Blog Snapshot At 9 Months
Jul

This post was originally a snapshot at 8 months, but after I wrote most of the post, WordPress decided that it didn’t want to save it and I lost an hours worth of writing. I got so pissed off that I and am now just getting back to it…
So this is a follow up to my post, Blog Snaphot At 4 Months, where I will discuss the growth, successes, and failures I’ve encountered thus far on my journey to build a profitable online business and get out of my life draining job!
What started out as a part-time venture has turned into something much, much more. The world of blogging has sucked me in and there is no escaping it. Nor would I want to.
With each passing day, I become more committed to the success of this blog. It’s no longer a question of “if” I can replace my day job income and quit, but “when”.
It’s only been 9 months, but I feel like I’ve been working on this for years. I have spent almost every free moment I’ve had working on creating a valuable and helpful resource.
Things have certainly been up and down and I ‘ve experienced some emotional days, but I can honestly say that I’ve never wavered on my goal. There has been no doubt that I am building this into a hugely successful business.
I’m a stats guy. I love looking at the numbers and seeing the actual growth of this blog. With that said, here are the charts from Google Analytics to show my last 30 days of traffic as well as since I began in October.
The Stats
Traffic: Last 30 Days
Top Traffic Sources: Last 30 Days
Total Traffic Since October 11, 2010
Top Traffic Sources Since October 11, 2010
Complete Stats
- Total visitors: 38,538
- Absolute unique visitors: 28,914
- Page views: 70,009
- Average page views per visit: 1.82
- Average time on site: 2:31
- Bounce rate: 68.70%
- New Visits: 74.80%
- Twitter followers: 1,314
- Facebook “Likes”: 100 (created Facebook page only a month ago-took me long enough!)
- RSS subscribers: 366 (fluctuates all over the place-damn you Feedburner)
- Total posts: 123
- Total comments: 2,019 (thanks, Adrienne!)
- Average hours spent blogging each week: 20-25
A Deeper Look Into The Stats
Lets look at what’s been going on in terms of growth:
- A few days ago, I finally reached 9,000 visitors in a single month. While this is a pretty good number, it could have been much higher. When I first started in October, I began guest posting on high traffic blogs like DumbLittleMan.com which was the main reason my blog grew so quickly.Β What I should have done was to continue finding similar sites to write for but instead I stopped writing guest posts altogether. My last one was published on 3/14. Bad idea…
- I have been receiving a significant amount of organic traffic from Google basically from just a few keywords. That traffic has killed my average time on site and bounce rate, both of which are pretty poor.
- I just noticed (today) that I am getting a bunch of traffic from StumbleUpon. I don’t think I’ve even ever used it before. As you can see by the numbers, the time on site and bounce rates are lousy. And I still don’t know what post(s) got stumbled….
- I’m also not crazy about having a 75% of my traffic come from new visits. Apparently I am not doing enough to keep my readers coming back.
I also have received Google traffic from 4,061 different keywords. I think I tried to rank for 25 or so. Among the list, here are my favorites:
- “7 habits trail mix” ( Hmmm… maybe I should start selling this)
- “7 habits torture” (don’t wanna know this guy…)
- “graveyard jobs are bad” (no shit)
- “goodbye, I’m ending it” (hopefully this wasn’t a suicide note)
- “drinking quotes” (do we really need quotes to drink??)
- “jobburn” (sounds like a pretty nasty rash or something)
I’ve also realized that blogging is not about the numbers. Sure, seeing 500 visitors come to your blog in one day is awesome, but it’s not about getting a ton of people to your site. It’s about finding people who actually give a shit about what you’re saying. That’s the key, The rest is just gravy….
Β Wins/Losses
This has been a pretty wild roller coaster ride for me so far. I’ve had many nights that I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep. I’ve also had days when things were going so poorly that all I wanted to do was sleep.
Let’s start with the wins…
- My Podcast, which I started in May, has been an awesome experience. I’ve gotten to interview some amazing people, including Jonathan Mead, Johnny B Truant, and Seth Godin! I love the fact that I can pick the brains of these folks and share their knowledge with you all! By the way, don’t forget to subscribe to my Podcast in iTunes.
- Allowing guest posts. This has been huge! As incredible as my writing is :-), it’s still inspiring to hear from others who are going through or have gone through dealing with the daily grind. I’ve read some amazing posts and feel fortunate to have so many people willing to share their stories with us all. I plan to keep em’ coming….
