Damien at the Speed of Life – DATSOL

Click on image to view the Excel spreadsheet.
This month’s theme: “Automation.”

Here are the textual results:

Postcards from the Funny Farm – PFTFF
9,651 Backlinks
8,630 Visits (in June ‘09)

Dynamite Lesson Plan – DLP
3,123 Backlinks
2,030 Visits (in June ‘09)

Damien at the Speed of Life – DATSOL
5,376 Backlinks
1,422 Visits (in June ‘09)

Net for all blogs= $207

Sources:
Backlinks-Yahoo
Visits-Google Analytics
Net-PayPal

Notes: Last month I used this word: “automation.” I suppose if I were putting out a CD I’d call it that. That’s the name of the game these days for my blogging life. I have just about everything automated to produce money and traffic. Backlinks are a little harder to produce that way but I’m working on new ideas every day. As a teacher who is getting more responsibility at work every day, I don’t have the time I used to devote to blogging.

Automation methods:
Backlinks: The only automation I can think of for these is submission to Article Avenue and the like. Many of my backlinks however are the result of people linking to my articles or blog because they like them. This would lead to the ultimate automation technique: “Write good content.”

Visits: In my experience, Stumbleupon and other social media has produced the largest increase in traffic. Find classy ways to ask people to read your work through social media. The following sites are the ones I am leveraging for traffic-

• Ping.fm – Choose the services you post statuses to and send a status and a link to your blog out to all of them with one click.
• Twitter – Ping.fm can take care of this one.
• Facebook – This is often a small group of a hundred or so friends. I usually use Ping.fm to drive my Facebook statuses but there are other features you can use on Facebook other than statuses to promote your blog.
• MyBlogLog -
• Blogcatalog – Send bulk messages to members of your community.

Net: Automation methods are Text-Link-Ads. I am making over $20 a month with my 3 blogs with this service. Google Adsense has made me very little money, but it is always increasing. Getting Adsense on a site is a good idea. The more traffic I get, the more Adsense will make for me.

These are the automated methods I use to make passive income. It is a small percentage of the total I make monthly but they are a substantial chunk. The rest of the pie consists of hard work writing and doing sponsored posts. I never do 2 paid posts in a row. Every other one is a rule I have for myself.

I encourage you bloggers out there to use the services and methods I have talked about.  Also, remember that each blog is its own animal.  What works for mine may not work for yours.  The thing that makes bloggers great, in my opinion, is their ability to create and innovate ideas that work for their blog.  I will continue to look for ways to automate my backlinks, visits, and net. Your comments are warmly invited.

Here’s a list of companies that pay bloggers. I have used and been paid by all of them to varying degrees. THE LIST IS IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER. Book mark it and check back as I update it about every 6 months or so.

• PayU2Blog
• Blogsvertise
• Blogging Ads
• Blog to Profit
• BuyBlog Reviews
• ReviewMe
• Text Link Ads
• Google Adsense
• Social Spark
• PayPerPost
• LinkShare
• Linkworth

Please feel free to leave questions and comments on the subject of mmol.  I’m happy to help you if I can. Curious about what I pull down? Check the latest figires here at my blog stats archive. I started a webcast from my garage recently. I have some office furniture out there and a decent recording setup. I may start broadcasting more about making money online.

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my FEED Thanks for visiting!

These are my 3 blogs’ stats for May 2009. I record them here monthly for my benefit and to hopefully start a discussion on blog income and popularity.

I used the following sources to gather my data: For backlinks, Yahoo! Site Explorer; for visits, Google Analytics; and, for Net payment I just look at my PayPal statement.

Postcards from the Funny Farm
Backlinks: 8,238
Visits: 6,173

Damien at the Speed of Life
Backlinks: 4,579
Visits: 1,370

Dynamite Lesson Plan
Backlinks: 2,386
Visits: 1,207

Total earnings were $274.

Notes and reflections: May was a disappointing month in some ways and a revolutionarily cool one in others. I lost PageRank on my personal blog and Postcards which were both my biggest ad sources of income. Of course, the monster of irony is that the ads I got prior to losing my PageRank will now cease. It’s a dilemma that will probably never halt between good-hearted bloggers who seek to make a living and Google who seeks to take all that away. On a stranger note, my teaching blog gained a PageRank notch and is now a 3. If you look, last month I pretty much did every other post as a paid post … go figure. Google will never counsel you or tell you why they do what they do but in a way it’s a good thing:

I always explore more new things when I have no PR.

