As I continue to look back at five years of blogging, I’m still amazed at what happened on October 7, 2008.

But before we get to October, the story starts back in late August 2008 when I was guest blogging over at Overlawyered.com — one of the oldest law blogs around.  I posted a story about a lawsuit filed by some wrestlers who claimed that they were treated as independent contractors, rather than employees.

The story was popular at the time.

But it paled in comparison to my post back here in October.  You see, the employer filed a motion to dismiss in federal court.

Attached to that motion? A copy of the actual booking contracts for several wrestlers which most people had never seen.  I downloaded those contracts and ended up posting a link to them on my site.

No big deal, I thought.  Until three days later, the post was picked up by various wrestling fan sites. And went viral. In a hurry.  By day’s end, the blog had received over 20,000 visits.

While  other posts have been popular from time to time, nothing has quite achieved that notoriety.

Last year, I did experience the force of the internet again with a video I posted about Tropical Storm Irene on YouTube. Although it didn’t make it to the blog and wasn’t quite as popular as the “Call Me Maybe” song (244 MILLION views??), that video alone has garnered nearly 100,000 views. 

So, the next time someone asks how to attract viewers to their site, here’s my advice: Have a video of wrestlers. Preferably lip-syncing to “Call Me Maybe”.  In a storm.