A Great 2014, Statistically Speaking

In nearly every aspect, 2014 was an incredible year for me. Looking back on it I’m blown away at everything that has happened. Not only in my business life but also in my personal life. While I am looking forward to a very fun and enjoyable 2015 its nice to reflect on what has already happened. Most of which would not have happened without your support and engagement so I’d like to give a big THANK YOU to everyone out there who has taken time from their lives to show your support for what I do.

Personal Life

I am extremely lucky enough to have married a loving and caring person in 2011 who not only stands behind but also shares my dreams and goals in life. She also graduated twice in 2014. In May she received her second bachelors degree and in October she completed her officer training in the Army Reserves. And for icing on the cake she got a job she loves in the field she went to college for. I can’t express how proud I am of her and what we have already accomplished together.

For the first three years of our marriage we lived in an apartment, where I also worked, to save money and get my wife through college debt free. In July of this year we were able to purchase our first house together. Having my own place to setup a woodshop and a solid year and a half start into my online business I was also able to quit my day job and start focusing my attention on my business full time. There have been some stressful and chaotic days/weeks since working for myself full time but I honestly don’t feel like I am “working” because I absolutely love what I do.

“Business” Life

I put “business” in quotations for a reason. The fact that I am able to do multiple things that I love to do and call it a “business” is still strange to me. I’m a statistics kinda guy though. Numbers, graphs, and charts are much more exciting to me than a page full of words. That my sound kinda odd considering that technically this is a page full of words and the fact that I write a decent length build article and two not-so-lengthy articles (Around The Web, Vlog) every week. A lot more information can be soaked up much faster with the use of statistics. So without further adieu, here are some current statistics to check out. Some pertaining to 2014 and some to the overall big picture.

Website:

  • Since I started this website on March 12, 2013 I have published a total of 349 posts/articles. Probably a lot of which you haven’t even seen!
  • There are currently 2,220 comments left by all of you on this website. Thank you for all of your input and participation!!
  • Other than organic traffic from Google and other search engines, Facebook was the highest source of viewers to my website this year. Thank you Facebook friends! A relatively close second was Pinterest.
  • The most frequent destination viewers ended up when leaving this website was my YouTube channel page. Aside from that it was ibuildit.ca. Specifically, this page from ibuildit.ca was visited the most.
  • “Jay Z Custom Creations.Com” is a search term that was used to find my website 9 times in 2014. Apparently Jay-Z does some woodworking too…
  • As of right now 5,623 of you are signed up for my email newsletters. I very much appreciate each and every one of you! All of you are my core audience and allow me to do what I absolutely love for a living. Thank you!!
  • The three most engaging people from my newsletters are bograce, jimlogan3, and rksnellbaker. I very much appreciate your support and would like to send you a free t-shirt. Reply to one of the newsletter emails so I can get one sent to you!
  • The most commented on post of 2014 was this one.
  • The most viewed post of 2014 (and most downloaded plan) was this one.
  • This website is responsible for a little more than 2/3 of my income with YouTube being the rest. I often get asked what helps me out the most in regards to viewing my content. Watching, reading, and sharing anything on my website is by far the best way you can show your support for what I do without spending a dime. THANKS!! :)

YouTube:

  • My most thumbs up and most viewed video for 2014 is this one.
  • My most disliked video for 2014 is this one. (SketchUp)
  • According to YouTube Analytics, Michael Olsen and Backyard Woodworking are the top two engaged people with my channel. Thank you! Send me an email so I can send you a free t-shirt if you would like.
  • According to YouTube Analytics my channel has grown by just over 59,000 subscribers in 2014. Thank you very much for all of your support!!
  • 5,328 of you have subscribed to my Vlog/short update video channel. That’s mind blowing to me considering the fact that it’s pretty much a place to listen to me talk.

Any goals for 2015?

I don’t have one single “home run” item that I want to hit as that isn’t really how this online business seems to work. Instead, my only goal for 2015 is to stay consistent. Just like with exercise or diet, I think the best way to see results is with consistency. I’m really looking forward to a great 2015 and being able to look back on that year with the same outlook as I have on 2014. Thank you all for your continued support and good luck to each and every one of you with your 2015!

58 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve just subscribed to your email notifications, I feel quite guilty that I hadn’t done so before but I wasn’t aware that it helped raise revenue. I know a lot of my friends watch you so I’ll get them to sign up as well.

  2. Continue what your doing..I have learned so much and can’t wait for your 2015 videos and articles. Continued success for the coming year!

  3. Thanks for all you do for us, Jay! The top two items on my shop build list are YOUR moxon vise and John’s router lift. It amazes me that there are so many talented woodworkers willing to share their knowledge and love of the craft. May 2015 bring you all that you hope for and much more!!

  4. Congrats Jay on your success of 2014!! For me the Sliding Moxon Vise was the best. I have not built it yet, but it’s on my list as soon as I get the other 3 projects done I am working on now. One does have to have order and space to work you know oh and lets not forget that all important honey dew list;-). Looking forward to watching, reading and learning from your sites in 2015.

  5. Congratulations, Jay! Just keep plugging away at it. I’m looking forward to 2015 and maybe following you onto the Web.

  6. Best Wishes, Jay… I did not realize that you only started your website in 2013. That is an amazing amount of growth. Did you start posting videos on Youtube at the exact same time?

    From reading this I have a lot to learn about google analytics, as I did not realize that you could find out some of the stats that you listed.

    …art

    • Analytics is a powerful tool! I uploaded my first video on December 8th, 2012. So it’s been a couple weeks over two years on the YouTube side and the website isn’t quite two years old.

