The only way I could find out if my blog was in the least bit popular wasn’t by waiting for people to post comments; it was by analyzing my traffic to see where it was coming from. It wasn’t until I was several months into blogging, after I stopped being so high-strung and realized that blog popularity for the most part doesn’t happen over night was when I calmed down enough to realize that I needed to track my traffic.

Free traffic counters

I searched online for website tracking services. Of course, being the frugal person that I am, I looked for free services only. My searches lead me to two free services, and time and experience lead me to the third free service. The services are Sitemeter, Statcounter and, of course, Google Analytics.
[smartads]
Not knowing which one to use, I use all three. You may say that it sound like overkill and I might be a little anal-retentive with my stat counting but the reason why I do it is because each stat counting site uses different methods by which they count visitors.

For instance, Statcounter’s stats always seem to come in higher than my Sitemeter stats. Google Analytics on the other hand seems to come somewhere in the middle. In my book, having more than one stat counter comes in handy for a couple of reasons:

1. If one of the stat counter sites goes down, I still have two other sites as backup.
2. Each one offers different features. Statcounter, for instance will tell me where each of my visitors came from and the number of pages they visit. Sitemeter on the other hand may tell me where they came from and the number of pages each visitor visited but it will not detail which page each visitor clicked viewed. Google Analytics the other hand will give me a lot more information that is not available by either of the two listed above. Honestly, Google’s statistics overwhelm me.

In my own experience I found that Sitemeter was a little more accurate in counting new hits to my site. Statcounter, on occasion will confuse page loads with new visitors. Google Analytics on the other hand, as I said before comes somewhere in between and I don’t really spend too much time on with Google Analytics because at this point in time, it has way too much information for me to digest.

I’ve found that checking my stats from time to time gives me an indication of my popular posts and the posts that are growing cobwebs from lack of readership. It allows me to review those posts and tweak the SEO to see if it improves traffic for those lonely and forgotten posts.

It also helped me to discover that Thursday’s seem to be a slump day for one of my sites, while Saturday is for another one. I’ve got the option to accept that as a pattern or try to come up with something to change it.

A word of caution

Don’t become addicted to your stats. Checking them from time to time to measure the health of your site is good. Obsessively checking them every 5, 10 or 15 minutes is not.

Think of stats as like getting on the scale. Getting on the scale several times a day can make you an emotional wreck if the scale says the wrong thing. Don’t let your stats do that to you too.

Some time ago, I decided I wanted to write my life. No, not in the sense of a biography, but in a fashion where I could write about my daily routine in one way or another and earn money from it. Sounds a little narcissistic, but it’s not.

Blog about what you do

All you have to do is look at what you like and what you do and you’ll find a host of writing material. For instance, I love eating out so I decided to write a review for each restaurant I dined at and placed the review on one of my websites.
[smartads]
I monetized the reviews with a few ads and generated a couple of bucks. Not to mention that I keep my receipts and use them as a tax write off since writing reviews is one of the ways in which I earn income.

The other day I had to take my car to the shop. I wrote a review on the repair shop, monetized it and earned a few shekels. The interesting thing about the reviews is that for some reason they generated a bit of traffic.

Share what you do

I pretty much do the same thing here on No Job for Mom. I blog about my freelance writing money making experiences (good and bad). When I’m excited about a new discovery, whether it’s a freelance opportunity, a new tool or a neat website, I blog about it and share it with my readers. Similarly, if I find something that my readers should stay away from, I share that too.

Keep it simple

It may sound rather simple, but with my advancing years, I tend not to remember a whole lot of complicated formulas. If I write about what I do, it’s a lot easier for me to come up with blogging material. The only pitfall about writing about my life is staying focused. I’ve got to remain true to the blog’s subject matter. After all, who wants to hear about how Fido got a little nervous on his last long road trip and couldn’t wait until we pulled the car over and…

I digress. oDesk used a survey tool from a company called Survey Monkey. I normally don’t like completing surveys but oDesk’s survey was short and sweet so I felt compelled to complete it. Also, I do intend to look for work through oDesk and wanted to voice my concern about blowing my two-week window of opportunity.

After completing the survey I was taken to the Survey Monkey site. Apparently they offer the option to use the free service or pay a monthly fee for the more feature rich version. Of course, being the frugal person that I am, I’m trying the free version.

After playing around on their site for a bit, I configured a quick 5-question survey. I created the survey for several reasons:

1. To test out Survey Monkey to see what it’s all about
2. To satisfy my curiosity about my readers blogging habits
3. To see if surveys can help me help my readers and myself. By collecting information on blogging habits and readership, maybe I can learn a few things to help me improve my habits and readership.
4. It’s also a great way to come up with blogging material

I would appreciate it if you would give me a hand and take this 5-question survey. I’m not asking for any personal information. You should be able to finish the survey in a couple of minutes.

Once I accumulate enough information, I’ll share my results and my thoughts on Survey Monkey as a blog enhancement tool.

There are times when I wonder if I have what it takes to maintain a blog during the summer months. Between parties, vacation, chauffeuring the children to their activities, sleepovers, etc., it becomes a little more difficult to maintain and stick to a blogging schedule. I wonder if I have what it takes to press on through the rough times.

[smartads]

Self Discipline

I do my best to blog six days a week and not miss a day because once I miss a day its easier for me to make an excuse to miss a second day, then a third. The trick is to press on. Anything worth having is worth working for. Being able to be around the children in the summertime is great. It beats completing a vacation requisition sheet and handing it to my boss hoping that my co-workers with more seniority don’t want to take the exact same days off.

Find Your Pick Me Up

When things really start to get to me and I feel overwhelmed and am about to make an excuse not to blog, I think of one of my favorite Bible verses Galatians 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9 has given me the kick in the butt that I needed on several occasions . Whenever I think that the kids’ summer schedule and my blogging schedule is too much for me to handle, I think about “in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” The hard work I put in now, will reward my family and me in the future. Therefore, I press on.

Remember Your Vision

I say this only to encourage other blogger parents and folks with many obligations and responsibilities who want to earn money through blogging. Anything worth having is worth pressing on for. Sometimes I mentally fast forward a year or two from now when my Google AdSense account is growing by leaps and bounds, my affiliate programs are electronically depositing money into my PayPal account and my blog’s traffic has surpassed my greatest imagination. At that time, I’ll look back and be thankful that I pressed on.

Three Ways to Earn

As I mentioned before, there are three ways to earn money with Pay Per Post. I’ve earned (but have yet to be paid for) money using the referral method. Apparently it’s easy to earn money that way, but not so easy to get paid. Payment depends on whether or not the referred bloggers actually blog and earn money with Pay Per Post.

Since I have no control over referrals that have signed up as a result of reading my post, all I can do is hope that they eventually earn money with Pay Per Post.

Available Opportunities

I have yet to earn money via the traditional Pay Per Post blogging opportunities. Currently there are two opportunities that my approved blog qualifies for. The subject matter for one opportunity doesn’t conform to the topic of my blog, and when I attempt to claim the other opportunity, I receive the following message: “All of the available posts for that opportunity have already been taken.” I don’t quite understand why the opportunities still appear if all the posts have been taken.

Direct contact with Advertisers

The third option, Pay Per Post Direct, is the way I earned money with my first post. I was contacted directly from an advertiser with the guidelines for the post. I followed the guidelines, wrote the post, submitted the URL to the advertiser and within 24 hours my PayPal account was credited.

It was easy and painless.

Oh, by the way for those folks who believe that your blog must have a page rank and that Pay Per Post does not accept blogs on the Blogger.com platform, my approved blog (as of this writing) has a non existent page rank and is hosted by Blogger.com.