An Awesome WordPress.com Success Story
When Neil Pasricha started his WordPress.com blog, 1,000 Awesome Things, he decided to highlight one awesome thing each weekday to help him keep a positive outlook.
That was three years ago, and now, the awesomeness just keep rolling on in for Neil: He has not only become a successful blogger and earned three Webby awards, he also can consider himself a critically acclaimed author. 
“The Book of Awesome” went on sale last month and was warmly received by reviewers.
“Now I’m writing a page-a-day calendar, meeting with TV producers, and basically trying to catch my completely spinning head,” Neil says of his success.
All this and Neil has still got 505 more awesome things to blog about!
Congrats, Neil, and we wish similarly awesome success to all our WordPress.com bloggers.
May 28th at 6:52 pm
Great news!
It’s terrific to read how social networking can directly lead to business successes beyond the crass and the ordinary and into greater exaltation.
May 28th at 6:55 pm
That is awesome!
May 28th at 6:55 pm
Fantabulous news! Congrats, Neil
May 28th at 6:56 pm
Really great news. Well done!
May 28th at 6:56 pm
I’ve been following Neil’s site religiously for over a year now and he deserves every bit of success that’s sent his way. Way to go, Neil. You are truly…
AWESOME!
May 28th at 6:59 pm
Awesome. I love a positive outlook.
May 28th at 7:03 pm
I’ve also been reading this blog for a while and I’m thrilled at what he’s achieved! Well done!
May 28th at 7:05 pm
Congrats! What a great job! I’m so happy for you Neil.
May 28th at 7:07 pm
Just one example of how WordPress can transform people’s lives!
May 28th at 7:07 pm
Great news, congratulations on getting the book published. Also would like to wish all the bloggers out there good luck
May 28th at 7:08 pm
I am so happy for you Neil! You deserve it! It’s wonderful when being positive about life is not only rewarding mentally and physically, but financially!
May 28th at 7:09 pm
I love success stories. Thanks for sharing. All the best…
May 28th at 7:09 pm
A job well done, is always a success story. Congrats Neil. You deserve it!
May 28th at 7:14 pm
Just a quick check of this blog. Looks very uplifting. Will definitely check out more! Congratulations, Neil!!
May 28th at 7:19 pm
Haha, that’s so great. I love it when people find things like this to blog about. The simple things that turn out to be more complex.
May 28th at 7:20 pm
It’s an excellent blog, beautifully written and genuinely funny. Neil deserves all his success and more.
I bet, though, that the day is not far off when the writers of books get offered contracts to write blogs and not the other way around…….
May 28th at 7:23 pm
How inspiring. Obviously it is awesome and I think it’s great that his blog touts a positive message.
May 28th at 7:27 pm
What a pleasure to read Neil’s blog. You get caught up in his awesome writings and smile, smile, smile.
May 28th at 7:32 pm
Always good to hear about anothers happiness.
May 28th at 7:34 pm
awesome is as awesome does
May 28th at 7:35 pm
so where could i find that book?
May 28th at 7:39 pm
Click on the photo and it will take you to his book page, which has links to where you can buy it.
May 28th at 7:38 pm
Wow, that’s awesome! I need that book!
Congrats, Neil!
May 28th at 7:38 pm
Add this to his 1000 awesome things!
May 28th at 7:42 pm
Great that he made a success of being POSITIVE, and that the world doesn’t just love the cynical and crass. I’m going to his blog right now.
May 28th at 7:43 pm
This is fabulous and exciting. Congratulations Neil.
May 28th at 7:45 pm
Awesomeness is so awesome!
May 28th at 7:53 pm
Wotcher WP Team!
Beautiful! I’m going to have to buy that book.
Cheers,
Sarah
May 28th at 7:58 pm
That is so awesome, and great news. I will check it out, praying God bless you. Nice to hear of someone doing well. Elena
May 28th at 8:03 pm
Thank for the successful story. I hope I can have those awesome things in my life. My life is kind of boring.
May 28th at 8:22 pm
Wow, congrats to him. I love reading stories about how blogging can lead to bigger and better things. Good luck, Neil!
May 28th at 8:23 pm
Congrats to him…We as writers and bloggers need inspirations like this.
