Written on September 13th, 2007 at 12:09 am by Darren Rowse
Getting to 1000 Visitors a Day, When to Go Pro, .Net or .Com and Lonely Bloggers – Reader Questions Answered
Today’s video is me tackling four questions from readers:
1. How long did it take to get to 1000 visitors a day (and how did I do it)? – submitted by Jason from atomicguitarist.com. Read a little more on anticipating what people will be searching for in my post Seasonal Traffic and How to Capture it for Your Blog.
2. How and When did I go ‘Pro’? – submitted by Brennan from bpmonaco.com. Read more about my journey of Becoming a ProBlogger.
3. Why do I use ProBlogger.net not ProBlogger.com? – submitted by Vincent from theworldofmodernmen.com. Read more about the process of me buying ProBlogger.com.
4. Can Blogging full time get Lonely? – submitted by Adam from adamok.net. Read more about blogging and relationships at Blogging in Formation – Lessons from a Goose and How to Improve Your Blog by Partnering Up.
Apologies for the lower quality video this week. I recorded it on my laptop’s built in webcam which isn’t as great as my normal camcorder.
Got a question you’d like me to answer – Ask it Here
58 Responses to “Getting to 1000 Visitors a Day, When to Go Pro, .Net or .Com and Lonely Bloggers – Reader Questions Answered” - Add Yours
Dafool
September 13th, 2007 1:08 am
I can see why you choose to stay with Problogger.net because the majority of people, not just those on the internet, aren’t big fans of change. So something as simple as changing your domain name from “.net” to “.com” is enough to detract people.
Also, being a full-time blogger is something that requires delicate balance. Like you have stated in previous posts, you can get in a groove sometimes. However, I approach blogging as a job completely separate from my personal life. I would be something of a liar, though, if I said I don’t always have “blogging” on my mind.
Jason
September 13th, 2007 1:33 am
Thanks for the insights Darren! And for answering my question, and the link.
You can read all the information you want about blogging, but what I enjoy most, what fires me up, is learning about people’s actual experiences.
I think it’s pretty rare to learn about how long it took one blogger to achieve something, how effective a tactic really is for one blogger, etc…
I appreciate the thoughts on SEO for my question.
See ya,
Jason
Deborah
September 13th, 2007 1:40 am
I had wondered about .net vs. .com thank you for clearing it up for me.
Bobby Revell
September 13th, 2007 1:42 am
What a great, information packed video! I really enjoyed watching it and what a charming guy you are. Thanks so much:)
Dan Cruz
September 13th, 2007 1:42 am
Great tip about trying to anticipate what people will be searching for when coming up with topics for your posts.
I’ve tried that with some of my websites and it can be tremendously effective when you combine that with some Adwords or PPC advertising.
Thanks for the informative video!
45n5
September 13th, 2007 1:49 am
there are other people out there in the real world?
great video.
Brennan
September 13th, 2007 1:49 am
Thanks for answering my question, and for the link, Darren!
Brennan
Marko Novak
September 13th, 2007 1:54 am
Hm, I think I’ve got a problem. I have over 4000 unique visitors every day and no direct advertisers. I only use Google AdSense which generates some income, but not nearly as much as I could get I guess.
Chris Jacobson
September 13th, 2007 1:56 am
Good post, Darren.
Question: What is the most challenging part about your blogging experience? Do you find it hard to think of content to write about on a daily basis?
Tejvan Pettinger
September 13th, 2007 2:06 am
Great video. Very helpful answers. I’ve read about some of these ideas before, but, somehow hearing them makes it more interesting.
Dunia Fana
September 13th, 2007 2:26 am
How to make pagerank for newbie ? Is it important ?
Michael @ Freshome
September 13th, 2007 2:53 am
Where do you see in 5, 10, 20 years from now ? Still blogging ?
Kevin Muldoon
September 13th, 2007 3:38 am
great video Darren, keep up the good work :)
SylverStyle
September 13th, 2007 3:42 am
Very useful and motivating. Thanks.
Vaibhav Pandey
September 13th, 2007 3:45 am
Thanks for this wonderful video Darren. I have been using your tips and tricks to gain more and more traffic to my blog and i must admit.. It works.
three cheers to you.
Vaibhav
http://technofriends.wordpress.com
Klaudio
September 13th, 2007 4:21 am
Blogging in public places *rolleyes* nice idea!
It’s very cool you answers to the questions of your visitors. So you get more regular guests.
Asako
September 13th, 2007 4:43 am
I just read the article of capturing seasonality. You are genius. I will definitely think about the strategy.
