Overview
This image pretty much sums up March:
(Yes this image took me about 15 minutes to do in Gimp, and it still isn’t perfect. Not. A. Graphic. Artist.)
That’s right for the first time ever this blog had 14,000 unique visitors in March. That’s an absolutely huge jump from February when 11,693 stopped by.
You guys inspire me.
In all seriousness, I can’t thank you enough for your continued reading. I was stoked to hit 12,000 last month — but then it just kept going and going and next thing I know we’re over 14,000 and half way to 15,000! Onto the stats.
The Monthly Stats (vs. 1 month ago):
- Posts: 31 vs. 29 (7% increase)
- Comments/Pingbacks: 196 vs 191 (2.6% increase)
- Visits: 14,686 vs. 11,693 (26% increase!)
- Page Views: 22,921 vs. 19,370 (18.3% increase!)
- RSS Subscribers: 810 vs. 710 (14% increase!)
I can’t decide which one of these statistics I am most excited about! Adding 100 readers in a month is huge and I truly thank you for subscribing (and then staying subscribed). I hope to continue to provide interesting and informative financial content for you.
The only thing I am not exactly happy about is the comments. How can I get you guys/gals to talk with me more? I’m open to suggestions — I try to respond to every comment with a comment of my own so that others can see the conversation going on. I may answer a question they were thinking of — something that wouldn’t happen if I just e-mailed it to you directly.
Popular in March:
These posts were the most popular based on traffic to the article.
- Mortgage Payoff: Lump Sum or Monthly? — which option is best, or does it depend on the economy?
- 10 Steps to Avoid Becoming a Millionaire — one of my most popular posts, ever.
- A 30-Year Mortgage Usually Trumps a 15-Year Mortgage — why I’ll take the 30-year mortgage every single time (and there are some great comment discussions here).
- 7 Reasons You are Still Unemployed — I work in the staffing industry so I think I am somewhat qualified to talk about this.
- How I Saved $15.99 for the Next 11 Months — it was simple, I just asked for it.
- Cut Monthly Costs by Asking for a Discount — see above post. No joking here, just ask for the discount.
- Ignore Car Insurance Marketing Pitches — they switched because they saved money. Not the other way around.
Okay. The important part. Here’s how you can help me. I need your help!
The number one most important thing for any blog is a growing readership base. The more readers = the more visitors = the more comments = the better community.
I need more readers. Naturally, I want you to subscribe for RSS updates (check it in your reader or via e-mail updates).
But above and beyond that I really need your help in promoting my articles on social media sites. If you vote for my posts on social media sites I get more readers which kicks in the above equation.
I really need your help with this. For any article that you find interesting just go ahead and submit it to the social media site. I even include this handy tool down at the bottom of every post that will automatically add your vote for the article. Here’s what it looks like:
All you have to do (assuming you have an account with the social media site) is click on the little icons and vote for the article.
There are the sites that I am focusing on:
1. Tip’d: the best social media site for personal finance. You can submit my articles here.
2. Reddit: a huge social media site covering general topics
3. Stumble Upon: this is really a toolbar that goes in your browser window; all you have to do is click the thumbs up button\
4. Twitter: part chat-room, part forum… a unique site with a lot of direct conversations going on. I currently have this many followers: . I’d love more — and I’d love for you to ReTweet my articles, too!
I actually am planning to do a short video showing the less technically savvy folks how to participate in these social media sites. You’ll learn something and hopefully I’ll get some more votes because of it.
Top Referrers:
Some great personal finance blogs linked to me this month. I got a ton of traffic thanks to Ramit and JD (#1 and #2 respectively). Thanks for the support, guys.
- I Will Teach You to Be Rich (0)
- Get Rich Slowly (0)
- Master Your Card (+2)
- Gather Little by Little (-1)
- WiseBread (new — probably because I made their Top 100 Personal Finance Bloggers list — woohoo!)
- Free Money Finance (0)
- Wide Open Wallet (+2)
- Budgets are Sexy (+2)
- Bargain Briana (new)
- Cash Money Life (-2)
What’s Coming in April:
- My birthday — the big 25!
- Continuation of Subscriber Swap Saturday which seems to be growing in popularity quite a lot
- More talk of taxes and refunds
- More talk about the economy, unemployment, side income, and entrepreneurship
- My second ever contest — and this time I am going to take it up a notch. Stay tuned for more details. (Pssst… it’s to celebrate No Debt Plan getting a theme overhaul.)
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Great going! I am looking forward to your contest.
Thanks,
Nate
Congratulations! I really enjoy your blog!
Finally, your hard work is paying off. Thanks for providing inspiration for all of us other bloggers!
Sincerely, enjoy the blog and am looking forward to any changes in the near future!
Fantastic Results! Congrats Kevin. Keep up the great work and you’ll only continue to build!
Dave
@Nate, @ScoringDeals, @Baker, @DYDR: Thanks everyone! You all are the reasons everything is going so well here. And like I said, I seriously need your help with all of the social media sites.
Kevin,
I just signed up to follow you on Twitter. Congatulations and keep up the good work.
CONGRATS my brotha
100 subscribers in 1 month is excellente!!! want to sign up to budgets are sexy 100 time? thanks. haha…
Hey Kevin, congrats! That’s great news, and I’m glad MYC could help you achieve that milestone! Although, you’re great content is what keeps them coming back, so hats off to you! Keep it up!