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BirchTree Just Turned 6!

Posted by Matt Birchler
— 3 min read

Today marks the sixth anniversary of BirchTree 🎉. I'm frankly shocked this little hobby has lasted as long as it has, as the web is littered with old blogs I started and wrote 1-3 posts before giving up.

I started this site when I was 24 years old, was just out of college and recently married. Back then, a good day meant this site got 10 readers. Seriously, I had an email alert set up that I would get a message if my views hit double digits. But I kept with it and I'm glad that I did. Today, writing on BirchTree is just a part of my life. I literally feel uneasy when I go more than a day or two without posting anything. My two major addictions in life are coffee and writing for BirchTree.

For those cusious, I posted 336 pieces to the site in its sixth year. Not quite one post a day, but pretty darn close.

There have been 2 big things I've been rewarded with for sticking with this project and pushing incredibly hard for it to be a success.

First is the people I have met along the way. The Apple community is a largely wonderful place with tons of passionate people with strongly held beliefs. I love talking to random people online about this stuff, and I have made some good friends in the process. You know who you are, so thank you.

The second reward has been that writing this often has improved my writing skills dramatically. I won't go so far as to say I'm a great writer, but I'm definitely better than most. It sounds like a boast, and I hate bragging about myself, but considering most people almost never write for pleasure, it would be a little distressing if I wasn't at least above average. This is helpful in writing pieces for the site, but it also means my corporate communication is better, and my email game is pretty damn solid. I can take a message and put it to paper without much headache.

Thank you so much for reading and subscribing to BirchTree! 2016 was unquestionably the best year the site has ever had, and I have no intentions of slowing down. You can follow BirchTree by subscribing to it via RSS, following the @_BirchTree Twitter account, or just following me on Twitter @mattbirchler.

For a retrospective, I've included a list of some of my favorite piece I've written since this time last year.

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