triggered this unprecedented surge but the wave in sales ebbed as quickly as it rose and slowed to a familiar trickle. Oh, if I only knew what caused that spark.

Lightning has struck again, sort of.

My website, www.theunrealmccoy.com generally attracts between four and eight visitors a week but on March 5th it spiked to over 130. And then did it again on March 6th. It's tapered off since but is still attracting a few hits every day.

But this time I have at least an outside chance of finding out why!!! I now have a blog that's linked to the website and so I'm going to pose the question on that blog. Maybe, just maybe I'll get an answer.

Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com
http://theunrealmccoy.blogspot.com

Pacwriter
Unity Member
Post Number: 2815
Registered: 04-2002

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Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 08:05 am:

my hosting company provides tracking of hits. I can see who and when someone visits. The interesting aspect is the number of people using google and other search engines. My guess is that they are searching for a particular item and my site is just one of the results. A lot of the hits are from site-sitters and are computer generated.

http://www.perrycomer.com

Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number: 2269
Registered: 06-2002

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Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 10:10 am:

I asked my webmaster and she came up with this...

Well, there are a lot more visits from foreign countries....I do believe we can declare you international now!! Besides Canada, there's Japan, Brazil, Spain, United Kingdom and 29 others.

There's an awful lot of hits from search engines. Mostly Google. 92% came from Search Engines. I don't know if that's high for you or not. It's high compared to the rest of the sites....most are 25% or less, but then again, none are authors!

Plus there's a lot of University URL's: Trinity College, The University of California, Berkeley, University of Southern California, American University, New York University....

[and Bloomberg Financial Market?? What's up with that?!]

Other than that, I don't see anything unusual. Weird tho, isn't it? Wonder if you're on some college syllabus or something?!

Marilee

Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com
http://theunrealmccoy.blogspot.com

Bill Nelson
Unity Member
Post Number: 2635
Registered: 10-2002

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Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 04:38 pm:

Dennis, that's cool.
Is the increased traffic being felt in sales?
I hope so. It's a really good book.

Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number: 2274
Registered: 06-2002

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Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 08:15 pm:

Well, I'm a little disappointed in what my investigation uncovered.

I Googled the titles of both of my books and saw nothing unusual. Then I Googled my name and the first entry that came up was an interview with Dennis Collins, spokesperson for the Jury that just convicted Lewis "Scooter" Libby. The next entry was the link to my website. Looks like people were jumping from politics to murder.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com
http://theunrealmccoy.blogspot.com

Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number: 1893
Registered: 10-2002

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Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 09:47 pm:

Time was when there was a definite correlation between a website's merit and the number of hits it got. That day is long gone. Welcome to the globalized proprietary internet where megabandwidth corporate websites contract with the search engines for referrals. Write with the grace and eloquence of the Great Bard if you will, but it all goes to naught if you don't have the bucks. The internet providers are currently lobbying Congress for the right to control the speed of access to URL's. What that means is that a click on Google or some other corporation who had the wherewithall and foresight to grease the internet provider's palm will get there via the superhighway while a click on a hotlink to my website will be routed along the back roads and alleys. If you want to get hits (or better yet, visits), you will have to contract with a server in Canada or a European Union country (Dungan Books is based in the Canary Islands) where they have laws against unfair competition and corrupt business practices.

http://www.fdungan.com
http://www.dunganbooks.com
http://www.dunganbooks.com/duke.htm
http://www.fdungan.com/such.htm}

Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number: 1894
Registered: 10-2002

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Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 10:01 pm:

I forgot to mention that laws don't mean diddly squat if the people in power don't enforce them. Remember when Vice-President Spiro Agnew had to resign because he had taken a $5,000 bribe while he was Governor of Maryland? Think for a minute and it will come to you why Maryland's Attorney General chooses not to enforce the fraud laws against Publish America despite an evero-growing volume of complaints. J'accuse.

http://www.fdungan.com/freedom.htm

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