Damien at the Speed of Life – DATSOL

I woke up this morning and checked my CAN progress for the month on all my blogs only to find the analytics were in need of life support.  The past few months they have been pretty good which is why I am puzzled that now, with just as much if not more good content, they are floundering.  Well, I’m not one to sulk, I got my brain, my pencil, and a yellow pad to work.  I’m giving my traffic a jumpstart and I hope it works.  Here’s the plan:

• Stumble/review a post from each of my blogs, along with 3 other posts.  It helps to offset these to avoid looking like a showboat.
• Ask 3 people to stumble/review 3 other good posts I have written.  I might stumble three other blogs as well just for appearance’s sake.
• Comment on blogs as much as possible (keep them real).
• Twitter your latest, greatest posts.
• Research ways of getting traffic online.  Keep  a few good ideas and do them.
• Make a working routine you can do biweekly or even every day to increase traffic to your blog.

Have any traffic building ideas you care to share with this community?

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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 :)

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.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, Entrecard.com is a relatively new service for blog marketing and networking. You have an “entrecard” and all the other blogs do as well. You get points to advertise your blog through “dropping” on other blogs. There is a lot more to it but that is the basic gist of it.

I used to spend countless hours dropping and trying to get thousands of points. It got to a point where I was wasting valuable time on the service. Today mark the day I have really come back to it and I spent a very short amount of time. I wanted to record my results to see if I am at a good pace or if I am too slow. Plus, I’m hoping to get some pointers from you all. Here’s what I have learned works best for me:

1) Use IE as FF seems to crash a lot doing this heavy memory load stuff.
2) Use right-click “Open link in new tab” function, one drop at a time. I have tried multiple opens through “LINKY” add-on in FF and as I said, crash city!  It is way better in my opinion to drop one at a time.
3) Don’t rush. Be deliberate with each drop and take time to read the latest post. I even watched a video entry today and was very happy to see that. I do those from time to time.

That’s about all I’ve figured out so far. Here is my tracked time for today:

11:54pm start
12:10pm end
total: 16 mins.

Progress: 12 ec drops and 2 comments left

Will you try Entrecard.com now that I’ve shared my tips? If you already do it, are there any good tips you can share to cut time? (Hopefully we’ll get some tips from dragonblogger)

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

Blog Stats from January 21 to February 21, 2009
This is usually a monthly feature here where I measure my 3 blogs’ progress. This is a special mid-month post. 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: 166
Damien at the Speed of Life: 51
Dynamite Lesson Plan: 34
The Damien Riley Podcast: 0

Analytics (# of visits last 30 days)
Postcards from the Funny Farm: 9,233
Damien at the Speed of Life: 572
Dynamite Lesson Plan: 451
The Damien Riley Podcast: 217

Net
Postcards from the Funny Farm: $54.66
Damien at the Speed of Life: $8.05
Dynamite Lesson Plan: $19.00
The Damien Riley Podcast: 0

TOTAL: $93.01 (First thing I wanna do is go our and buy an electric blanket for each of my kids -and then one for my wife and I, it is cold!

Notes: This has been a skinny month in some ways.  In other ways it has been solid and productive.  I have put Entrecard back on all four blogs.  I am curious to see the effect on traffic.  Please note this particular post is only a mid month report.  These are usually published only once a month.  I’ll publish another CAN post after March 1st.

As always, I want to be open to your questions and comments through this series. 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!

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 and feed subscribers
N = Net, or the amount of money earned by the blog

1. Postcards from the Funny Farm, a psychology and inspiration blog

Circulation
Google Backlinks: 224
Yahoo! Backlinks: 6,884

Analytics
from 12-01-08 to 12-31-08
Visitors: 11,531
Page Views: 15,536
Feed Subscribers:  110

Net
$68.50

2. Damien at the Speed of Life, my online diary

Circulation
Google Backlinks: 36
Yahoo! Backlinks: 272

Analytics
from 12-01-08 to 12-31-08
Visitors: 603
Page Views: 1,520
Feed Subscribers: 17

Net
$30

3. Dynamite Lesson Plan, a teaching blog
Circulation
Google Backlinks: 224
Yahoo! Backlinks: 6,884

Analytics
from 12-01-08 to 12-31-08
Visitors: 217
Page Views: 503
Feed Subscribers:  14

Net
$25.01

NOTES: December was a great month for traffic.  I had close to 12,000 visitors which is a record by about 5,000 visitors.  So what happened?  Well, my static “Crazy Quotes” page has gained the 5th place on a Google search of those 2 terms.  I have been getting 300-500 hits on that page a day!  This has really helped the normal traffic and boosted the totals immensely.  A special post or page can carry your blog without a need for traffic driving methods.

