Followers/Following Stats
As of this writing, I have more than 5,500 followers and I'm following more than 6,000 people. I share news stories that I find of interest, I read Tweets a few times a day and share those which I feel are worth sharing (I actually read the links in them first!), and I keep my "followers/following" lists culled out on a monthly basis.
None of this happens in a vacuum. I take valuable time out of my schedule to make sure the followers on my page are "real" people, I delete those followers who don't show a word of English on their pages, and I consistently look for new followers who are interested in online writing, avoiding scams, legal sites, and causes I'm passionate about. None of this has gotten me much in the way of anything.
This Blog and Twitter
Because of various issues, over time, I've changed this blog a lot. In fact, currently, I have more "unpublished" pieces than I have published pieces. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that over time, my writing has improved and I've narrowed my focus. With that said, when I do publish a new piece, I tweet the piece out to my followers. With amusing results: For example, I recently looked up one of my more interesting blog posts about saving money while having fun with your family. When I sent the item out over Twitter, I had just slightly over 40 views. Within minutes I had over 50 views.
And yet....if you look at the Tweet, there is no indication anyone looked at it, shared it, or even bothered to see it rolling past their Twitter feed. In fact, if I look at my AdSense account, there is a sobering statistic. I have had 70 page views in total on my blog in the last 28 days. This isn't from a lack of trying, I'm like a bad penny, I just keep showing up!
Adsense Data is AMAZING
My last Adsense payout was FIVE (yes 5) years ago! FIVE -- imagine that.... but there is a far more sobering statistic that anyone who is considering using their blog to drive revenue should be aware of. In August of 2017, AdSense reported my then-current earnings to be $80.34. Here we are in March of 2019 and I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count...ok so here's the skinny: As of today (March of 2019) my current balance is $80.36. It's been at that level since August of 2018. You can see how annoying that can be when I share information regularly on Facebook and Twitter.
So I'm encouraging all of you who think that if you build it and promote it they will come in droves and you'll make money doing nothing at all. It's not going to happen. Don't count on making money from simply Adsense, count on your own creativity and ingenuity and let the chips fall where they may.
Not One Client
In spite of the fact I've created this blog to promote my own writing skills, it's resulted in zero referrals from anyone looking for a writer. In fact, I spend more time responding to emails from various internet marketers asking me to promote their sites on my site (which is not going to happen!). Some of these folks may be legit, but for the most part, they're doing what I'm doing -- they're hoping for that "additional" ad revenue to boost their income. Good luck with that.
Have a wonderful day! You may not find me on Twitter because knowing what I know today, I am going to need to find ways to make my marketing time more productive.
