Blogger @ A New Bike
A New Bike
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Questions about the beginning of BTYB/Tynan.com

Hey Tynan, I was wondering if you remember or have analytics for how long it took to get to a 1,000 subscribers? We've been working hard on our blog for a few months now, but, we've both been probably a little bit disappointed with the growth we've achieved. I know that so much of how many hits we get is a direct correlation to how hard I work on the web/fb/twitter, but eventually lord knows I'd like to just have some type of community there that works with us instead of something we fight for.
Anyway, I've been reading Tynan.com for a few years, but I'd like to know more about how it was in the beginning.

af

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Performance Marketer, Blogger, Social Media Freelancer, Asker of Why - LOVING LIFE!
Chris
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Hi,
I can only speak from my own experience but I can feel with you. I've got a German blog, which I devoted A LOT of time to during the last 2.5 years and it felt like there was one tipping point along the way where it sort of took off to the next level (speaking of Germany, that still means considerably smaller than an American blog). I don't know what caused it but I believe it was just time and commitment. The rest falls in place if you've got great content. 

And then, also be clear what a community means to you: Is it 1,000+ followers or is it rather 20+ comments on any given article? There's a huge difference between PIs (mostly achieved through the long tail and sheer amount of content) and regulars.

Good luck with it!

Blogger @ A New Bike
A New Bike
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Hey thanks, I think like anybody young we lack some patience. I did feel like having some photo/writing experience would be a plus though. I'd like....both. I think the comments would carry more 'oomph' than the followers though. 

Creator of SETT. Adventurer.
Tynan
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Hey,
I'm not sure how relevant my experience is, because I think things were different, and possibly easier, back when I started.

My blog began as a personal log for Polyphasic sleep. I had no intention or desire for it to become big-- I just wanted to remember what happened after the experiment was over. As luck would have it, polyphasic sleep was a hot topic back then, so I started getting visitors... maybe 50-100 per day.

That seemed like a lot to me, so I felt obligated to entertain them... as if 50 people showed up at my door, bored.

The next big jumps to my readership came when I started posting crazy stories I had, like the indoor pool and the tunnels under UT. From there I just kept writing, and people kept subscribing... it was never a fast jump, but just a gradual increase until I had some significant amount of readers.

I think that the best things to do now are to do guest post on the most popular blogs that will have you (the biggest lasting bump in subscribers I got was from posting on IWTYTBR), to post frequently, and to only post high quality posts. Seasoned readers will put up with the occasional fluff post, but new readers will unsubscribe.

Hope this helps...

Blogger @ A New Bike
A New Bike
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Thanks Tynan. I am trying to get on the guest post bandwagon and figure out how we'd adjust it since there aren't too many competing 'audio + photos' bike story websites. 

TomsAdventure
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I started my first site back in 2006, and progress was pretty slow.  The site I started back then is now my "full-time job".  It is mostly user-generated content, and probably took bout 2.5 years before it was producing a substantial income ($1,000+/mo).  You just have to keep working on it.  Success won't come overnight.

Blogger @ A New Bike
A New Bike
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Thanks for the input. Could you dm me your website? I'd like to see how you manage user-generated content. Right now we are limiting it to just stuff we make it keep everything pretty high quality.

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