- My Blog Review Service. It’s been great for the fact that I am offering a very helpful service which can really help bloggers who are stuck in a rut. On the other hand, it has not done well in terms of actual sales. The truth is that it doesn’t matter how incredible my service is if nobody is using it. The problem is that I assumed that people wanted this service. Apparently, I was wrong. I really feel like it can help new bloggers immensely and am working on marketing it better.
- My comments. I’ve been pretty happy with the number of comments each post is getting. I feel like the community here is growing nicely and I’m getting to meet new people every day.
- My Mastermind Group. Back in March, I started this group as a way to share ideas and get different perspectives from bloggers with varying levels of experience. There were 7 of us and it was very helpful. We used a free conference calling service aptly named FreeConferenceCall.com to handle our weekly meetings. It lasted for several months but our schedules got busy and it dissolved. If you’re thinking of doing a mastermind group, just do it, it’s SO worthwhile! Oh, and try to get Tim Ferriss, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Seth Godin to be in yours….
- Google love..finally. A few weeks back, my blog was upgraded from a Page Rank 0 to a PR 2. If nothing else, it makes me feel like I’m on the right track.
- Niche sites. Well, future niche sites. I have decided to start one after I began reading Pat Flynn’s Niche Site Duel series. I’ve used Market Samurai and Google’s Free Keyword Tool to find the keywords, now I just need to start the site. It will be in the fitness niche, an area I am experienced in and very much enjoy. By the way, if you’re thinking of starting a niche site, you NEED to read Pat’s stuff.
- The survey I posted yesterday. I wanted to add this in because the survey I published yesterday has provided me with some great insights into what you are thinking and what you want. This is invaluable for me and will allow me to provide you with the content and resources you are looking for. Thanks to everyone who has participated so far, I really appreciate it!
And now the losses…
- My RSS subscriber count has been growing at an incredibly slow pace for 5 months now. This is not good. Here is a great article from Glen at Viperchill which discusses how to increase RSS subscribers. I think I need to read it again…
- My guest posting strategy (and by strategy, I mean writing them) that I was using for the first 5 months has fallen by the wayside. I haven’t submitted a new guest post in months. I smell a guest posting bender coming up…..
- My lack of writing. I’ve gotten so busy working on other things that my writing slowed to a crawl. I’ve been relying on guest posts too much, running two each week. Earlier this week, I recommitted myself to writing more articles and using fewer guest posts. I kicked this off by writing what I feel was my best post ever, Take Your Life Back. Or Don’t.
- Time management. As most of you know, when things start taking off for you, there are a lot more things to do each day. I’m still working away from 9-5, teaching fitness boot camps, training clients, and spending 20+ hours each week on here. Oh yea, I also have a family that needs attention….
- Twitter. I went from doing a 30 day Twitter experiment, to basically dropping out of the Twitterverse and using it solely to promote my posts. This is NOT the way to build followers or relationships. I know this yet I’m still doing it…stupid I know. Time to reconnect…..
- Facebook. I still haven’t taken the time to learn how to effectively use it. I put off actually creating a page for months and even then, I paid someone to set it up for me because I didn’t want to put in the effort. Even with Pat Flynn’s awesome guide to Facebook, IΒ just can’t seem to get interested in Facebook. Am I missing something here???
My Favorite Places Online
I spend a great deal of time online and have visited tons of blogs. I’ve found a number of excellent ones, but find myself going back to the same few over and over.
If you’re in a similar situation as I am, then you really should take some time to check out these blogs. They all have played a huge role in the growth of my blog and I’m soooo glad I have them as a resource.
- Pat from SmartPassiveIncome.com. Did I give it away with all the links to his posts already??? Pat is THE MAN when it comes to helping people get started with blogging. He is killing it and there is a very good reason for it! His posts are awesome, his Podcast is fantastic, and his video tutorials are incredibly helpful. Bloggers, you have to read this blog, period.
- Ashley from TheMiddleFingerProject.org. Ashley is one of the most compelling writers I’ve found online. She’s witty, smart, and kicks some serious blogging ass. She has an incredibly loyal fan base and she deserves it. I had the chance to chat with her a few weeks ago and it was the best 90 minutes I’ve spent in a long time. My interview with her will be posted on Friday, so look for it.
- Glen from ViperChiill.com. Glen is an Internet marketing whiz. He’s a young guy but has had some incredible successes already. His posts are epic and if you’re not reading them, you are missing out big time.
- Nick from SiteSketch101.com. Nick has created a great blog (and business) by building relationships. What I like most about him is his honesty and sincere desire to help others. He is truly one of the good guys out there.
- Srini from BlogCastFM.com. I’ve learned so much from Srini’s Podcast interviews that I’m not sure I would be at the point I am right now if it hadn’t been for him. If you are looking to build an online business, you need to start listening to these Podcasts today!
