Swollen Pickles

Motivation is a funny thing. Some days I have it, some days I don't. I'm not even particularly sure what motivates me 97% of the time. One thing I'm starting to learn is that I can't do everything. I'm not Superman. There's clearly a correlation between time spent on working toward a goal and the amount of success I have toward achieving that goal. It's a balancing act. The more time I spend on one goal, the less time I have to spend on another, meaning that when one goal is going well, the others suffer. Take a look at the results for June 2009 and you may get a clearer picture of what I'm getting at.

Goal Number One: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that can generate $350US per month.

The year has sucked big time this year in terms of revenue, with the site generating a modest $105.98 in June, down again from $137.54 in May.

Goal Number Two: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that receives 35,000 unique visits per month.

Smashed the previous months visitor numbers, with 42,793 unique visits in June, compared to 39,084 unique visits in May. If only I could figure out a way to consistently translate those numbers into dollars.

Goal Number Three: Exercise a minimum of three times per week (30 plus minutes per session).

I was doing great until the last two weeks of June. I got the flu and was out of action for a week, and was then a little slow to ramp things up again. I maintained decent eating habits though, so it didn't have a huge impact on the overall weight loss...

Goal Number Four: Achieve a Body Mass Index (BMI) within the "Normal" range (from 18.5 to 25).

Good signs here as I inch closer to achieving this goal the next challenge will be maintaining it! I started the year with a hefty BMI of 29. At the end of June, my BMI was 26.5, down from 27.8 in May. As a micro goal, I'm hoping to be at or below 25.5 by the end of

Goal Number Five: Reduce my waist measurement to below 94cm.

I haven't brought myself to a trip to Spotlight for a measuring tape yet. Progress on this goal is difficult to report.

May has run it's course so it's time once again for the goal update. I was slack throughout May. Very slack. So slack that I didn't actually do an update for April. The last couple of months have been hectic and I feel kind of like a circus clown juggling 80 chainsaws.

Goal Number One: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that can generate $350US per month.

May was the best month in the history of Swollen Pickles. In total the site brought in $137.54, down slightly from the $143.59 that it scored in April. Perhaps Swollen Pickles is not recession proof?

Goal Number Two: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that receives 35,000 unique visits per month.

In May the number of unique visitors to Swollen Pickles passed my target, with 39,084 unique visits. This compares to 34,308 in April. Nice.

Goal Number Three: Exercise a minimum of three times per week (30 plus minutes per session).

I'm glad to report that I have, for the most part, been able to stick to this target. There have been a couple of weeks where I've had trouble getting in to the gym, but I've tried to make up for that through healthier eating and a bit extra walking.

Goal Number Four: Achieve a Body Mass Index (BMI) within the "Normal" range (from 18.5 to 25).

I'm really happy with my progress on this one. I started the year at 29, and by the end of May I was down to 27.8. Still a lot of work to go but progress is progress!

Goal Number Five: Reduce my waist measurement to below 94cm.

I really should ditch this goal since I have no base from which to start, and haven't got hold of a tape. Maybe I should change this goal to "go to a sewing shop and buy a measuring tape".

In other news... go check out Banalytics. I like it cos it's banal... and cos it's Blankshootings. Here's a taste, and commentary on Social Media. Ahhh... funny cos it's true.

March flew by quicker than Superman during sexy time. This months goal update is fairly brief seeing as though I struggled to get it done on schedule, so here t'is.

Goal Number One: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that can generate $350US per month.

Slight improvement here in relation to the past couple of months. The site brought in $164.20US in March, up from $138.24 in February and $112.77 in January.

Goal Number Two: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that receives 35,000 unique visits per month.

March was a good month traffic wise with Swollen Pickles nudging past the target mark. There were 36,657 unique visitors in March, up from 32,627 in February.

Goal Number Three: Exercise a minimum of three times per week (30 plus minutes per session).

I missed one session in March due to an unforeseen commitment I unwittingly became committed to.

