Postcards from the Funny Farm

Yesterday I wrote a post at Fuelmyblog’s Official Blog on how I make my goals and keep my sanity while blogging. You know, my system works so well for me that I actually really get excited about doing what most bloggers might see as chores. If you do blog, i recommend you head over to the FuelMyBlog official blog. I’m a regular contributor and yesterday’s blog post just worked out perfect for me when I had a couple hours to write it.

It’s got some helpful links, an airbrush photo of yours truly (LOL) and hopefully quite helpful content. The time-management/self-improvement aspect of this blog really came out. At the end I ask a question I would be interested in reading your answer. NOTE: Bloggers and non-Bloggers, I’m inviting your guestblog posts on inspiration and/or psychology. Open to anything you can come up with along those line. It’s a great way to get published and read on a PR4 blog. Give it a shot, I for one would appreciate reading your stuff. Contact me.

If you’re not a blogger, understand I have lots of “in progress” inspiration and psychology ideas in the gate waiting to be released. Productivity, self-awareness, success in the face of adversity, those are just a few titles I’m working on. Setting goals is key to success at whatever you do. My post over there may be about blogging goals but the concept is universal … what do you think of setting blog goals?

An interview with yours truly on blogging and historical questions about Postcards is now up at the impressive new Fuelmyblog blog. You’re reading this so you are already reading my blog. If you’re new here or if you want to read my thoughts why you should read Postcards, you should read the interview. A big thanks to Sylvie and Paul and the whole staff there. I enjoy Fuelmyblog as a social network as well as a traffic building source. If you’re not currently subscribed there, I highly recommend it. Let me know what you think of the interview. That’s the beauty of an online interview, you don’t have to go to a charlotte cosmetic dentist. It’s that whole “face for radio” thing.

My Interview at their blog: We are Fuelmyblog-Postcards from the Funny Farm

Fuelmyblog’s Main site

The Fuelmyblog Official Blog

I’m published today in a post at the official FuelMyBlog Blog. The topic there is one you might do well to check out. It could be the cornerstone issue in the future of blogging. Here are some responses to that post on defining blog value over at the the FuelMyBlog Blog:

sylvied said: “You are totally right here we can rate our own blogs and add value to it.”

KevinD said: “I think a new wave of blogger is coming, the realists …”

Claire said: “I find this intriguing as my site visitor stats are actually quite low although feed subscribers stats are 6 times as high. As most of the requests are for text tag links, I’m assuming the attraction is ‘google juice’ rather than reaching my subscribers or readers …”

belinha said about my quote: “To define your own value is to declare independence from parent companies like Google that thrive by assigning value as they see it.”
Very good point!

If you get enough money through blogging, you can take amazing vacations (among other luxuries)  wouldn’t learning about those be more valuable than “bearing your soull” in a diary no one reads?  I am already looking into my favorite vacation fantasies:

The myrtle beach vacation packages are cheap and almost as good as san diego vacation packages. Still they are not the vacation packages that get sold the most. The most selling ones are the cancun vacation packages and the caribbean vacation packages.

These are great comments. Some really smart people hang out over there. Maybe one day we can all take one of these vacations together, sort of a blogfest!  I have a method that includes money tracking that seems to be improving my ability to buy things.  If you want to know about this self-made method for testing a blog’s value, check out my post (series of posts) called V.A.L.U.E.
It’s not perfect but it’s a start.

Now for your take on all this: Google thinks they know the value of a blog, and the world listens. Knowing how to measure your blog’s value can mean the difference between a shack and one of those Hilton Head rentals. What do you have to say about defining blog value?

I made more money in March than I have made blogging to-date. In this post I show how. So, without any further ado, lets get to my March 2008 goals and results.

In February’s post, I broke down my March goals into three categories. This worked so well that I will be doing the same for April. You may recall the three categories are:

1. Traffic Goals,
2. My Web Publishing Goals, and
3. Monetization Goals.

First, let’s look at last month’s stats:

March 2008

1. Traffic Goals:
   3,532 Visits: Goal exceeded! (was 3500)
   114 Visit/Day avg.: Goal of 100 visits/day exceeded!
2. My Web Publishing Goals:
   Just to reiterate: One of my main goals with my blog is to establish more of a name and an online presence through multiple online locations. These also help with backlinks, Google PageRank and Technorati authority. I went on a publishing field-day to put it mildly! I hope to do even more next month.
   
3. Monetization Goals:
   Feeling a little jaded after Google smacked my page rank from a PR4 to a PR2 because I used IZEA, I decided to set my PayPerPost goal low in March at $30. I exceeded that goal with an income of $65 from PayPerPost in March. Also, I was able to make $20 from Loud Launch and an incredible first month of $70 with PayU2Blog. The PayPal payment just went into my bank account an hour ago. Can you say Sarah and I go to Chili’s for lunch today??? ;) Oh, one more money item: I gained 2 125×125 paying advertisers this month. It is a pleasure having them and I plan to do all I can to keep them happy.

