Wednesday, March 9, 2016

MTBFR 7th Anniversary contest!



I know that George hates ticker-tape parades, but it is time to celebrate around here!   As of today Meet the Beatles...for Real has been around for 7 years!!!  


I get asked frequently about how I started the blog so now is a good time to repeat the story.   Just skip ahead if you have already heard it.     Back in 2009 I was going through a difficult time in life.   I had gotten divorced very suddenly and unexpectedly in July of 2008.   By March of 2009, the dust had settled and I found myself feeling very lonely and sorry for myself.   So I decided that I needed to find a hobby.    I had been collecting Beatles photographs for many years and I actually had a blog on my Myspace page where I shared Beatles photos and did reviews of Beatles books.     The photos that I always liked the most were the ones taken by the fans.   So on March 9, 2009 I decided on just a spur of the moment thing to start up a blogger account and share some of the photos I had in my files of photos of the Beatles that were taken by fans.     I enjoyed seeing the photos all together on the site and I thought my Beatle friends would enjoy it as well.     And that was the humble beginnings of the blog.


Today I have close to 3 million hits on the blog.    I average about 1,500 hits a day.   People from the United States, Canada, England, Brazil, Australia, Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Israel, Argentina, Netherlands, Spain, India and Mexico (and I am sure there are others) have visited over the past 7 years.     Most people have found the blog through a google search where they have looked for things such as "Meet the Beatles for Real,"  "Beatles Photo Blog,"  "Friar Park"  "Julian Lennon's birthday,"  "Paul McCartney wedding,"  "Beatles in concert,"  "Kyoko Ono Cox,"  and many, many other searches.   Other of you have found it through facebook or Miss Tammy's Beatles Photo Blog.

Back in 2009 most people used Firefox and now I see a switch to Chrome.     The most popular post remains the one about Paul Goresh with the ones about Beatle fans peeing their pants in concert in 2nd place.    I knew that every year whenever Paul McCartney tours, the post I did on what to expect at a Paul McCartney sound check is going to spike in numbers.   I also know that whenever someone in the Beatles family passes away, the numbers sadly go up.  

Through this blog friends have been reunited, families have found long lost photos, and people have been able to share and remember things that have long been forgotten.    Bad things have also happened over the years.   I have been made fun of, been called a liar and had someone spread some very unkind things about me on another site.    I also have been threatened with two law suits over the years.    But over all things have been amazing.  

I just have to say a big thank you to each of you that visit this  blog.    While I never claim to do it for anyone but myself, it is nice to share the experience with each and every one of you.    As a thank you and in celebration of the 7th anniversary,  I am having a contest for 3 prize packages:


Package 1:   Copy of the book Shoulda Been There by Jude Southernland Kessler---autographed by the author.   A tye-dyed coaster from the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.   $10 Gift card to Amazon.com

Package 2:  Copy of the book "Recording Sgt. Pepper" by Tracks (lots of amazing photos in the book!).   A purple bracelet from the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.  $10 Gift card to Amazon.com

Package 3:  Teen Life Magazine (September 1967), Teen Screen Magazine (Nov. 1965).  $10 Gift Card from Amazon.  

I might find other goodies to include in these packages.   You never know!


To enter this contest all you have to do is send an email to meetthebeatlesforreal@gmail.com  and say that you want to enter the contest  Between now and April 4, 2016.    I will assign everyone that enters a number and will use a random internet number generator to pick the three winners.

This contest will end on April 4, 2016 at 8:00pm (Central Time) when the winners names will be announced on this blog.   The winner has five (5) days to contact me with his/her mailing address.  If I do not hear from the winner after the 5th day, the prize is forfeited .    Please note that I can only receive emails from the above address, but I cannot send emails from it.   You will not hear from me.  Only one entry per household.  This contest is open to anyone anywhere.  

Good luck!



9 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Email sent.
    And happy anniversary! Your every new post is a thrill.

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  3. this site is the best and thank you Sara

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  4. Congratulations on the milestone - and thank you so much for all of your hard work, effort and time spent sharing the photos and stories you post with fellow Beatlemaniacs.

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  5. FELICIDADES SARA! DESDE ARGENTINA, TU SITIO ME ENCANTA! :)

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  8. Great work Sara! Congratulations and thank you for your great blog. Every time I visit I see something unexpected and nice!

    LeftyBass

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  9. I am way overdue, I lost my internet for a week, and have been super busy for a second week so I've missed much.....

    I love what you wrote, you really took stock of things! The connections and remembrances of first generation fans are my favorite. Right now, if I look to my right and see the latest comments, I see a beautiful one someone left, on an ancient post, about how one of the girls was his girfriend and they were dating throughout the Beatle years....that comment may stay up there for years before someone else answers it....it's almost ghostly and eerie....but as a second generation fan, and seeing all the third...and fourth! generation fans, so utterly mesmerized, lifelong, by this thing, by this group....we're all the same....we have frickin' the BEST taste in music!!!!

    Sara, you put in so much hard work. I have helped you type a few of these things, and it's alot of work, the fact that you have been doing this, daily, for SEVEN YEARS, is really starting to be an act of heroism. It has become an indispensable resource for me, and a daily one at that, like one reads the paper.....then checks out MTBFR.

    Thank you, forever, for all the COUNTLESS times this blog has taken my breath away, made me laugh, made me weep....it's even made me angry, but always passionately angry. And never at you and your efforts!

    Lastly, knowing that Mark Lewhisohn also refers to this blog (and one can see why)....I almost am afraid to comment, lest someone's IMPORTANT comment gets bumped and then Mark might never get to see it

    Lastly, I have to really say: Lizzie Bravo, I'm sure everybody will attest: she's our favorite commenter!!! I am ulcerating in anticipation to read your book! Thank you so much, for your invaluable input and generous remembrances...I can't count the amount of times I've looked at a fantastic picture (like the recent one of Linda Bruce with John) only to see that you've left us a comment, telling us all about (like the fact that her name is Linda Bruce! And the whole backstory!).

    If a picture tells a thousand words....and there's thousands of pictures of the Beatles......what does that mean? I don't know....I just know this blog is the greatest thing ever on the internet. Thank you, forever and ever and ever, Sara.

    PS: Pics of Beatlefans, that's another one of my favorite things on the blog!!!

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