May 28th at 8:28 pm
Thanks for sharing. What an inspiration….congrats, Neil!
May 28th at 8:29 pm
Yes, truly awesome…Great Job Neil…
May 28th at 8:29 pm
Truly Inspirational !! … Well done and ThankYou xx
May 28th at 8:38 pm
Awesome! Congrats.
May 28th at 8:40 pm
I’d buy that book. Cheers man!
May 28th at 8:42 pm
I love hearing WordPress.com success stories. Congratulations to Neil for this one. His positive attitude has truly paid off!
May 28th at 8:43 pm
Good for him! My efforts are a little less uplifting but I’m all for people making a career out of their blogging!
May 28th at 8:44 pm
Exciting!
May 28th at 8:48 pm
Wow, that’s awesome! I’m gonna have to check out his blog and book now! Kinda gives me hope that people out there do actually read blogs.
May 28th at 8:52 pm
Congrats on the great success!
May 28th at 8:54 pm
Neil’s blog is awesome. I visit his blog often and love his writing so much. Congrats on him
May 28th at 9:14 pm
Awesome indeed.. extraordinarily brilliant..
Congratulations Neil..
The success stories definitely give a certain high..
Cheers..!!
May 28th at 9:15 pm
Thanks for sharing the awesome things!!!
May 28th at 9:23 pm
Very cool. Ill definately start reading that blog. I wonder what he’ll do when he’s reached 1000 things.
May 28th at 9:26 pm
That is a great blog, I don’t think I’ve ever disagreed with him. It’s especially enjoyable because most blogs are extremely negative rants but he’s always positive, even when his life isn’t so swell.
May 28th at 9:54 pm
Congratulations! That is truly inspiring!
May 28th at 10:02 pm
OMG that book is just awesome ,(maybe awesomeness)
May 28th at 10:20 pm
His blog is first class and this acknowledgment to his success is well deserved.
May 28th at 10:58 pm
Wow, inspiring indeed!
May 28th at 11:28 pm
What a wonderful shot of inspiration and positivity. Congratulations, Neil! Thank you WordPress.com for sharing this. I wish for ALL WordPress.com blogs to be so successful (if they want to be!).
May 28th at 11:41 pm
What a fabulous (just to shake things up a bit) story! I look forward to checking out the blog, and maybe the book!
May 28th at 11:43 pm
Congratulations! It is good to read a success story.
May 29th at 12:01 am
I read the author’s name as “Neil Patrick Harris” at first and thought, “This doesn’t count as a success story!”
Then I realized I was wrong. Haha, congrats!
May 29th at 12:55 am
Awesome!
Just curious, how many (and which) WordPress.Com blogs have been turned into successful books? Maybe that can be your next blog post?
May 29th at 1:34 am
truth be told, since I joined wordpress, I have had more than 20 ideas what to blog about, and this does not happen in any other blog platforms I have.
Congrats!
May 29th at 1:38 am
Just made my day. Thanks for recognizing the awesome!
May 29th at 1:40 am
Indeed an interesting and awesome story! WordPress.com makes blogging quite easy and it certainly helps to have a bunch of features to help reach the audience. From watching my own “niche” readership grow and remain steady (so far) I can tell, that keeping posts mixed up is a good thing. Good luck with the book sales to Neil, if it comes out as e-book or softcover I’ll be ready to buy.
May 29th at 1:52 am
Awesome
May 29th at 2:00 am
Congratulations to Neil and to WordPress too:)
May 29th at 2:50 am
That is so cool! Congratulations. Funny how sometimes something little we do can turn into something HUGE! This inspires me.
May 29th at 2:52 am
Congrats Neil,
I want to read the book.
May 29th at 3:28 am
I am in awe of the awesomeness of all this awesome business…
May 29th at 3:29 am
And it’s only 495 awesomeness to date. AWESOME!
May 29th at 3:40 am
How wonderful! It’s nice to see success from a positive humble source.
May 29th at 3:43 am
This is really the new revolutionary way to blow right by the gatekeepers, when it comes to breaking into the publishing world. Very sincerely, congratulaions, Neil!
