So a couple weeks ago (sheesh, can’t believe its taken me so long to blog about this already), my friend Alex De Carvalho and I decided we were going to make a wager over who could improve their traffic and audience the most in a year.  So I figured as matter of public record I would document this all here and now.

In 1 year from the bet’s starting point (April 1, 2010), we will measure our google analytics traffic and try and see who has grown the most relative to their previous year’s starting traffic.  The loser of the bet must purchase a case of the finest malted and fermented hops and yeast the winner so desires (aka a case of beer).

So why are we doing this? Well its self serving for each us, but since we are both highly vocal members of the south florida tech community (we’re pretty much at the nexus of most of it), it should help the community out as well.

So what are the basic ground rules? They are simple:

1. No unethical SEO tricks (aka blackhat stuff)
2. No copyright or law breaking can be involved.
3. Everything has to be documented and made transparent (though not immediately, you gotta be able to retain some competitive edge)
4. You are allowed, if not encouraged, to use as much social media as possible to win.

So with that in mind, you are also welcome to participate in this quest for increased audiences and minor internet celebrity. Just follow along and post in the comments your site, and your progress.

Note the bet is between each of our respective online “brands” BrianBreslin.com and AlexDC.org.  Alex was ahead of me in overall traffic and stats at the beginning of this wager, who knows what will happen at the end.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on how to improve my audience and traffic, feel free to chime in here, or email them to me brianbreslin [at] gmail.com thanks!