The Top 10 LiveHacked.com Posts of 2012

Merry Christmas! 

I wanted to celebrate the last 10 days of 2012 with a special 10-day series. I’m calling it Top 10 Top 10, as it will be 10 “top 10” lists in a row.

These lists will comprise the “best of,” “worst of,” and “notable” things, books, blogs, blog posts, and other random stuff that makes up what 2012 was for LiveHacked.com.

Since we got our “official” start this year, it’s been a whirlwind of activity and growth. With it, naturally, came headaches, problems, and related “growth issues,” but that’s all part of the deal.

So, without further ado, I give you the first in the Top 10 Top 10 series:

The Top 10 LiveHacked.com Posts of 2012

The posts will be listed in ascending order, from least-visited to most-visited. All the data is from Google Analytics and the WordPress Dashboard stats widget. As most of the posts were written sometime after April 2012, the stats are effective for that date onward.

Also, I’ve linked to each one because it’s never too late to leave a comment!

#10. How to Learn ANYTHING Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible (1,505 reads)

This post was extremely fun to write, as it required loads of research and YouTube surfing. Basically, the idea behind “super knowledge” is to choose a topic, then write down everything you can think of on that subject.

Don’t hold back — it’s a brainstorming session on steroids, and the idea is to naturally find the “holes” in your knowledge of the subject.

While it’s not a guaranteed “genius maker,” I’d bet that it’s a strategy you’d never thought of or were allowed to use in school!

#9. How to Find the Perfect Audience for Your Book, and then Sell it to Them (2,274 reads)

Again, one of my favorites — it details the process I use and recommend for authors interested in more than just writing for themselves.

If you’re an author, writer, or even a businessperson who has something to say, read this post. It goes over the importance of and the process for building a mailing list, and how to effectively use it to build sales and leads.

#8. Selling Books: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need (2,421 reads)

I love the title of this post, because it’s at once totally snarky and overreaching but also true at the same time.

I wanted to write an “all-inclusive” post on selling books — which is of course impossible — and this is what came out.

#7. Great Thrillers: Books Like James Rollins’ (2,579 reads)

I’m laughing as I write this, because I just noticed that this post ended up in the “Productivity” category. While some authors might consider “reading thrillers” productive, I think it’s probably not… Certainly beneficial, or at least helpful, but productive?

Anyway, the post is a good rundown of some of the other books I’ve read that are similar to the type written by my favorite author (James Rollins).

Honestly, I’m a little surprised it made the list, but I guess it’s Google SEO working its magic…

#6. How to Read Faster and Understand More (3,060 reads)

Going with the original business model for LiveHacked.com — write about lifestyle and life hacking — this post was an easy winner for me. I tried to inject some humor and honesty into a real-world problem: people hate reading now, for some reason.

Even though I don’t think I’d ever get to the 1,000/year mark, I have increased my reading speed considerably using these steps. Give it a shot!

#5. How to Make Reading A Habit (3,176 reads) 

Another great article on reading, and some tips on how to do more of it. It’s part “pro-reading rally,” part “habit setting 101,” but either way it’s a good post.

Also, it walks the “haters” (people who hate reading) through how to get over their funk and jump into a reading habit.

#4. Scrivener: An Introduction to Novel Writing (3,727 reads)

When I started using Scrivener, I didn’t really know much about it. I’d heard of it and seen some screenshots, but only when I jumped in and started writing with it did I understand the true power of this beast.

This post is a true intro to the product: it’s meant to help get you up and running quickly and easily and without worrying about some of the more advanced features (of which there are many!).

#3. Scrivener: The Ultimate Guide to Exporting Ebooks (Kindle, ePub, etc.) (4,655 reads)

What’s most amazing about this and #1 is that they were only written within the past few months!

That means that people are super-interested in Scrivener (cool), super-interested in what I have to say (cooler!), or the site is starting to “take off” (coolest!). Whatever the case, I’m excited that so many people are jumping to Scrivener — it’s a helluva program, and it really will take your writing to the next level!

#2. In Search of the Perfect Steak Recipe (7,633 reads)

I’m really happy with this one — not because it’s the perfect steak recipe (although it is…), but because I totally was trying to “SEO-ify” the post.

I wanted to rank for “perfect steak recipe,” and I did.

Quite well, in fact.

Seriously, though — if you’re looking for a great holiday steak recipe, try this one out!

#1. Using Scrivener and Evernote to Write Your Book (24,065 reads)

Boom. 24,000 reads?!?

You’ve got to be kidding me!

I had maybe 24,000 visits in the years leading up to this, and now one post has that many?

Dang. Well, it’s a cool post, I guess, complete with a video of yours truly yapping about how I’ve set up my Scrivener workflow.

That’s all, folks. 

So there you have it. The Top 10 LiveHacked.com Blog Posts of 2012. It’s quite the list, huh?

Let me know what you think in the comments, and tomorrow we’ll look at another Top 10 post! Woohoo!