Damien at the Speed of Life – DATSOL

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!

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 :)

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!

Walt at Random has a borderline “classic” post that chronicles Technorati’s blog and post counts the past few years.  It’s staggering how many blogs they count while so few are actually actively posted to. Walt writes (italics mine):

• In April 2007, Technorati counted an average of 1.5 million posts per day.
• In June 2008, Technorati counted an average of 900,000 posts per day: 40% fewer.
• Extending back, Technorati reported 1.2 million posts per day in April 2006–and 900,000 in August 2005.
• Here’s an odd figure: In August 2005, Technorati reported 14.2 million blogs and said 55% of them–or 7.8 million–were active. If that’s right, then the active blogosphere is basically where it was roughly four years ago, but with a whole lot of churn in between.
• That also comes out to about one post every eight days for the active blogosphere (although of course the average doesn’t exist–1.5 million blogs had posts in a seven-day period)

So folks, once again we see that blogging is not something just anybody can do.  This “gold rush” attitude of getting your credit card out and buying web space isn’t turning into gold for just anybody.  In fact, it’s not turning into gold for hardly anybody.

So where do you stand?

I don’t know about you, but I blog because I enjoy it.  There is something amazing about broadcasting words immediately to the masses that gives me a sense of importance as well as responsibility.  When a cause somes along, I have 4 blogs to post on about it.  When there’s an opportunity to make some money, my blogs are like fishing nets out there capturing opportunity.  Are you like me?  I feel what is happening is kind of like a shakedown, or a gatekeeper situation:  the truly talented and intelligent bloggers are making a way for themselves that can’t be broken.  The weak-skills,  money-driven folks unwilling to hang in there are falling by the millions.

If you know how to open your admin section and craft a post with pictures and links in it, you have the skills to start.  If you know far more than that and you are posting regularly to your blog, pat yourself on the back because you are a rarity now.  Just hang in there and you may find a little farther down the road that people will call on you and they may have money!  They will not call on you because of your grand ideas or connections in the industry.  Instead they will call upon you because you have hung in there and proven yourself an established blogger.

If you liked this post and it’s message of encouragement to bloggers, could you stumble it?

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!

When I tell people I “blog” part time they immediately blurt out one of three responses: They, 1) seem confused and ask what blogging is, 2) want to know how much money I make -or- 3) ask if I can get them making money immediately.  For this reason, I usually don’t get into the topic of what has become my part-time job.  On the other hand, I use my PayPal card often (a card bloggers get paid through) to buy my wife, kids, and friends stuff like pizza and Baja Fresh (Baja tacos in the photo were paid for through blog money)  .. that’s enough for me to feel successful!  In fact, it’s amazing to me that I get paid for writing and tweaking code!  That, to me, is blogging.  This is probably due to the fact that 1) I don’t do it primarily for money, 2) I love to communicate and broadcast ideas, and 3) I prune my blogging to fit into no more than 15 hours a week (strict personal guideline).  I read an article tonight a Stumbleupon friend sent me that decries blogging as a “get-rich-quick” method.  I’d have to agree with that.  You won’t get rich quick doing it.  Having said that, you can make “fun money” through writing and tinkering with code and graphics.  I couldn’t ask for more in a part time job.

I did my time in college earning a BA, MA, and a teaching credential in California, one of the most rigorous states for credentialing.  I have a great job as a teacher and I work 185 days a year developing young minds.  What more could I ask for?  Well, there is something and I am doing it: blogging.  I have developed, after over 2 years, a method of setting blog goals and strictly organizing my time to create income as I go.  I just did my 2008 taxes and saw that I made nearly $3,000 blogging … it adds up!  If I was seeking to quit my job, this would be disappointing but I am not.  Without my job, what would I write about?  Beyond that, I feel my blog helps my career.  Reflective journaling has been proven study after study to be an ideal habit for leaders in their fields.  I don’t blog to escape my life, my blog is integrated with my life.  Reading my blog you get life as I see it and I wouldn’t want to sit around in pajamas raking in millions through my blog.  Furthermore, I get comments and emails all the time from readers who tell me my “journal” has helped them in some way.

This year I hope to make more than last year but it still won’t be enough to pay my student loan each month.  One of my blog tenets is “100% transparency” and I publish my blog stats every month.  I’m not seeking to get rich blogging but I am seeking to get rich-er.  My college degrees, my teaching career, my 3 children and lovely wife make me rich in ways far beyond money.  I am comfortably writing about that every day and broadcasting a weekly podcast every weekend.  One part of my individual earning method is having 4 blogs instead of just one and scheduling post deadlines for myself throughout the week.  This allows me to have more variety in advertising pull and all I am doing is journaling, in essence.  I am a mentor to three people currently and I have mentored a total of 11 people formally since I started this.  I tell them all I don’t know how to get rich at this, I only know how to manage time and tasks and make some side money.  No one has backed out of being my mentee after hearing that.

In conclusion, If you read blogs to learn how to get rich, don’t waste your time on mine.  On the other hand, if you want to compare notes on how to get tacos and pizza and take your wife out on a fancy date once in a while, you would definitely profit from reading and listening to my stuff:

http://www.postcardsfromthefunnyfarm.com/ – My thoughts on psychology and inspiration
http://www.damienriley.com/ – My personal blog
http://www.dynamitelessonplan.com/ – My teaching reflections blog
http://podcast.damienriley.com/ – My weekly podcast (recorded each weekend in my freezing garage)

What’s your take on blogging?

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?

The reviewer learns from the reviewee

Reviewing peer blogs can be an excellent way to see bogging from “outside the box.”

I’ve been reviewing blogs let me tell ya!

I started a thread over at Blog Catalog offering anyone a blog review as long as it came to me prior to January 9th, 2009. I have a little time off work and I thought it would be fun to meet some new bloggers and maybe help some people out if possible. The response so far has been positive.

Ever bite off more than you can chew?

Just kidding.  Kinda.  I’ve managed to do 12 reviews in 3 hours and my neck hurts LOL. I’ve tried to be positive and comment on the PROS more than the cons. Some people have asked me to really criticize though so in some cases that is what I’ve done. Even though I am behind, I am committed to reviewing everyone who asks prior to the 9th. It is a blast and I am learning while I review.  I thought I would summarize a few things here on my personal blog that seemed common issues to me anyway:

Here’s the common roadblocks I see …

• Too many ads on new blogs is annoying – My advice? Wait until your traffic warrants payment. Generally 15,000 visitors or more per month.

• Intentional Branding is crucial – The name is the thing. Really think before you put up a name or a tagline. It is your currency and it is all you ever have in blogging. Many seem haphazard.

• Many blogs have way too broad of a scope – How many malls does a town need? Be a STORE not a mall. I am reading so many blogs that have taglines like “a little of this a little of that and everything else.” It is YOUR job to tell us who you are and why YOU are worth reading.

I hope my words are helpful and not pissing people off over there. I aim to do right by my contribution to people’s art. If you’d like a review of your blog, I still have plenty of spare time before the 9th. Go ahead and submit it over at Blog Catalog and I’ll do my worst for ya!

Thanks to the Blog Catalog folks I’ve reviewed for giving me the privilege of reviewing your work.  If the 9th has passed and you’d like a review, ask me.  If I have the time I’d be happy to.