By the way, have you used Wiki-How?
Craig Campbell
September 13th, 2007 5:06 am
I love the video blogs, Darren! Keep em coming!
Question: How much time do you spend writing blogs, and how much time do you devote to SEO and other activities?
God bless,
Craig
Jeremy Steele
September 13th, 2007 5:10 am
Lol, I love the way you said your wife gave you 6 months. My parents are doing the exact same thing with me, got until the end of November.
Louis
September 13th, 2007 5:12 am
I made 600 dollars last month and I have about 520 visitors a day in total on my blogs. I guess if I work hard for the next six months I can have much more than gadgets-money.
hmm I need a plan any suggestions there ?
Chris Marshall
September 13th, 2007 5:15 am
One question: where are the transcripts for those of us that cannot watch videos? :)
Vincent Sparreboom
September 13th, 2007 5:18 am
Hi Darren,
Thanks for answering my question, I really appreciate it.
In the end; things (and life) can be simple:).
Thanks again.
Cheers
Vincent
Yax
September 13th, 2007 6:29 am
Videos have that “Oh! Shiny object” feel and blogging success stories somehow never get old.
I vote for more video posts on the blogosphere!
Fred Peters
September 13th, 2007 6:59 am
Darren,
I love the way that you are incorporating video into your blog. This is the next generation of the Internet. Sure people have been uploading YouTube videos, but video posts like this serve a much different purpose. It increases online connections, social networking and familiarity.
Thank you!!
Alexander
September 13th, 2007 7:24 am
Thank you for your blogger testimony! Enjoyed your insight and personal side to how you’ve come to where you are.
Melody
September 13th, 2007 7:24 am
There is some really great information in here. I especially found your advice on going pro interesting because I somehow thought it would be an overnight sensation thing, haha!
Yebot
September 13th, 2007 7:27 am
Startup to full-time blogging in 6 months? Nice job sir.
Darren Rowse
September 13th, 2007 8:04 am
Chris – I find that the challenging part of blogging changes from time to time. At some points it’s about coming up with ideas for content, at other times it’s the technical aspects of running a site, at other times it’s more feeling personal attack and at other times it is time management stuff.
Asako – no, havn’t use Wiki-How.
Jeremy – I think having a deadline like that is wise. Helps you get yourself going with it – but also helps you to make a good responsible decision.
Yebot – it wasn’t 6 months from start to full time. I’d been blogging a year and a half before the 6 month deadline started!
Jeremy Steele
September 13th, 2007 9:26 am
Yep Darren, definitely agree. Settings goals really helps me stay on track with everything.
That’s why I’m doing a nice long 30 day blog series currently (on day #3 right now). Been having quite a bit of success this summer (achieved my goals of doubling traffic and subscriptions) and I’m hoping to at least triple (maybe quadruple) everything by the end of november, which is a nice challenge, at least challenges are fun :)
Thomas Ukm
September 13th, 2007 9:28 am
Great tips darren, definitely helpful for bloggers who are looking at long run.
Martin Neumann
September 13th, 2007 9:38 am
Hey Darren – anticipating what people will search for is the holy grail, imo. It’s much easier than link baiting, trying to get Dugg’d etc., I spend more time trend watching and positioning posts and articles these days – and it’s taken me to another level.
Tip (and an example) for Aussie bloggers: if you’re into the tech scene then anything “Australia” and “iPhone” is a winner and will be for a while yet.
Isolation = eventual burnout. I hear you on that one, for sure.
Mate … you blog in cafes during the week. Hit me up sometimes when I’m in the City and we’ll catch up for a coffee.
Thomas Fisher
September 13th, 2007 10:05 am
Great video Darren! I love your video posts. There refreshing after reading, reading, reading.
Here’s a question: How do you find blogs to read? This seems obvious but it can be hard at times.
Thomas Flight
thewild1
September 13th, 2007 4:52 pm
you have a very understandable wife
Peter
September 13th, 2007 6:27 pm
Love these videos, keep’em coming!
I worked from home for about 3-4 years doing video game graphics as a freelancer and it certainly was lonely.
I work with kids now and I just get so much energy from them but I’d rather be working/blogging from home though and earning more money again.
Oh yeah, I reached my first 1000 uniques a day in probably about 6 months, I’ve just gone over 2000 uniques a day last month and it’s been 11 months so far since my I started blogging, all thanks to Darren, Yaro and several other bloggers.
I’m still only making about $10 USD a day total with 2 sites and over 3000 unqiues a day, but I’m most likely sure it’s a niche thing (for one of the sites).
