Am I Addicted To Blogging?

When I wake up, the first thing I start thinking about is what can I do to optimize my existing Hubs and what articles can I write today to maximize page views and generate income. If it's still the middle of the night then I have to write my ideas down otherwise I can't get back to sleep.

Am I addicted to blogging?

The first thing I do every morning when I get up is turn the computer on and check my Hub statistics - did my page views go up or down, how much did I earn yesterday, has anyone signed up under my referral trackers?

Am I addicted to blogging?

When I travel to and from work on the train I carry a notebook to record my new ideas and check to make sure I've implemented my old ideas. I use this notebook to record my keyword research and Google search results to help me optimize my blogs. I used to read novels on the train, now all I can do is think about blogging.

Am I addicted to blogging?

As soon as I get home in the evening, I check my Hub statistics (of course)! Then I start researching and / or writing my next blog, optimizing my existing sites and hopping a few Hubs. If I get time, I'll get some backfeeds from other sites. The last thing I do every night before I go to bed is check my Hub statistics

Am I addicted to blogging?

I think there are several reasons why I might be addicted to blogging:

• Statistics: I'm a mathematician and I love numbers! Almost nothing gives me more pleasure than analysing my Hub statistics and seeing what I can do to make improvements. How can I increase Page Views, Page Rank, Referrals and Google position?
• Competition: I'm very competitive and love a challenge, particularly if I feel that I can employ my skills to achieve results. The 'competition' is to rank as high as possible on Google for my chosen keyword phrase, so that I can get as many page views as possible. I want to prove to myself that I can do it!
• Generate Revenue: My goal is to earn $1,000 per month from blogging so that I can retire early. For those of you who, like me, have only just started, you know that this is a lofty goal that will be extremely challenging to achieve - but I think I know how (more on that later). .
• Creativity: I feel that I'm quite creative and can do a reasonable job developing content, writing copy and creating a well designed article.
• Photography: One of my other hobbies is photography and I prefer to use my own photos in my Hubs whenever possible. This is particularly important to me when I'm blogging about my Anniversary Vacation Ideas or Canadian Birds in my Garden.
• Therapy: The icing on the cake, so to speak, is that I find blogging fun, therapeutic and addictive!

Let's do the math:

• Let's assume that we are earning about $3.50 per thousand page views.
• HubPages shares revenue 60% to us, 40% to them.
• So, for every 1,667 page views per day, 60% of these (= 1,000 page views) will generate revenue for us.
• 1000 x $3.50 per thousand, produces $3.50 per day, or about $100 per month.
• So if we want to earn $1,000 per month, we need to get 1,667 x 10 = 16,667 page views per day!

Of course, to the extent that our Adsense, Amazon and eBay advertising generates some income, we will need fewer page views. Also, don't forget to use referral trackers to earn 10% of page views from anyone that you refer to HubPages.

I'm still optimistic - after my first four months I think I now understand the techniques used to identify powerful keyword phrases to rank well on Google.

I'm please to report that one of my Hubs is already getting over 300 page views per day from Google, which I think is pretty good. So all I have to do is find and write another 50 of those and I'm done!

So let me know what you think - can anyone earn this kind of revenue from writing Hubs?

I hope you found "Am I Addicted To Blogging?" stimulating and thought provoking.

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts and any tips you can share to help me retire early!

Happy Blogging!

Geoff