I’m sorry to have missed you guys this year at Fincon. I had to support a friend’s wedding up in Napa. We’ll definitely meet up in California or Hawaii next year though!
The one thing I’m most bullish about post Fincon is the uptick in content quality and initiatives by our community. It seems like we all feel a little (or a lot) more emboldened to try just a little bit harder for our reader base. The feeling might only last a month or two before we relax for the holidays, but the surge is still better than nothing.
We started the 5,000+ Words A Week challenge at this time last year, and now for many of us who entered this challenge it seems weird writing anything less than 5,000 words a week. It’s like lifting weights. If you’re curling 30 pound dumbbells to build your pythons or running 5 miles a day, curling 20 pounds or running 2 miles a day just doesn’t seem right anymore. Writing is a muscle that can be developed.
I’m proposing the same 5,000+ Words A Week Challenge this year. By writing longer posts, you’ll increase your chances of publishing a pillar post that will attract recurring traffic and revenue for years. You’ll also find it much easier to weave other posts into your content because it’s just so darn meaty!
FROM A WORD COUNT METRIC TO QUALITY CONTROL
5,000 words a week is just an arbitrary number that seems doable but also a challenge. You can write five 1,000 word posts, three 1,650 word posts, or two 2,500 word beasts to achieve such a goal. Once the metric is regularly achieved, it’s all about quality control.
Quality is very subjective unlike a word count objective. How are we to determine quality with so many different standards? I couldn’t really think of a simple determinant of quality until I read a Yakezie forum topic entitled, “Posts I’m Proud Of.” That’s it! Quality posts are ones where you are so proud of them, you’d actually go on a forum to highlight how proud you are of them!
As writers, we all know that great sense of achievement when we finish writing something awesome. We are also well aware of that guilty feeling of publishing something with half effort. The easiest way to determine the quality of our posts is based on our own prideometer. And we should probably feel proud of the vast majority of posts we publish.
HUMMINGBIRDS ARE CUTE
It seems as if plenty of blogs in general were negatively affected by the Google Hummingbird update this summer. I saw my traffic on Financial Samurai dip and only slowly inch its way back up starting in October. It’s not a great feeling to see traffic fall while writing more posts. But of course I didn’t think the upward trajectory experienced this Spring was sustainable either. I remember back to the massive Penguin/Panda updates which obliterated sites overnight. It was during those times of hardship where we did our best work!
There was a point this summer where I thought I should just give up on sharing opinions and always writing my own content. What’s the point if Google doesn’t reward originality and authenticity? I remember thinking. It would be much better to hire a bunch of staff writers, remove myself out of the equation, publish vanilla content and become a magazine instead. I snapped out of my funk by that weekend.
The Hummingbird update reminded me of the joys of blogging. I wrote more fun topics about relationships, government silliness, and travel. Such topics are really hard to monetize, but I have fun writing them anyway. More fun = more longevity = winning in the long run. It’s easy to get caught up in the monetization side of blogging which frankly hurts the quality of our writing.
WINTER IS COMING
I’ve started a new public forum thread for those who’ve signed up with YakezieNetwork.com. The forum will serve as a resource guide for those with questions about how to utilize the system and discuss affiliate strategies with our partners. Things take time to build, but I’m pleased to report some good traction for the recently finished October month. Update: As of 2/18/2014 I decided to shutdown YakezieNetwork.com after five months because 99.9% of the revenue being generated is from one source, and I’m a consultant with a green light at Personal Capital to gather sub-affiliates. Rather than pay HasOffers a large fee a month, bloggers can now earn $101 per qualified lead directly through me. Shoot me an e-mail if you are interested and have investment, financial planning, and retirement planning related content.
I’d like to hear what you guys are focused on before the end of the year. Are you kicking back and cruising? Or are you putting the pedal to the metal? I’m personally going to take it easy and seek warmer climates during the second half of November and first half of December. I sure could use a break.
Best,
Sam
I’m going skiing and then going back to the UK on 15th December. However, from now until then I’m pushing everything hard. More regular and more in-depth posts (many including statistical analysis), more interaction with other bloggers and readers, and personally pushing much harder towards the goals I’ve just established at the start of November. So, 5-6 weeks of pushing it hard, followed by three weeks of Christmas relaxation!!
A 3 week Christmas relaxation sounds good! I think I need the rest of the year off haha.
I’ve been working hard on lengthening my posts, but it’s a real challenge with limited time writing time during the week. I’ve found that, while I’m really proud of some of my longer posts, the shorter ones (and some that I didn’t feel were that great) seem to attract more readers. I find that odd.
Hmmm, that is odd but also fun. The perhaps it’s a volume issue then. Publish more, even if they are short and not that great and maybe something will stick. I don’t deploy this strategy but it is certainly something worth trying.
I used to think writing 1000 words was really hard. Thankfully it’s gotten a lot easier for me now, and my posts are pretty much all over 1k, usually 1200-1600 or so.
Fortunately I don’t have burn out right now, so I plan to keep trucking for the next two months. I always work during the holidays which I don’t really mind because things get quieter and it’s easier for me to focus.
