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Another Year Passes


10 years ago 0 1985 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hello Penitent
 
You are what fulfills your heart and your dreams.  Smokeless for nine years, gives you a healthy heart and does fulfill your wildest dreams, does it not?  To be part of the chain gain and then severe yourself from it, speaks of your inner strength and strong will to do so.  Like all good quitters, we quit, amend.  Please do continue to sponsor those in need of your knowledge and quitting expertise. Remember you helped me tame the times, back in the wild west of 2006.  What would the world be without you? 
 
Give your strength and help to heal thosefree themselves of the chains.
 
My free will and that's where we are
 
 
Stickin to it and why not
10 years ago 0 2534 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
To all my fellow quitters on this thread plus Josie, Vincenza and Ashley, a final thank you and a quote to ponder:-
 
"The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph" - Thomas Paine
 
Very apt and very accurate.
 
 
 
 
 
 
  • Quit Meter

    $56,815.00

    Amount Saved

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    Days: 1125 Hours: 9

    Minutes: 19 Seconds: 3

    Life Gained

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    5165

    Smoke Free Days

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    113,630

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10 years ago 0 39 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Sorry Penitent,
                       My bad! ...I wasn't thinking! Once again Congrats amazing accomplishment!
10 years ago 0 11214 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi Smokefree 76,

Thank you for all your thoughtful posts. I am forwarding them to our CEO If you would like to post more thoughts on this can you please create a new thread so we can reserve this one for celebrating Penitent's amazing 9 year anniversary?
 
CONGRATS Penitent you are amazing!

For the record, all the Health Educators are paid and not volunteers.

We get our funding from companies who licence our programs support groups and screeners. Since this site is a Beta or Demo site we do not need to promote it; however, we have been thinking about making some changes via google searches and your posts gives us that extra push. Perhaps we can make some changes when we have developer time.

Thanks so much again for all your thoughts. 
Ashley, Health Educator
10 years ago 0 39 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hehe
 
           If I have your approval then will do!  Lets get down to business then!  I am not trying to be some smartass that comes in here to change the system and how things work around here but let me point out a few things....
 
If you look at what's really going on here on this website.  It's much, much more then getting people to quit and educate people.  If you look at any other stop smoking website out there if you google.  Nothing rivals this site.  No other site goes to the extreme this site goes through to ensure that the moment someone signs up that they have a better chance to succeed on their journey to quit not just smoking but other health issues linking this site to other sites. 
 
Between the program this site has set up, the links to other sights (alcohol, stress management, fitness and well being etc...), free imaginary boat rides when you hit 50 day smoke free, the little box that tells you how many cigs you avoided, how much time of your life saves, etc, the phone app. the tools, blogs, appearance of the site......I can go on and on!  Most important are the health educators.  Let me point out there are not just one but three health educators. I am not sure if these health educators get paid or  are they just volunteers, but these are people that spent tens of thousands if not hundred of thousands of dollars for their education, to log onto this site as health advisors to this site.....
 
That being said let me put this all into perspective.  I went to the very  first posts of this entire site.  It dates back to 2002, although the site originated in 2000.  If we are talking this site being up since 2002, the person, persons, group, or company went through great lengths, time and dedication to put this entire site and its linking sites together.  In order for this site to be up and running with all it's features and for how long its been up it takes a lot of money!  I mean a lot of money.  This site was intended so that when a member signs up they have the best possible chance to succeed!  The money involved into this site makes other quit smoking/health education site look like a joke.
 
So here my two-sense.  Just going through threads I notice that majority of the members of this site are regulars.  What I mean by regulars are its members are people that signed up months and years, ago.  Very rare that I see fresh new member that actually signed up as a member in 2013.  We are well into 2013. If you look at any given months in the new users forum.  You only get a handful of new members, and the words and encouragements and active posters are the same exact people.  The I would say more then 1/2 of those new member disappear after 1-2 days, never to be seen again.  No more post from them.
 
All I see are older members that have been part of this sight for months,  1 year, 2 year, 3 years and majority of the active thread users are these people.  Even the most recent posters are well into months of their quits.  My whole point here is you have a bunch of people months, years, and even decades logging on to encourage each other to say smoke free. Although that's great but reality is as time goes on you find a whole of nonsmokers encouraging each other.   So my whole point if you are talking about inactivity, that's simply because you get the same active people logging on day after day, months after months, and even year after year encouraging each other, but there are no new people to encourage.  
 
At some point the regulars are going to get tired of logging on only to see the same people to encourage them to stop a habit they already kicked.  From a business point of view, there are simply not enough new members signing up so that the guys that been there and done that to have new people to mentor, share their stories, and encourage.
 
As a new member to the site and being part of two other sites.  I see how special this place is.  I just don't want to log on one day and not see it here. 
 
Maybe I am just stressing and overthinking this too much!
 
 
10 years ago 0 2534 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Great analysis Smokefree! All I can say is, if it helps you keep off the cigs, just keep analysing! Welcome to day 36 and good luck!
 
Luna! I could see you up on the hill with the cavalry, was just waiting for you to ride into town! And now you are here, thanks!
 
9 years huh? Who'd a thunk it!! In 38 days time it will be your turn!
 
Dance? For sure! Are they the opening bars to our Frankie that I can hear...........................? XXX
 
 
  
 
 
  • Quit Meter

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    Days: 1125 Hours: 9

    Minutes: 19 Seconds: 3

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    5165

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    113,630

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10 years ago 0 97 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi Pen!
 
