What 1 Month of Blogging Has Taught Me
“People who read blogs are a fickle bunch. If your blog sucks they won’t stick around. If you put forth the effort to provide a quality resource, they’ll respond.” - Deborah Ng
Fifty.
Statistically that’s how many blogs were created in the amount of time it took me to write the following post. That means the chance for us to get in on the ground floor is ticking away! Right?
Wrong. The truth is, it doesn’t really matter how many newcomers are flooding a market (and I mean in general - blogging is far from being flooded). What matters is your focus. The people that grind consistently will always thrive. Markets will always exist as long as there are people providing and people consuming. Seeing as how the only way to stifle this relationship would be to annihilate the human race, we can safely say, they’re not going anywhere.
Markets don’t absorb a certain amount, close up shop and hang a sign on the door saying try us again in a week. They may seem like they do, and people will try to convince you of that, but the truth is, they don’t fill up because people don’t fill up - we’ve yet to breed ourselves off this planet.
What markets do, is change and adapt. They do this because they’re fundamentally rooted in people and people are always changing, adapting, growing, thinking and creating.
So what am I getting at?
Whenever we start anything, blogging in this particular case, we have a tendency to pit ourselves and compare ourselves against the giants in our chosen market. When we do this, we begin to doubt our abilities and start to think:
“There’s no room in this market for me. How can I ever compete? What was I thinking?”
It took me a very long time to build up enough courage to start this particular website for that very reason. Instead, what we should be asking ourselves is: How can I add to this market? How can I develop it? How can I initiate a change; a progression?
The number one thing that I’ve learned this month from my, albeit brief thus far, but enlightening experience, is this:
There is always a need, no matter how many others are seemingly providing the same service, for whatever it is that you can provide.
Each one of us has an array of experience and a way of seeing the world that no one else has. I think it’s very important that we all remember that.
Now, on to the months wrap-up:
It’s been one month since I launched Scribbles & Words, and keep in mind, I’m not leveraging any other blogs or websites that I own as a platform to launch this one. If you’re interested in how that works you can go check out how Skellie managed to get 1,100 subscribers in five days, doing just that.
I’ll be making a habit of these monthly wrap-ups so you might want to subscribe to the feed so you don’t miss them. If you’re new to the online blogging/website-having world, this would be a great opportunity to rocket your blog or website to the top, along with me. ;o)
Link Love
I want to give a special thanks to those who made the first month exciting. It’s always wonderful to open up your WordPress Dashboard to see one more entry under the “incoming links” section.
- Rudy Amid - Rudy found me through Entrecard and ever since, he has been a constant contributer. Thanks Rudy.
- Naomi Dunford - Was so very kind enough to link not only to a post I wrote but to my “about page” as well. Thanks Naomi.
- James Chartrand - aka “Comment King” …James found me through IttyBiz and has also been a consistent contributer ever since. Thanks James.
- Darren Rowse - Darren started using Twitter recently and he put up a link to one of my posts. I expected something like that to bring in a handful of people but I was pleasantly surprised. Over 40 people visited by clicking that link. Thanks Darren.
- Hope - Hope found me via Darren’s Tweet and was kind enough to link back to a post she found amusing. Thanks Hope.
- Michael White - aka Saphrym, is a Entrecard superstar. I think he’s had the highest ad cost for as long as I’ve been a member. He does a “daily Entrecard read” post and linked back. Thanks Michael.
Sponsors
I want to welcome and direct everyones attention to two really wonderful new sponsors. I’ve said it before - I only accept sponsorship that has something of quality and usefulness to offer this particular audience. These two fit the bill beautifully:
Put Things Off - Nick started this blog around the same time Scribbles & Words launched and already he has some pretty spectacular resources pilling up.
“Put Things Off (PTO) helps freelancers, entrepreneurs and busy people just like you work smarter, play harder and live the lives they love. PTO talks about productivity, freelancing, running your own business, making money online, setting goals, software, web applications and more.”
Invoice Journal - This is great for all you freelancers out there. It’s a free way to invoice all of your clients:
“For the incredibly low price of zero dollars and zero cents you too can use Invoice Journal to send an unlimited number of invoices to an unlimited number of clients.”
Go check them both out.
