Admitting You Have A Problem Is The First Step

Hello. My name is Jay and I’m addicted to stats (We Love You Jaaaaay!).  It began when I created my first website back in the late 90s. I didn’t think I had an addictive personality, but I was hooked after the first refresh. At first, I was just dabbling in a daily fix, but I knew I had a problem when I started checking stats once every 2 hours, only to see the same result of about 3 visitors a day.

You do the math. It wasn’t pretty.

I can admit now, that due to lack of knowledge and skill, there was no reason to believe that more people would coming to my site, but I simply needed the adrenaline rush of the page loading with a new total of whatever the stats admin had to offer me.  There were even stats I didn’t understand, and they scared me, but I loaded them anyway.

Although sometimes I would wake in the middle of the night for a quick refresh, I basically had my addiction under control. It wasn’t affecting my personal life and nobody knew I had a problem. Loved ones assumed I was busy checking email or adding the blink tag to a new hyperlink.

Obsessing Over Traffic Is A Gateway To A Revenue Stats Addiction!

Quite a few years passed of living with my secret. Then came revenue.

Do you remember the first time you checked revenue stats? What about the first time those revenue stats were laced with a sale? Was it better than sex? Don’t lie!

Revenue grew and so did my addiction. I was checking stats once every 30 minutes and sometimes, when I would see big changes,  I would pee a little.

I was out of control.

At the point of intervention, I was regularly checking stats at 42 different websites, affiliate networks, stats counters, and anything else I could get my cursor on. I had to change.

Did I stop checking stats? Honestly, it’s a work in progress, but now I’m down to checking only 2 or 3 times a day and I have help.

If you are addicted to stats, know that you are not alone, and that there is help available at StatsRemote.com.

What Is StatsRemote?

StatsRemote is software that can log into all your affiliate programs, pay per click accounts (like Adsense), credit card processors, etc. It will display the results for you so you don’t have to manually log in to all of them separately.  The software supports thousands of programs and they’re pretty cool about adding a new one if people request it. You can just keep the software open, if you choose, and set it to show results as often as every 15 minutes. You can even flip through tabs that display results by week, month, year.

Do I Have To Pay For StatsRemote?

Yes, you have to pay for StatsRemote. It’s $29.99 a month (or cheaper if you pay quarterly, yearly, etc.).

For me, the convenience is worth it and I save at least an hour a day. Even at saving an hour a day, that’s 30 hours a month that I can be doing more productive things.

If you’re an addict like me, the 30+ hours you save in a month could be used to work on a project that makes way more than 30 bucks. Plus, when you break it down, that’s only $1/hr for StatsRemote (Actually, less for me because I’m the worst kind of addict and I’m being kind to myself when I say  that I’m saving an hour a day).

What If I’m Addicted To Stats But Don’t Want To Pay For Help?

Maybe you’re not at a point where you feel it’s worth it to pay for stats checking software, or you’re not making enough sales yet to justify the monthly fee. Maybe you’re just not ready for an intervention. I’m pretty sure there’s nothing free that even comes close to StatsRemote out there, so you’ll have to rely on a little discipline to combat your addiction.

But, you can do it!

Like anything else in your work day, schedule your stats checking! Check them with your morning coffee and do it alongside of your social networking schedule. Then, stick to it! Maybe once before bed as well, but that’s it!

If your main drug of choice is checking Adsense stats, then you could install a Firefox addon that displays your Adsense revenue in a little window whenever you need to see them.
It’s called Money Quake and although I haven’t used it myself, it has pretty good reviews.

Share Your Story!

If you have any advice or tips on dealing with an addiction to checking stats that’s worked for you, please share!