Sorry to be a few days late on parade (I know you won't be too surprised).
 
Congratulations on nine years- hard to believe it has been that long. Fancy a spin on the floor?!
 
Much Love, Luna
xxxooo 
  • Quit Meter

    $170,306.25

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    Days: 6616 Hours: 21

    Minutes: 1 Seconds: 1

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    Smoke Free Days

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10 years ago 0 39 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hi ,
 
         Congratz once again!  I am glad I am here, found this site, and able to read all these amazing success stories!
 
Lets get into Goggle.  As per wikipedia goggle "The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997". So if you are talking 1997 to 2004 goggle realistically was in it's infant stage.  This site was up and running in year 2000. It makes total sense that this site if you goggle "Stop Smoking"  would show up closer to the top of the list rather then end of the list in the year 2004 . 2000(when this site was up) to 2004 that's only 4 years. There were less numbers of sites out there that started with the name "Stop Smoking" in 2004.  That was nearly a decade ago.  If you are talking shear numbers of sites that have been created that start with "Stop Smoking"  we are talking tens of thousands, possibly into the hundred of thousands from 2004 to 2013.  Also goggle is a search engine that takes into account how many users actually click a site.  So that being said the more a user clicks on a domain name the closer you are towards the top of the list.  The main thing is the name of the site.  When a person goes on to goggle they are going to be specific.  Say a person wants to find information on a Golden Retriever. We all know a Golden Retriever is a dog. Simply pressing in Dog isn't going to bring up information on a Golden Retriever. It might be the tenth link on the page, the hundredth, or more if you are simply pressing in dog.
 
So lets get to the words "Stop Smoking"  its 2013 almost 10 years from 2004.   A lot has happen and many site have been created that starts with "Stop Smoking"  Today you have to be more specific in your search.
 
Lets get down to business...
 
Here are threes choices if you were going to search for a stop smoking support site...tell me which on you would come to mind first....
 
A.  Stop Smoking Center
B.  Stop Smoking Forum
C. Quit Smoking Forum
 
The word center to me is a place that you would physically go to.  The word forum to me means a place online open for discussion.
 
All I am saying is if you did a survey and asked 100 people to finish two phrases if you they were looking for a stop smoking online support site....
 
Quit smoking________.    Stop smoking_________.
 
What is the is number of people would use "Center" vs "Forum"
 
I love working with numbers.  If you are talking about the difference of how many people come across this site using goggle per day.  From a business point of view if you adding the word forum to the name of the site that makes a huge difference.  I am talking about major numbers.  You are talking about maybe going from 50 people coming across this site weekly to possibly hundred and thousands.  Say this site's name was "Stop Smoking Center and Forum"  Just having the word forum in it propels the site up the list.  Even if the site went from the 20th on the list to 19th on the list you give yourself a better chance at a member.
 
I hope this all makes sense. 
 
 
10 years ago 0 2534 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
A big thank you to my fellow quitters who have been kind enough to take the time to respond to my most recent landmark; there are many more landmarks to be passed, on this joyous and fruitful non-smoking road. It pleases me to know that you all will pass them too, if only you keep doing what you have been doing so successfully to date.
 
The recent new wave of SSC quitters cheers me as recent times have resembled the doldrums somewhat. If this current wind continues to pick up, we may recreate the Roaring Forties of earlier times. Believe me they were fun! And they made quitting that much easier!
 
Mach - glad you made it buddy! It's been hard but your determination shines through.
 
breather - classy, coming on 5 years. Immense and a valuable member of the site who keeps coming back! Thanks Don
 
Working On It & Roses - many congratulations on your recent one year marks. Big anniversary and evidence that you both have this nasty habit beaten.
 
Lolly - what can I say - your 9 years is on the horizon so we will soon be celebrating that mark too!
 
VIV - well done on 4 months. It should be getting easier and you should be very proud of what you have achieved so far.
 
Sparky - like Mach, you've been around a long time and struggled to make it stick. Like Mach, I think you've cracked it this time! How does 50 days feel?! Should feel great!
 
Smokefree76 - I like the posting boost that you have given the site. Rejuvenating. 35 days is wonderful. For the record, I googled "Stop Smoking"  back in 2004 and this was the first site it gave me!!!
 
Sly - Love the way you've done it as 9 months rolls round. Well Done!
 
Jim - Clink, Clink indeed! Any time you are in London or Connecticut, catching up over a suitably refreshing libation sounds just grand to me. Thanks for all that you do here.
 
Good Luck Peeps & Thank You!!
Penitent x
 
JKOKO 
 
 
 
 
  • Quit Meter

    $56,815.00

    Amount Saved

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    Days: 1125 Hours: 9

    Minutes: 19 Seconds: 4

    Life Gained

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    5165

    Smoke Free Days

  • Quit Meter

    113,630

    Cigarettes Not Smoked

10 years ago 0 2778 logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo logo 0
Hey Pen!!!
 
      Huge congrats and happy anniversary!  I still hope to CLINK with you one of these years, buddy!  Have yourself a nice reward!
 
      CHEERS! 
 
           Jim
  • Quit Meter

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    Days: 1060 Hours: 0

    Minutes: 29 Seconds: 35

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    5905

    Smoke Free Days

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