I love writing, and one day, I’d like to be a writer full-time. For now, however, I’ll keep cranking out blog posts on my lunch break, which is fine, except that this doesn’t give me much time for the business side of writing. I have no time to track my posts to see what went well and what post was entirely ignored. This may sound boring—and it is!—but it’s really important to learn how to write in a way that engages an audience in an active and passionate way.
That’s why I’m so excited about this new service: PenPath.com!
Analytics for Writers
That’s the tagline PenPath boasts on its front page, and it’s exactly what it delivers on the backend: easy to read analytics designed to help writers gauge how their posts are being engaged with. Here’s how it works, and yes, it is really this simple.
1) Set up your profile—Attach your social media feeds, set up a little bio, and upload an image of your winning smile, and you’re profile is good to go.
2) Add some articles—This really is super simple, just paste a link to your article, and within a few seconds, a window will pop up giving you options to adjust your post’s details, including tags and the author. That last detail is key if you want to track posts on your site that weren’t written by you (guest posts or maybe you edit a multi-author blog like ChurchMag). To me, that feature, while not necessarily useful to me personally or professionally, shows me the thought and focus that went into building PenPath.
3) Check your metrics—Your “portfolio” offers a truncated view of the analytics for each individual article you’ve added. To see a more detailed view, simple click on the article. It’s incredibly straightforward and yet powerful. You can actually select only the types of social media engagement you want to see and then can even compare various platforms to determine which ones are offering you more engagement. It really does offer quite a bit for the author who may not otherwise be very skilled at the business of writing.
4) Connect with other authors—PenPath also offers a chance for community, linking authors with other authors. It looks like it could be a very neat way for connecting with others who are writing in your field.
Now, having said all of that, take into consideration that PenPath is still in beta release. Not every feature is up and running yet. For example, the “People Influenced” section of the article details window is marked “Coming Soon.” Despite that, the heart of the service—article analytics—are good to go. Sign ups are open, so hop to it!
Eric Dye says
I wish the allowed for multiple RSS feeds. I emailed about it, but no response, yet. :-/
Phil Schneider says
Don’t give up hope, boss. Beta. Beta.
Eric Dye says
Because Beta. 😛