Postcards from the Funny Farm

How did I do in June of 2008?

Didn’t quite meet my goals in traffic and money, but publishing was a slam dunk. I think Social Media will save me in July.
Traffic
Goal: Traffic: 3,000 uniques
Actual: 2,554 uniques

I spent time playing and exploring ways “outside the box” to blog and you see the consequences here. At the same time, I feel my exploration was worth it. You’ll notice I now have all my top referring social media sites linked in my layout. I am investing more in them: ie; Chawlk, Blog Catalog, etc. We’ll see how that works for July’s numbers. I invite you to join my community at MyBlogLog and some of the other sites through the links at the top and in the sidebar. Networking is cool because the increased traffic works both ways!

Publishing
Goal: 3
Actual: 4

• Create Through Necessity a guest blog at Katelynjane’s Notebook.
• The Upside of Recession: Consciousness published at Blogcritics Magazine.
• Love Homework a guest blog at It Might be Love
• Playing through Diffucult Times a guest blog at Be Playful (Scheduled for an early July publishing)

Money
Goal: 200 bucks.
Actual: 115 bucks.

Due to not having PR, IZEA doesn’t give me the options I used to have as a PR4. This is very ironic since doing paid posts is likely why my PR was taken away, but I am not complaining. I feel like PR is going to change it’s ranking algorithm eventually and I intend to keep writing for hire when it makes sense. I’ll never publish what I consider a boring post. You have my word on that. And hey … 115 bucks is a lot of money! Incidentally, I just thought I’d throw in here that despite the recession, if you live in the area, the Boston jobs are flourishing. Thought I’d send the site out if anyone needs it.

Goals for July 2008 are:
Traffic: 2700 uniques
Publishing: 3
Money: 200 bucks

Final thought:

This month you will see me a lot in social media. I intend to use that more to try and meet my July goal of 2700 uniques. I think it is an untapped resource here at the Farm. I will report the results of this strategy next month. Maybe I’ll see you at the social media sites?

Thanks for following this series! Watch how I do in July 2008. -Damien

I went back tonight and measured my top referrers with the highest bounce rate (in other words, I didn’t pay attention only to traffic numbers but the amount of time each reader stayed on average). What I came up with was exciting and I wanted to share it with you in what will probably be one of my shortest posts!

Blog Catalog: Holy crap batman. Without spending much time there over the past year, my profile there sent more traffic to Postcards than any other referrer. I was once a doubter, now I believe! … again ;)

BlogCritics Magazine: Anyone who writes for Blogcritics knows that it can be taxing. Not only do they require their posts a certain way in accordance with unwritten rules (not all the time, but sometimes) BUT, you are submitting your work to an editor who has the right to deny you being published. Imagine doing all the work a 300-600 word post requires and then get an email barring you from publishing it there. It kind of happened to me once. I eventually got it published after a rework 2 weeks later. These guys gave me a LOT of traffic with my 7 articles I have done for them. Needless to say I’ll be writing a bunch for them this summer.

Chawlk: This is one under the banner of 9Rules” that I wrote a few times on last year as well as did an interview with a co-founder Mike Rundle. In my short time with them, they really have sent a lot of relevant traffic my way.

Bumpzee: Though Bumpzee widgets slow my blog down and sometimes they are down for maintenance. They produced traffic for me, a lot of it.

And finally … Entrecard: No matter how painful it is to use this service … it werks.

For a while anyway I’ll be bannering these top referrers of the last years in my header. Check em out and see how they do for you.

I used to be really into doing Blog Carnivals. Through time, they have brought me a lot of traffic. Last week I read an good article that recommended them so I thought I’d get back into it to see what happens. The process is fairly simple: You browse the carnivals looking for a relevant one. Then you submit a post you think fits to the carnival host or manager. If they agree, they pick your post up and you get some free publicity for your article. In turn, the host blog gets linked and everyone benefits. My “Anger and the Brain” post got picked up by

The Brain Blogger Carnival By Shaheen E Lakhan, MS....

I’m hopeful some new readers will make their way over. There are some excellent articles linked there on biochemistry and the brain. Check it out.

I’ve read through a mountain of books and posts on how to blog and get more backlinks. A backlink is your url on another blog or website that takes a clicker back to you. These help in generating traffic and in establishing your rank on many platforms like Google or Technorati.

Some pages have hundreds of suggestions, others just a few. I’ve found that most only have a handful that are worth their salt. That brings up the first one: the WORTH of your link.

1. Make sure your blog is worth something. If I am driving down a hot freeway dying of thirst with a bunch of BAIL BONDS signs and shops, am I going to stop? Hell no. Now … BE THE A&W SIGN and watch hpw many people start linking to you. If you have further questions on this, contact me through the form at the foot of this post.
2. Post as much as you possibly can with dexterity. Post 2 or 3 times a day if you can. If the content is good and you write them well, you can never do this too much. Don’t listen to people who say you can post too much or that you should only post once a day. It’s hogwash. I’ve had some of my hugest months traffic and earnings-wise when I posted this frequently and more. I’d be happy to discuss this further with you if anyone sees it differently. Leave a comment and let’s start a dialogue.
3. Create list-posts. These cater to the short attention span yet high intelligence of the blogger who is bouncing through the web. These draw attention and more often than not get read. The post you are readintg now is a list-style post. The bread and butter of Web 2.0.
4. Comment on the blogs on your blogroll. Every day. Not always easy, but it is like taking your vitamins … you gain through this exercise.
5. Respond to comments.
6. Offer to be a guest blogger. In the future I plan to do a list-post on the ten things I have learned through being a guest blogger. This is worth tons more than just the guaranteed backlink. NOTE: I am available to guest blog on your site for free. Leave me a comment by using the contact form in this post. :)
7. Do a Q&A recurring series.
8. Do a weekly link-love post (ie; Blog Safari).
9. Mentor aspiring bloggers and be patient in answering questions.
10. Use forums and discussion boards to link to your site.

