How to add text to the StatusBar?

Hi all,

I'm trying to add some features to the Asciidoc plugin, and a new feature to add is adding a wordcounter to the IntelliJ status bar. However, how do I add text there?

I tried the following:

    StatusBar statusBar = WindowManager.getInstance().getStatusBar(project);

    JBPopupFactory.getInstance()
        .createHtmlTextBalloonBuilder("Test",  MessageType.WARNING, null)
        .setFadeoutTime(7500)
        .createBalloon()
        .show(RelativePoint.getCenterOf(statusBar.getComponent()), Balloon.Position.atRight);

But nothing happens; no balloon is show. Addig some breakpoints does indicate that this code is called. Also, I don't want to add a balloon, I'd like to add some text... any suggestions?

Thanks,

Erik