Goal Number Four: Achieve a Body Mass Index (BMI) within the "Normal" range (from 18.5 to 25).

I'm slowly getting closer to my goal. In February I was 28.6, at the end of March I was 28.5. I started the year at 29.

Goal Number Five: Reduce my waist measurement to below 94cm.

I've still too lazy to source a large enough tape measure. My bad.

When February rolls around it always occurs to me that there is a flaw in my goal tracking. Obviously February is the shortest month of the year, in 2009 February had three fewer days than January. Therefore, it doesn't quite seem fair to compare February's results with those of January. None the less, that's what I'm going to do...

Goal Number One: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that can generate $350US per month.

To be blunt, Swollen Pickles is still under performing. In January, the site brought in $112.77, with February seeing this figure increasing to $138.24. The big performers continue to be the eBay partner network, thanks to phpBayPro and InfoLinks.

Incidentally, March may be a good time fore you to check out Chitika, as I've just learned that throughout March they are running with their "Stimulus Package Match" program. My basic understanding is that throughout March, whatever you earn with Chitika, Chitika will match it, up to $50. There new premium ad units are worth a look as they only display to US/Canadian traffic that arrives at your site via a search engine.
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When I sat down to contemplate what goals I'd set for the 2009 calendar year, I realised that I'd been going with the goal setting thing for two years now. I've read that when you are setting goals, well balanced goals equal a well balanced life. Where as in previous years I've spread my focus across a few web projects, this year I'm going to set some 'life' goals as well. By the same token I'm going to try and keep things a lot simpler!

Goal Number One: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that can generate $350US per month.

I'm keeping this goal on the list, as it's one I did not manage to achieve last year, but one that I think is within reach. I have to say, that after 2007, I had high hopes for SwollenPickles.com. In many respects though, 2008 turned out to be a disappointment. While I got close to averaging 30,000 a month, SwollenPickles.com did not generate nearly as much revenue as I would have hoped, or expected, given the traffic numbers.

Goal Number Two: Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that receives 35,000 unique visits per month.

I'm increasing the target by an additional 5,000. To achieve goal number one that'd mean the site would have an eCPM of $10, which is perhaps a little optimistic, but I like to aim high.

Goal Number Three: Exercise a minimum of three times per week (30 plus minutes per session).

While I generally walk most places on a daily basis, I wouldn't describe it as strenuous exercise. In order to achieve goal number four, I'm going to have to step it up. With my other commitments, three sessions a week is achievable, if I can maintain the motivation.

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Rather than just focus on weight this year, I'm going to focus on my BMI. As an indication though, and although I have accurately measured myself, I've just roughly calculated my current BMI as being 29.

Goal Number Five: Reduce my waist measurement to below 94cm.

Based on what I've read, there seems to be some disagreement as to what is more important in terms of good health, BMI or waist measurement. Just to cover both bases, I'm going to set my goal waste measurement to be below 94cm. I have no idea what my current measurement is, so I'm going to need to buy a tape measure.

If you're interested, here's some information from Taste.com.au:

The risk of health problems is increased if the waist measurement (taken at the belly button) is more than 94cm for men and 80cm for women, and substantially increased if it's more than 102cm for men and 88cm for women.

So there are my goals for 2009.

As the door closes on 2008, it also close on another 12 months of the Swollen Pickles goal project. It's been a big year, with some decent gains made in some areas, and some disappointments in others.

Join me, as I take a look at how I went in December 2008.

1. Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that can generate $350 per month.

To say that the past couple of months have been disappointing is probably an understatement. In November 2008 SwollenPickles.com limped to $98.55. December 2008 saw revenue increase to $121.83 for the month. I'm not much of a mathematician, but I doubt that increase is statistically significant.

I made ten bucks from AdBrite this month. I have set up AdBrite to run as an alternative to Adsense if no Adsense ads are able to be displayed.

2. Develop Swollen Pickles to the point where it receives 30,000 unique visits per month.

A grand total of 27,048 unique patrons stopped by in December 2008, up slightly from 25,101 unique visitors in November.

