I was so inspired by Ryan Schmitz’s traffic story for his new site, PlantingDollars.com that I postponed my scheduled post for this case study.
Watch the video below and discover what is possible with hard work and a business mindset.
If you can’t see the video, click here.
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{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
Follow on Twitter: @79146492
Thank you! You are building my confidence.
I actually thought that I’m not doing very well. I am not as successful as Ryan’s but my site is also new – 2 months. My alexa ranking is 2 269 093, 50-70 unique visitors per day and ~ 160$ so far.
Thanks for keeping me motivated!
Follow on Twitter: @IMteacher
Inspiring video, Lisa! Love the “mopping up tears.”
Some really good tips on how one can show they’re taking their online business seriously. There’s SO MUCH GARBAGE out there, it is refreshing to see someone doing it right, which will make them far more successful than someone who’s in it ONLY for the quick cash.
Laura Burke´s last blog … 7 Google search tips you should be using
Follow on Twitter: @SteveYoungs
Hi Lisa!
I enjoyed this video and got some great stuff out of it. I’ll definitely be trying to be more business-minded about my site from now on.
Now I don’t want to take anything away from Ryan’s success as he’s done an amazing job, but I have someone for you to look at that makes Ryan’s achievements look mediocre by comparison. This guy, James Richmond, has a site TheInfoPreneur that is about the same age as Ryan’s. James’ Alexa is 63,000.
Follow on Twitter: @TheInfoPreneur
Thanks for the mention Steve,
Ryan has done an amazing job that’s for sure, great video presentation too.
Thanks again Steve
Follow on Twitter: @successfulforum
The making money part of blogging has definitely clouded my vision, I am glad I have seen this video because this will definitely change the way and the reason why I blog.
Watching it has opened my eyes and it’s let me see the bigger picture. It’s kind of funny, I have heard the phrase “treat your blog like a business” a thousand times but it’s only just now that it has actually sunk in.
Thanks Ryan and Lisa!
-Glen
That’s great it helped you make the connection, Glen because that’s exactly the point I wanted to drive home with this video.
Follow on Twitter: @Pakblogger
Impressive case study Lisa!
I loved the in depth content on this blog and the fact that Ryan takes time and writes quality original content. The design of site is clean and fresh. Well done Ryan and best of luck for future.
Follow on Twitter: @plantingdollars
Lisa,
Thank you for your kind words and great video! To answer your question about the images I simply use flickr’s creative commons images and give credit to the photographer at the bottom of the article.
-If you’re (site visitor) reading this and don’t have a clue what that means follow this link:
http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/?
Then towards the bottom of the page click the box next to “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content” before doing your search.
@Steve – great link, I hadn’t discovered James’ site yet, but bookmarked it and found quite a bit of value there.
Ryan @ Planting Dollars´s last blog … Hiking Diamond Head and Snorkeling In Waikiki
Follow on Twitter: @SteveYoungs
Hi Ryan!
Just wanted to let you know about a WordPress plugin called “PhotoDropper”. It does exactly this and adds a copyright attribution under the image. Might make your life a little easier.
Kind regards,
Steve
Follow on Twitter: @plantingdollars
Sweet, thanks for the tip Steve!
Ryan @ Planting Dollars´s last blog … Hiking Diamond Head and Snorkeling In Waikiki
This is great information! Didn’t know this.
Follow on Twitter: @krenee76
In the last few months I’ve been re-evaluating things on my Christian blog, and I too came to a point where I’ve come to value my content more than the money ads could potentially bring. I guess that’s a result of the passion, Ryan was talking about. So I’ve totally downsized to only promoting 2 items that I not only use, but have benefited from myself, and my purpose now for having them, is to help others with those same tools.
I’ve also began to work harder to develop a relationship with other bloggers – and I’m loving it – it makes blogging so much more fun.
I’ve done a guest post (twitip.com) and that guest post alone not only increased my Twitter followers, but also brought new people to my blog.
I’ve also committed to posting something new everyday – and the results are amazing.
I set goals for the amount of traffic I want to achieve everyday and I travel around the blogsphere to add valuable comments to other blogs & retweet the work of others until I meet my goal.
I finally feel like my blog is going in the right direction.
Kiesha @ Highly Favored´s last blog … Married, but separated…should you date?
Follow on Twitter: @tamingtime
Loved it!!
Ryan, fantastic job. I will be checking out your site just as soon as I finish this comment.
Goals, business mindset and HARD WORK is what creates success. Most people buck at the work part
Lisa you are much more patient than I am, if I had a bunch of people complaining to me about how they can’t make it work it would drive me insane!
Michelle´s last blog … Feb 8, Interview With Paula Eder from The Time Finder
Oh trust me, Michelle. I have my days where I have been known to hit the “Delete” button if they catch me on the wrong day. LOL I don’t mind giving advice to those who are giving a valiant effort. But it’s easy to tell those who are looking for something for nothing and I no longer waste my time answering those emails.
