January 2023
สวัสดีครับ (Sawadeekrap / Hello) from Pattaya, Thailand! 🇹🇭🏖️
I am currently living in the beach town of Pattaya, about 100 km from Bangkok.
Life moves at a slower pace here and the cost of living is very attractive; however, the town is very "touristy" and sometimes doesn't feel like you're in Thailand anymore.
Even so, it's a nice place to relax for a while and maybe one day I might retire here...
Now, onto the business metrics for January!
Key Metrics
- Revenue: $2,484 (+12% MoM, +57% YoY)
- Sessions: 25,293 (+39% MoM)
- RPM: $98 (-20% MoM)
- Amazon Risk: 56% (down from 70% last month)
Overall, January delivered better results than I expected, since we're past the holidays and rolling off the higher commission rates from Amazon as well.
Amazon revenue declined about 10% MoM, which was not bad considering commission rates have now reverted back to normal levels (e.g. Beauty: from 5% back to 3%).
Non-Amazon revenue was very strong, however, increasing 66% MoM and reducing Amazon exposure to only 56% (down from 70% in December).
Traffic also increased to a new record of 25K sessions, up about 40% MoM, driven by a surge in clicks and ranking for a handful of top articles. Once again, the 80/20 rule applies as the traffic growth was mainly contained in 1-3 articles.
Next Steps
At this point, there's not much change in my plans for the year. I am continuing to focus on upgrading my content and using Lasso to increase conversions with a target of $4K by EoY.
For now, I'm enjoying the simple pleasures of life and taking it easy.
To Flexibility and Freedom,
Tom
