Welcome to PFI and the weekly updates – Drive Blog Traffic Edition. One of my personal finance goals for 2009 is to increase my RSS Subscribers to 500. In order to accomplish this goal – I will need to add about 35 new readers each month for the coming year. Adding new subscribers requires building my blog traffic to show potential subscribers my product. If they like it, chances are they will subscribe and increase my count. There are several little things I am doing each day to try and increase my traffic.
- Comments – I am trying to write more thought provoking comments on other blogs to help pull in some traffic. I have a goal of 10 new comments per day.
- eHow – A link to my site is included in each eHow article that I write. Putting that link out there gives my eHow readers the chance to visit PFI.
- Carnivals – I try to participate in at least 3 blog carnivals per week to establish some links and increase the chances for new visitors.
- Guest Post – I have a guest post scheduled to run this week on a different personal finance site. This is an excellent way to pull in some new readers.
- EntreCard – Not a huge traffic driver, but one that is free and does generate some new readers.
- Social Networking – I tend to struggle in this area but have used Digg, PF Buzz, Technorati, and a few other to attract some new readers. I am still trying to get use to Twitter!
Here are a few plans I have to implement in the coming year to drive additional traffic to my site -
- Blog Network – I have a project in place to join with fellow passive income bloggers to create a new blog network.
- Host a Carnival – I would like to host 2 blog carnivals which should increase my traffic.
- Contest – I am toying with the idea of a holding a contest on my site to grow my readership.
What tactics do you use to drive blog traffic to your site?
Personal Finance Blog of the Week
As part of my effort to meet my personal finance goals for 2009, I plan to visit other personal finance blogs and help promote the good ones anyway I can. Each week I will write a short review of a site that I believe is worthwhile checking out.
- The Passive Dad – The Passive Dad is one of the first passive income related sites that I came across in my short time as a blogger. While Scott, the writer at The Passive Dad, posts several useful topics on passive income generation – he also includes thought provoking posts about other personal finance topics. I look forward to reading the posts from The Passive Dad everyday and see a lot of similarities between this site and PFI. If you have not visited The Passive Dad yet – hurry up and take a look!
Carnivals
I participated in the following carnivals over the past week. Please check out some of the great reads from these carnivals!
- Carnival of Saving Money – Fourth Edition – (Jan. 26, 2009) Gift Giving Guide – How to Plan Ahead
- 189th Carnival of Personal Finance: Super Bowl edition – (Jan. 26, 2009) Capitalize on Current Business Trends
- a make money blogging carnival – (Jan. 23, 2009) Use Carnivals to Drive Blog Traffic
- Money Hacks Carnival – Presidential Edition! – (Jan. 21, 2009) Are the Rules of Retirement Changing?
- Festival of Frugality #161 – Frugal Businesses? – (Jan. 20, 2009) Controling Rising Health Care Costs
- Carnival of the road to financial independence #3 – (Jan. 20, 2009) Build Passive Income Streams from eHow
Articles I liked this week
Sticking with the theme, I am listing my favorite articles I read this week (not necessarily new articles) on the topic Drive Blog Traffic. Here are some of my favorites -
1 – Side Hustle Blogging gives us tips on growing your blog that don’t cost any money.
2 – Pat from The Smart Passive Income Blog gives us the #1 way to increase traffic to your site. I will make you click the link to find out what it is.
3 – Pinyo from Blogthority tells us how to start a blog network. This post is actually several months old but one that I just found last week. I have a goal to organize and participate in a blog network in 2009 so I plan on referencing this article a lot!
Have an wonderful week!
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Thanks for mentioning my article…really enjoyed this roundup.
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Please let me know if you need any help with the network.
Pinyo’s last blog post..Portfolio Rebalancing and Buying Underperforming Assets
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It’s great to see another newbie working so hard! It’s good to hear your joining a network, this is something that I hope will happen to me one day down the road.
Studenomics’s last blog post..How the Weekends Could Make You Rich
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Thanks for linking to the Money Hacks carnival I hosted.
Hosting carnivals are a great way to get traffic…my numbers were through the roof last week.
David
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I’m also trying to drive traffic to my site now that I’ve moved from a wordpress.com site to a wordpress.org self-hosted site. Quick tip: it’s better to submit your article to carnivals earlier in the week to improve your chances of getting a link higher up in the carnival and drive more traffic.
Steve’s last blog post..Book Review: The Millionaire Next Door
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Thanks for the kind words. I’ve been using stumbleupon social network and have met some great fellow bloggers and also some great new friends. Many of the stumblers don’t have blogs or websites, but are looking for great new content. These stumblers can be a huge asset for your blog.
The Passive Dad’s last blog post..If You Could Relocate, Would You Move To Cut Costs and Save Money?
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I hope my blog would also be included in your weekly updates
Millionaire Acts’s last blog post..January 2009 Networth (+5.14%)
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@Jason – I really appreciate your new site. It has helped me tremendously and given me so many new ideas.
@Pinyo – I will definately take advantage of any information you can provide me for implementing a blogging network! Thanks for the offer.
@Studenomics – Thanks! Hopefully all this hard work will pay off someday. Good luck to you!
@David – Thanks for the follow up. Hosting a carnival is one of my goals for 2009.
@Steve – Thanks for the tip on Blog Carnivals. It makes a lot of sense to submit your articles early on to get in before others. I will start trying that.
@The Passive Dad – Thanks for the tip on Stumble. I may need to try that approach to drive some new traffic.
@Millionaire Acts – If a post you submit fits with my theme for the week – I will definately include it. Thanks!
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