Top 5 Illinois Truth Team Posts From October 2014

October 2014 was the highest traffic month here on the Truth Team, so we first wanted to say 'thank you' to all of the readers who have come to check out our coverage and engaged with us online.

We thought it would be worthwhile to document the top 5 stories of the month.  These are the stories that had the most social shares, readers, and attention paid to them over the past 31 days.

TOP 5 MOST-READ STORIES IN OCTOBER 2014 ON ILLINOIS TRUTH TEAM

5.  Trust A Retired Marine...Not the "Madigan Machine":   Where we revealed the latest Paul Schimpf for Illinois Attorney General radio ad.

4.  Governor Pat Quinn Asks If Buying Votes With Taxpayer Money Is A Crime?: Where we chronicle how Illinois Governor Pat Quinn's spokesperson wonders if 'buying votes' #IsACrime?!?

3.  Look Who's In the Background At The Quinn/Obama Rally in Chicago: Where we reveal the sad fact that Mike Frerichs - candidate for Illinois Treasurer - was caught holding up a 'Meet Mike Frerichs' sign at the Obama/Quinn rally.

2.  How Tall Is Politician Mike Frerichs?: Where we tell voters there are more important questions about Mike Frerichs than just wondering what his height really is during this election time.

1.  Like a Boomer Mom With A New iPhone, Mike Frerichs Insists On Posting Blurry Pictures on Facebook: Where we goof on Mike Frerichs for acting like our mother by posting a ridiculously blurry photo on Facebook.  (as is his standard practice!)

Wow! Most Posts Ever On Truth Team This Month

We knew things would pick up as we came close to Election Day here in Illinois, but with a day+ to go, the month of October 2014 is going to be our biggest month in terms of post volume.

177 posts.  Wow.  We wouldn't be doing this if it didn't matter so much.

Voters have a big chance to make a big difference on Tuesday.  Do your part.  Vote for good candidates.

One Week Left To Make An Impact On The Election

What are you doing in the remaining days to help your candidates win?  Get your yard signs up, talk to your neighbors and make sure you lend a hand to the statewide organization at htttp://onerepublican.gop.

Make everyday count!

Illinois Truth Team Hits Traffic Milestone

With 10+ days to go in the month, we're pleased to report that traffic to the Illinois Truth Team has just hit our 'high water mark'.  We've already surpassed the total traffic, sessions, visits, and pageviews for the month of September and we have 10 more days to go.

Thanks to all of you readers who keep tuning into our coverage.  We'll be sure to stay on top of all things Illinois politics in the remaining couple of weeks until the November 4th General Election.

Our 1000th Post! Thank you Truth Team Readers!

It took us a little bit over two years (June 2012 to July 2014) to get to 500 posts here on the Truth Team.

But it has take us less than three months to pile on an additional 500 posts bringing our total coverage to 1000 posts (including this one!).

Our coverage this fall has certainly picked up and our output of posts have, too.   And that's because this election on November 4th here in Illinois means so much to the future of our state.

We have good candidates up and down the ballot running for a wide range of offices.  From Governor to Treasurer to Comptroller all the way down to County Boards all across Illinois.

The purpose of the Illinois Truth Team has been very simple from the beginning:

1.  Get the facts.
2.  Help good candidates.
3.  Turn Illinois around.

We've been trying to stay true to that mission and thanks to all of you - our readers and tipsters - we've started to have an impact.  We can't say 'thank you' enough to all of you for tuning in each and every day.  We get a big portion of our traffic via search queries and we welcome those people from around the state and world who are tuning into these candidates and issues.  But, there is a strong core of folks who read the Truth Team EVERYDAY.  It is you guys who keep us going.

There are 17 days and 22 hours until the polls open.  And...in that time, we're going to do everything we can to make sure the public is informed on good candidates and we work to help support them with content that they can share on social media and use to further their campaigns.

Thanks for reading along with us on these 1000 posts.  Here's to even more - both before November 4th - and beyond!