Follow on Twitter: @theCSW
Wow, this video was quite motivating! Like many of the previous comments I have heard this over and over but for some reason I just really got it! I am now challenged to recommit to my site and make the time to do what it takes to make it successful. After all you make time for that which is important to you and being a voice of encouragement for single women is my goal. I now realize that by my actions I have chosen to settle for reaching just a few while the possibilities are actually limitless.
Thanks Ryan and Lisa for the motivation…onward and upward!
Follow on Twitter: @johnluffa
Another encouraging case study.
It goes to show, a good mixture of passion and dedication brings results.
Well done sir, you’ve adopted top notch traffic building tactics and it’s swimmingly penetrating your market.
@lisa, thanks for showcasing this.
With regards emails, you must have an everlasting bank of things to talk about
John´s last blog … What Blog Related Emails Do You Enjoy Receiving?
Follow on Twitter: @paullroberson
Wow, I have been wondering for a while now if that was even possible. To be honest, I did not think it was possible. Maybe, thinking that way has held me back from pouring my passion into my blog.
This video already has me thinking about redoubling my efforts to get where I want to go.
Thanks lisa for sharing this blog
-Paul Roberson
Paul´s last blog … Are you a Social Media Spammer?
Follow on Twitter: @tamingtime
Good for you Lisa, it can be just to emotionally draining dealing with some people! (I am a nice person, honest…)
Michelle´s last blog … Feb 8, Interview With Paula Eder from The Time Finder
Follow on Twitter: @bigredtomato
Following theinfopreneur ’s advice, my Alexa ranking moved about 1.5m places in 4 weeks. I’m not as active as James is but nevertheless am delighted with my results.
The secret is having great content and making every effort to reply to comments.
Follow on Twitter: @Optimistic_J
Well done!!! Ryan’s success is awesome! He is the perfect example of what new and up and coming bloggers, like myself, should go about executing our work. I’m learning more and more that it all comes down to passion and great content. Thank you Lisa for sharing! Good job Ryan!!!!!
Jarrod Clark´s last blog … Keeping It Real
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Hey Lisa:
What an amazing video! I’m still new at this and your videos are always so informational. Thanks so much for doing what you do.
Thanks for the information. Ryan’s success is very impressive. I have been taught that content is king. What is your take on one time, one page blogs to find your niche?
Follow on Twitter: @melvapratt
This very inspirational. Making money it not the thing that has kept me going for the past 14 month, because if it was I would have quit by now. What I am finding is that although people do not want to be tricked by a get rich quick scheme, the want to find one so they can get rich quick.
Ryan is an inspiration,his hard work and business seriousness it something a everyone who wants to work online should emulate.
Thank you Lisa for presenting to us the wonderful information you work so bring us
Melva´s last blog … Great Business Ideas – Make Money with 800 and 900 Numbers
Follow on Twitter: @jeremynjohnson
It is great to see success like this and I’d like to share another view on it. There are many people trying to make blogs that are successful. Wouldn’t all of us like tons of traffic on our website, all our promotional items clicked on and bought, and an Alexa ranking to make you drool?
It certainly helps seeing people that are successful, but I think in the end, success comes down to intuition, sheer relentlessness, creativity, modeling others who are successful, and a little bit of luck. Oh, and usually a great deal of time and dedication.
I’ve had a couple websites for a few years. And the thing that I always realize that prevents success is persistence and dedication. If you’re new at all this (like I still am), then a great deal of perseverance will be needed before people start to visit your site and begin to interact.
I think in the case of Planting Dollars, Ryan had a clear vision and idea of what he needed to do for success. Most of us don’t have that, and I think the site reviews Lisa is doing are so very helpful in seeing the inner workings of those who are having success. I think without them, we’d be doing a lot of stabbing in the dark.
Wow, this got long, that’s all I have to say – persevere, adapt, keep trying. Hard and smart work pays off
Jeremy Johnson´s last blog … Notes 1
It seems I take my time and read the postings sent to my email. When I finally get to them I find myself being disappointed at myself for taking so long to read them and learn what you and other are sharing.
Thank you for this interesting site, I’ve really enjoyed reading this one as I have others you’ve suggested. I can certainly count on you to enlighten.
Debra´s last blog … Slab City – Meet Pinkie
Follow on Twitter: @Truckspector
Great video, Lisa! It goes along with the soft-sell and pre-sell concepts that you mentioned before. More people need to learn the art of offering their visitors something of value without asking anything in return (at first). Too many websites and blogs are very obviously out for a quick buck, which isn’t realistic in terms of building a following or a clientele. As Ryan’s site picks up steam, I’m sure he’ll be populating it with targeted ads that will make him some great money. You picked a great case study, and good luck, Ryan!
Follow on Twitter: @Ileane
Ryan,
Congratulations on getting Lisa’s attention and having your blog featured here. I’m curious to know if this is your first blog and how you found about Lisa.
I’d like to hear more about how you honed in on your competitors, it that something you did before you launched the blog? It’s pretty obvious that you have a plan, so what’s in store for you next?