May 29th at 3:57 am
Congrats and well done, Neil! Thanks for sharing such an inspirational story, WordPress… nice to see a positive vibe in the blogosphere amidst all the negativity. Just started a movie blog nearly a year ago, so this is definitely something for me to aspire to. Oh, and I love the word AWESOME!
May 29th at 4:09 am
that’s a true success. And that shows what sort content wordpress.com is hosting ! Neil, Congratulations!
May 29th at 4:45 am
This is inspirational stuff. One day this will be me. One day….!
May 29th at 4:47 am
Yes very Heart Warming to know…It gives inspiration to me .
May 29th at 4:59 am
Very awesome and inspiring! Blog on Neil, keep making it awesome.
May 29th at 5:18 am
That’s awesome Neil, I wish you continued success!
Yumm-e ; )
May 29th at 5:21 am
Well done, Neil. That’s Awesome!
May 29th at 5:27 am
An inspiring success story for an ambitious newbie like me…
May 29th at 5:28 am
Thanks for shinning a light in the tunnel of life!
May 29th at 5:54 am
Whoot Whoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats!
May 29th at 6:50 am
Cool! Great job Neil you’re an inspiration congrats!
May 29th at 8:47 am
this is amazing, well done! very inspiring!
May 29th at 9:10 am
How cool congratulations!!
May 29th at 9:37 am
Well done! That’s fantastic!
May 29th at 9:46 am
Awesome cover.
May 29th at 12:10 pm
Awesome!!
We should all try to stay positive, think it, be it, dream it and most importantly, live it.
Congrats Neil.
May 29th at 12:11 pm
Wow. Congratulations! Thanx 4 the Awesome inspiration.
May 29th at 12:54 pm
Congratulations Neil! It’s so nice to read something positive.
May 29th at 1:15 pm
Sounds like an awesome blog, no pun intended. And he’s not even halfway done yet? That’s amazing.
May 29th at 2:33 pm
Big thumbs up!
May 29th at 2:44 pm
What a great story. WordPress.com to a book deal. Maybe it’s in the domain name wordPRESS.com
May 29th at 3:24 pm
This is great! Dreams do come true. Success can happen to anyone -you just have to be positive. It obviously worked for Neil. Way to go, Neil!!!!
May 29th at 3:35 pm
Good Job,Well done Keep it up.
May 29th at 3:41 pm
Congrats Neil! does that inspire you to rename your blog to “1001 Awesome” Things to include the this awesomeness (if the word exists)!!!
May 29th at 4:46 pm
Wow, thanks everybody!
I am totally honored to be in featured on WordPress. I’ve loved this massively amazing community since I started 1000 Awesome Things a couple years back. I mean, it’s just so easy and friendly to use (“Howdy” always makes me smile). Plus, whenever I asked a question in forums or drop WordPress a line with something I’m confused about (this happens often), I always get really kind and sincere advice right away.
This is a big reason why I put WordPress in the Acknowledgments of The Book of Awesome and wrote that I love how they give people all over the world a voice. I guess if we’re reading this we’re all in the lucky 20% of the world with Internet access, but I like thinking that more and more folks will get online and put themselves and their thoughts out there for us all to learn from and enjoy.
Thank you so much for all your support. Have a great weekend everyone and WordPress forever.
Neil
p.s. Here’s my past two years in a nutshell: http://1000awesomethings.com/thank-you-digg/
May 29th at 4:54 pm
Congratulations Neil! The fact that your blog and book focus on something so positive is inspiring!
May 29th at 5:12 pm
YAY! That is so cool! I am very excited for you, I wish you much awesomeness in your life
May 29th at 5:23 pm
Congrats Neil!
May 29th at 5:37 pm
I love it!
May 29th at 6:12 pm
So “blogging” does have it’s payoffs! Congratulations… I’m next! =^ )
May 29th at 7:24 pm
Wonderful! Congratulations. This is good news for ALL.
May 29th at 8:13 pm
It’s one of those things that seems so simple that it makes you ask: “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Congratulations Neil.
Philip
May 29th at 8:22 pm
Very encouraging
I hope to have similar success one day!
May 29th at 10:05 pm
That’s super great Neil! We should ALL be more positive. Thanks for being an inspiration.