Royal Enfield motorcycle blog thumps along

Blogging may be one of the best ways to make money on the Internet, I don't know; but it is certainly not a sure thing. My first post for www.royalenfields.com went up July 28, 2008. With blind faith I expected that blogging would pay off, somehow.

One year later, without accounting for expenses, I have made $147.65. The payoff came in the fun I've had.

The great thing about the Internet is that you can see how you are doing. People vote with their eyeballs on whether or not they like your content. As of the end of July, according to Google Analytics, I've had 59,364 visits from 137 countries and territories and 114,305 pageviews. www.royalenfields.com has had 29,666 unique visitors.

How does all this compare to other web sites? Pretty small potatoes, I am sure. Still, according to Google, my blog has a page rank of 2 on a scale of 1-to-10. Doesn't sound like much, I know, but it may be good enough.

Google page rank is a mysterious thing. The long established and information packed web site of Royal Enfield's official U.S. importer is only a 4. The impressive web site of Royal Enfield India itself is a 6.

The New York Times is a 9. But, when you Google "Royal Enfield motorcycles," my blog is, for the moment, on the first page of the results you get. The New York Times is nowhere. Heh-heh. I will take victory where I can get it.

So far, 54 people have signed up to become "followers" of this blog, meaning they can easily keep track of what I post. I treasure every one of those people. Some of them, and many others who haven't formally signed on, have given me tips and feeds and suggestions that have kept me motivated.

These visitors also help support the blog by taking note of the Google ads scattered around and clicking on those that interest them. I get paid by your click. But please don't click on them just to reward me. Whatever they are (I'm not allowed to click on the ads so I don't know), they are their own best reward.

Another way I earn money is when readers such as yourself use the Amazon search box on this page to find and buy things, including books. You can search for anything Amazon sells, but the search box here is prepopulated with Royal Enfield items on the chance you might be interested.

I do not earn any revenue from the motorcycles listed for sale on this blog. Look at them, click on them, enjoy seeing what's out there at what price. I do.

Aside from those listings, I have posted more than 365 feature items in my year of work. I know some of you have learned about Royal Enfield motorcycles and even bought one partly as a result of this blog. That is very satisfying. Hopefully anyone I have injured or insulted along the way will forgive me.

I've had a tremendous amount of fun doing this, and I have learned a lot. In particular, I couldn't have spent a year writing about Royal Enfields and not learned a little bit about India, a place that for me always seemed far away and so strange as to be unknowable. I am still very ignorant about India, but I think I begin to grasp its size and immense energy, along with the enthusiasm for these motorcycles.

I haven't even begun to write about all the people and things I want to feature on the blog. I'm thrilled to start work on Royal Enfield Motorcycles every morning. Please comment or make suggestions on the comments form below about how I can improve this blog in the coming year. Email me your story suggestions and photos at david@royalenfields.com

All best.