Nice! That means your building your finger muscles Sydney! :)
I’ve been playing piano lately, maybe that’s helping my typing speed. :)
If I can find the time, I’m really hoping to finish my stupid e-book I started two years ago. Ahhhh! It’s soclose to being finished – I just have a few edits, then voila! it will be available for free (at first, I think.)
Nice! Just gotta lock yourself in a room for the entire weekend and DO IT!!
My key post-FinCon action has been to redesign my site. After 3.5 years, I thought it was time to update to a sharper, new look. Beyond that, I hope to implement some new learnings as well as increase engagement with readers.
I love the redesign Ray! Did you do it yourself, or did someone help you?
I had a goal to attract 3,000 subscribers by December 31st. At this moment, I have somewhere around 1,080. I definitely need to make something happen, and fast! I have a promotion running to make subscribing more appealing, but I still haven’t the slightest idea how I’m going to get close to achieving this goal…
Post around new sites! Always welcome here or on FS.
Funny, I always thought my posts were too long. I guess some people enjoy longer posts. I just started a series on interviewing people about their financial histories, so I’m hoping that will get some traction.
I’m getting ready to travel for “business” for a few months…I should have some downtime though where I’ll be able to crank out some new posts!
Right on. I’m conducting a board meeting in Hawaii end of this month so I’m with ya!
Great post, and I appreciate the reminder to be strategic and end the year strong. It’s full speed ahead here – I just finished a book that I will sell on my blog – a major 2013 goal for me that took a lot longer than I anticipated. And I’ve got to break that elusive 200,000 Alexa mark in the next 7 weeks!
Congrats on finishing the book! That’s a huge endeavor in which I can relate. The editing and resisting is painful. One tip is to definitely lower expectations on sales. You can see my book sales in my passive income post. Ain’t impressive for my platform at all.
Good luck on the Alexa challenge!
My original goal for the end of the year was to bring in $500-$1000 per month from each of my websites. However I’ve been falling pretty short of that, so I’ll have to grant myself an extension on this goal into 2014. The progress is there, but its been very slow. I’ll have to do some experimentation to see what other strategies I could be using to help it grow.
Outside of blogging I’m looking forward to unplugging more as the year comes to a close. Blogging is fun but there have been months where I feel like I blinked and the month is over. I’d like to be more in moment rather than glued to a computer monitor all the time. For example, my son has taken a strong interest in my drum set and wanting to seriously learn how to play them. I’ll gladly give up some of my computer time to coach him on what to do.
Like asking the IRS for a tax extension! :)
I hear ya on the passage of time. I’m tired and want to take it slower as well and really enjoy the holidays with family.
You’ve produced some great stuff this year. Keep it up!
My big goal for this year was to become a full time blogger/writer. I’m 5 weeks away from my contract ending at my day job, and I will finally make the switch I’ve been wanting to make for a solid 6 months. :) I’m excited, scared, and motivated. I do write 5,000+ words a week easily, but not just for my own blog. I’d like to ramp it up and get a more structured posting schedule for next year.
Nice job! You had a plan and you are executing it.
Give 5k words a week on your blog and see how it goes. I bet it will help traffic and being in even more clients.
I’m making my last payment on my student loans and becoming debt free!! YEAH! I am going to figure out what the heck this SEO stuff is, since I mostly feel bogged down and frustrated whenever I read about it. And I’m going to get someone much more talented than I am to create a banner and do so design overhauls on my website because right now it is not so hot looking.
WTG! Paying off student loans is one of the best feelings ever!
Right now the goal is to get under 100k with Alexa and have one freelance gig by January 1. The Alexa side is looking pretty good, but I’ll have to put more research into the freelancing to find some opportunities.
Sounds like a good plan. Good things started happening once the Alex was below 100K and 50K.
If you continue the 5,000 words a week challenge – count me in. I’d like to hold myself accountable with a little peer pressure. :)
Go for it Ryan. I think you’ll enjoy the challenge. The only pressure is how much you want to succeed!
Right now I’m focusing on my web design clients and saving money for the upcoming birth of our child. Blogging wise: trying to post at least 4-5 times/week and being active in the blogosphere. The weather is pretty nasty, so now I can be productive once again :)
Good luck with your upcoming birth!
I’ve always wondered whether word count goes UP during the winter, at least by non West Coast bloggers due to the weather. I wish there was a study.
I’d love to start writing 5,000 words a week on my blog. When I started my blog, even 1000 words seemed difficult but now I’m finding that I can quickly write that much and be happy with my article. So this is a great challenge for me. Right now, I’m focusing on guest posting on Yakezie blogs to increase my subscribers and traffic.
Sounds great Monica. You’ll find writing more gets easier the more you write!
I’m really looking forward to this challenge. I typically don’t have a problem writing longer posts, but I’ve reached a point where I need a little motivation and this is just the kick in the fanny I can use.
I actually branched out of blogging and currently operate multiple shops online. So all I’ll be doing for a strong finish is adding more products in a bid to keep the sales curve increasing!