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It’s that time of the week again where I take a look at the progress of SavvyScot and recommend some great reads from around the web. The Relay Rides giveaway concluded this week, with Elle from The Tightwad Tale winning – Well done Elle!
Yesterday a new giveaway started. Savvyscot has five copies of Paul Knott’s new book Ouch! to giveaway. Entrants can be from all over the world – the publishing company have agreed to international postage. See the widget on Paul’s guest post for entry details.
Most popular post @Savvyscot this week was: Thoughts on the iPhone 5 – I’m glad so many of you agree with my opinions!
Summary of Stats:
- Average no. of visits per day – 148 – up from 125 last week – delighted with this!
- Alexa Rank – 236,264 down from 260,735 last week; smashed my goal of <250k – Hoping for <220k by next Sunday
- Alexa Rank (UK) – 9402 – up from last week but a lot of progress with US / Canadian / Indian readers! 😀
- Sterling Effort UK Ranking – 20th – This remains at 20th, however this has not been updated (I can tell by my stats). Ash and Jay – come on guys!
- Facebook Likes – around 600
- Twitter Followers – around 25k
- Subscribers – 23 – down from 26. FAIL! This is not good – hopefully my new giveaway will get me new subscribers. 10 entries are to be gained for subscribing. Does anyone have any hints or tips on building my subscription base?
Overall, I am still delighted with the growth of SavvyScot. I have built up a close circle of blogging friends (you know who you are) from Canada, the US and a couple from the UK. I have continued to focus on building a relationship with a select few blogs that I have a genuine interest in and authors with similar mindsets! There are so many more things that I want to do with SavvyScot and I really need to construct a proper plan for this blog. I was fully intending to follow up my post on ‘Starting a Blog in the UK – part 1‘ this week, but a couple of sponsored post opportunities came up for client deadlines…. How can anyone turn down the offer of hard cash? That would be completely against the ‘savvy’ nature of this blog!
Ok guys.. so here is the moment you have all been waiting for:
Top Posts This Week
Guilt Induced Frugality – Modest Money
Jeremy talks about the Frugal mindset essentially becoming an addiction. He discusses taking frugality to the extreme on holiday, in restaurants and buying a car and the difficulty in finding the balance. I particularly liked this post because I realised I am not the only one that faces these dilemmas!
Build a Home Series – Brick, Tile and Oops – Budgeting in the Fun Stuff
Crystal is nearing completion of building her own home. I am majorly jealous of how awesome it is! Furthermore, she has a bathroom with a hot tub and shower big enough for a ….. party?
Defining Broke – Budget and the Beach
This post discusses the true definition of broke. Broke vs basic needs or broke vsthe lifestyle that you have become accustomed to? Food for thought!
Drive More Efficiently – Improve your Finances and Your Health – Sterling Effort
Ash discusses the benefits of driving a little bit slower. Not only do you save a heap of cash, but you also get reduced stress and increased energy levels. Mrs Scot and I started commuting at 50mph to work.. consequently we are saving around £100 a month. Out of this money we both buy each other a treat at the end of the month. Absolute result!
Can’t Work or Won’t Work? – Objective Wealth
Drew urges you to think about the concept of work and to choose a career path that fulfills you. He makes the comparison that you wouldn’t want to sit around on welfare forever but equally you wouldn’t want to do something you hated all your life. The two are pretty similar really. There’s a pretty awesome quote there too – but you will have to check it out yourself!
Eight Amazing Travel Videos – Alex in Wanderland
This has nothing to do with personal finance, but you should definitely check out these videos. Alex is a bit of an inspiration; she fights conformity and spends her life traveling and writing. She has more recently started producing some awesome videos – I can get lost in her blog reading about diving and her other adventures. I have made a list of some of these places that I am going to visit one day!
Get Your $h!t Together – Punch Debt in the Face
It is sometimes too easy to become obsessed with Personal Finance and a frugal lifestyle. Ninja re-emphasises the importance of happiness.
Grocery Game Saved Our Budget – Eyes on the Dollar
Kim discusses how a challenge with other bloggers has helped save her a ton of money. The challenge: $190/month on groceries for 2 people. Man I would struggle with this.. not sure I am ready to play, I eat waaay to much Chicken!
5 Reasons Why I Love Budgeting – Frugal Rules
This is a pretty new blog, but there is some really high-quality content which I enjoy reading! This post discusses 5 reasons why budgeting is rewarding! For me this is great to read about the good things that budgeting do for me, instead of the typical ‘5 Reasons Why I SHOULD budget’ – Great post!
