So yesterday I started consulting with what is honestly my first real client for this site. We talked one on one via instant messenger about her needs, goals, and how I write my articles each and every day.

Not only was it seemingly informative and helpful for her, but it was the most fun I have had so far this year. It reminded me how much I enjoy teaching, and how easy it can be to break down what I do into easy to digest pieces.

I always thought I would teach computers, or basic web development to people, but I am really enjoying teaching blogging.

If you are looking to blog, and want to make the most of your time, efforts, and money, contact me to schedule some consulting time. My rates are currently $60 for an hour or $35 for half an hour. I am not a stickler for time and won’t get rid of you, or charge you if the session runs a little long, but I really believe that I have knowledge that can help any blogger do better.

Check out my consulting page for more details. I am available via instant messenger, video via Ustream.tv, Skype or even over the phone.

Originally posted on January 10, 2008 @ 7:53 pm

So to start off the year right, I was hoping that January would be a banner month for this blog, and I couldn’t have been more right. A post that I had written that is not really suitable for work got some serious traffic due to a news announcement being released about the subject of the post. I know that sounds pretty cryptic, but nevertheless it helped me get over 17,000 unique visitors in a week. Meaning that in the first week of January, this blog received more traffic than all of November, and more than half of December.

Here’s hoping for continued success. And thanks again to Ryan for getting me to write up that article.

Originally posted on January 8, 2008 @ 12:30 pm

Ending 2007 on an up-note was very difficult as the holiday season usually means a huge decrease in traffic for sites like this one, but I was able to find ways to deal with it, and thanks to some carefully planned articles, and the support of my friends and readers, December turned out to be one of my most successful months thus far in rankings, though not so much in revenue.

Alexa Traffic Rank (lower is better)
January 5th – 62,564
December 3rd – 73,611

Technorati Rank (lower is better)
January 5th – 12,978
December 3rd – 18,862

Feedburner RSS Subscribers
January 5th – 283
December 3rd – 221

Unique Visitors
December – 23866
November – 13923

Revenue
December – $140
November – $180

Some of the top stories in December were:

• 15 Amazing Women in Blogging
• The Seven Best Blogs: Period
• What I Would Do With the Million Dollar Wiki

With a new year upon us, I am very hopeful for the future. I have been getting some interesting contacts behind the scenes, and have been thinking a lot about my continued strategy with this blog. I hope to continue to teach from my experiences as a blogger, as well as reporting what is going on in the industry. I have a feeling that blogging is going to change a lot over 2008, and my work here might help others from making any missteps.

To all my readers, a huge thank you from me, and I hope you keep checking back with me. Without you, this site would just be a little spot I rant in, rather than a great location on the web with an amazing group of people.

Originally posted on January 5, 2008 @ 2:27 pm

So, someone recently asked me what it would take to buy this blog from me. They seemed interested not only in owning the site, but keeping me on part-time.

I am not actively looking for anyone to buy this blog, and I have had a few ridiculous offers over the last half a year. Lately, I have been receiving even more interest, including from some people that would like this blog to join their new or established networks.

To sell this blog, I wouldn’t currently consider any offers less than $15,000 US, and that doesn’t even include paying to keep me on here writing.

I have written almost 280 posts on this blog, and some of it has been what I consider to be my best work yet. If each post was worth on average $10, that is $2800 worth of content alone. Add to that, the short, easy to brand domain, thousands of inbound links, growing traffic, Google PageRank, and amazing following via the RSS feed which is just shy of 300 readers, I think this blog and what I could do with it over the long term is worth more than fifteen thousand dollars.

Sure, this might seem a little off to some, as they calculate valuations based on profit multiplied by twelve months or so, and despite having done that a few times myself, I see no reason for me not to continue working on this blog, sharing my knowledge, and communicating with a great audience for anything less.

So many bloggers have sold their self short in 2007, and I hope they won’t do the same in 2008. So now that I have answered your question, please no more e-mails offering me $1500 for this blog, as they will be ignored by me.

Originally posted on January 5, 2008 @ 2:09 pm

So after some really great pushes to get a lot of content out, I decided to reward myself with a longer than normal break from blogging on here, and it is understandable why, planning my holidays.

Soon, I am hoping to take a trip to visit my family and what that means is all will be quite in the blogosphere, and to me this is a good thing. People should be spending time with their families.

The hard part is always watching those traffic stats go down in December, but thankfully, I was on the Digg front page for twenty minutes before being buried, and it helped push my traffic beyond last month’s levels, and so I am fairly content how December played out, and I hope to rest, relax and revitalize before pushing out some great content in the new year.

That doesn’t mean you won’t see more posts from me to finish out the month, but understand that things are going to be slow from now until January 2nd.

And in case I forget to say it later, I hope all my readers have a happy and safe holiday season. I need you to all come back in the new year to continue making eXtra For Every Publisher a success.

Originally posted on December 19, 2007 @ 8:39 pm