Rescue The Maven—Please

I posted my first entry in this blog more than seven years ago. It was entitled “The Marriage Amendment—WWJD” and was one of two entries I wrote trying to convince people to vote against the so-called marriage amendment to the Virginia Constitution. Why did this citizen of the 20^th Century suddenly decide to start writing a blog? Well, frankly, I was kind of frustrated by the fact that the Richmond Times-Dispatch never published any of my letters to the editor. One day in October 2006, I shouted, “Who needs the stinking Times-Dispatch; I will self-publish.” And, as they say, the rest is history.

I have never worried too much about who is reading James River Maven. I always write to an imaginary trusted loyal reader. Sometimes I even address the reader as the only one who is reading the blog. All was well; I was happy; and then…

This week, while using a search engine to find one of my posts, I found a page from "URLmetrics" rankng my blog. It said that James River Maven was the 3,744,686 ranked website in the United States. Let me say this another way—there are 3,744,685 websites in the country ranked higher than mine. I seem to be trending, but in the wrong direction. What a revolting development this is!

Now, I have to admit that I have no idea what the URL ranking means. Does it mean that 3¾ million websites have better content than James River Maven? Does it mean that 3¾ million websites are better written than James River Maven? Does it mean that 3¾ million websites are more frequently read than James River Maven? I do not know. But I do know that my 3,744,686 ranking equates to James River Maven having an estimated worth of $793.06. (I sure hope that doesn’t change my tax status).

A bigger man than the maven would search his soul to try to determine what is lacking in his blog. Not me! I will use the philosophy of a well-known local politician who I heard say, not too long ago, that when a candidate loses, it is not his fault but the fault of his supporters. So, I come to the inevitable conclusion that it is your fault, loyal reader, that I am not ranked higher. It is obvious to me that you simply do not read each of my entries enough times; you do not spread my fame to your friends either by Facebook or Twitter; you have not become a follower of the maven; you have not urged your friends and acquaintances to become followers. 

Trusted reader, I must turn to you to do the right thing. Only you can save the maven from the embarrassing 3,744,686^th place. You need to read each of my posts at least 100 times. You must tell all your friends, both real and virtual, that James River Maven is the place to be. You need to become my follower and to urge others to do the same.

Who knows, if you come to my rescue, I might start trending in the right direction. I might even become a virus. And, maybe, just maybe, in the near future I may be ranked number 2,000,000.