Progress/Data Points:
After one full month of operating the site, we’ve had 504 page views by 107 unique users. We have 19 posts up, which is great in my opinion. I’ve been batting a solid average of 3 posts per week and plan to keep that up through post number 50, if not 100.
I have no idea if this traffic level is very good or not after the first month. Not many visitors are coming from organic search, but I don’t think I should expect that to change much for some time. Google is still learning about us.
It’s really too early to tell much of anything. I don’t think I’ll draw many conclusions until 6-8 months in.
We still haven’t monetized, so our earnings are still at $0.00. I’ll go into more detail about a shift in mindset regarding monetization further down in the post.
We also still haven’t really told any friends or family about the site (other than Curt’s brother). It’s not that we’re trying to keep it a secret, but those aren’t really the clicks we’re after.
At this point, I think it would provide a lot of site visit data that would just confuse us about what is and isn’t working for the site.
Lessons Learned:
Focus on Content
The top thing I’d point to as a lesson learned this month, is to set aside the shiny distractions of YouTube, podcasts, and monetizing, and just focus on putting out solid content.
Those things may come organically in their due time, but we need a baseline to grow from and the website is it.
I haven’t had a bit of trouble coming up with ideas to write about, and I’ve really enjoyed writing most of the posts. If the first month is any indication, I think I’m going to enjoy doing this at a tapered pace for some time.
Another side effect of this is my decision not to monetize for a while. I just can’t bear the thought of ads plastered all over the site. Besides, the more I look into it, the more it appears they don’t generate much benefit anyway.
I’m still working out monetization, but it’s not a priority for now. “Build it and they will come” is my mantra for the time being.
Pinterest is a Pal
I was skeptical of Pinterest and even postponed using it until just this last week. Frankly, I wasn’t sure how to create pins, much less what to do with them after I made them.
Finally, I did a little research and found that it really isn’t very difficult at all.
I’m retroactively creating pins for my older posts and posting around 10 each day. I’m sure I’m not fully leveraging its capability, but I’ve already seen several clicks to the site directly from Pinterest so I’m going to keep it up.
I’m Not Writing to Please a Computer
At least not primarily. Last month, I said I was writing to please a computer and that’s still partially true. I’m getting better and better at SEO in my posts and have no intention of giving that up.
What I’m not doing is writing the post for the sake of SEO. I’m picking topics I like, writing about them, and figuring out the keywords later.
I’m sure this approach will require refining over time, but I’ve got to be me. It just doesn’t seem authentic to go chasing topics because they might score well with Google.
Goals:
I want to avoid using gaudy ads
Mission accomplished. I still think ads are the fastest path to monetization, but that doesn’t make them the best path. I’ve still got a great job during the day that will keep food on the table if this doesn’t work out. I’m not going to trade site quality for a few bucks in ad revenue.
I am shooting for 50 70 quality posts by the end of 2022
I have 19 posts on the site (this one will be #20) and another 12 in storage for a total of 32. That gives me 3 months to write another 18 posts in order to hit my original goal of 50 posts. I’ve been writing at double that pace, so I’m upping the ante and shooting for 70 by the end of the year. Wish me luck.
I want to turn a profit before the end of 2022
I’ve got to be honest, this one seems unlikely. I’m just not going to get in a hurry for money and I’ll need a lot of traffic in 4 short months to start making any money at all.
I’ll leave this goal up because who knows? But I’m not holding my breath.
I’m trying to get 100 quality posts up as soon as I can
At my current pace, this would be sometime in late March 2023. I’d be beside myself if I made it to 100 posts in just over 6 months. Again, wish me luck.
I’m going to continue playing with YouTube
I’ve done a bit of research on the YouTubes and I have to say that I think it would make a great supplement to the site. It’s not hard to envision a path from my posts to videos without a lot of extra work or time.
With that said, refer to goals 2 & 4 above. The writing comes first. Once I reach 100 posts, I think I’ll slow down the writing and start dabbling in the video more.
In the meantime, I am recording a monthly version of this journal update so I can post the progress of the site one day when I do start making videos.
Other:
I’m actually enjoying this side project we’ve started. I know it isn’t how many people envision their evenings or weekends, but I’ve found it to be just challenging enough to be stimulating while also providing a significant upside if things go well.