Statistics
This is based on the average numbers received from StatCounter, Google Analytics and Mint:
- Pageloads: 6,597
- Unique Visitors: 4,551
- Subscriber Count: 134 (FeedBurner)
- Alexa: 357,861
- Technorati: 345,597 (authority 24)
- #1 Referer: StumbleUpon
- Most Popular Post: Do You Write Everyday? How Do You Find New Ideas?
- Most common search phrase: “how to figure hourly rate“
Income
The site was ad free until January 11th.
- AdSense: $4.22
- Affiliates: $16.00
- Sponsors: $20.00
Total for January: $40.22
Not a bad start. That’s almost a weeks worth of groceries for myself.
Moving Ahead
I’ve got to say I’m pretty pleased with the numbers so far. However, I did have quite a few problems with my hosting provider and had to do a move to a new server. Hopefully it will be fine until I can make the move to Media Temple, where most of my other sites live.
Something else I’ve been struggling with is post frequency. I’ve been posting about two, maybe three entries a week.
It isn’t my intention to create mass multitudes of easily digestible and almost-but-not-quite regurgitated material. After all we want to be unique right? My intention is to provide an agreeable amount of well thought out, inspiring, deliciously digestible material.
I have about 14 blogs that I read, or at least skim over, every day. Most of them post about five times a week, which to me seems a bit much. Am I wrong? What do you all think?
Questions?
If you have any other questions please feel free to shout them out in the comment section below. And please do vote, I’d love to know what you all think. Thank you everyone for making the first month a wonderful one, and remember, for now, I’m making this a monthly occasion, so link back and link often. I’ll surely return the favor.
Image credit: IHP.
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Congrats on your stats that’s very good. I haven’t promoted ATW with my other websites it averages 35 unique visitors daily. I’ve received a few stumbles. The only advertising I’ve done so far is affiliate marketing. I’ve made a little over $10. I had Adsense up, but I chucked it a few days after I added it to my website.
Surprisingly a few people look for posts on that website daily. I’m writing about my experience as a new freelance writer, The jobs I’ve acquired and how I received them. Most of the jobs I’ve received I didn’t get through job boards many came from marketing. Thus, far it’s been a great experience and I’m enjoying the journey. I’ve learned a lot from other writers, books, online resources. I picked what would work for me and added my own flavor along the way. As I continue to move forward, I’ll continually improve.
I have 12 websites total there is no way I could write on them all daily.
How often should you post? Whatever works best for you? I won’t stop reading simply because you don’t post daily. You provide great content that, in my opinion, never gets old.
A month, hm? So I caught you just as you were launching, pretty much. That’s very cool; I get to watch you grow. (and help you, certainly.)
Posting frequency: The great debate. How much? When? Why? Don’t break your head over this, Jay. Do what feels right to you. We had ourselves breaking our heads over this back in November and December, and we ran a poll as well. Three to five times a week was the answer.
But you know what? We didn’t want to post three times a week. We enjoyed posting. We liked coming up with different angles and content that isn’t the same. We liked telling our stories. Our posting consistently happens each day - once a day - at 5am. And that’s what feels right to us.
Do some posts not get the attention they should? Perhaps. Perhaps readers should slow down a little bit, too. Fast-paced frenzy isn’t going to change whether you post less or post more - people are always going to read like rockets.
As for your blog, I found myself a little disappointed you didn’t post more often.
On an aside, very cool about your stats. It’s neat to read that. If you want to compare, we’re just shy of 500 subscribers ourselves and get about 6,000 unique hits to the site each month. We expect those numbers to rise when we move to the new site on Feb 4. Stumble was our best referrer, too. Love it.
Your sponsors? Good ones. I like Nick’s blog - he has a great one going on.
Cheers, thanks for the link, and I’m looking forward to more.
James Chartrand - Web Content Writer Tips’s last blog post..The Last Step Before Our Move
I agree with James: I’d like to see more posts. You’ve done awesome for your first month, little blogging baby!
Here’s to a long and fruitful blogging life!
Hope Wilbanks’s last blog post..Get Paid To Blog With Smorty
Not bad for a first month. Keep on blogging
Especially “Subscriber Count: 134 (FeedBurner)”
Not bad at all.
Wow, that was a heartfelt introduction. I like it! You’ve done a heckuva job bringing out great contents, and I’m sure people will find them all useful.
I hope you don’t mind if I don’t talk about the numbers. You know that doesn’t matter much to me.
