Ticket to Work Article Reaches 10,000 Hits, Improved Awareness Or Dire Economy?

 Posted on December 16, 2009 in Social Security Disability

On September 23rd, 2009, I published a piece on the Article Alley article directory website entitled, Don't Forget Your Ticket to Work. "Don't Forget Your Ticket to Work" reviewed the government sponsored Ticket to Work program, which was originally set up to reduce many of the barriers that were originally created to stop people with disabilities from working. The goal of the program is to increase opportunities and choices for Social Security disability beneficiaries to obtain employment, vocational rehabilitation, and other support services from public and private providers, employers, and other organizations. Other then reviewing the different components of the government sponsored Ticket to Work program, the article also postulated that most Social Security disability lawyers, claimants representatives, and disabled individuals have never heard of the program. The problem with these individuals not being aware of the program is that it increases the likelihood of numerous people with disabilities missing out on many wonderful job opportunities that could otherwise be made available to them.

Since the article was published, I have consistently attempted to spread the word about the Ticket to Work program. Through my Illinois Social Security Disability Blog "Don't Forget Your Ticket to Work" has astoundingly amassed over 10,000 hits in approximately three months. To give you an idea of just how many hits that is, an article on the Article Alley website entitled, "10 Tips to Succeed in the USCIS Marriage Interview, which was published more than a year ago, ranks fifth on the site and has less than half that amount. The amount of hits my article has received in a short amount of time begs the immediately question, how did this happen?

To answer the question of how my article reached 10,000 hits so quickly, I've come up with two possible solutions: more people are now aware of the Ticket to Work program or the dire economy is playing a major role in attracting people to my article. The first reason why my article could be receiving so many hits is because more people want to know about the Ticket to Work program. In the last three months, eight people have emailed me and three people have called me trying to either learn more about the program or find out how they could participate in it. However, eleven total contacts is no where near the 10,000 hits the article has received. Another possible solution is that the dire economy has attracted an entirely different audience to the article. The title "Don't Forget Your Ticket to Work," can easily be interpreted to be a resource for individuals looking for job placement. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has recently reported the national unemployment rate to be slightly over 10% and the amount of individuals looking for job placement online is at an all-time high.

Regardless of the reason why my article has amassed over 10,000 hits, the main reason why I wrote the article and am currently making this post is to spread the word about the Ticket to Work program. The Ticket to Work program costs nothing to participate in, it is absolutely free. In many cases, participating in the program will provide you with meaningful and fulfilling employment and not diminish your current disability benefits. I implore anyone who reads this post to spread the word about the Ticket to Work program. Hopefully, in another three months there will be many new blog posts and tweets describing and discussing the program.