A Very Big Announcement – Further Bound
Hannah is a fellow Brit about to embark on an indefinite adventure. She is an absolutely fantastic writer and I am always excited when a new post comes along… She has just announced that she is about to embark on a 3500KM trip across India.. A Rickshaw Run! Good Luck to you Hannah!
That’s your lot guys! 10 of the best from this week.
The Naked Princess?!
What are everyone’s thoughts on the Kate Middleton picture scandal? Personally I think the lengths that some photographers go to is disgusting. While I appreciate that Kate is a princess and people may expect her to behave in a certain way; I think if she wants to sunbathe topless in a private chateau in France then good for her! It would be a completely different situation if she was doing this in a public place or on a sailboat somewhere. I am not much of a royalist but I think this is totally wrong; especially when it must bring back horrific memories of media scandal for William.
What do you think guys? Who is in the wrong?
Thanks Scot. Re: Alexa ranking, a few months back mine hurtled down from an 8 million start to 209k, then bounced up to about 270k, before hanging either side of 230k. Been like that for about a month. I know it’s only a number, but my goal is to break 200k too so it’s a tad frustrating!
Re: K-Mid, good point about public vs private, it’s important to make that distinction in a free society.
Drew @ Objective Wealth recently posted..Blogtastic: Inside Out Edition
Alexa is a bit biased though… Effectively if you network well with other bloggers you get a better score due to them almost definitely having the toolbar installed! I just wish my compete rank would hurry up!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
Thanks, Scot, for the mention. You are doing great with your blog. We eat lots of chicken too, but I only buy on clearance. When it is either eat or freeze on that day. It’s really cheap then. I love Kate and Wills and wish we had some royals here. I think the press is horrible and should just leave them alone. What’s next, are they going to drill a hole into her shower and take pictures?
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted..Can’t Take My Eyes Off These Blogs #5
Thanks Kim! I tend to buy in extreme bulk! 20kg at a time! I also love to buy clearance chicken… straight in the freezer with a cautionary label that it has a day left when it is defrosted. I think some journalists would love that idea!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
Congrats on improving your alexa ranking so quickly ! I need to get on that train and really up my efforts. And I am totally okay with the topless scandal, she should be able to do whatever she wants to in the privacy of her own place. People are such creeps to stalk in just to get some photos. Ridiculous. I feel bad for her.
Gillian — Drop that Debt recently posted..Saturday Spending Update
Hey! Glad you approve of the toplessness… A new generation of royals can define the generation how they like! It is one thing being topless in a public beach and another in your husbands company!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
Thanks for the mention! And for the flattery. 🙂
Crystal recently posted..Financial Blogger Conference 2012 Swag Bag Giveaway!!!
You are most welcome! I just need an invite to come and see it one day when I move to Houston!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
Thanks for the mention Scott! I’m so glad you enjoyed those videos… they have been such a source of inspiration for me!
Alex recently posted..Whaling in Iceland: My Plea to Tourists
Anytime Alex! Keep up the great writing.. and videos! I love your whale shark one… very lucky spot!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
Thanks so much for the mention and nice words Scot! In regards to the topless scandal, I would have to agree. It is no one’s business as it appears they were in private and the photgrapher had no business doing what he was doing. Just let them be I say.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..4 Simple Ways to Limit Losses in Stock Investing
Hey John! You are welcome… good work on Frugal Rules buddy. Glad you also agree with me. I have been getting annoyed with people who say that she should never have taken her top off in the first place because she is a princess! Power to her.. I just hope their law suit is successful. Journalism is dying anyways!
savvyscot recently posted..The Sunday Review – Top Posts of the Week
Thanks for the mention. You’re really keeping busy hosting giveaways lately, which is surprising since I found that giveaways usually boost my subscribers. Do keep in mind that it jumps around a lot when it is still kinda low. So just be patient and keep all the marketing work going while trying to put some good posts out there.
Jeremy @ Modest Money recently posted..Mid September 2012 Favorite Posts
Thanks for the mention 🙂 Sorry, it’s been a busy weekend and the data refresh for the SEUKPFBLT was paused due to changes in the SEOmoz API. Gah! I’ve fixed it and I’ve run a refresh and I’m happy to let you know that you’re now 12th. I’ve modified the algorithm slightly in a few places. I believe it now paints a more accurate picture of the community. Take a look and let me know what you think! It’s still not perfect and I’ll be writing soon about how it works and opening it up for feedback.
Ash @ Sterling Effort recently posted..Sterling effort, smackhead!
I meant 11th! Sorry, It’s been a long night. I need some sleep now 🙂
Ash @ Sterling Effort recently posted..Moving on