Okay, now it is time to list my future goals for April:

1. Traffic:
   3750 Visits.
   175 Visits/Day (I know it is almost doubling last month’s goal, but I am networking through 9Rules and BlogCatalog much more as well as some sources I’m choosing to wait to mention in case they don’t work).
2. My Web Publishing Goals (10 published articles in April): Publish on …
   BlogCritics (2)
   Associated Content (1)
   FuelmyBlog (2)
   GuestBlogging as the coveted offers come in. I would anticipate a minimum of 5 offers, but we’ll see. If I don’t get that many, I may approach YOU! ;)
3. Monetization Goals: I’m making a goal to make $100 minmum on PayPerPost and PayU2Blog. We’ll see what the ads bring in as well but I am not setting an ads goal at this time.

Think I can pull it off? I am confident I can. You might consider subscribing to my feed so you don’t miss an update! This month should be an exciting month of meeting these new goals. Oh, and if you are interested in getting traffic from this blog, I would like to do a guestblog or interview for you on your blog. Let’s talk! Thanks for reading Postcards from the Funny Farm.

What a week! I had five articles published outside my blog! Most were guestblogs (which I hold in very high respect, thanks to all who hosted me last week). As my friends know, this is a serious goal for me right now. In between all that, and having a family of 5 and a full time job as a teacher, the jeep attacked a lot of rock mountains on the weekly Blog Safari. I dug into Blog Catalog discussions more than I ever have (see sidebar widget). Also, I started back into 9Rules which is amazing. Between that and my regular RSS reads, I found some amazing stuff and I’ll serve it up to you here. If you have an article you’d like to see featured here some week, please drop me a line and I will check it out. As always, the articles below all received a well-deserved Stumble. Enjoy the Safari this week!

Hand holding is so… yesterday
A short but great article about how a simple touch and a bit of extra effort can improve your love life and your sex life.

Lord Likely has Some Trouble with The Brown Mist
Speaking of sex, Lord Likely is at it again. His ridiculous shenanigans get him into all kinds of laugh-a-minute situations. Read this post and may it be the one that hooks you on this very entertaining columnist.

Fuelmyblog and other social networking sites, Walking the Stacks
I really like this blog. He’s written about stuff I am currently doing a series on: social networkin.... Check out this cool article and learn as I did from it.

Twitter: what are you doing right now?
I found Tyme’s blog through 9Rules. It’s a great piece of writing. I often wonder why the hell I am on Twitter. Is it ridiculous? Read her article and see what you think.

Got Traffic Blues? Remember Balance
Kimberly is my newest sponsor here at Postcards from the Funny Farm. I will be doing a full review of her site this month as well and linking her to you where I think her services can help. Watch for that, it will be valuable to your piggy bank. This article is an example of the kind of patient and yet effective money coach she is to people who want to make money online. She shows the many ways to make it: not just through ads or clicking. I endorse her stuff heartily. Go check it out, I think you will be both surprised and impressed.

Reaching Your Goals
My main man Derek wrote a great little post on reaching goals. This is like a staple to any form of success in my life. Derek is also one of my ads featured in the right hand upper area of the fold. As a side note, through using principles he has virtually learned through trial and error and through mentors, Derek manages to bring in a sizable chuck of change every month through blogging. Check out what he has to say about goals.

38 TV Themes Recorded by the Actors Themselves
Malcolm … I need to high five you for this one!!! Folks, go look at the pictures and imagine the songs he lists in this post. Creative, hard work, labor of love went into this post … that is undeniable. This is another must for every blogroll.

Scared Silly by the Faeries
My writing and academic colleague 1/2 way across the world in Scotland wrote an entry for Shelly Tucker’s contest (which I happen to be judging). This is a great story and it really gives you an idea what Shelly is looking for in the contest. I am the judge. How did I attain this lofty position you ask? Good God I have no freakin’ idea. Maybe it’s because I never write “sex” or “freagin” in my posts ;) Seriously though, if you have a scary story and a blog go to her details post through the button below and get your post done before the submission deadline!

Tiny Url: rurl.org/kpm

BoozeCruise
Jessica the Rock Chick is one of the coolest people I know. She is able to admit when her angelic guitar player from Bon Jovi make s a huge boo boo. Get a fans rant at this post. Also, I just want to say as I have in the past that you really need to be reading Jessica’s blog, it makes me a cooler person (and God knows I have miles to go there).

Things I’m Learning from Blogging
The master .. mistress? well … Shelly anyway :) This lady has been a reader of mine for a long time and we have sort of a reciprocal love of storytelling. One of these days I’ll get to see her live (she does it for a living!) Suffice it to say, if this lady has a post about blogging and what she is learning, boy I’ll tell ya what … I’m there ;)

Easily Organize Post Categories
Katy is a very astute, prolific blogger who offers very practical and helpful information to her readers regarding blogging. This is one of those posts! I would add that “Batch Categories” is another very helpful and easy to use plugin to add to the one she lists in her article.

I’m off work for 10 days. Boy, I love Spring Break as a teacher. In my RnR however, I have been getting over a nasty cough. I wrote a guestblog over at the FuelmyBlog site about what I learned about generic and name-brand otc coughing drugs. If you are interested in reading it, you can get there through the url linked below:

http://blog.fuelmyblog.com/2008/03/name-brand-and-generic-coughing.html

If you are interested in having me guestblog for your blog for free, read the page explaining the process and contact me.  Thanks!  I hope to hear from you.