My Favorite Free eBooks
I also happen to like reading eBooks about blogging/Internet marketing (especially free ones!). I’ve got dozens of them on my hard drive but unfortunately, most are just average. Here are the standouts:
- 279 Days To Overnight Success by Chris Guillebeau. No opt-in
- Connect and Conquer by Mars Dorian. Requires opt-in
- The Zero Hour Workweek by Jonathan Mead. No opt-in
- Blog Profits Blueprint by Yaro Starak. Opt-in required
- The Definitive Guide to Getting Off Your Butt, Finding Some Focus, and Jump Starting Your Biz by Ashley Ambirge. Opt-in required and SO worth it!
The Future of the Grinder
I can say with all honesty that I feel like the future holds unlimited potential for me and this blog. I’ve got some wonderfully supportive readers and online friends and absolutely LOVE what I’m doing!
My goal going forward is to continue to provide excellent content, creating new products/services, and keep you all inspired to take action on living your dreams.
Believe in yourself, you can do it. Seriously, you can.

Benny
I always enjoy reading posts like this to see the progress of blogs.
I’m glad to read that you’re getting good feedback on your surveys!
Those Google searches are hilarious! You gotta wonder sometimes what people are thinking.
I don’t focus on SU either but I’ll notice that I’ll get traffic from there. One time last month I got 30 hits on my “Thanks for commenting” page that shows up after someone leaves a comment for the first time. I saw the traffic was from Stumbleupon! Someone had submitted it I suppose. So weird.
To see which post got Stumbled I use a plugin call “Jetpack”. It has many features but one of them are site stats. I can see in my WP dashboard the referring sites and what links people are clicking on. It’s totally free.
Really enjoyed this post. Congrats on your growth!
Steve
Thanks Benny,
The survey has done surprisingly well and I’ve gotten some really great feedback. I don’t really care about the SU traffic anyway because of the high bounce rate and low time on site.
Thanks for the tip on Jetpack!
Benny
Me too. That’s why I don’t focus on getting SU traffic. Low bounce rate and don’t think many become regular readers.
BethanyBob (@bethanybob)
I don’t use StumbleUpon, either. I have too little time and too many applications/sites-to-use as it is. Does Google Reader count as an RSS subscription? ‘Cause that’s the only thing I use, and even then I usually skim posts. I think I read more of your posts by going through Twitter. Speaking of, while I love catching up on your archives, I miss “you.” So, yes, please come back to Twitter, soon. π
I like the idea of your BlogReview Service, but I have no business or blog in the works just yet. Also, I don’t think the cost is unreasonable — it’s just not something I can afford, at the moment.
Oh, wait. Yes, I do have a massage business I’ve been playing around with until I get licensed. I tried making a Facebook Page, and it’s been hit-or-miss, so I understand the disinterest. The SmartPassiveIncome post you shared looks great! I’ll be taking a closer look at it, later.
Steve
Bethany,
Any reader that is used will count as a RSS subscriber as far as I know.
I have been a slack ass on Twitter for a while and it comes down to poor time management. Gotta work on that for sure…
I really think my blog review service is helpful, I’m just not very good at marketing it and I misread my audience as far as what they wanted.
If you need help setting up your Facebook page, contact Nick from SiteSketch101. He did mine and it was cheap!
TrafficColeman
I get very happy when I see other marketers come on the scene and just runs over everyone. But it all starts with hard work and you have it.
“Black Seo Guy “Signing Off”
Steve
Antonio,
I definitely don’t think I’m running over everyone. I’m doing ok, but there are so many awesome blogs out there that are kicking my butt!
I AM working my ass off though…thanks for noticing..
Steve
Lye,
Yea, Pat and Glen have incredible sites! I’m not really sure why my RSS numbers are so low. I do have to try different things though to get it moving. Maybe it’s just a Feedburner glitch and I really have 5,000 subscribers! π
Thanks for your support..
Keshav
Thanks Steve for this. You are one of the few (or the only one) who has damn decent stats (from my view) and still shares with the world.
I agree with facebook and twitter, too much noise. But you should respond to fans asking questions or starting discussions there. I still don’t understand the point really. It’s necessary to have a presence, but I believe concentrating on your core – writing, before you become a sensation (you are on your way) may be more useful.
Let your content do the talking. I’m hardly the expert in that field, maybe you can ask the real experts on their experiences when they were at the initial stages of their NOW HUGE blogs.
