Aug 31 2009

PPTNinja.com — First Year Blogiversary!

One year of blogging! (c)iStockphoto / Sandra O'Claire

One year of blogging! (c)iStockphoto / Sandra O'Claire

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since my very first article in which I compared PowerPoint presentations to sushi. Since then I churned out sixty-five more articles over the course of several late nights and weekends (no more Xbox Live). I’ve enjoyed blogging a lot and look forward to adding more articles in the future as long as my wife and kids allow me to.

I actually blog on two blogs now — this one as well as a corporate blog (Data-Driven by Design) for my company, Omniture. Having the double responsibility has made it difficult to update this blog as much as I’d like. I feel fortunate to blog about two different areas — PowerPoint and web analytics — that I’m really passionate about.

I thought it would be fun to highlight some of the articles of the past 12 months in hopes that a past article might catch your eye and be valuable to you. Let’s start with the ten most popular articles since I started blogging.

Ten Most Popular Articles

For one reason or another these articles have been the most popular articles on my site since I started a year ago. I’m both surprised by what was popular and what articles failed to crack the top ten.

  1. How to Create a Sexy Curved Arrow in PowerPoint
  2. How to Reduce and Simplify Bullet Points in PowerPoint
  3. Background Basics for Effective Corporate Templates
  4. PowerPoint Color Transparency Tip
  5. Shape Resizing Issue in PowerPoint 2007
  6. Create a Cut-Out Effect in PowerPoint
  7. Make Your Pie Charts Pop in PowerPoint 2007
  8. PowerPoint Template Secret Sauce
  9. Why Most Corporate Presentation Templates Stink
  10. Content Staging: Propel Your Slide Content Higher

Five Most Commented Articles

It’s always great when you get comments — even just an occasional “atta boy” or “keep it up”. The following articles generated the most chatter from website visitors:

  1. Shape Resizing Issue in PowerPoint 2007
  2. How to Reduce and Simplify Bullet Points in PowerPoint
  3. PowerPoint 2007: What is Missing-in-Upgrade (MIU)?
  4. Redmond, We Have a Problem: Freeform Drawing in PowerPoint
  5. Content Staging: Propel Your Slide Content Higher

Five Underappreciated Articles

Sometimes articles are unexpectedly popular. Other times articles that I thought would be popular aren’t. Here are some articles that I feel may be worth a second look:

  1. The Golden Rule of PowerPoint Presentations
  2. Enter the PowerPoint Design Triangle
  3. Five Keys to Creating Effective PowerPoint Animations Part I & II
  4. PowerPoint Design Principle #2: Control
  5. 8 Tips for Effective Team PowerPoint Presentations

Five Funnest Articles to Write

I always try to have fun when I write any PowerPoint article. Sometimes I need to cover a topic that isn’t necessarily that fun to write about. I remember enjoying writing these articles:

  1. Ten Commandments of PowerPoint Ninjutsu
  2. Attack of the Bad Presenters! Part I & II
  3. 13 Ways to Quickly Derail a PowerPoint Presentation Part I & II
  4. PowerPoint Slides are Like Sushi Part I & II
  5. PowerPoint 2007: What is Missing-in-Upgrade (MIU)?

Thanks to all of the readers of my blog. I’m looking forward to lots of great new content over the next 12 months.

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17 Responses to “PPTNinja.com — First Year Blogiversary!”

  1. Greg Friese says:
    August 31st, 2009 6:34 pm

    Happy Birthday and keep up the great work. How about adding screencasts of techniques in this next year. I am finding http://screenr.com really easy to use for quick screencasts.

    Reply
  2. pptninja says:
    August 31st, 2009 7:40 pm

    Great suggestion, Greg. I definitely explore that option this next year. Sometimes I think it would be easiest to just show, rather than explain. Perhaps I’ll do both.

    Cheers,
    Brent.

    Reply
  3. Andrew says:
    August 31st, 2009 9:08 pm

    Congratulations on a great first year, Brent. I look forward to many more years of insightful articles.

    Reply
  5. Jan Schultink says:
    August 31st, 2009 10:07 pm

    Congratulations. Keep the articles coming Brent!

    Reply
  6. pptninja says:
    August 31st, 2009 10:39 pm

    Thanks Jan. I’m probably not going to be as prolific as you, but I’ll keep’em coming. :)

    Reply
  7. Tomas says:
    September 1st, 2009 9:15 am

    Congratulations on the Blogiversary Brent and keep them coming! :)

    Reply
  9. Patrick says:
    September 2nd, 2009 7:08 am

    Congratulations on your first year and good luck in the coming ones!

    Reply
  11. Sam Thatte says:
    September 5th, 2009 12:16 am

    Congratulations Ninja!
    I truly enjoy your blog and you have helped me on many occasions, Thank you!
    Keep up the great work. You are a true professional.
    Regards,
    Sam

    Reply
  12. pptninja says:
    September 5th, 2009 11:23 pm

    Thanks for your kind words, Sam.

    Reply
  13. Vivek Singh says:
    September 8th, 2009 5:46 am

    Hi Brent,

    Congratulations on the anniversary.
    Have enjoyed your stuff a lot.
    Most importantly, keep writing.

    Vivek

    Reply
  15. Adam Greco says:
    September 10th, 2009 11:01 pm

    Keep up the great work!!

    Reply
  16. Tony Ramos says:
    September 17th, 2009 10:19 am

    A belated happy anniversary to your blog! You make me want to be a better bloggger. No joke — kudos to you.

    Just keep in mind: I was first. 😉 http://tonyramos.com/Presentations%20Weblog.htm

    Reply
  17. pptninja says:
    September 17th, 2009 8:09 pm

    Thanks Tony. Wow! You’re an ancient blogger. :)

    Reply

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