“Plenty to live for and nothin’ to lose.” -Dave Sharp

In a word I’ll describe my plans for June: “automate.”

’nuff said. See you with the blog stats that will follow on the other side of 40 in July. Take it easy.

So there ya have it! While I am always working on a perfect model to make money and reputation online, these folks are working an a better treatment for acne. I recommend checking their site out if that is an issue you struggle with. A lot of people do.

This post reports my blog stats for the month of April 2009. The purpose is to provide advertisers with 100% transparency for my blogs. The criteria is represented by the acronym CAN:

Circulation (or backlinks)
Analytics -and-
Net (or dollars earned)

Then I list some notes about my stats.
An archive of past blog stats can be found an the CAN Blog Stats archives.

Circulation (# of Google backlinks)
Postcards from the Funny Farm: was 218 is 178  (2)
Damien at the Speed of Life: was 21 is 54 (1)
Dynamite Lesson Plan: was 14 is 8 (1)
The Damien Riley Podcast: was 0 is 5 (1)

Analytics (# of visits last 30 days)
Postcards from the Funny Farm: was 6,074 is 8,919 (1)
Damien at the Speed of Life: was 606 is 508 (1)
Dynamite Lesson Plan: was 903 is 1,119 (1)
The Damien Riley Podcast: was 368 is 132 (0)

Net: was $235.38 is $386.43 (3)
Blog income sources I used.

CAN Blog Rank for April 2009:
Postcards from the Funny Farm:  6/15= 40%
Damien at the Speed of Life:  5/15= 33%
Dynamite Lesson Plan:  5/15= 33%
The Damien Riley Podcast:  4/15= 27%

Notes: Quick data analysis:
Positives
Damien at the Speed of Life and the Damien Riley Podcast increased their Circulation, and Postcards and Dynamite Lesson Plan both had a significant increase in Analytics. All blogs combined earned an almost record high Net of  $386.43.

Opportunities
Postcards and Dynamite Lesson Plan dropped in circulation. Damien at the Speed of Life and the Damien Riley Podcast dropped in Analytics.

Goals
Circulation is increasing when I have quality, relevant content people will link to. I will be writing on more topical, pillar post type issues rather than personal diary stuff.  Then I will try network with people who enjoy my stuf and asking them to submit it to social media.  My hope is that it will get linked to.  I will also be submitting some of my best articles to Article Avenue.
Analytics are decreasing when I am not posting as much.  I will make an effort to post updates every day and to comment on other sites as well as “drop” my Entrecard as much as possible.  After all, if you write something relevant and interesting, it doesn’t amount to a hill of beans if no one visits you site.
Net was huge last month.  I turned away about 50% of the sponsored post offers I received.  Unfortunately Google reduced my Postcards PR to a zero again so I am not optimistic about getting the same amount of offers.  I will continue to provide quality content whether paid or not and as always provide my readers and advertisers with 100% transparency in these monthly updates.  I see nothing wrong with doing sponsored posts when they are written well and I am recommending to you a product I believe in.  Therefore, as long as advertisers will continue to hire me, I will continue to do it.

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my FEED Thanks for visiting!

Blog Stats from February 28 to March 28, 2009
This is a monthly feature here where I measure my 3 blogs’ progress. My goal with this series is to provide 100% transparency for my readers and advertisers. You can browse current and past entries in the CAN… category. First I list the CAN data for each blog. Then I reflect with a few notes.  You might define what I do here as “de-bugging” for my blog the same way the amazing product Frontline keeps the fleas and ticks off dogs.

Legend
C = Circulation, or backlinks
A = Analytics, or number of visitors
N = Net, or the amount of money earned by the blog

Circulation (# of Google backlinks)
Postcards from the Funny Farm: 218
Damien at the Speed of Life: 21
Dynamite Lesson Plan: 14
The Damien Riley Podcast: 0

Analytics (# of visits last 30 days)
Postcards from the Funny Farm: 6,074
Damien at the Speed of Life: 606
Dynamite Lesson Plan: 903
The Damien Riley Podcast: 368

Net – (Click to enlarge)

TOTAL: $235.38

Notes: Circulation dropped quite a bit.  I know this is affected by 2 things: Other people linking in to my relevant content or me doing guestblogs and linking back to myself.  I did only one guestblog last month and didn’t really work the seo angle to make my posts “discoverable.”  As a result, my network of readers did not link back as much.  This did not affect my net so I don’t really regret it.  I do know however that a site will not get ad offers if its circulation continues to sink.  Therefore I must concentrate on backlinks in April.

