Now that you’ve seen it done, you might be interested in holding your own blog marathon. Let me tell you now that it’s no easy task, but you can pull it off if (can you sense another list coming?) you follow these simple steps:

1. Find something to motivate you. When I originally started planning the marathon, I didn’t have a real reason for doing it other than maybe getting some more readers. While you might find that to be enough to power through 24 hours of posting craziness, had I entered the marathon with only that motivation, I likely wouldn’t be typing this victory post right now. It was when I decided to host the marathon to benefit a good cause that I knew I could pull it off. So find your reason first before you go any further.
2. Plan ahead. While writing articles ahead of time defeats the purpose of the marathon, you should still pick out some ideas and jot down a few notes so that you have plenty of material from which to draw for your marathon. Because I started cranking out posts faster than I originally expected, I ran really close to exhausting my list. Fortunately for me, other sources (online news, other blogs, and your questions) gave me enough to fill the 24-hour period without any big drop-offs in excitement.
3. Get your supplies. Can you believe I never even opened that precious bottle of Vault cola? All it took me to get through the marathon was a short nap immediately before, regular meals, and a couple glasses of Mountain Dew we had stashed in the back of the fridge. Coffee was never an option for me (can’t stand the stuff), but it might be just what you need to pull off your marathon.
4. Get the word out. This marathon wouldn’t have been the success that it was without the help of many fabulous personal finance bloggers who directed their traffic this way. Thanks to each and every one of you for helping this thing come together.
5. Start blogging and never look back. Once fatigue starts to set in, it’s more of a mind game–you versus yourself in the ultimate battle to determine whether you fall asleep or ride the wave to blog marathon glory. I managed to stay pretty wide-eyed the whole time, though I do recall one instance where my head sort of rolled into my laptop. No damage to head or laptop, fortunately.

And there you have it. I really hope you enjoyed watching me suffer the news and information I’ve shared over the last 24 hours, and I’m looking forward to doing this again sometime soon.

I’m going to let the revenue counter continue to run until midnight since I know some of you are just getting home from work and are eager to check out what I’ve been up to all day. It appears that Punny Money did indeed earn a decent amount from more than one revenue source, and I’ll reveal the exact amount sometime this weekend. Thanks for your support of the Punny Money Blog Marathon and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

And since it took me six tries to type “foundation” correctly, I’m going to take that as I sign that I could use a nap. Goodnight, everyone! And thanks again!