One of the first blogging platforms I’ve used is Vocal. This was before I started dumping more time and effort into clients and my own blogs. As my time was more profitable in those avenues, I really haven’t done much with my Vocal account…until now.

Besides, I get asked a lot of systems like this are viable forms of income.

So, I am going to run an experiment starting in 2021 regarding how much you can earn within a set amount of time.

What Prompted a Whack at Vocal?

I recently received a comment on my First Look video of Vocal. The viewer complained that it wasn’t a fair review since I only published two articles in a very long time.

I pointed out the video wasn’t a review. It’s a First Look, which is kind of like a first impression. The title should have given it away, but like most other haters, people tend to ignore logic and understanding.

Plus, I seem to draw a lot of hate when I point out the flaws in systems people love. Eh, it’s a price I have to pay, I suppose.

Anyway, this was on the back burner for quite some time. And since I’m working on hitting 1,000,000 words in 2021, actually running an experiment on Vocal seems logical.

Besides, it’ll give me another video as well as a blog post.

What Will this Vocal Experiment Entail?

OK, let’s dive into the planning phase. I’ll add each of these to Asana so I can make sure I stay on track throughout the year.

Length of the Experiment: 3 Months

Starting January 1st, the plan is to publish three articles per week. I’m running this experiment over the span of three months. So, the last article will go up on March 31st.

This will mean publishing 39 articles.

I figure that if you’re not really pulling in a decent amount of money after three months of writing, it’s probably not a very good avenue to make a full-time income.

That is unless you just want to pull in a few bucks here and there.

Remember, this is coming from the viewpoint of having several profitable clients as well as maintaining my own websites.

Types of Articles: Health and Wellness

It was difficult to find a decent category that I can write in without directly competing with myself. And even though Health and Wellness is along the same lines as Crossing Colorado, it is something that piques my interest.

I’m sure I can put a different spin on the articles so that they’re not similar to what I write on my own blog.

This means that when I continue the experiment with other platforms so I can have a comparison, I’ll need to fit content into the same categories across the board.

This is because each niche will have varying degrees of success on any platform. Some content is just worth more than others, in the grand scheme of things.

Technically, I can focus on Health and Wellness, Longevity, Motivation, and Psyche since it’s all related in Vocal.

Always the Best Quality

Yes, I will put in the same level of quality as I do myself and my clients. This means I will not offer filler, fluff, or half-assed articles.

Besides, if Vocal winds up paying me a few extra bucks, all the better, right?

I’m always pushing for diversifying yourself as an online writer. If I can generate an audience or a fan base on the platform, it’ll only work to expand who I can reach.

Comparing Monthly Income / Read vs the Blog

How much can you make per “read” on vocal media? And how well does it compare to a blog?

Essentially, a “read” is when someone visits the post to consume the content in Vocal. Since Vocal doesn’t have the most stellar stat system, I’ll have to pay close attention each month to the number of reads.

I believe comparing the income/read on Vocal vs income/visit on a blog is a fair estimate. For this part of the equation, I’ll only use AdSense as the blog’s income.

Judging from the last week and a half, it’s going to be relatively close. I’m actually excited to see what Vocal can do against an established blog counting only AdSense.

As Crossing Colorado is relatively close to the topics I’ll write in Vocal, I’ll use it in this comparison.

Perhaps it’s fate that I am also working on rebuilding Crossing Colorado to reach three times the visitors next December.

Will I Use Other Blogging Platforms?

Because I already have a lot on my plate as it is, I’ll only be able to focus on one platform at a time. For the first three months, I’ll focus on Vocal. But, I do plan on doing the same experiment with Medium as well as Hubpages.

Depending on how much they bring in, I might just make them a weekly publishing outlet after each experiment.

Remember, I’m shooting for a million words in 2021. I just hope I have enough time squirreled away to get these done. Otherwise, I’ll probably have to write them during the weekend and then upload on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Or, this could fail miserably and blow up in my face because I am getting overwhelmed.

What I Would Like to Do…

In reality, the best way to compare systems like Vocal to blogging on your own website would be to create an entirely new blog and Vocal account.

That’s all I need…yet another blog to manage.

Perhaps that would be something fun to do in the future. But as it stands, I need to get the other sites pulling in a full-time income first.

Will Vocal Be Worth My Time?

Just looking at the last few days in both Vocal and Crossing Colorado, the income per visit and “read” are extremely close. And it looks as though Vocal might take the lead.

I’d still prefer having my own blog as I can do so much more with it as opposed to Vocal. But, it would be great if I could generate another decent revenue stream.

I suppose we’ll have to see in April.