Starfeeder
September 13th, 2007 7:19 pm
hmmm thinking up some questions….
Eli
September 13th, 2007 7:50 pm
I enjoyed the video, thanks Darren. :)
Quentin
September 14th, 2007 1:15 am
Great video Darren
Love to follow through what you teach and implement it into my business.
Keep them coming.
Quentin
Kamal
September 14th, 2007 1:15 pm
thanx for the video ::)
CHIRAG JAIN
September 15th, 2007 3:56 am
Its rocking.You have done a great job
R
September 15th, 2007 10:03 pm
Wow. Nice. Congrats. I can only hope to reach some level similar to yours. Still, don’t see much chance of that. Mine is still new but not getting the attention I’d like it to. In time maybe… and with more hard work…
onera
September 15th, 2007 11:28 pm
I am not quite sure, is it a repost?
brem
September 16th, 2007 5:25 am
For comparison purposes, it took me about a year also to get 1000 unique visitors a day.
prasanga
September 16th, 2007 10:42 pm
Great post Darren, This post is very useful, thanks for sharing
videolar
September 17th, 2007 3:07 am
there are other people out there in the real world?
great video.
textlist
September 17th, 2007 9:23 am
Great post, very useful as always.
kim
September 17th, 2007 8:25 pm
wow,such a great method.thank you.
David Scrivner
September 18th, 2007 2:43 pm
Darren, I love the video on the blog. This is the first video on a blog that I have watched and I really enjoyed it. Thank you for the answers to the questions. I was wondering how long it took to get the kind of traffic necessary to make a living out of blogging. I would like to blog for a living, but I am so busy I am going to try and work even harder to make successful blogs and websites and slowly back off of my other jobs.
Barbara
September 19th, 2007 4:28 am
Thank you for another great video.
I am glad you have dispelled the myth of overnight success in blogging. I’ve read too much of how one can go from “0-60″ in a short time, when in actuality, blogging is like any other endeavor. It takes hard work, trial and error, imagination, and perseverance.
For new bloggers, who may be discouraged with their traffic counts, now they can hear directly from you, a seasoned pro blogger, that high traffic counts don’t happen overnight.
Your words give others, hope.
DA
September 19th, 2007 6:49 am
I enjoyed listening about anticipating what bloggers would be looking for and putting that in a post for future traffic.
I’ve noticed that some bloggers use Youtube and others use their own video services when they post videos. Which do you think is better for getting traffic?
Thanks
Adam
September 19th, 2007 8:35 am
Thanks for answering my question Darren. Well! it’s back to a normal job at a 9-5 office job for me. However, it’s a temporary position and I will get back to being a full time blogger unless they offer me something tempting.
Paul Kroll
September 19th, 2007 10:18 am
If we already have a blogsite, but don’t want to go professional at the moment, how can we start earning money on it? Like you said when you started, it was enough to buy a coffee everyday. I’m wondering if I can start working towards that. Is there a way to apply some “money making” effect to my already excisting blog? Thanks for your time.
Paul
GuruMonetizer
September 19th, 2007 12:53 pm
Well must say great info,and love your new template…
BrentD
September 20th, 2007 5:55 am
Thank you very much for posting this video. Others that are successful bloggers often come across very arrogant, but you demonstated a level of humility. Thanks again very helpful.
Nick
October 9th, 2007 12:38 pm
Terrific video post with good advice. Well grounded approach. Please keep it coming.
redwall_hp
March 9th, 2008 8:33 am
Cool. I think I’m leaving the not-quite-enough-earnings-for-coffee stage, and moving on to the saving-for-a-laptop-stage (odd that I’ve had that goal as long as I’ve been trying to monetize my blog).
Nic
June 5th, 2008 7:43 am
Informative video thanks a lot hope you got more on the cards!
Kathy
June 27th, 2008 1:38 am
Thanks Darren,
A very interesting video, and I can relate to it, especially the loneliness aspect, but you seem to have made a good option for yourself. It sounds like blogging would be a good career. I don’t know though, do you blog other sites as well as your own?
My blog is wealthyaffiliatepage.com
I’m starting to build up a few blogging bits, anyone who’d like to take a look and add a blog or 2 please do. Any suggestions appreciated.
Lynn from Organicmania.com
July 4th, 2008 1:12 pm
Your post is so apropos…I found myself wondering why my Memorial Day post on “10 tips for greening your Memorial Day picnic” had gone up as one of my top 10 posts.
Aha….4th of July picnics are not all that different from Memorial Day picnics! :)
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