I remember finding your blog from DumbLittleMan. So you should definitely review your guest posting (and let your readers know about the link). Funny thing – after coming from dumblittleman, I immediately RSSed both ETG and DLM, but I hardly follow DumbLittleMan π
I love the stories of your guest authors. At the same time, I would like to see more of your writing too (as you plan to now).
Thanks Steve for everything!
Steve
Keshav buddy!
Yea, I really like the idea of sharing the growth of the blog and my progress as I think people really can relate to it. The beginning stages of blogging are tough for sure and it’s good to see what others are doing. Pat Flynn is one person that I know that shares everything he does and his stats are incredible.
I do need to get back in touch more on the social media scene and plan to asap. I’m also planning to do a number of guest posts and will be aiming for the big boys like ProBlogger, CopyBlogger, and LifeHack. Plan to see a lot more posts from me. As much as I love reading and sharing others stories, I just love to write and have tons of ideas for this blog.
Thanks again for all your support.
Justin
Hey Steve,
Your stats are kicking ass for only 9 months. I have only submitted 3 guest-posts myself so far. My blog is 7 months and I get 3700 visitors a months. My Rss sucks as well.
I use twitter and facebook about 10 minutes a day. Just respond, reply retweet, like and engage.
I also offer free stuff on my fan page as well.
I have been listening to blogcast fm for the past week. There are some great podcasts on there.
Steve
Justin,
Guest posting is huge if you find the right ones. Don’t be fooled into thinking that submitting a post to a high traffic site will automatically get you visitors. I learned the hard way. I posted to a PR6 blog with 100k+ monthly visitors and received maybe 100 visits total. Make sure your post will really resonate with their readers.
Glad you found BlogCastFM, that site is the shiznit!!!!
Meg
Sounds like you are doing great!! I just looked at my stat’s and the number one way people view my blog is through my boyfriend’s blog. I guess it pays to have a partner in crime. π
Steve
Hey Meg,
That’s pretty funny about your boyfriends blog. But if it works, go with it π
Paul
Damn your stats are impressive for only being up for 9 months. I saw that your #3 referrer is stumbleupon. Do you promote through that network or is this all through random people?
I really need to try guest posting…
Steve
Thanks Paul,
StumbleUpon is something that just started bringing me traffic and I haven’t even checked to see which post was stumbled. To be honest, I really don’t even care. The people coming from that site are only sticking around my blog for a few seconds, so they are not really the readers I am looking for.
As far as guest posting-yea you do! Just make sure you write your very best stuff.
Hector Avellaned
Steve – congrats on both your wins and your loses. Both are equally as important if you can take a lesson or learn from them.
I have to say, those are not bad numbers at all for a 9 month blog. You definitely picked up a good pace pretty quickly. At the end of this month I will have been online 1 year myself.
I definitely agree with that as you start getting an audience you definitely have to start managing your site more and your social media properties as well. Guest posting and other projects are very very hard to squeeze in and if you do, you end up falling off in one area. I’ve been there and am going through a similar experience as we speak.
There is definitely no way out for me either, not that I want to find one anyway! π
As long as we maintain focus on our vision and continue looking for places and ways to grow in, we will eventually reach our destination, whatever that may be.
Hey, I’ve actually been thinking about starting an Mastermind group where people can connect once or twice a month to discuss goals, objectives and ideas. Maybe we should talk a bout this offline sometime, Steve!
We share a lot of common beliefs and values! Talk to you soon bud and once again, congrats on your 9 month results!
Steve
Hector,
I’m really digging the comments you’ve been leaving lately. Very thoughtful, I appreciate it.
1 year, huh? How have your stats been so far? Are you happy with them?
You’re right on when you say that when you start focusing hard on one area, another falls off. That’s exactly what has happened here. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to do everything I want to.
It sounds like we would be a good fit for a mastermind group, but I just have too many things going on right now to commit. Maybe after I finish my new eBook…..
Debbie Beardsley
Those are some awesome stats for 9 months! I enjoyed your recap and will definitely look into some of the bloggers suggested and ebooks!
I am still at twitter but have a hard time fitting Facebook in. I too am still working and have a difficult squeezing this in. That’s my next item to work on plus the RSS feeds.
Steve
Hi Debbie,
Definitely check out the blogs I mentioned, they are awesome!
As far as getting up and running with FB and your RSS, just carve out a block of 4 hours one night and get it done. If you don’t know how, just Google it. You can always find the answers online. π
Scott - Quirky Travel Guy
It’s cool to see behind the scenes numbers like this. I’m at 6 months and things are coming along decently. I haven’t done any guest posts yet because I haven’t thought of any ideas that would work, but that’s a goal of mine in the near future.