Best Sources I have Run Across:
courtneytuttle.com/2007/04/09/102-ways-to-make-you...
socialmediadaily.com
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Ever since I was a kid I have enjoyed spotting the fake in a picture. Whether it was looking for “Where’s Waldo” or better yet an optical illusion. For example, does anyone remember those MAD Magazine “Fold-In” features on the back cover? They were so awesome. When you looked at the picture it looked like something normal and harmless like the Statue of liberty, but after you followed the “fold-in” directions, you were shocked to see something different altogether.

Well, that’s what this post is about: looking at traffic on your blog in a whole new way. Since
analyzing data is a big part of what I do for a living, I am an elementary school teacher, I have a lot of experience with averages, means, outliers, irrelevant data, and anomalies (note that word, it is verrrrrry important to blog analysis). What I set out to do here is show the stuff that counts in your stats and not just high numbers. It has been said that higher numbers will get your ads clicked more … in my experience? No. (I have had stretches where my blog was averaging 800 visits a day and still only minimal clicks on Adsense). And, from the people I talk to, I am not alone in this knowledge. SO … what does it all mean and how can I use my traffic stats to help me earn money and real, “staying,” subscribers? These things take time like muscle growth for the body. After more than a year at this stuff, here’s my fifty cents (scroll past the computer):

1. Pamphlet services only drive-by, or click-by, traffic. Let me explain. A real estate agent is new to a neighborhood. He has no leads because no one knows him. He makes pamphlets with his best picture, offers free stuff, and he follows up. Is there anyone who hasn’t received this stuff on her/his doorstep? This creates interest and what I call “pamphlet traffic.” Nonetheless, the potential client will not be hooked in unless he/she makes a positive connection and like the person. Put this in the perspective of “pamphlet traffic” generating services like Entrecard … etc. These are not good or bad for a blog but they will only produce a lasting reader if the reader does more than click on the Entrecard E. Because this sort of marketing takes a long time, is it your best time spent looking for subscribers? and/or readers? The 20-30 minutes (or even hours sometimes) I have spent dropping Entrecards could have been better spent I think. Let me go on to show how.
2. Knowing your stats is helpful. Watching your analytics helps you gauge your progress as a blogger. Get a good stats provider and set monthly goals for your blog. The can be as big as or as small as you hope to achieve. You can get progress meters to show off your goals publicly and you can do periodic series to share with your readers what is working for you. Through time, I have narrowed my three priorities for Postcards from the Funny Farm down to:
   a. Traffic
   b. Publishing -and-
   c. money. Every month you’ll find me reflecting on my goals and setting new ones.
3. Spend the most time of your day on your own blog, but THEN Bloghopping. Use your own favorites and blogroll to get out there and really read with a cup of coffee. Dialog between blogger is what makes it an amazing viral writing phenomena. If people like your writing they will return but if they like your writing AND they feel a connection to you as the writer, they will never leave!

On a very reduced scale, I have become famous and “hit it big” with my blog finally. I set a gaol last month to make $100 and I surpassed it (it is still surpassing). I set a goal for a certain amount of visitors and so far I am set to surpass it. I set a goal to guest blog on 5 blogs this month and I have surpassed it. So, … in my eyes, the only eyes that can matter to a serious blogger, I am the big time baby! Of course I am being glib, but you should be excited when you meet your own goals, otherwise you’ll never know what to measure success by! Last: remember that a lot of traffic or rank doesn’t always mean people are reading and retunring. That is what it takes to make money. Kep that in the back of your mind when you have a really high traffic day … or DESOLATELY LOW ONE! On those days just imagine that each of your “80″ for example uniques could end up being your subscriber/reader for life ;)

Any questions? I promise to answer them all.

I noticed on my incoming links self-made widget* this morning that Fuel my Blog has declared Postcards from the Funny Farm to be their Blog of the Day. This is truly exciting for me since I recently joined their service and have been checking it out. Thank you to Fuel My Blog for saying that my blog is “well-manged” throughout. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated reading that since I am always reorganizing and trying to get it as reader-friendly as possible.

If you, my reader, are interested in their service for your blog, why not use this opportunity to click over there , read what they wrote about my blog, and sign up. You can give Postcards some fuel in the process if you want! I’ll be sure and give you some fuel back.

____

*NOTE: Usually when I add or remove widgets, the helpful reasons get left out like pulling down roller shades. I want to record here in the footer of this post that my self-made “incoming links” widget has done more for my blog than several months of using some commonly used blog widgets out there. For example it is how I noticed the mention on Fuel my Blog this morning. Though I have blogged on this a few times already, Please note dear blogger that while they have their place, sometimes you don’t need the big social serv.... Often, they just take up precious space. Analyze whether they are helping you and if not, get rid of them. The simple stuff is often what link building and traffic is all about: You show their stuff off and they mention yours. If you’d like to put an incoming links widget like mine on your blog I recommend this one highly, it is called Kramer.