Here's a graph showing unique visits to this site for the past 2 years, comparing actual traffic to my target.

3. Develop Digital Burn into a website that can generate $150 per month.

December 2008 saw DigitalBurn nudge past is revenue goal, bringing in $159.54 for the month, well up on the $70.51 for November 2008.

4. Develop Digital Burn to the point where it receives 15,000 unique visits per month.

Another traffic increase, with 13,028 unique visits to the site in December 2008 up from 11,284 in November.

The first full month of statistics tracking on DigitalBurn for a couple of months. There were 11,284 unique visitors in November.

5. Develop Motor Dude into a website that can generate $50 per month.

A record high month for MotorDude.com, with the site generating $229 for December, up on $151.92 in November, and well over the goal I set at the start of the year of $50 per month.

6. Develop Motor Dude to the point where it receives 7,500 unique visits per month.

MotorDude.com seems to be proving that it is possible to do quite a bit with very little. There were only 697 unique visitors to the site in December, down from 740 in November.

7. Achieve my goal weight of 85kgs.

In a case of better late than never, the start of December saw me start up at a gym for three visits a week. While I know it's still early days, and my work hasn't really impacted on the scales, I think I can say that I actually feel better for it.

In summary 2008 was an interesting year for me and my little goal experiment. Besides the revenue generated by MotorDude I can't really say that I hit any of my goals for six (or out of the park - depending upon where you are from), but I can say that they gave me something to aim for. It's funny how things pan out, as I started 2008 with SwollenPickles.com as my 'flagship' and number one earner. At the end of 2008 that was no longer the case. It's left me scratching my head a little. On the one hand, I'm glad that a couple of other sites have developed the way they have, on the other, I'm disappointed SwollenPickles.com didn't live up to its financial promise in 2008.

I'm yet to sit down and think about what goals I should set/work on for 2009... any suggestions?

November is traditionally a very busy month for me, and 2008 was no exception. I say this, because basically I spent very little time on any of my websites, so I guess I should be grateful that they made anything at all! Enough of the rambling, the goal project keeps on keeping on...

1. Develop Swollen Pickles into a website that can generate $350 per month.

What's that smell? Oh, that's just the chances of SwollenPickles.com reaching it's goal turning to crap. For the second month in a row, SwollenPickles.com failed to even scrape past the $100 mark. Total revenue for November was $98.55. Maybe it's the financial crisis?

Small figures across the board, with Commission Monster and MoreNiche both contributing this month.

2. Develop Swollen Pickles to the point where it receives 30,000 unique visits per month.

Edging closer to the target, with 25,101 unique visitors in November up from 23,996 in October.

3. Develop Digital Burn into a website that can generate $150 per month.

There was a massive nose dive here as well, with November seeing $70.51, well down on the $200+ from October. The big difference here was the eBay Partner Network (EPN). There were some well documented issues with the EPN reporting in November. DigitalBurn made $0 from EPN in November, which has not happened since I started using them, and well below the $100+ from last month. I've emailed EPN support so I'll see what they say and whether there's a problem.

4. Develop Digital Burn to the point where it receives 15,000 unique visits per month.

The first full month of statistics tracking on DigitalBurn for a couple of months. There were 11,284 unique visitors in November.

5. Develop Motor Dude into a website that can generate $50 per month.

After a whoop ass September, where this site brought in a grand total of $151.92, MotorDude.com managed to better that figure in October, bringing in $192.99.

6. Develop Motor Dude to the point where it receives 7,500 unique visits per month.

MotorDude stunk up the place in terms of traffic, with a more than mediocre 740 unique visits in November. There's a lot of competition in the automotive website world, and there are a lot of people that do it better than I do, so I shouldn't be surprised. My post on the Shelby GT500 Super Snake is by far the most popular post over there.

7. Achieve my goal weight of 85kgs.

* crickets chirping *

In summary, maybe you do get out what you put in?