It’s November 2008, and it’s time again for another run through of theNetFool.com’s earnings and traffic from the month ended October 31st. We saw another slowdown in performance over the last month, but there were definitely some high spots.

With an added attention to quality, and a back-to-basics strategy for pumping out content and grabbing new RSS readers… slow and steady wins the race this time around. Once the economy turns around, maybe my profits will as well, eh?

To be quite clear, October was a slow month… and for good reason! As the global economy shifts downward, we had one of the worst months in the history of the markets. What does this translate to? More work for me. Because of an over-sized portfolio of work, I have to scale down production here at theNetFool.com and focus more on the markets and my own school work. But even without the numbers that we are used to, things held up pretty well! My revenue was jump-started by a few late-term sponsored reviews and a constant stream of referrals to Scottrade.com. In addition, my Alexa.com rankings drastically approved despite lower “real” traffic as measured by StatCounter and Google. I guess sometimes bad news, isn’t all bad. Blogging can be a game of numbers, as you well know. Because of this, I want ot share the statistics before talking further… let’s get into it! :cool:

September Results

  • RSS Subscriber Count: 674 Readers
  • Average Unique Visitors: 443
  • Average Returning Visitors: 69
  • Average Page Loads: 652
  • Alexa.com Ranking: 123,750
  • Technorati Ranking: 11,137
  • 45n5 Top 100 Rank: 47
  • Google PageRank: 3

October Results

  • RSS Subscriber Count: 738 Readers (+9.50%)
  • Average Unique Visitors: 376 (-15.12%)
  • Average Returning Visitors: 58 (-15.94%)
  • Average Page Loads: 528 (-19.02%)
  • Alexa.com Ranking: 90,715 (+26.70%)
  • Technorati Ranking: 14,120 (-26.78%)
  • 45n5 Top 100 Rank:32
  • Google PageRank: 3

Monthly Review and Growth Strategy
Mixed figures once again for October… but this wasn’t a big surprise. I really couldn’t expect much traffic and/or RSS growth in this month because I was not as proactive in my blogging efforts. When I have free time to write something new and exciting, the numbers show… and I had some of my best days ever. However, the overall trend was rough waters because of all the economic activity that has picked up lately. Because of this, my workload has increased and my production has decreased.

Even taking this into account, I was very happy that I finally got to the 700+ RSS range. It’s a much slower process now that I am nearing 1000 readers… and I am actually considering adding Aweber subscriptions to spur some growth. I feel that it really wouldn’t be too hard to create a small campaign with an eBook to get people so sign up to a list, then I can take it up from there. Most of the big bloggers are guys that have been chomping at the bit or have large pockets that I honestly can’t match. Therefore, I believe that staying the course is the right way to fly.

Coming off a horrendous month where I saw my Google Pagerank decline to a 3, and my Alexa.com rating fall through the roof, theNetFool.com had a renaissance (of sorts) and got all the mojo back. It seems like I have hit a trough now, and there should be some nice tailwinds heading forward.

September 2008 Revenue Breakdown By Segment
More nice Microsoft Excel 2008 graphs? …Alright! I have now broken down revenue into five segments. The leader this month was Paid Reviews. This section includes $120 in “on-site” reviews. These are the paid reviews that people come in and buy directly from me. Cheaper, but you gotta do your homework. The remaining $370 was from SponsoredReviews. I have only recently started to use this website… as, generally speaking, review websites tend to be terrible money makers. As it turns out, there are a lot of advertisers out there that were more than willing to pay me $200 a review… so I racked up on my 65% commissions on hiked rates there. I highly suggest that you join to take advantage of similar deals that are going through every day.

Around a quarter of my revenues from the month came in from Scottrade, my stock market broker of choice. I am actually not so sure how these referrals continue to flow through… since I am not actively promoting them… but hey, I’ll take it. If you want to put money into the stock market, I have a nice write up on the best stock brokers of 2008 which you should check out.

Looking in the 20% range, advertising sales were relatively stable. In reality, things weren’t as steady as they look! I actually increased my rates considerably and was seeing demand for them (still a bargain!). However, my OIO Publisher system kept my ads on far beyond when they expired… we’re talking 1-month even… os I had to reset things to get it all sorted out. Because of this, I missed out on a lot of potential revenue coming my way.

  • Advertising Sales ($172.50)
    • 125×125 Ad Blocks – $120
    • 468×60 Ad Block – $45
    • Text Link Ads – $7.50
  • Sponsored Reviews ($487.25)
  • GPT Website Referrals ($53.25)
  • Misc. Commissions ($56.50)
  • Scottrade Referrals ($252.00)
    • Scottrade – $252
  • Total October Blog & Blog-Referred Revenue = $1,021.50

The biggest driver this month? A late flurry of sponsored reviews from SponsoredReviews.com. Surely, it wasn’t my saving grace, as other sources of revenue like Scottrade, Private Ads and GPT websites have consistently brought in revenue without me lifting a finger. The amazing thing about this blogging revenue is that it was done on minimal work… and it probably would have been similar if I had ignored the blog entirely. This is the advantage of blogging for money online. :razz:

November 2008 Outlook

As we wind down the year, the Net Fool’s October Spectacular is almost over and I am giving away a great shot to win a Nintendo Wii, a Flip Mino or some more great prizes. I do not have a competition lined up afterward, so I might have to think about one in order to get the wheels in motion. Contests have been a great driver for the blog to this date, and I feel like it is where the growth is at. Especially in a down economy, if people can win free stuff by blogging on the internet… they are probably going to try. This makes internet marketing deals highly sought after, and very hot.

It would be great if I could break the 800 level this month, but it is going to be tough. My goal will be pinpointed at that 800 number, and I hope to get close by being a bit more proactive in my writing… and perhaps a bit more interactive with other bloggers. Sometimes, the best way to grow is to simply as for it. Because of this, I think that I might start to go on the offensive once again as the month winds down and my time obligations suffice a little bit. Keep asking questions, and keep bringing in that cash!

Stay bullish on the net!
-The Net Fool

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