Steve
Scott,
What sites are you looking at for potential guest posts? And seriously, anyone can come up with ideas for a post. Email me what blogs you’re looking at and we’ll discuss your ideas. It’s one of the fastest ways to get traction with your blog! Do it now, dude!
John - Mobile Lifestyle Design
Steve – I really like the monthly report post. It reminds me of Pat Fylnn and his uber popular monthly income reports. It’s very motivating to see your wins and your losses.
I’m interested in the mastermind you had. How did you find the folks you had in your mastermind? Would you consider doing another one? I’m looking for a motivation/mastermind group to get involved with. I’m nowhere near your level yet but I’m working on it
Oh, thanks for the “My favorite places online”! I just found themiddlefingerproject.org and looking forward to digging into her site as well.
Keep up the great progress!
Steve
Hey John,
I think I actually got my idea from Pat. I love his blog! I’m actually interviewing him next week and am really excited about it.
I found my mastermind group through contacts on Twitter. I wanted a good ix of people with varying skills and experience levels. I started with 10 people and ended up with 7 I think.
I’m not really looking to start another one just yet, but if I do, I’ll keep you in mind. If you’re going to start one, I suggest finding people who are more experienced than you. If you want, send me an email and I will send you the pdf. form I got (from Pat Flynn’s mastermind group) on how it’s run.
And you’re in luck that you found TMFproject, because she is incredible. That site will blow you away!!
Natalie Sisson
Hey guys
Actually StumbleUpon can be incredibly useful. I have not used it enough but my friend and blogger has seen great success with it not only for traffic that sticks around but for getting it to learn what she wants to stumble to her community that saves her time in the morning where she shares these links.
Also just don’t worry about RSS it’s not an indicator anything – seriously – ask the big guys and gals. It’s all about your email list as they optin to actually hear from you regularly. Whereas in RSS most people optin and then let it go to their Google Reader which they never visit.
Great results so Steve. Blogging is so rewarding.
Steve
Natalie,
Although SU can bring in a lot of traffic, I’ve heard many times (and now seen it personally), that the quality is poor. I’m not looking for traffic that spends 12 seconds on my blog. As far as the RSS, I suppose you’re right although the social proof aspect doesn’t count for something.
I agree about the email list and I’ve done a pretty poor job of sending out newsletters on a consistent basis.
Thanks for your support!
Mr Frog - LeapingOff
It’s actually pretty cool that you’ve come so far in 9 months – thank you for sharing your stats! Pat Flynn probably deserves some type of medal for all of the people he’s inspired – one of my favorite reads too.
And even though 75% of your traffic is from new visitors, I just found it a week ago and keep coming back, so at least you got me hooked! π
Steve
I’m on board with you in thinking that Pat Flynn is ‘the man’. He has helped sooo many people and has really made a difference in my business. I’m actually interviewing him next week and am pumped!
Thanks for reading and I hope to see a lot more of you around!
Sammy
Nice topic. I am actually at 10 months right now myself with around the same stats as you, but I switched from joomla to wordpress around 5 months in, i believe this had a slightly ill effect on traffic. In any event the stats are continually growing, sometimes hitting sticking points, but I think soon traffic will start to increase heavily. Keep up the good work and again nice site and topic.
Steve
Thanks Sammy,
Interesting site you’ve got there. Are you driving all your traffic with keywords?
Sammy
Hi Steve, To be honest I am not focusing at all on keywords. I am simply writing content all original and creating valuable information to those that are looking for that specific info. I started that particular blog on a whim just to test the waters, thinking it would never really amount to anything due to the nitch being very tight. So the focus was more on the content prospective without even looking at or knowing how to use keywords.
Since I am currently at somewhat of a sticking point, I am now speaking to and getting advice from others to try and implement some seo techniques.
Steve
That’s very interesting Sammy, from the looks of it, I would have guessed you were doing a lot of SEO stuff.
Good job on getting the traffic you have and good luck on creating an even better resource!
Sammy
Hi Steve. Thanks for response. Another thing lately that I was thinking about is merging 2 blogs. Another seo guy mentioned many people with higher volume blogs are using this tactic now, merging 2 with original content.
I also was thinking about changing to thesis theme for my blogs, since the twenty eleven theme that I have kind of sucks on all angles.
take care
Steve
Sammy,
Interesting thought about merging blogs. I haven’t thought of that at all!
As far as your theme, I think it would be beneficial to change things up. I’m not a fan of Thesis but I know it’s used by tons of people. I prefer Theme Forest,where you can find unique and different themes and most are pretty cheap!