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Michael X. Donovan Profile picture
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Apr 22 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
My brother @patientpublish (identical twin 👯‍♀️) started his first #blog 6 months ago, after seeing some of the early success my site was having.

Recently, his site started to really take off. 🚀

Some interesting charts & observations…

// 🧵 👇🏼
But first, some more context…

1. Niche = “Work From Home”
2. Expired domain from GoDaddy
3. Started his site in Nov 2021
4. 110 articles published to-date
Keith took the same approach as me when starting his site…

1. Go after informational content
2. Get traffic
3. Monetize with display ads
Ok a few charts…

His 6-month Trend of Sessions chart is a thing of absolute beauty…

Started to get some initial lift back in January this year, just ~2.5 months after starting his site 🤯🤯 Image
Total impressions and clicks.

Everything hockey-sticking together… Image
My favorite chart is the 30-day active users chart.

That thing is near PERFECT.

Absolute moon shot in progress 🌙 Image
A few comments/observations…

First, Keith is a MANIAC…110 posts in 165 days, all while working a full-time job.

Writing 100% of the content himself, zero outsourcing.
He’s averaging 20 posts a month.

IMO that’s insane this early on for someone just beginning blogging. I was lucky if I published 4-5 a month in the beginning.

I’ve gotten multiple texts from him at 3AM, as he starts writing…3AM bro???

You’re sick.
He’s using the technique I’ve previously described as “Brand Swapping” all over his site, and it’s working incredibly well…
He’s holding off on monetizing at all until he gets into Mediavine or AdThrive.

I suggested he throw Ezoic on his site in the meantime, but the man is on a mission…
He told me, to tell you…

#ABP - Always Be Publishing!!! ✍️✍️

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More from @NicheDown

Michael X. Donovan Profile picture
Apr 24
Are you taking the time to BOLD text throughout your #blog posts?

Here’s why I do…

//🧵👇🏼
It should be no surprise to you that our collective attention spans have plummeted in recent years.

Be honest, when is the last time you read a blog post (for pleasure) from the first word, to the very last?
I personally haven’t done that in years.

I skim, and so do a bunch of your readers.

Look around you - is content getting longer or shorter?

There is a place for long form content (I love podcasts, for example).

BUT…
Read 10 tweets
Michael X. Donovan Profile picture
Apr 20
Some fun money 💵 stats from my #blog

//🧵👇🏼
As of today, I’ve published 246 posts. That’s 346,291 words total.

That means I average 1407 words per post.

(Keep in mind, word count completely depends on the topic and the competition!!! Sometimes 800 words will do. Other times you need at least 3500-4000) Image
Let’s say (conservatively) my blog earns $200,000 this year (targeting $250k)

That means I was “paid” ~0.58 cents for every word I wrote.

At an average word count of 1407, that means I get paid $812.61 for every post I hit publish on 🤯
Read 6 tweets
Michael X. Donovan Profile picture
Apr 18
Let's talk about how “niche” you should get with your #blog, picking your domain, and topical authority...

//🧵👇
But first,

if I were starting a new site today my PRIMARY focus would be informational content.

Monetized almost entirely with display ads.
Affiliate sites can crush it still, but commissions are dropping.

And I find that product keywords with buyer intent are more competitive.

I think you can go after easier keywords, and still do GREAT with display ads.

That strategy has worked wonders for me.
Read 13 tweets
Michael X. Donovan Profile picture
Apr 17
In the beginning, "passive income" is anything BUT passive.

As I’m about to take off ✈️ for a week vacation with my family, here’s what I've come to learn (and appreciate) about passive income...

//🧵👇
You have to work HARD, often for years straight, before your income even has a shot at becoming truly passive.

And even then, it's rarely 100% hands-off.

YES, you can create systems and processes that keep the train moving in your absence, BUT
building those systems and processes is hard work too. And in many ways, that's an entirely different skill set.

The good news is this... I’m about to get on a plane for a week vacation with my family…
Read 7 tweets
Michael X. Donovan Profile picture
Apr 15
#blog Q1 results

1) $54,119 from display ads with @Adthrive Image
RPMs have been steadily climbing after the Holiday "dive". Good to see. Image
2) $1,678.54 from @AmazonAssociate

I STRUGGLE to improve my affiliate sales. The returns are pretty abysmally anyways.

over 50k of product shipped, 1.6k in profit = 3.3% commissions.

Hard to get excited and motivated to more here... Image
Read 6 tweets
Michael X. Donovan Profile picture
Apr 14
Let's talk #blogging tools of the trade ⚙️🔧🔨

Nearly all of the tools I used (and still use) to build my 500,000+ pageview/month blog, are FREE!

🧵👇
1) Wordpress (.org)

In terms of ease of use and capability, it's hard to beat Wordpress. Yes, there are other options out there, but Wordpress just works, and has worked since 2003!

I wouldn't overthink this one. It's free, and the theme I use was free too.
There are some important differences between Wordpress (.org) and Wordpress (.com).

Go with (.org). You can read more about this here:

wpbeginner.com/beginners-guid…
Read 17 tweets

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