Why Views Per Day Is a More Honest Success Metric Than Total Sales

Beyond the Bottom Line: A Better Way to Measure Creative Success

We've all been there. You get a notification on your phone: "Cha-ching! You've made a sale." It’s an incredible feeling, a direct validation of your hard work. For so long, I, like many others, treated that total sales number as the ultimate scoreboard. The bigger the number, the more successful I was. Right?

Well, over time, I’ve come to see things a bit differently. While sales are obviously crucial—they keep the lights on—fixating on the total number can be misleading. It tells you a story about the past, but it doesn’t tell you much about your present or your future. That’s why I’ve shifted my focus to a much simpler, more immediate metric: views per day.

The Problem with Just Watching Sales

Think about it. Your total sales number is a lagging indicator. It’s the result of work you did weeks, or even months, ago. A big product launch can inflate that number and make you feel like you're on top of the world, even if your daily traffic has since fallen off a cliff.

Relying solely on this number is like driving by only looking in the rearview mirror. You see where you've been, but you have no idea what’s right in front of you. You might be heading toward a slowdown without even realizing it until it’s too late.

The Power of a Daily Pulse Check

This is where looking at daily views comes in. Whether it’s views on your blog, your product pages, or your YouTube videos, this metric is your real-time pulse. It tells you how much attention and interest your work is generating *right now*.

It’s a measure of momentum. Is the number steadily climbing? Great, what you're doing is working. Keep going. Has it plateaued or started to dip? Okay, that's an early warning. It’s a signal that it might be time to try a new marketing angle, write a new blog post, or engage with your audience differently.

Unlike total sales, daily views aren't skewed by a single successful event from the past. It’s an honest, day-to-day reflection of your relevance and connection with your audience.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Let's say you sell a digital guide. You had a fantastic launch and sold 500 copies in the first month. Your "total sales" look amazing. But now, three months later, the views on your sales page have dropped from 1,000 per day to just 50. You might only be making a handful of sales a week.

The total sales number tells you, "You're a success!"

The daily views number tells you, "Warning: Your pipeline is drying up. It's time to take action."

Which piece of feedback is more useful for building a sustainable business? I’d argue it’s the second one, every time. It’s the one that prompts you to write a new guest post, run a small ad campaign, or send a fresh email to your list—the very actions that lead to future sales.

It's About Health, Not Just Wealth

To be clear, I'm not saying you should ignore sales. Money is the fuel for your business. But by shifting your primary focus to the daily health of your audience engagement—your daily views—you're focusing on the engine, not just the odometer.

A business with healthy, consistent daily traffic is a business with potential. It has a foundation to build on. A business with a big, old sales number but dwindling daily interest is resting on its laurels, and that’s a dangerous place to be.

So, what do you think? What's the one metric you check every day to gauge your success? I'd love to hear your take in the comments below!

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