Thanks for the video Lisa.
ileane´s last blog … Twitter, Tweetmeme, and Your Retweets
Follow on Twitter: @plantingdollars
Ileane,
A big reason I started my blog was, in fact, because of my competitors… in a way it’s odd to call them competitors, because many are my friends as well…
Anyways, there are probably at least a dozen personal finance bloggers who do it full time (I know this because their blogs say so and their traffic is proof). I saw what they were doing and on average it took about 2 years before they were successful. Many have documented how they did it on their blogs. Two of my favorites for motivation are at Christianpf.com and Stevepavlina.com. The articles aren’t hard to find since they’re the most popular ones on the sites.
So I said I’d give myself 3 years before even considering giving up on the blog and would try to create better content than my competition. I also chose a topic that I enjoy a lot. Essentially I get to talk to people about their dreams and then discuss the best way to get there by thinking outside the box and correctly managing their money.
Related to thinking outside the box, I would like to have the ability to work via my laptop anywhere in the world and follow my passion for shark diving so that’s been my driving motivator to work so hard.
Regarding how I found my competition, for personal finance blogs they’re ranked at Wisebread.com. Search “Wisebread top 100″ and you’ll see the list I’m referring to. Once you find a few in your niche just go through each’s blogroll and you’ll soon have more than enough blogs to follow.
So what’s next? Just keep building Planting Dollars and the Waikiki site I mention on my site. My goal is to be making minimum 30k / year by the end of two years. Since I’m a minimalist this would give me the ability to become a shark diving globetrotter while learning more about the world while still working. Of course then I would also have to start a travel blog as well…
Good questions!
Ryan
Ryan @ Planting Dollars´s last blog … Hiking Diamond Head and Snorkeling In Waikiki
Wow, all of that in first month. Wish you luck dude, hope it will get better and better every month. I’ve had 5400 hits in 3 months and a half (started in November) but some just do things better, some worse. I definitely ain’t gonna give up. Thanks for this post!
Chio´s last blog … Buying an SD/HC Memory Card
Follow on Twitter: @plantingdollars
You definitely shouldn’t give up. Those aren’t bad numbers at all for a young blog. As long as you’re enjoying it, keep working on it.
Ryan @ Planting Dollars´s last blog … Hiking Diamond Head and Snorkeling In Waikiki
Follow on Twitter: @jeremynjohnson
Chio, 5400 hits in 3 months, especially your first 3 months, is well above average. My first website and blog took well over a year to get that. As long as you are consistently working and looking to improve yourself and your blog, I believe you will see continued success.
That was my problem for the first year or so doing my first website and blog. I wasn’t consistent and I most certainly wasn’t improving it. Now I’m doing a new and improved website and blog and trying to put together everything I am learning from the many smart and successful bloggers out there (like Lisa and Ryan).
Jeremy Johnson´s last blog … How To Be A Hot Nerd
Follow on Twitter: @plantingdollars
Thanks for the compliment Jeremy! Never been called a smart blogger before
I’ve had several websites before Planting Dollars and the things that drive me to be consistent with this site are the relationships I’ve built with other bloggers and a feeling like I’m actually helping people. I genuinely feel like I’m making a difference so I’m excited to write everyday. If it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t be nearly as motivated so I believe 100% that without following your passions your blog/website won’t last.
I hope that you’re doing so on your current site which means that eventually it will become a success.
Ryan @ Planting Dollars´s last blog … Hiking Diamond Head and Snorkeling In Waikiki
Follow on Twitter: @jeremynjohnson
That’s so true Ryan – trying to add some unique value that helps others or at least gives them a good chuckle is what I’m finding to be my main motivation. Before when I blogged or wrote content for my other sites, it was useful content – but it was all written from my perspective instead of someone who was sitting at their computer looking for something unique and interesting.
And this time around I am actually creating a (now VERY LONG) list of all the things I must do both individually, and on my website/blog. It can be overwhelming, but I am having fun doing it, which really helps. Definitely reiterating how helpful it is to see those who are successful leading the way.
Jeremy Johnson´s last blog … How To Be A Hot Nerd
Follow on Twitter: @Zordane
First of all, I would like to thank Lisa for sharing this inspirational video with us all. And second, I’m glad that Ryan also shared his success to every blogger in the blogsphere.
I’m feel lucky today to be able to find Lisa’s blog as it contains really great content. And I know that I’m going to find valuable topics that I would need to fortify my own site. I just started out blogging my site from Feb. 15th, so it’s only 16 days old to this date. I only had 54 unique visitors last month so I guess that it needs a lot of focusing.
Lastly, I do hope to find better ways on how I would be able to improve my site and I also hope that I would be successful someday.
Follow on Twitter: @psychic_dream
This was a GREAT video!
I’m guilty of not wanting to see my website as a business, even though I want to make money from it.
I especially like the differing fonts keeping the page exciting and scannable, I think I’m going to steal that idea!
Fraser Orr´s last blog … Can Brainwave Entrainment CDs Improve the Chance of Lucid Dreams?