Boiling down the milk – Goodbye 2017

With our Kartik memories fading and Vyasa Puja anticipation setting in, we approach the conclusion of a very energetic year. This is a good moment to reflect and share with you our 2017 FACTS AND STATS…

First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge the people who work behind the scenes to make KKSBlog possible:

• Uddhava (Netherlands) – Webmaster
• Ragalekha (South Africa) – Editor
• Harsarani (England) – Transcriber
• Naimisaranya (Netherlands) – Transcriber
• Rai Kaisori (Mauritius) – Transcriber
• Bhakta Vatsala (India) – FB live and audio recordings
• Sesa (England) – Travel reports and audio recordings

Although we are not starting a trend 😉 the number of published articles in 2017 (232 articles) dropped again compared to last year (278 articles) and previous years. As was the case in 2016, our focus was on quality new stuff and re-editing older published articles. On top of that, most of our team took a well-deserved break during the Vrindavan parikramas but even then, we managed to publish a ton of live videos on Facebook.

Insights for 2017

You came and went in 2017. At the date of writing this post, we had 41720 visitors who read 232 published articles. The visitor count dropped slightly and this correlates directly to the number of articles published. But even with the slight drop in visitors, you viewed more articles (with an average of 2.8 views per visitor, the same as in 2016). So overall, with fewer articles we managed to catch your attention better and keep you glued to the content and that, in any sense, is the best way forward…

Throughout the year our strongest months were March, April and May most likely due to the Vyasa Puja and Kingsday festivals. October spiked a bit in the last quarter, probably due to the many Vrindavan parikrama posts published in that month.

And Facebook rules again as the source of where you came from, together with search engines like Google and Bing. Also, Dandavats is strong again this year for sending us traffic.

We are very happy with the continuous views that we are getting. That means we provide you with interesting content and is a stimulus for us to continue doing so.

Top 10 most viewed articles for 2017

Some quotes/stories of Kadamba Kanana Swami really stand out. The story about Kartik and Lokanath Swami who approached him during his already too full schedule is a fine example of that. And it seems you liked it too since its number 1 on the list. And the stars really ‘predict the future’ as it is again high on the list at number 6. (Last year it was on number 4!)

1. Kartik – for the busy people!
2. Recordings – July 2017
3. A special initiation ceremony in Radhadesh, May 2017
4. Recordings – March 2017: Updated
5. Quotes from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura
6. Astrological compatibility
7. Health Update: 17 March 2017
8. Bhakti-tirtha Swami
9. The Demons Represent Anarthas
10. Recordings – April 2017

Top 10 most viewed articles of all time

Very interesting article topics pop up here! Compared to 2016 the top 10 is exactly the same except number 10. Last year at number 10, we had “Sexual Entanglement” instead. It seems like this top 10 is also a bit “entangled” 🙂

1. Astrological compatibility – (3835 views)
2. Health Situation of Kadamba Kanana Swami – (2177)
3. Quotes from Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura – (2114)
4. To be or not to be… vegan? – (1751)
5. Sex in Vedic culture – (1526)
6. Health Update, 09 March 2016 – (1358)
7. What’s wrong with sex? – (1276)
8. Kirtan Mela Mayapur 2015 Videos – (1231)
9. The brahmachari and the grhasta – (1114)
10. Kirtan Standards by Jayadvaita Swami – (1099)

The New Order

India is again on top in 2017 followed by the United Kingdom and South Africa. The United States follows and Australia closes the top 5 visiting countries. Even Germany and Canada are also keeping up this year!

Financial overview 2017

All of our sales and donations are not-for-profit. Most of the income is generated by the online shop and from spontaneous donations by visitors. Our annual costs are made up of hosting & software costs, shipping fees and product costs. PayPal and other service providers (like Bandcamp) charge us fees for using their services. This is covered in the transaction fees post. This year we managed to decrease the transactions fees by more than 50%! Overall it has been a good year financially and we are going into 2018 with a positive balance…

What will 2018 bring?

While we cannot predict the future and our astrological abilities are severely limited, we do intend to keep publishing exciting content, improve and update older articles. Time permitting we are thinking about publishing a series of articles with older audio recordings (1996 and older) that are currently only available on cassette tapes. Also, we are ramping up the publication of audio albums on iTunes, Amazon and other streaming media! Be sure to watch out for that!

Everything is possible, only time separates us…

From KKSBlog, we wish you a spiritually enlivening 2018! Regular blogging will resume next week. Hare Krsna 🙂