You may recall last month I decided I was done with empty clicker traffic such as Entrecard.  It hurt me at first but very soon my other methods far surpassed Entrecard.  I just feel that the quality of blogs there is not high and most people who came to my sites just clicked for their points and took off like a bat out of hell.  I chose to work with Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks a little more.  You will see attractive buttons in all three sidevars linking to my profiles on the social networks I am working with.  Please add me to your lists!

My net suffered this month because I didn’t bother much with it.  I decided to put my mental health above straining over sponsored posts.  I did make a nice chunk of change without trying hard at all.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t note my recent Google PageRank increase on all three blogs.  They used to be 1, 0, 0 and last night after the roll through, they became 2, 2, 2. This will enable me to get more paying posts and potentially more advertisers.  I am a very happy camper as you all know I have been working very hard to bring my PageRank values up.  Still though, I believe the future is going to be based on 100% pure transparency of stats and not on any dictator of value like PageRank.  That’s the reason I will continue to post CAN stats on all my blogs through 2009.

As always, I want to be open to your questions and comments through this series.  The comment box is waiting for you.  You’ve seen my results 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?

This is a monthly feature here at my personal blog where I measure my blogs’ progress toward goals. You can browse current and past entries in the CAN… category. CAN stands for:

Circulation: Incoming links.
Analytics: # of visitors (Measured in the graph above)
Net: Money made and key takeaways. (Because money isn’t everything.)

I often use shorthand in referring to my blogs:
Psych Blog: Postcards from the Funny Farm
Personal Blog: Damien at the Speed of Life
Teaching Blog: Dynamite Lesson Plan
Podcast: Damien Riley’s Podcast

Below are my CAN results for the time span of 11-26-08 to 11-27-08:
___

Psych Blog:

C – 18

A – 10,099

N – $68.50

Personal Blog:

C – 22

A – 564

N – $30

Teaching Blog:

C – 7

A – 251

N – $25.01
—

Notes: December marked the time I broke the 10,000 monthly visitors mark with my psych blog.  This extremely exciting for me since I have been working on traffic for that blog for 2 years.  I noticed a chunk of that traffic comes from my Crazy Quotes static page.   This teaches me that a dedicated page with search friendly tags and description can lift a blog’s analytics considerably.  For this reason I will continue to put quotes about being crazy and other psychology stuff on that page.  An interesting question is this: “Is there a better way to monetize just that page?”  If any mmol seo types out there have a suggestion I’d appreciate it.  My blog domain has a Google PageRank of 1/10 and yet that quotes page has a 2!  Go figure.  I am quite hopeful in the next PR rollout my blog will increase notably.  I have set most paid links to nofollow when it is ok with the paying advertiser.  That affected a lot of links so we’ll see how much if at all my PR improves.

Another thing I learned in December is that Google weighs inbound links against the number of outgoing links.  If you have a lot of inbound links on a regular basis, that helps your rank.  If you have a lot of outgoing links however that negates the effect of your inbound links.  You can check your inbound links at any time on Google by entering site:(your url) and doing a search.  I don’t know a way to check ones outgoing links but I’d like to find out.  You will find I am linking out less and less and using nofollow on all links unless I want to give a special site link juice.

I have really been slacking in my guest blogging.  I want to do more of that this year.  The best ones for me are the “regular gigs.”  I have two of those and then several open invitations if I get an idea.  The first one is: It Might be Love which is owned by Chelle.  She has become a great friend in this blogging business and I really appreciate her blog concept.  The other is the FuelmyBlog blog.  I am fortunate enough to manage their monthly and sometimes biweekly blog carnival.  Kevin and Sylvie are a couple of really gracious people.  Apart from those two, I want to make myself available to bloggers out there.  If you ask me to guest blog, you will get a great post of 300 words or more with pictures and a solid inbound link from my blog.  Let me know if you are interested.

Now, the last thing: “Analytics.”  How I achieved that 10,099 number is the mystery of the universe.  I’d like to think it was due to my amazing writing.  I think we all know that isn’t the reason.  Traffic is the result of strategic activity.  I have been working really hard this month to test and set in place a traffic generating plan for 2009 and I think I have actually done it!  Here is a bullet list of the items I will use to drive traffic in 2009 (not in any order):

• Stumbleupon networking (by far the best)
• Other social media
• Specific Social Networking: Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Wordpress.com, Blogger, Technorati, FriendFeed, Ping.fm, Last.fm, flickr, LinkedIn, and YouTube
• Blog Directories: MyBlogLog and Blog Catalog
• BlogCarnival.com
• Maintain organic Google Reader Feed Subscriptions and commenting often
• Keep to a weekly posting schedule as a minimum for posting to all three blogs
• Continuing to experiment with my Podcast.

I will publish the official numbers in 6 days when December is officially over but I hope you enjoyed these results.  You might say, the future’s so bright, I gotta wear bamboo shades. If you’d like to follow my journey in 2009, I encourage you to subscribe via FEED or EMAIL.