Blog Year in Review: 2013

2013 was a huge year for Passive-Income-Pursuit thanks to all of you readers.  At the end of 2012 the readership base, based off pageviews, was still growing but was around the 8k per month mark and my goal was to increase my pageviews to 10k per month by the end of the year.  Fast forward to the end of November and all of you readers stopped by a whopping 26k times.  Guess I was a bit short-sighted in that 10k goal.  I'm not going to rest on my laurels, as past performance is no indication of future results.  I've got some plans and a huge backlog of posts that need to get written up so now I just need to find the time to be able to sit down and concentrate on the writing.  I just hope to be able to continue creating some solid content for all of you.  I'm hoping to take Passive-Income-Pursuit in a bit of a different direction, but don't worry the bulk of the content will remain the same.



This FI/ER/DGI blogging community continues to grow and I learn so much from each and every one of you.  It seems like once a week I get to find out about some new blogger and learn their story and why they're pursuing whichever goal it is that they're after.  My own journey started once I was laid off and actually enjoyed the time out of work as it gave me a taste of what I could turn my life into.  It was then just a matter of figuring out how to get to that point on my own terms and not due to being laid off.

Thanks again to all of you that have stopped by, commented, or shared any posts through the various social media networks.  I hope that 2014 treats all of us well and we continue to make progress toward our own goals.  As always, if there's any subject matter you'd like me to dig into a bit more please let me know either through the comments or the contact form on the side bar of this page and I will do my best.

In case you're new here or happened to miss some of the posts from 2013, here's a bit of a recap.

Top 5 Viewed Posts of 2013

1. Stock Valuation Method - Dividend Discount Model:  This was the last in article in my series on different stock valuation methods but it was one of my favorites as it gets down to the nitty gritty of valuing a company purely based off the dividend and its' growth.

2.  Proctor & Gamble Dividend Stock Analysis:  Just another stock analysis on one of the best companies you can find.  A 50+ year dividend growth streak sure is hard to beat.

3.  I need your help:  I was struggling for some different investment ideas as the markets bull run continued to be long in the tooth.  Heck the markets barely even took a breather in 2013.  It was pretty crazy to see how quickly some of you responded.  Seriously, go check the comment times versus the post times.  This also happened to be one of my most commented on posts of the year as well.

4.  Determining the dividend growth rate of your portfolio:  Math nerd alert!  I love getting to crunch some numbers when it comes to finances and this post details exactly how to set up a spreadsheet to determine the overall dividend growth rate of your portfolio.

5.  2013 Goals - 1st Half Update:  At all of the quarter marks throughout the year I like to check in to see if I'm on track to hit my goals and what can be improved.  Well, at the quarter marks I'm posting about it, I check the progress on at least a monthly basis.

My personal favorites for 2013

1. How getting laid off was the best thing for my finances:  I cover a lot of my background and why it is I chose to strive for FI/ER by using dividend growth investing.  I've learned so much since then but there's still so much more to learn.

2.  Stock valuation method:  Okay, I'm kind of cheating on this one as it's a series and not just one post, but this was one of my favorite group of posts to research and write.  Not only did I learn more about each method, but it also serves as a place for new dividend growth investors to go to learn.  When I started out with dividend growth investing, I didn't find a lot of resources covering how to value stocks, since the starting valuation can make a difference in your future results.  As I started to learn some different methods, I knew I wanted to create a series that covered some of the methods to go about determining a valuation to see if you're getting a deal.

3.  Another one bites the dust:  It's not the most well-written post or the most insightful, but if you would have told me when I started that I would blog for 2 years on a regular basis and be quite successful at it I wouldn't have really believed you.  It's been an amazing 2 years and I can't wait to hit 3..and 4...and 5...

Thanks again to each and every one of you.  I don't want 2014 to go by just yet, but I kind of do just so I can see all the progress that you've all make in the new year.  Some of you are going after some big projects whether it's creating more resources about dividend growth investing, starting your own business, or even starting on your own journey with investing towards financial independence or early retirement.  I wish all of you the best in 2014 and have a happy new year!

Comments

  1. 26,000 times per month? Very nice! I imagine you could actually make a decent side income out of it at that point.

    I get less than half that traffic, but it's not really my goal to become a big blog I suppose. I'm thinking about trying some other online income opportunities next year because I don't want to bastardize my blog with excessive advertising. I don't like the ads I already have, but it does earn a bit of income.

    I thoroughly enjoyed your valuation posts and stock reviews. Funny how you tend to review the very same stocks I'm looking at too. Do you think readership will decline if the stock markets decline?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CI,

      It was pretty crazy to see the growth in page views throughout the year. The main purpose of the blog is to learn, teach, motivate, and hold myself accountable. Income from it is secondary. I only run Adsense right now and it's not generating anything close to a substantial income, but any bit helps. I can just pump it over into other endeavors.

