All I wanted was a place to write. A place to write on topics I care about; ones that don’t fully fit under the Paper Leaf umbrella. Mainly, I wanted to talk about business & strategy, as Paper Leaf’s content is more focused on design. That was the point of launching this site.

The stats, and benefits, from just having a place to write for one month? Surprising. Let me explain, and share with you the actual numbers behind my personal site’s first 30 days.

What I Did & Didn’t Do

First off: I didn’t do a lot of things. I didn’t set measurable goals, identify an audience, or any of those boxes you should tick when planning & launching.

Oops.

The truth is, this is just a fun project. I “launched” with little fanfare; just a tweet & post to Facebook.  I wrote 5 posts on topics I was motivated to write about, and published them throughout the month.

Each time I published a post, I spent a bit of time reaching out. I went and commented on a few other related sites I enjoy; I submitted my content to other sites like Lifehacker; I shared my content (and other related/helpful content) in an authentic/non-spammy way on platforms like Reddit & Stumbleupon; I included a link to a few posts in Paper Leaf’s weekly email newsletter.

Altogether, a few hours work for each post, between writing & sharing. That’s something everyone can make time for.

The Numbers

The only reliable way to measure anything is to look at the numbers. Plus, data is just fun, despite what my idiotic grade 12 self thought. Anyway, here are some stats from the first month (actually, 27 days) of this site being live:

• 5 posts
• 12,000+ views
• 1100+ social shares
• 100+ new Twitter followers
• ~ 60 newsletter subscribers, and
• 3 legit project leads for Paper Leaf.

These numbers aren’t huge, but they’re valuable. Especially the last one. An average project for Paper Leaf these days is around $10,000-$15,000 – thus, those leads are worthwhile, and wouldn’t have come about otherwise. And this site? It’s not optimized for leads or subscribers or anything, because that’s not the point. It’s optimized for reading.

The Point

Just get started. You can be a startup, a long-running business, an individual, or anything in-between; there is still power, reward, and benefits to authentic, well-written, helpful content. Not every post will be a home run, and just publishing isn’t enough – you need to put in smart time to get your content out there – but with time & reflection on what works & what doesn’t, the benefits will start to trickle in.

Imagine what you could do if you openly shared your knowledge. Imagine what it could mean for your business or startup if you got tens of thousands of eyes on your site. Imagine what those eyes could translate to – leads, sales, sign ups, project inquiries, and more.

Authentic content works. What are you waiting for?

photo credit: blprnt_van via photopin cc