As for your posting intervals, I agree with James, I like to see more posts from you. But I know how difficult it is to come up with a quality post every single time, without rehashing the same stuff again. I voted for 3x a week, but if you can only do 1 a week, so be it!
Thanks for the link luv. And you’ve been stumbled!
Rudy’s last blog post..How to Become a Better Blogger
Hey Jay,
you might want to expand on your traffic generating methods. So many people are looking for ways to gain more readers.
Did you also find that StumbleUpon visitors only pay one visit and rarely return? And how’s Entrecard working out for you?
-Dave Origano
Dave Origano’s last blog post..Are You Working For Google - A Lesson In Business Destruction
Thanks for the mention. You have a great blog here. And you’re right. Just because other people are doing it, doesn’t mean you can’t do it better.
Michael White’s last blog post..The Daily Read - 01/30/2008
This monthly recap is a great way to connect with readers and share your progress. It’s also very considerate of you to thank investors in your success with those shout-outs. Your blog has a great voice and I enjoy your content, too.
@Opal - 12 websites! You’ve got yourself a nice family going there. It seems you’re a bit of a renaissance soul - I can totally relate. If I could pause time I would probably write roughly 700 blogs. ;o)
Thanks for the kind words Opal.
@James - You two caught the egg as it cracked.
You’re right, people should slow down. Rocketry can only last as long as the fuel holds out, and then - crash and burn. Plus it’s bad for the environment and causes global warming.
I’m going to try for a solid routine. M-W-F at around 4-5am (that’s my go time as well), and see how that works for Feb.
Looking forward to the help and presence you two can provide as we take over the internet ;o)
@Hope - Done. Thanks and cheers!
@esvl - I’m happy with it. Thanks for stopping by.
@Rudy - I thought I stripped out the numbers from showing on your IP address…guess I’ll have to work on my technical skills. ;o)
I figured a 3-5 post per week would be the consensus…so I’m going to do it. Thanks for the Stumble Rudy.
@Dave Origano - I knew I left out something!
I’m actually writing a part two that will answer all of those questions. As for return visits from Stumblers, I find that a good number of them have returned, more than I would have thought. I wrote about Entrecard a little while back but as of lately I’ve tuned down my drop rate and my category position has suffered accordingly. However, I still get about 100 people a day, and like I’ve mentioned, some of my best readers found me through that medium.
Thanks for the suggestions Dave.
@Michael White - My pleasure. Thanks for dropping by.
@Vivienne - I’m glad you think so. It’s a relationship based platform so building on that makes all the difference. Thanks Viv.
First of all: Nice earnings and subscribers for just a month!
Second: Your blogs looks very nice, visually attractive and your posts have very good content. I’m still a blog newbie and your advice really cheers me up
CurlyBrace’s last blog post..Introducing the WebCloud!
Thanks a million CurlyBrace glad I could bring a smile to your face. :o)
Hi,
This is a great inspiration to a grinder like me. It took me months to realize that I had to focus in on a particular subject whereas I was using a shotgun approach.
Thanks for the tips.
Cheers,
Kim
Kim Kinrade’s last blog post..Sam the Sham’s Car
[…] is a continuation of my previous post: What One Month of Blogging Has Taught Me (and some stats). “You might want to expand on your traffic generating methods. So many people are looking for […]
Oh don’t be fooled, I’m guilty of the shotgun approach as well. I just cut out eating and sleeping from my life. ;o)
You’re very welcome.
Those stats are great, and your Green is definitely outperforming your Orange. Clearly. Beyond that, I can’t tell what the stats graph means. I’m gonna guess that green is pageviews, blue is unique visitors, and orange is…what?
Nice one. Smart ass. ;o)
That was just a visual to go along with the stats below. It wasn’t meant to be analyzed. But, it’s return visits I believe.
[…] Today marks Scribbles and Words two month birthday. With this occasion, I’d like to talk a little bit about my February experiences. If you’d like, you can first check out January’s wrap up. […]
This is quite encouraging to a new blogger like me. I have received quite a few comments from readers who thought that I was trying to scratch in a market that is already saturated. However, I wasn’t a bit discouraged. Just like you pointed out, I know I have something to offer to some unique people in the market, so nothing is going to stop me from forging ahead.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It is a good motivation for me. Cheers.
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