Blog report card and When to move on to other projects?

[phuckbunny]

This might be a pointless and or repetitive post but I wanted to see if anyone has any opinion on this because I can't tell when I'm stumped and the same time feel like there's so much more I can do with my time.

So far , I have one "general" blog and about 8 smaller niche-specific blogs. Most of those I don't update that often, some once a week, some once a month. I enjoy working on my general blog, a mix of porn, art, photography, humor and sex in the media. An artier version of fleshbot if you will or a blog version of indienudes.

I do actually enjoy writing for it and posting and post at least every other day, although it's been more erratic lately. This blog has been up for about 6 months and I've got about 400 indexed posts, a good amount of inbound links, an occasional plug here and there that spikes my traffic and I'm averaging around 3600 uniques daily. My traffic seems to be coming a lot from google images, bookmarkers and an above average amount of hits from sites I've exchanged links with.

I was getting a lot of just google traffic one month but a lot of that changed during the google update.

Furthermore, the problem with google , as I've understood is that while it supposedly tries to cut down on spam, unless your site IS somewhat niche specific, my handwritten, original post about a new porn starlet, or some shocking art piece, or some sex scandal or whatever might end up in the top 50 results for a few days or a week and then disappear into the bottom 1000 because the blog isn't about 100% about either sex scandals, or just porn starlets or only shocking art pieces.

Now, I'm pretty proud of myself for having gotten this far, and I aim to continue but this is also related to what Bilinda said in his last thread. This is a long term project and I've only been working on it for 6 months or so, but here's the deal.

I can potentially make 10-15 "meaningful" posts every day. This would be a lot of work, but let's bring up fleshbot as an example again - they have 74,000 indexed posts and are a branded name. Now, without the branding, if I wrote 10 posts a day, thus 3000 posts a month and 36000 posts a year, would I be wasting my time if all of those posts being as different as they are all end up in the bottom of the google barrel?

Or since this blog has hit maturity by averaging around 3K, should I start on new blogs?

That would be fine but here's the corollary to that: it would mean a lot of 'purple prose' as Porn Punk called it, and while it wouldn't bore me as much as going to the office and looking at Excel sheets, there are only so many ways you can write about big tits, big dicks, small dicks, hairy pussy, shaved pussy, etc etc...

Am I making any sense with these issues/concerns?

I need to do what is most productive for traffic and conversions, naturally, but achieving productivity from actually doing quality work seems to be harder or at least much MUCH lengtier than hit & run.

Bill's situation is different b/c while niche specific, it comes from first person interest/participation in that lifestyle. Maybe I need to develop a few fetishes!


Apologies if I already wrote about any of this before but if anyone wants to add some of their ideas and experiences, that would be cool.

I'm wondering if I should slow down with working on my bigger traffic general blog and start to build niche ones, but I'm afraid and/or don't know if those will end up being spammy!

[EDS]

can't say I can answer any of your questions but I feel the same way a lot of the time.

I feel like I post and post, but I don't see any great difference in sales, or traffic for that matter...my site has gotten much better in the last week or two, as I've gone from about 40 google hits a day to about 150 google hits a day, and from about 200 uniques/day to about 500-600 uniques per day...a big jump, and it has a lot to do with things I've learned recently.

I'm not sure if its the niche I'm in, or the sponsors I'm pushing, but it just doesn't seem to convert, I get maybe a sale every 2 days, and I push about 600 uniques to sponsors daily...

I've heard that webmasters making 1:300 ratios is getting rarer and rarer, but I've been getting pretty bummed about the fact that the light at the end of the tunnel (i.e. being able to make 300 dollars a week to support myself) is still miles and miles...and miles away.

My next option, and my next goal is to launch an affiliate program...which I have 5 paysites, content provided by partners lined up...just need to save up the capital to pickup NATS and a CMS, and then design my tours and member areas...then promote the program so some people start pushing my product

I think this is a long-term game...I mean as you know PB I just setup my link directory, with the idea that hopefully in 2 years time it'll be jam packed with thousands of links, and indexed pages, and bringing in some decent income - with low maintenance, and just a day or two in the site design, and some promoting it here and there...problem is its hard to be excited about projects that pay off in the long-term when you have debt building all around you and very little money coming in to support it.

the joys of being a noob I guess!

[mynameisjim]

I think what you guys are touching on doesn't have anything to do with adult or affiliate marketing, but with going out on your own. When you work at a company or for someone, you always know exactly what to do next and what the payoff will be. When you go out on your own, all that security goes away. You could spend 6 months working on something and in the end realize it was a total waste. That kind of uncertainty is tough to handle and causes a roller coaster of emotion and that's why 95% of the world opts for the 9-5 gig. Sure, everyone says they can be the boss but when they have to make the tough decisions, most people can't pull the trigger.

