Friday 23 July 2010

Has It Really Been That Long?

I looked at my blog stats at about 4pm today to see that I had the grand sum of fourteen unique visitors of which eight were brand new. So I can definately say that I have six hard core supporters! So a big thank you to the two from England, two from north of the border, and one each from Norway and Portugal who have visited every day last week and still visit my page one week after my last post. It's far from the daily 150 that usually turn up when I post regularly with my daily P&L status.

...but is posting my P&L regularly a good thing?  Cassini over at The Green posts a comment from Rob the Builder who thinks that my type of blog is boring to read. Rob has his own blog that I have not visited before, it is called Gambling Cos Building is up the Spout. To be honest I think it is an interesting well written blog and I have added it to my bloglist but if you examine his visitor stats on the day he posts you will see that his comments of boring P&L postings are without foundation as his audience is very low and he has been doing this far longer than me.

You will notice that last Saturday I added a world counter. I think it's interesting seeing people from all the many different countries and cultures landing on my page.

So what's happened to me all week?

It's simply been a case of putting the family first. My 17 year old son had a Driving Test appointment for the end of September but last Saturday he had the opportunity to accept a driving test appointment for this afternoon due to a cancellation. 

He has been having professional lessons once a week since the middle of March with me also taking him out in his old banger that we bought him. His general road skills were not bad but he could not do any maneuvers such as Parallel Parking, Reversing round a corner and bay parking and there was not a cat in hells chance of him passing. So I agreed to take him out every evening for an intense training session. When I got home from work at 6ish on Monday through to Thursday, I took him out for a couple of hours so by the time I got back it would be about 8.00 to 8.30 by which time I am knackered and not in the right frame of mind to trade or even open my laptop!

So today was the big day and he had the ability to pass. However his final practice with me an hour before the test was poor which I put down to nerves. I didn't hold too much hope when he started the test, he pulled out of the car park indicating left and then changed it to right. However thirty minutes later he was back in the car park holding a Pass certificate having  obtained just seven minor errors. (You are allowed 14 minors but not one single major).

This means that I will have to work even harder at the trading game as I now have a huge Insurance premium to pay!

I did do a little bit on the iBet application earlier this week but it was a crazy thing to do and of course I lost a bit so tonight was the first real opportunity to trade since my big loss of over a week and I felt so fresh and found it an easy session making £137 which is almost one months premium!



















I will be making every effort of adding to my page every day this week.

Thanks for your support. It's great to be back.

5 comments:

Rob The Builder. said...

Hi Andy

Thanks for the comment. My note was directed at those blogs that say little beyond the P&L post. You assume I would include yours amongst them, but I wouldn't. If you can keep up a daily post with something worth saying, great, I'll keep reading. My point was that if a time arrives when you can't be bothered writing anything, and posting the P&L is a drag, then stop and just post when you've something to say.

I've always assumed my reader figures are limited by the fact I make sod-all profit. Both Adam Heathcote and Psycoff wrote blogs with massive readership, yet I never found either particularly interesting. But they made shed loads of cash, and that seems to attract readers.

Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't worry what other bloggers think there's a place for allsorts of blogs. At the end of the day we're talking about gambling and the main aim is to win money.

Cassini's always been cagey about posting any pnl and you'll have to draw your own conclusions about that. If you look at his his blog it's mainly just cut and pastes or talking/slagging off the services he subscribes to. Trading pretty much a lonely profession so people will read almost anything and give him his dues he does ensure he posts almost everyday so is always going to get a lot of hits.

Just run the blog however you want and if that means posting pnl shots so be it, you can be pretty certain most readers would like to see how well the author of most blogs is or isn't doing :)

Didd said...

Hi Andy,

I follow your blog, it's a good read. Please could you consider adding my blog to your list.

Thanks,
Didd

Handy Andy said...

All done Didd

Cassini said...

Hi Andy - just for the record, your blog isn't boring. Blogs that are 'only' P&L statements are boring, not those that offer a little commentary. As I've written before on my blog, numbers alone are meaningless. £20 to one person might be a lot, to another it's nothing. Anyone can write that they won thousands and provide a 'screenshot' as 'evidence' but we all know how easy these are to fake. Besides, unless you are selling something, the idea of a blog is not to convince someone how much money you make. Bloggers typically enjoy writing and if people keep coming back to read, then you're achieving something. It's funny - you'll find that the Anonymous critics are the ones who keep coming back, and you'll have to draw your own conclusions about that. So keep on blogging in the style that suits you. So long as you are profitable, you'll find it easy to post - the problems seem to start when the losses keep coming. Human nature. Fortunately, while I have the occasional losing month, overall the profits are good, and keeping the blog going isn't a problem. Good luck, and keep writing.