  7. Jay how about geographical distribution of your viewers/readers? Mostly from US I guess, but I bet you have a lot also from rest of the World.
    /Fredrik

  8. Jay, I have only just got into woodworking having recently retired and have started following several people to learn and pick up ideas. I can honestly say you are by far my favourite, your website, vlogs, facebook and YouTube posts are both informative and entertaining. Not only that you seem lie a really nice guy who I hope to support for many years to come. I am looking like a stalker now but I live in England so don’t worry, have a great new year and best wishes for 2015 to you and your family.

    • hahaha. A stalker! I appreciate the feedback Steve and am glad you find my content useful. Everything in life is a learning process. Soak up as much as you can!

  9. Jay, I have learned so much from your video’s and articles on the internet. I have build some of your projects you have posted because your video’ keep it so elementary. Thank you for all of your postings and positive comments that make some of us really believe that we too can make these projects become a successful reality. Thank you!

  10. I never realized that your website has such an impact on your income stream. Thanks for the information that you have given me. I am sincerely happy for all of your 2014 success. And I wish you great success for the future.

  11. Jay, so pleased for you. Only found you a few months ago but thoroughly enjoy all of your output. I am always impressed that you are completely self fought without any formal training. Keep up the great work and every success for 2015.

  12. I find your YouTube videos very interesting. Your editing ability is fantastic. I love to see things assembled in lighting speed, it’s fun and entertaining. Your ideas for projects are similar to the things I like to build. I love Shop projects the most, jigs, ways to store my stuff and Shop tips are all on top on my list. Thanks for making 2014 fun to watch. I have dozens of wood workers I follow, but you and Steve R are my favorites. Thanks for what you do, I’m retired and do wooden models of trucks and heavy equipment. I love making small, difficult parts that challenge my skills. Thanks again.

    • That’s awesome Doug. I’m so impressed at the pictures of wooden model cars and trucks that I see on Facebook and Lumberjocks. A lot more patience than I have goes into making those!

  13. Hi Jay, watched most of your content this year. It’s helped inspire me to woodwork – all hand tools for me though! All the best for 15. Can only see great things ahead for you. Darren (UK).

  14. Glad everything went well for you this year. May next year be bigger and better. I do look forward to your emails each week, keep up the good work. I have found all aspects of your business to be very informative and entertaining, so thank you.

  15. I frequent several YouTube and webpages regarding woodworking but I always seem to default to yours. I particularly like that you seem to do projects that most of us weekend warriors can do. I also like that you actually show your processes (actually cutting and gluing, etc) as apposed to a lot of talking. I’ll keep coming back as long as you keep putting it out there. Thanks Jay.

  16. Jay, Your content is first rate, and have been most helpful in my decision in creating content of my work. I look forward to what next year has in store. I seems like breaking in is hard, but we all must start from the beginning. Best luck to you in 2015, and please extend a sincere Thank You to your wife for her service in the National Guard.

  17. Jay – I’m glad the work you put into the content you put out is working so well for you. I’m envious of what you do. I’d love to be able to do something similar – just scared to take that first leap, I suppose! LOL I’ll have to re-watch the video to catch all the names of the other woodworkers you mentioned…I know (and follow) some of them, but some I didn’t recognize. I wish you much success in 2015 and look forward to the new content of the new year.

  18. Wow Ive never thought about the stats like that, kinda understand a little bit more of what we talked about the other day. Im so glad your doing what you love. May 2015 be even better, youve got a leg up on most you have an amazing wife who supports you. Keep up the great work. Im so proud of you!! Cant wait to watch the upcoming videos.

  19. Jay, I have enjoyed watching your number of subscribers skyrocket. You deserve it! Your vlog is always hilarious, and entertaining. Keep up the great work!

    Also, I hope you stick around the lumberjocks community for the foreseeable future.

    Joe

  20. Wow!!! Wish you and your wife continued success. I appreciate the feedback on helping me get motivated and excited about woodworking. What I thought was an easy way to make a few extra bucks has turned into making other people happy. All projects that I’ve built so far have been gifted to either my wife, kids (5 of them) or family members. The expression on their faces is the best compensation. Thanks for helping me realize that. I wish you and your wife a Happy New Year and continued success.

    Shayne
    GO RANGERS!!!!

  21. Jay
    I hope the bad stats on the sketchup video does not discourge you into stopping.I have watched hundreds of SU vids and you actually bring it into a perspective I can grasp.Thank you, for that and I hope to see many more.

  22. Jay, You have done a great thing in your online venture. There is nothing better than experiencing one’s dream. Your videos have inspired me to get into the garage and make it more functional for the making of reclaimed furniture. Thanks for the inspiration. K

  23. Thank YOU so much for doing this Jay! I’ve been watching your videos since your apartment time and I have to admit, I’m a bit jealous! I’d love to be doing what you were doing in the apartment and what you’re doing now.

    Great job with everything, honestly everything, you’re doing – the sketchup videos included! While I agree and see that the other content creators and you are not ‘competing’ and I do enjoy and get a lot out of all the others I watch/follow, your style of video is perfect and is the most engaging for me. The level of instruction you do it usually spot on. Thanks for striving for consistency in this!

    *post more guitar videos! :)

    Thank you Jay!

  24. Just started following (subscribing to) your site in this fall and now look forward to your Monday updates. I really like that you use common dimensional lumber for (most of) your projects – stuff readily available and not too expensive if you end up making firewood.

    Looking forward to 2015 and picking up more on your shop tricks, jigs, and projects.

  25. You’re a smart and talented young lad Jay. You have some gr8 ideas, and you go about things in a very nice way. Keep up the good work/play. Hope 2015 is another good year for you and your other half. Always enjoy your videos.

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