Plans and Happenings at CFM

I am sure you know by now that I have started my own personal finance blog at Cash Flow Mantra.  It has been live for just over 2 months so I wanted to update you on several exciting happenings that have been occurring.

Guest Posts

I have published 2 guest posts myself at other personal finance blogs.  This was a great experience although I didn't really experience much, if any, additional traffic as a result.  I may try additional guest posts in the future but am discounting the true value at this point.  I also published a guest post at Christian Personal Finance as part of an interview process for a staff writing position.  It is a competition for 2 spots and 10 authors are in the running.  I am OK with whatever happens, but I did have several visitors from the site as a result of my post.  The number was in the mid-teens, but it did help me set a daily traffic record at 62!

Finally, as far as guest posts go, I actually had someone contact me to post on CFM.  That post went live yesterday so I am officially a guest post host.  It is nice having some content without having to write it.  I could get into this and might consider one a week at the most.  I did have an idea for a contest but was planning on saving that for after the first of the year or at some time when I am busy or feeling burnt out.  I would like to have the majority of content on the site self-authored.

Page Rank Update

I heard that there was a Google PR update that occurred recently, and I am pleased to announce that CFM is now PR3.  Yippee!  I don't know if the increased traffic that I am seeing is a result of this or more exposure to my above mentioned guest post, but the last 3 days have been the most traffic ever with a record 62 visits on Wednesday.  I wouldn't be surprised if I could be getting 100 visits per day by the end of the year.

Attracting Traffic

Speaking of traffic, I will be focusing on two things for my blog.  Writing content and posting 3 times per week if at all possible and commenting on other blogs.  I have found that this social interaction is great for generating interest in my blog.  It is one of the ways that I discover new blogs.  Someone who leaves an interesting comment and has a link that I don't recognize is likely to have me visit.  If I like what I see, then I am likely to subscribe and interact.  That blogger may then visit my blog and become a regular reader.

I am still convinced that traffic has to figure into the Google algorithm somehow as an incredibly popular site must mean it is more sought after.  The result would seem to be a virtuous cycle of increasing traffic, improving PR, and better search engine placement leading to increasing traffic and on down the line.  I don't really know how the algorithm works, but it would seem logical.  Not to mention the fact that it seems to be working for me so why argue?

Yakezie Challenge and Alexa Rank

On July 1st, I joined the Yakezie Challenge with CFM.  The goal is to be a supportive community member and by working together help others market their blogs.  I have been working on this and other financial bloggers have been reading my blog as well.  This also goes back to blog commenting.  We are all pulling together to improve our visibility on the web.  My particular goal is to drop my Alexa Rank below 200,000 in the first 6 months.

Well, it seems to be working since my Alexa Rank is 340,083 but the  1 month ranking is below 200,000 so I am thinking that if I keep at it, I should be able to achieve my goal.  Now is not the time to slack off but continue to post 3 times per week and keep interacting like I have been.

Oh and by the way, I will occasionally make a little AdSense income as well.

So as you can see, there are lots of good things happening in just a few short months.  I expect many other good things to happen as well.  You could do it too.  It is simply a matter of getting out there and getting it done.  Host Gator has been a big help also.  I you are thinking of making your own site, I would recommend them.  They helped me out with their live chat every step of the way.  CFM works and will soon be paying for itself.  Feel free to click on my affiliate link banner for Host Gator above.

My Best Week Ever at eHow

Following the Google Farmer update, I have been absolutely amazed at the impact on my personal repertoire of articles at the various sites.  The main bulk of my activity has been at HubPages.  You may know from my circling the wagons post that my Google traffic was down 50-60%.  It bounced back a little but still is down about 30-40%.  Despite that and the usual slump of weekend traffic that I constantly see, I had a really good weekend.  This goes to show that it is simply impossible to predict what might happen, and the only thing that I can be doing is writing and publishing.

Furthermore since the Google update, it has been stated that eHow was somehow unaffected.  I have several thoughts about why this might be and published those in my latest Hub on 3 reasons I think eHow might prosper.  I would suggest that you read this and offer some input as well either here or at my Hub.  Evidence that this might be true is the fact that this most recent 7 day stretch has been my best ever at eHow.  If the pace continues, I will surpass my best earnings month for that site.  I can't believe that it is coincidence but am pleased that it is picking up the slack.

Speaking of slack, HubPages has added a new revenue model of which I am pleased to be one of the early invitees.  It seems that they have gone out and secured advertisers on their own and are paying on an impression model.  Just another reason you should be reading all of my Hubs and sending them out to your friends (LOL!).  I think that this new model may help take the sting out of the recent changes.  I will post on my early impressions after I have a few more days under my belt. 

I want to save my next post for introducing my new website which was launched as a direct counter-attack to Google's offensive on content farms.  I am seeking to create a fairly large informational site on trading options which is a passion of mine so it should be easy to get motivated.

So, how is everyone else fairing following the Google Update?  It seems like those with their own sites have seen little negative impact which is a good thing.  That makes me hopeful that building my own is the right path to take.

Circling the Wagons After the Latest Google Update

There has been quite a bit of consternation to say the least about the recent update to Google's algorithm which has been targeted at spam sites and "content farms".  Personally, I am all for an improvement in the search results that get delivered since some results are very poor and lead to many worthless sites.

That being said, I can't help but wonder what implications the Google definition of "content farm" might hold for HubPages.  I have been enjoying my little hobby of making money online and am a little disappointed by the decrease in traffic that I have seen over the last 48 hours.  I would say that my Google traffic is down about 50-60% overall.

As a result, I will probably be writing very little over the next week while I see what transpires.  I may end up having to develop my own website but don't really like the idea of paying for a domain and hosting just to find out that I can't get any visitors.  I have enough difficulty getting traffic as it is; I don't need to pay for the privilege of having difficulty.

It may turn out that this truly remains only a hobby with less effort on my part and that I would just allow the chips to fall where they may.  I was enjoying the challenge of seeing what I could accomplish, but now that there is some questions as to the rules of the game, I think it is best to just wait and see.  I do plan on being able to get some reading done this week so that is a plus.

The general consensus over at the HubPages forum is to wait a week before panicking and seeing what happens.  That certainly seems like good advice so that is what I will be doing.  Apparently, there is the belief that good content will still matter and many reports are that personal websites have not been hit with traffic declines.  Some are optimistic that an entire site won't get harmed as much as individual pages.  I am not quite so sure personally.  Again that might mean that now is the time to develop a personal website.  I will be looking into that option over the next week as well.


In the meantime, I am glad that I am not reliant upon Google for my livelihood.  I am able to just walk away at any time.  That is not the case for everyone.  I feel really sorry for those who had lost jobs and were writing to help supplement income.  In that respect, the unemployment picture may have just gotten worse.  I also feel sorry for those who may have quit employment to work more on the internet only to have this happen to them.  Double whammy!

As for me, I can certainly find plenty to keep me busy so that I don't end up watching too much television.  Besides, summer is coming along with golf and softball so my writing time would have been more difficult to come by as it is.  The bottom line for me is to just watch and see what happens in the next week or two, do a little reading, a little thinking, and come back with a plan for the future.

I wish everyone luck with these monumental changes especially those supporting themselves or family members.  I would appreciate any comments on how these changes are affecting your traffic and business, what your plans might be, etc.  Thanks for reading and sharing.