The key is to do your homework, set up a gameplan and execute. Stay flexible but have confidence and always stay on your goals. DO NOT live day to day or get caught up in the ups and downs, you won't last long if you do that. Look at the trends and if things are trending in the right direction keep it up. If not, reevaluate and make adjustments.

[EDS]

Nail on the head Jim. Well said.

I guess the issue with the blogs is that everyone I speak to says their blogs are converting and their worth putting the time and effort into. While my experience hasn't been exactly that...I get comments, I get repeat visitors, but I guess my marketing strategy needs a little work...I've always been a great sales person 1 on 1 or in front of a crowd...

I've always been able to pitch ideas and get people to rally behind them, however internet marketing is a whole new ball game - and I guess I just haven't had my flow yet...just means more experimenting until I find a formula or things that work!

[Cozy Monica]

Hrmmm, I would say that a 1:300 conversion rate isn't all that bad these days.

There are two ways to work with this. Get more traffic, or tweak your marketing and get a better ratio.

You probably know how to get more traffic. Just a lot more of the same, keeping posting and updating your blog, keep trading links, keep posting trackbacks, leave comments on other blogs, etc etc.

If you are tweaking your marketing, make sure you are using a program like OpenAds so you can track exactly what people are clicking on. You need to test different ad locations on your site, different banner sizes, different types of text and so on.

I'd say you should try tweaking your ads a little bit and then sit on it long enough to collect stats. During that time, work on building traffic. Then go back to your ads, look at what you've learned, and tweak. Then work on traffic and so on.

[EDS]

I like your style Monica!

I just installed http://www.clicktale.net - if its as good as it sounds, it should be awesome for seeing how the ad placement is working.

I'm also considering starting a blog and pushing just dating sites...I've read about some people getting massive amounts of free signups, because...well its a lot easier to market a FREE product lol - at least I would assume so.

And if that converts later on at 1:300....thats damn good money, aside even from the dollar or 2 you make per free signup.

[sunfunbill]

Hey phuckbunny and EDS, I hear ya both. All three of us are in the same boat. We have asked a lot of questions, been building our blogs, putting the time into them, and now we are like, where's the money?

But I am sure it's a case of none of us having enough time into them. I know a lot here don't make their first sale for 8 months to a year. Then, somehow it just seems to pick up a lot better. I am holding on with my fingernails and teeth trying to stay working at home, cause I know I'm slow and getting a job outside will really cut my progress.

I just joined ebay again, for the 3rd time under a different name. I can make a little there while the selling is good the next two months.

I think we all think we know more than we do, and in time we will get better, that's why people start to make more in time, they just know more. Plus your site will be getting a lot more traffic.

So, just hang in there, keep working hard, keep your eyes open and keep thinking!!!

[Cozy Monica]

I absolutely say hang in there. Blogs are the kind of site that gets better and better with age.

While it may be some time yet before you are making a living, every bit of effort you put in now will pay off down the road.

However, don't ever let that make you feel it's okay to rest on your laurels.

You have to always be working to promote the site more, improve the site, add more content, make more contacts, and keep working.

You might have to create a tonne of little splogs that serve only to generate more traffic you can push around.

You might have to create freesites and galleries. You might need mini sites and link lists.

You might need to join lots of forums and get known around the community (Bill, I think you would benefit most from this one)

You might need to join or start google and yahoo groups.

You might need to do all kinds of things. Including having a part time regular real life job to keep it going.

Making it full time in this business is more than a full time job. But if you like working at home, it's all worth it.

[horney]

EDS and sunfunbill, I agree with the others. You've both got great sites which you can tweak forever without improving anything, so don't do it for doing it's sake. From here on in, you build, not tweak. And that's a long term, staged commitment.

phuckbunny, yours sounds the same but I've never seen it because you don't post the URL.

OK, my experience is not in porn, but it seems a common pattern in all situations. You should find something else to do, preferably something which gets you away from that screen for the first couple of days of it.

[Hyballs]

Hi phuckbunny, Just think of blogging as a learning experience and your the apprentice! For one year your going to make mistakes go down the wrong virtual path, and need I say, make very little or no money! If you are prepared to learn and work hard at the same time you will eventually do good.

For me, I make less than a buck an hour, but I am asleep 6 hours a day so I am making money in my sleep, but this time next year I hope to be making 10 bucks or more an hour and a year later $100 an hour!

And I know all it takes is the right attitude to succeed and you will do it!

As for splogs I would guess most blogs are splogs to some degree. Blogging is just another means of communicating a message, like every other medium and someone has to pay the bills, which brings us to the good old consumer. If they want free porn blogs they have to accept some strategically placed ads!

I wonder what Rupert Murdock would say about free blogs?