Analytics also dropped for all a little.  Postcards was pretty much flat.  The podcast rose almost 20%.  That is encouraging.  I work hard to keep that blog presentable and I create what I feel are entertaining and quality podcasts each weekend.  As for the rest, I need to make a 3 day a week Entrecard drop.  This has brought me some traffic and I feel it is a good way to bring the analytics for next month.  I will also continue to blog-hop via Google Reader.  This isn’t bringing me much traffic but I am connecting with friends and that is always a good thing in this networking occupation.

Net: THIS ROCKED!!!  I improved my income from last month by over 200%!  This is due to the fact that I checked my opps multiple times a day every day.  And, when I had a decent opp, I always took it.  I feel there is nothing more I can do to make sponsored post dollars.  I can only hope the opps keep coming in and I’m willing to seize every chance to make dollars blogging.  For this reason I am not setting a goal for net in April.

Want more blog stats fun?  Check out my post on Net Goals for April.

The comment box is waiting for you. You’ve seen my results and read my notes, what do you have to say? Is there something I missed you’d like to discuss? How were your CAN results last month?

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my FEED Thanks for visiting!

Just like a rock tumbler increases the value of a stone over time, this post is where I attempt to add value gradually to all four of my blogs.  It is meant primarily to keep me focused but also to share what I am learning about blog money with other bloggers (like you).

I’m not happy with the amount of time I spent blogging in 2008 with ratio to how much blogging paid me. Like any frugal person, I am now weighing what I will make in 2009 and using that to determine how many hours I will work and how much money I must make. These posts and the goals I set are part of that process.  First, my last 6 month’s earnings:

MAR 09 $221.38
FEB 09 106.84
JAN 09 251.82
DEC 08 118.51
NOV 08 165.00
OCT 08 90.00
—
TOTAL $953.55
AVG per MO $158.93

Projected Hours I will work per month: (48/month – 12/week)
Approximate hourly pay for blogging: $3.31/hour

My goal is to make over $300/month.  The ways I will actively pursue this are:

*Each day I blog, I will check all sources for income potential.
*I will work to raise my circulation and analytics because this will bring advertisers and sponsored post opps.

Any other suggestions on how I might increase my NET in April 2009? Leave a comment.

Maybe you want to help me make my goal through a donation? Accepted below via PayPal :)

I’m not happy with the amount of time I spent blogging in 2008 with ratio to how much blogging paid me. Like any frugal person, I am now weighing what I will make in 2009 and using that to determine how many hours I will work and how much money I must make. First, my last 6 month’s earnings:

FEB 09 106.84
JAN 09 251.82
DEC 08 118.51
NOV 08 165.00
OCT 08 90.00
SEP 08 391.63
—
TOTAL $1123.80
AVG per MO $187.30

Projected Hours I will work per month: (12/week or 48/month)
Approximate hourly pay for blogging: $3.90/hour

Wage desired: $10/hour minimum

Monthly income at 12/hours a week needed to meet this wage: $480

So, let’s clarify this: I currently make an average of $3.90/hour working 12 hours a week.

I want to make at least $10/hour working the same hours so my monthly income must rise an average of: $323 a month.

-That is probably not going to happen right away-

So, for now I am setting an income goal of $50 more than my average. In other words, in March 2009, I have the goal of making $237.30. How will I do this?

*Each day I blog, I will check all sources for income potential.
*I will also more aggresively advertise my blog mentoring services for which I charge $20/hour.

Any suggestions on how I might make my Net goals for March 09? Leave a comment.

Maybe you want to help me make my goal through a donation? Accepted below via PayPal :)

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my FEED Thanks for visiting!

Blog stats are free bread and butter at the buffet!
CAN Blog Stats is a monthly feature here where I measure my 3 blogs’ progress. My goal with this series is to provide 100% transparency. You can browse current and past entries in the CAN Blog Stats category. First I list the CAN data for each blog. Then I reflect with a few notes. Incidentally, since I started doing this, I have earned enough to purchase memory upgrades on 2 laptops and one desktop. It is a lot of work, but it really works!

Legend
C = Circulation, or backlinks
A = Analytics, or number of visitors
N = Net, or the amount of money earned by the blog

By working on these three criteria, my blogs earn money.  Mobey isn’t the main reason I do it but it sure helps when the wife says “What are you doing on the laptop again?”  To which I can answer: “I just made money let’s go out!” ;)

In all seriousness, it helps to have an understanding spouse and legitimizing your writing on a blog or multiple blogs through earnings is something you should do.  If not through earnings, you should ask yourself why you do it because it is easy to become addicted to blogging with nothing to show for it.

