Pulse Check – Monthly Report for July 2012

Every month I recap the past, present, and future of my personal journey and the voyage of Value of Simple.

This “Pulse Check” is intended to be an honest, transparent, and (hopefully) inspiring assessment of where I’ve been and where I’m going.

My last Pulse Check was over three months ago before this website was relaunched as Value of Simple. I was publically dormant during May and June so it didn’t make sense to publish one for those months. But there’s a ton going on now folks and you can count on this being a regular thing.

This is the Pulse Check for July 2012.

First, the Big News

This website was officially launched when “Welcome to the Official Launch of Value of Simple!” was published on July 5th. That was quickly followed up with – by far – my most popular article, “27 Simple Sages Reveal How They Simplify and Organize Their Amazing Lives.”

But from a personal perspective, I was most excited about the launch of the Smart and Simple Matters podcast in the middle of the month. This online show gives me a platform to communicate my ideas and resources the best way I know how: audibly. It’s also a great opportunity to feature people who are doing amazing things with their lives and making huge impacts on others.

If you missed either show you can check them out now.

• SASM 001 – Lighting the Fuse
• SASM 002 – Super Skills for Rocking Daily Money Management with Carole Evenchik

I have the 3rdSmart and Simple Matters show all ready to go and I’m super stoked to be featuring Ethan Waldman of Cloud Coach. As always, if you have someone or something you’d like me to cover on an upcoming show, contact me with some details.

The Numbers

A lot of people are interested in the stats behind Value of Simple. I am too because it helps me understand what’s working, what’s failing, and what I need to emphasize in the future.

But more than that, being upfront with you and sharing these numbers lets me display some core values of candor, vulnerability, and accountability. The more you know about this refuge of simplicity, the more you know whether this community is a place you want to be long-term.

This month it seemed to make sense to do a rolling number of calendar days from 07/05/2012 (when VoS was officially launched) to 08/05/2012. Next month I’ll be switching to a traditional calendar monthly look.

The bulk of the traffic for the month started on July 9^th when the Simple Sages article was published. I had more than 1,000 unique visitors that day which, safe to say, is my one-day record.

Although people coming to Value of Simple trailed off significantly the following week, I’m taking a very long-term approach to growing this community. This isn’t the kind of thing that concerns me at all.

Some people might look at these numbers and scoff. But I look at these numbers with pride and know that – at one month in – Value of Simple has a great beginning to build upon.

Here are some other stats for the month that give an objective view of engagement in and by this community.

• New
  • Comments (not including mine or guest post related ones): 56
    

• Total
  • Facebook Community Fans: 54
  • Twitter Followers: 87
  • Website RSS Subscribers: 21
  • Newsletter Subscribers: 103
  • Podcast Subscribers (non-iTunes): 14
  • YouTube Channel Subscribers: 2
    

• Value of Simple Products/Services Income: $0.00 (I don’t have any…yet)
  

• Affiliate Income (Affiliate Links Below):
  • A-List Blogging Bootcamps: $10.00 (my personal review)
  • Amazon: $0.10
  • Aweber: $0.00
  • Bluehost: $0.00
  • Clicky: $0.00
  • Dragon NaturallySpeaking: $0.00
  • Elance: $0.00
  • Headway WordPress Theme: $0.00
  • iTunes: $0.00
  • Legalzoom: $0.00
  • Manilla.com: $0.00 (my personal review)
    
  • ODesk: $0.00
  • Optin Skin: $0.00
  • Total: $10.10

Check out my Resources page if you want to know why I stand by these products and services.

Article Round Up

Here is all content I was responsible for in July. This includes content not published on Value of Simple like guest posts, YouTube videos, other people interviewing me, and more:

• Welcome to the Official Launch of Value of Simple!
• 27 Simple Sages Reveal How They Simplify and Organize Their Amazing Lives
• 9 Principles to Ignite and Fast Track Your Personal Renaissance
• SASM 001 – Lighting the Fuse (Podcast)
• Tipping Points, Addiction, Finding Equilibrium, and Simplicity
• Your Best Weapons Against Buying Crap You Don’t Need (Guest Post, Lifehack.org)
• Simplify Your Identity to Create More (Guest Post, Nurturing Creativity)
• How Simple Heroes Ditch Clutter and Master Chaos…AND How to Become One

What I Learned in July

The main thing I learned in July is that all the work I put into making Value of Simple look and feel professional – and distinctively “me” – paid off.

May and June were filled with so much behind-the-scenes work I couldn’t even keep track of it sometimes. Juggling contractors, getting articles written up for the launch, rewriting every article I published on Enlightened Resource Management (more on that another time), branding, copy writing…wowzers!

It was a ton of work but so, so worth it. I wasn’t proud of much on Enlightened Resource Management but I’m super proud of everything going on here now.

I also learned the power of joining a mastermind group. It wasn’t my idea to start it but, once I saw the people involved, I was in. After facilitating the group’s first meeting a couple of weeks ago (thanks to the framework in Who’s Got Your Back), I’m excited to see how this impacts what I can offer this community and the world.

What’s Around the Corner

Looking beyond my 90 minutes of sensory deprivation in a float tank this week, August is going to be a big month. A huge chunk will be spent turning a one-of-a-kind idea from concept into the first Value of Simple paid product.

I’m planning on launching it sometime in November and it’s perfectly in line with the simplicity and organization we’re trying to achieve here. That’s all I can say about it right now…but newsletter subscribers will be the first to get a sneak peek into more details.

Other groovy things you can count on happening in the near future include:

• Some additional free resources for the newsletter community that exemplify the “put it in a spreadsheet” philosophy
• More podcasts for the Smart and Simple Matters show. I’m aiming to average a new one roughly every two weeks.
• A 120 hour Continuous Creation Challenge in early September. Get ready to join me this time around for some epic creation!
• Guest posts on some pretty snazzy blogs.
• Another fun Help Day

Make sure to let me know in the comments if you don’t see something around the corner you were hoping to see.

Thanks to everyone who made this one of the most memorable months of my life! And thanks for being interested enough in me and Value of Simple to read this report!

Your partner in simplifying,

Joel

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Photo Credit: fmgbain

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