Recap On September For Illinois Truth Team

As we pointed out last week, September of 2014 was our 'biggest' month in terms of traffic, pageviews, sessions, and unique visitors.  As the election gets closer, we're expecting traffic to the Truth Team to only increase as voters all across Illinois begin to tune into the candidates that are on the ballot.

But...September wasn't *just* our high-water mark for audience metrics here on the Illinois Truth Team.

It was also the high-water mark for the total number of posts in a month.  We posted 166 pieces in the month of September 2014.  Check out how it compares to other months including the previous high of 158 in August of 2014.

We're off to a fast start in October as this post puts us over the 15 post mark after just one day.  And we don't anticipate slowing down as we're now in 'crunch time' as the General Election on November creeps ever closer and closer.

We're so glad that you're coming along for the ride and we can't wait to tell you the stories that matter and to help the candidates that can change Illinois win on November 4th!

Thank You! Traffic On Truth Team Hits All-Time High

It was just back in July that we crowed about our record-breaking traffic here on the Illinois Truth Team, but now....thanks to all of you readers...we have to reset the high-water mark.

With four days to go in the month of September, we already have topped the charts in terms of sessions, unique visitors, pageviews, and time on site.  Thanks guys for tuning in, sending us tips, and (hopefully) laughing along with us at home.

We couldn't have gotten here without your help.

Now...let's make a difference in November!

Our 700th Post! Thank You, Illinois Truth Teamers!

Wow...we can hardly believe it: We've just crossed the 700th post mark when it comes to published posts here on the Illinois Truth Team.

It was back in late July that we crossed the 500 post mark and we haven't looked back.  We've poured on more than 150 posts just in the month of August of 2014 which makes it the most prolific month of production in our history.

Having so much going on in politics and the ever-shifting political landscape in Illinois has been a great stimulus for our content production.

Importantly...we wouldn't be doing this if you guys were there on the other end:  reading our content, subscribing to our daily email, sharing it on email/social, and sending us tips/memes/gifs and encouragement.

We're just about two months away from Election Day in November.  We really want to make a difference by helping telling the right stories and supporting good candidates.  Together, we can have an impact.  Thanks for helping us along the way.

Our 500th Post - Thank You!

That didn't take long!  Just back on June 30th, we posted our 400th post and less than a month later, we're crossing the 500 post mark.

Thanks to all of you readers who keep coming back everyday for giving us the tips, feedback, memes, and laughs to keep us fired up about Illinois politics.  What started as a one-man-band has blossomed into 5 contributors from across the State of Illinois.

Interested in writing for us or submitting pieces?  Drop us a line at tipthetruthteam@gmail.com.  Maybe you can help us get to 1000 posts before election day in November.

Thank You! July 2014 Is Our "Biggest Month" Ever on the Truth Team

March of 2014 has been our historic high in terms of visits to the Illinois Truth Team largely fueled by the interest in the primary elections around Illinois including State Representative Ron Sandack vs. challenger Keith Matune as well as Tom Cross vs. Bob Grogan for Illinois State Treasurer among others.

Well, we're just 2/3rds of the way through the month of July, and we've already topped our numbers from March and we now have a new 'best month ever'.  Wow!

We're really grateful for all of you who continue to tune in each and every day and who share our stories on social media.  We're just 14 posts away from our 500th post, so we'll celebrate that milestone in the month of July as well.

Thanks for helping us hit these numbers.  Onward to the fall where we can have a real impact on the elections in Illinois!

Our 400th Post!

Hard to believe that we've made it to 400 unique posts here on the Illinois Truth Team.  It was just back in February that we crossed the 200 post mark.  Check out the post here.

What started all the way back two years ago in June of 2012 has become a fun, creative outlet in discussing the days news in Illinois politics.   Thanks for reading along.  Can't wait until the November elections.