To explore my many updates, income reports, and writings on this topic visit the CAN Blog Stats archive of posts on this blog.

Now, go get YOUR bread at the buffet!  CAN I help you by answering any questions?

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my FEED Thanks for visiting!

Blog Stats from February 1 to March 1, 2009
This is a monthly feature here where I measure my 3 blogs’ progress. My goal with this series is to provide 100% transparency. You can browse current and past entries in the CAN… category. First I list the CAN data for each blog. Then I reflect with a few notes.

Legend
C = Circulation, or backlinks
A = Analytics, or number of visitors
N = Net, or the amount of money earned by the blog

Circulation (# of Google backlinks)
Postcards from the Funny Farm: 174
Damien at the Speed of Life: 32
Dynamite Lesson Plan: 40
The Damien Riley Podcast: 0

Analytics (# of visits last 30 days)
Postcards from the Funny Farm: 6,659
Damien at the Speed of Life: 532
Dynamite Lesson Plan: 540
The Damien Riley Podcast: 302

Net
Postcards from the Funny Farm: $64.66
Damien at the Speed of Life: $24.00
Dynamite Lesson Plan: $8.05
The Damien Riley Podcast: 0

TOTAL: $106.84

Notes: Stats this month are pretty flat.  I like to see Postcards at 10-15,000 visitors a month and it was way below that.  The main reason for this is because a human only has enough energy in a day.  As I have taken on the weekly podcast and committed to a schedule of posting through the blogs throughout the week, I have taken away some of that energy from Postcards.  For what I do, that’s not the end of the world.  I am making money through Text-Link-Ads and sponsored posts on three blogs.  For me (and my kids who get ice cream off my PayPal card) I’d rather share the energy across multiple blogs.  I feel good about my posts and the energy that I am broadcasting through the podcast.  The backlinks are holding, 2 blogs went up, one went down and the podcast remains at zero.

If you have any good ideas on getting backlinks, do tell.  Advertisers do look at that criteria.

No goals this month other than to keep my posting schedule and do the usual stuff I have been doing for months. As always, I want to be open to your questions and comments through this series. If you think of something you want explained, think of this blog as my wireless alarm The comment box is waiting for you. You’ve seen my results and read my notes, what do you have to say? Is there something I missed you’d like to discuss? How were your CAN results last month?

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my FEED Thanks for visiting!

In addition to posting my blog stats each week with tips, I also offer paid services in blog building, coaching, and freelance writing. To hire me visit my freelancing site. Let me explain how I review blogs. First, the acronym:

C: circulation (or Google backlinks)
A: analytics (# of visitors last month)
N: net Amount of dollars made on all blogs combined.

Now the review formula: I have put it in the form of a 3 question quiz.

1. The number of your Google backlinks is between: (tip: to get this number, type link:http://url into a Google search)

A. zero or unknown
B. 1 – 100
C. 101 – 200
D. 201 – 300
E. 301 – 400
F. 401 or higher

2. Your visitor count last month was between:

A. zero – 500
B. 500 – 15,000
C. 15,001 – 25,000
D. 25,001 – 35,000
E. 35,001 – 45,000
F. 45,001 or higher

3. The amount of money you made blogging on all your blogs combined:

A. zero – 100 dollars
B. 100 – 200 dollars
C. 201 – 300 dollars
D. 301 – 400 dollars
E. 401 – 500 dollars
F. 501 dollars or higher

Where A=0, B=1, C=2 and so on up to F=5 respectively, add up the total value of the three letters in your answers: ie; B,C,D would equal 1+2+3=6 Then divide by the total possible(15) to get your can percentage: 6/15= 40%

Then assign your percentage a CAN Blog rating based on this scale:

0 – 16%=CAN0
17 – 33%=CAN1
34 – 50%=CAN2
51 – 67%=CAN3
68 – 84%=CAN4
85 – 100%=CAN5

The example score of 40% is between 34 -50% so it earns a

After I show your CAN “grades,” I give you a few minor yet valuable notes on what I liked and what you might work on to improve your CAN rating.

Thanks for previewing my rating system. I recommend setting your own goals for your blog. These parameters work for me but certainly they are not universal. Since I started using them I have seen stats as skinny as as if it took a double dose of Solo Slim turn much fatter. If interested you can follow my own blogs’ CAN BLOG RATING progress.