[phuckbunny]

Thanks, everyone! There is a lot of really great and useful information in this thread, not to mention plenty of kind words of encouragement.

I guess sticking to long-term larger scale projects in terms of blogging is the best strategy.

I may try the gallery game to bring more traffic and brand awareness.

Feeder blogs/splogs? It seemed like a fine strategy at one point, but I think quality will prevail over quantity in that respect. My few splogs that I tried my hand at, and I'm not keen on doing a half assed job so splogs are actually more work for me than doing something that I think is more meaningful like writing better copy, kind of vanished in terms of SE, at least the free hosted ones so maybe with my own domains I can drive more traffic that way.

I'm getting it. Feeling much more sane this week.

Thanks again.

[phuckbunny]

PS we don't really have to keep this thread going but if anyone wants to chime in with the answer to this question that might help me wrap my head around this a tiny bit more. As an example, do you think...

Is it better to make 20 quality posts on one blog per day or

1quality post per day on 20 blogs?

Or is it really more about striking some kind of balance because there's all this other stuff you need to do to promote your blog(s).

[EDS]

The fine line I think is deciding when is too much? 20 posts to one blog I think is great if your getting 10-15+ thousand uniques/day, because I think the vast majority of visitors visit sites once maybe twice per day.

I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, and if your writing 20 quick posts as opposed to 2 really long article styled posts it could be the same thing.

which actually makes me think of a good thing...would writing 10 posts that are equivalent to one or 2 average posts a day be better? As people see their little feed icon flashing several times a day, therefore more repeat visitors? just set them far apart that your not flooding the pinging services.

either way - I figure I can write til I'm blue in the face, but ain't no one gonna see it if I don't promote...so I think promoting should take up the majority of time...

[phuckbunny]

Another excellent point, EDS! I am actually going to print out this thread and thumb tack it to the side of my work area because there is some real valuable info in here.

To follow it up, and I really hope I'm not flogging this thread to death, I learned the true value of SE traffic during the last google update that I was whinging about. Consequently, more posts = more traffic, right? Not necessarily because you need some type of authority from the SEs and word on the net is that the ye olde link authority algo from Google is actually not all it's cracked up to be.... Therefore, how much actual work can you do to promote apart from getting those inbound links. Well, writing interesting posts and getting plugs on well branded blogs is one way... I suppose there are myriads of ways.

[EDS]

actually I'm in a weird spot right now...I have about as many link trades as I'd like...so - ummm how do I build more links? Unless i build new sites and do A>B>C to my main blog? but that means those blogs won't ever really expand and then why would anyone want to trade with that blog in the first place?

all in all though - I just don't see a whole lot of converting coming from my main blogs...I'm not sure why, a lot of the traffic is SE, and I have a good retention rate (more than 60% of people stay 5 minutes or longer)...so that being said...perhaps I should switch over to all trials, and dating sites and go PPS :P

I've started to do site reviews...and so far its pushing some traffic to that sponsor (spicecash) for wasteland...we'll see how it converts, if it does alright and I can get a bunch of "reviewed by" banners on paysites - that might be something worthwhile - we'll see

ok I'm babbling again...gotta stop doing that!

[phuckbunny]

The best way to build more link authority in my recent learning experience is not by swapping hardlink trades but by getting a plug on another blog or site. Some of these you can actually pay for; but I think that defeats the egalitarian nature (yeah right) of blogs.

Here's what I'm saying. When I go to my WP dashboard and check on inbound links via Technorati I usually find some new inbound links because someone picked up a blog post that I wrote and referenced it, or re-blogged it, with a link back to me. This gives me better PR (which I think is rubbish anyway btw) but it also gives me traffic and bookmarkers. When you get a plug from a site inferior inferior to yours, not only do you get added PR and more traffic, you potentially gain more bookmarkers who will visit your site instead of the source site more often. How cool is that?

As was pointed out, you me and Bill are all dealing with some similar issues. On my end, I'm getting plugs for weird arty stuff; ditto for you EDS and Bill, something unusual and new that someone will want to reblog, plug or write about will get you those inbound links which will end up much more valuable than a simple link exchange.

Mind you, a good simple hardlink exchange will also potentially give you traffic, depending on the sites, how they position their friends, who their surfers are, etc but I suppose consider what I'm describing on par with a review of your site, and that carries a decent amount of mileage.

X-dressing TS forums for Bill, BDSM forums for you EDS, keep working on that type of networking and you will get those inbound links and plugs.

BTW don't discount alt porn/bit-of-everything types of blogs and sites. Write about something bizarre and unique and send a tip to fleshbot and your traffic will spike to 10,000 uniques for the first day. It will fizzle down right afterwards but you will gain bookmarkers and word of mouth.

[EDS]

great tips PB

Not entirely sure what you meant about fleshbot though!