Our Top 5 Posts of March 2014

As we pointed out over the weekend, March 2014 was our biggest traffic month yet.  Thanks to all of you for tuning in!

We thought it would be interesting to show what the top 5 posts published in March were for the Truth Team.  As you can see, the Ron Sandack/Keith Matune race dominated the interest.

5.  Dem Watch: State Representative Keith Farnham's State of Illinois Office Searched by Feds
In Mid-March, we covered how Democrat State Representative Keith Farnham had his office and home raided by federal agents.  He later resigned due to *cough* *cough* "Health Reasons".

4.  Keith Matune: A Rotarians Worst Nightmare
In a post by "The Ghost of Babe Woodword", we look at Keith Matunes nutty responses to candidate surveys.

3.  Who you Crappin'? Coach Mike Ditka Backs Ron Sandack for State Representative
When you need a surrogate to help you 'close' your campaign, who do you call?  Da Coach.  Candidate Ron Sandack pulled out the big guns with this endorsement.

2.  Latest in Matune/Sandack Race: "Creepy Cicero Outsiders"
We were tipped this mail piece and broke it as an exclusive.  It tied the financial backers of Keith Matune to the seedy-underbelly of Cicero politics.

1.   Carol Marin Unloads on Dan Proft and Keith Matune

The nastiness of the Sandack/Matune race condensed into one succinct (and later updated) Carol Marin piece from the Chicago Sun-Times.  

March Was Our Biggest Month Yet - Thank You!

Although the month isn't quite over, we wanted to share some news:  March was our biggest month yet when it comes to readership.  We can't thank you enough for coming to check out our stories and (hopefully!) laughing along with us.

The Primary race certainly fueled our rocket rise these past few months.  The Ron Sandack/Keith Matune race alone saw tons of inbound queries and social referral traffic.  But now we're moving on to help win in the General Election.

We're on our way to November.  Let's get after it!

Our 325th Post - Thank You!

It was two months ago this week that we reached our 100th post here on the Illinois Truth Team.

Since then, we've put the pedal to the floor and poured on another 225 posts leading up to the March primary.  

Thank you to all the readers who have come along for the ride.  Remember...drop us your tips!

February 2014: Our Best Month Ever At The Illinois Truth Team

That chart right up top there shows you the pageview growth we here at the Illinois Truth Team have experienced over the past month.  Thanks to ALL OF YOU, February 2014 was our 'biggest month' yet in terms of traffic, visitors, time on site, and just about every other meaningful metric when it comes to web traffic.

Even with fewer days, we managed to more than double the numbers from January - which was our previous high-traffic mark.

We thank all of you for reading, submitting things, and most of all....half-way laughing with us through the entire month.  The primary is just a few weeks away and we're going to hit it hard so we hope you'll stay tuned to the Illinois Truth Team and help us tell good stories in Illinois Politics.

Our 200th Post

It was less than a month ago that we were celebrating our 100th post.  In the course of just a few weeks, with the help of correspondents all across the state as well as submissions from our dear readers, we've doubled our production.

This post marks our 200th post on the Illinois Truth Team.  If we maintain the rate we're going through November, we'd end up with more than 1,000 pieces posted before the General.  That's a big 'if', however.  But that's also a lot of Mike Frerichs memes, isn't it?

Again, we want to thank you for reading, submitting and emailing us tips and ideas.  February is going to be our biggest traffic month and our 4th consecutive month of increased readership.  Thanks for helping spread the word of the Truth Team!

Our 100th Post

We here at the Truth Team are pleased to report that our "Inappropriate Bill Clinton" meme post was our 100th post on the site.    (So...technically...this is our 101'st post, but whatever...)  Our readership has really grown since we started the site back in 2012.  Between the submitted memes and the 'tips' we've received, we've been able to cover Illinois politics like no one else in the state.

Keep the ideas coming.  We'll keep the meme's coming.  Some might get you a giggle.  Some might fall flat.   We'll keep trying.  Thanks for reading!