      Readership will probably taper off if the markets take a big hit, which is typical of the average capital gains investor. Right when they should be learning everything they can and leveraging the huge resource that is the DGI blogging community they'll stop checking in. I'm not worried though as the blog income isn't something I'm planning on relying on, it's just a bonus. Of course it's always nice to see more and more pageviews each month.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  2. Hi PIP,

    I think "stock valuation" is a very difficult issue.
    I'm glad to have found good information about this topic on this blog.
    Thanks a lot!

    Best regards!
    D-S

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    Replies
    1. DS,

      Stock valuation is definitely a tricky subject. I'm not about to suggest that my methods are the best or anything close to it, but it's a good starting point. Like I mentioned in my post above, when I first started out I found very few resources on how to go about valuing stocks so I really wanted to create a series that covered some simple but effective methods. Glad to have you as a reader and I'm so glad that you've been able to learn.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. Congrats on the progress, PIP. You are putting out excellent content and the traffic reflects the value in your content.
    I would like to second what D-S said that your stock valuation posts are a difficult topic to cover and your posts on that content are excellent.

    Keep it up and wish you and your readers a great 2014.

    regards
    R2R

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. R2R,

      It's been an amazing run in both the stock markets and my blog during 2013. I don't expect the market run to continue but the blog growth sure would be nice. Thanks so much for the compliment and I'm glad you enjoy and can learn from the stock analysis posts. I need to do a better job at managing my time in 2014 to be more consistent with them but life tends to get busy at times.

      I hope the best for everyone and 2013 was a great starting point for so many. We all have a larger dividend base to work with which is awesome and I expect to see continued improvement from everyone. I love getting to check in on everyone's progress and how they're doing. It's always so motivating.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  4. Wow 26,000 pageviews is amazing! You are certainly putting out some great content. Like some others mentioned, I enjoy your company reviews. You are killing it!

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    1. AAI,

      Well, based off the comments I received I guess I need to set aside time to get out some more stock analysis posts. I didn't expect anything close to 26k for a month when I started the year. Heck that's more than 3 times what I was at the end of 2012. I can't thank all of you enough for helping to spread the word about my little piece of the internet. Have a great 2014! You killed it on the investment front in 2013. Another year like that and you'll probably be technically FI. That's awesome and I'm a little bit jealous.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  5. Pursuit,

    It was a great year for many of us. Sounds like it was just as wonderful for you! Congrats on the success of the blog, as well as your investments and everything else. I can only hope 2014 brings as half as much success in all facets of our life.

    Keep up the great work, brother!

    Best wishes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DM,

      If I could get half of a lot of things from 2013 I'd be just happy. Although dividend income hopefully can do better than that! I know I've said this several times but I was pretty blown away by the growth of the blog in 2013. It shot way past my expectations for the year. And you had a banner year with getting mentioned all over the place. I didn't know about the Dave Ramsey blog article but that's pretty cool. Have a great 2014!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  6. 26,000 views a month! That is awesome. I'm one of the people you picked up this year and love all the great information you provide. I'm glad to hear that things are going so well for your blog and that there are so many others soaking up your advice. Can't wait to see how your blog evolves in 2014. May it be another healthy and successful year for you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Divi Me Up,

      Glad to have you as a reader! I excited for 2014 to finally be here as it just feels like a time for some changes. I got some ideas floating around but as always if there's anything you'd like to see more of or less of let me know and I'll see what I can do. I wish I had thought about Pulling Ourselves Up Financially's "Warren Wednesdays" (http://pullingourselvesup.blogspot.com/2014/01/warren-wednesdays-1958.html). He just started the series but he's going to cover a new annual letter from Buffett each week. That should be a great series as WB is a huge inspiration to a lot of us. Best of luck in 2014 and I'll be sure to check in on your progress!

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  7. I wish for tour continued success and ours to catch up to yours!

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    Replies
    1. WE,

      Thanks so much. I hope 2014 is a great year for all of us. I still haven't worked on monetizing other than just with adsense and I'm not sure I'll do too much more. I just don't want to load up the blog with links to products/services I don't use just for the sake of monetization.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  8. Congrats on the Blog Success!. That's great work. There's high quality here, and it shows in the traffic. Keep up the great work

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    Replies
    1. Integrator,

      Thanks so much. I didn't expect it to grow like it did but I'm not complaining at all. I just love getting to be a part of this great community. There's so much to learn and we can all help each other out by motivating and inspiring each other.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete

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