From $5K to $20K by 2016

[aardvarky]

Hello everyone

2014 hasn't been the most unproductive year - but 2015 is going to be amazing!

I am putting up this progress thread to...
1. Keep me accountable and make sure I'm actually taking action
2. Invite constructive criticism and questions
3. Record this journey and track my progress

A background of my journey so far: I started building niche websites so that I could continue traveling. Had no idea what I was doing so stuck with what I knew - researching, reading and writing. I researched for topics that people seemed to be looking for answers to/solutions for (and where there were related products to be sold) but where there was no real reliable/good/consolidated information source on. And then I spent anywhere from one week to a month reading voraciously and putting out the best information there was on the topic. And then I left the site(s) alone for a few months while I focused on learning more about the whole website building and monetizing thing. If after 4 to 6 months, the site was gaining in traffic and making over $300 a month, I spruced it up and added some new content and additional revenue sources.

Where I'm at right now: I built several sites this way (and experimented unsuccessfully outside of my "usual" model) and as of now, I have 4 regularly earning sites that are netting around $5K a month collectively that demand very little of my time. It's been a really fun, interesting, and life-changing journey learning to build them, watching them grow and proving to myself that it's possible to make money without a job. And I've learned a lot, the most important things being...
1. The website(s) is not the business, it is simply the only platform I currently know how to use to get access to specific demographics of people whose interests/needs/desires I can serve and monetize over and over and over again

2. I actually really enjoy this - beyond just making enough to travel. I spent 2014 in over a dozen countries, telling myself this was what I wanted, what I had worked for, and by the end of it, I realized that it wasn't. At least, not in the way I thought it was. I think what I loved most about traveling was the feeling of expansion and possibility, of discovering things that changed or added to my perception of the world and myself. But I get a lot of those feelings from work and I think I love this more right now, enough to give up traveling for the time being.

3. Up until early last year (when I read MJ's book - brilliant but so beyond my level of understanding/experience that it took my slow and stubborn brain 2 more reads and several months of letting it seep in to begin to process it), I thought I had a business because my websites weren't time-dependent. Well, turns out I don't. Each of my websites meet Need and Time, but currently fail Entry and Scale (took me awhile to admit this to myself). I've been working on Control by building my email lists and creating and launching my first (info) product last month (yay!).

But I still have a really long way to go. Yes, I do want a fastlane business, one that meets all 5 commandments...but I just don't have anything that feels right right now. I keep hitting the analysis paralysis wall every time I start researching and mulling over what I can do so my best option seems to be to push forward with what I know, even if it's not the perfect business. These websites are not my fastlane but they do allow me time and room to experiment, which I'll be using to "find" my potential fastlane business by the beginning of 2016.

Hopefully, as I get more experience and skills from growing what I have, I can create a better opportunity (and have enough sense to jump on it).

Where I'm going: I have 3 main goals for this year...

1. GROW the sites I currently have with the intention of learning to effectively delegate the tasks I already know how to do while experimenting with new methods and building new skills.
The scale potential for the websites I currently have is limited but I can optimize my existing reach. My main goal is to use these websites to practice skills I need to have, experiment with and learn from while collecting more emails and building a better relationship with my audiences, which I can then funnel into a new, related website with a wider scope. I'd like to grow these 4 sites to a total of $9K per month by the end of this year. Save the extra cash flow to grow fastlane business when I know what it is.

2. CREATE new sites with the intention of making one a potential fastlane business while exploring new website (revenue) models.
Main focus is to build websites with higher Entry and greater potential for Scale and Control until I have one that has potential to be my fastlane. Also want to create new sites that are like my existing sites - small reach but low maintenance - I want to see if I can replicate these while removing myself from most of the process. Grow these new sites to a total of $11K per month by the end of this year, use extra cash flow to delegate recurring tasks and management and save the rest to invest into future fastlane business.

3. PLAY to allow myself time and space to grow and breathe
Break the habit of working in extremes and schedule in play time every single day, even when I have a million things I want to get done. No thinking about anything work related during this time.

What I must do to accomplish my goals:

1. Stay put in one place. Travel only for visa runs.
2. Bite the bullet and hire VAs to handle recurring tasks, even if it's scary.
3. Wake up by 7 so I can have more productive hours every day.
4. Keep monthly living expenses at $1,500 so I can invest the rest to grow websites faster.
5. Exercise every day to keep mind clear and avoid getting chair a$$.
6. Eat small, frequent meals to avoid food coma and keep energy up.
7. Post my progress every week and check in to make sure I'm staying on track.

Okay, really nice to get all this out - I've had so many things swishing around in my head.
I'm super excited to start! I'll be posting my progress every week. And I'd be eternally grateful for your constructive criticism, suggestions and any thoughts you want to share - if you've been where I am and know stuff I can't see right now, please, please tell me! Thank you, especially if you've read this far

 

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[aardvarky]

Nearly a month later...and I've fallen into some sort of hole.

I'm doing horribly. And I can't seem to shift my state. Figured it was just a frustration/stress-fueled burnout and that I just needed a few days to unwind but now it's been nearly two weeks of very little productive work and lots of unproductive cheese burger and strawberry tart eating. Combined with marathon TV watching.

I'm running away from doing the work I need to get done and I cannot seem to motivate myself. It's not just work, either. I feel uninspired to do pretty much anything. Even the thought of going to the beach doesn't delight me. I just feel massively frustrated and frankly quite apathetic about everything. I've gone through little phases like this before but this one feels particularly intolerable and I'm becoming really sick of myself.

Anyway, enough whining and on to what I've actually gotten done the past few weeks.

Progress so far:

1. Got a long-term visa so I can stay put at least for the next 6 months. Yay!

2. Since I started this thread, have tested and worked with around 5 potential VAs. This has been the most frustrating thing so far. Outsourcing has been great for one-off projects with specialists, but I'm realizing that this outsourcing to a general VA thing is soooo not a magic solution. It's actually been incredibly time consuming - I've spent a lot of time and brain space organizing the tasks to be completed and making sure they get done and when I make the mistake of not being clear enough, things get messed up, which takes me much longer to fix than if I'd simply done the job myself. Two of these potential VA experiences were awful, resulting in around 15 hrs of my time to fix. Really sucked but kept reminding myself if I don't find someone to handle this, I'll be stuck doing basic admin tasks forever.

Luckily, I think I learned from this. I've come up with a much better testing phase to wheedle out most candidates without the required skills. And I think I've found one who's a keeper. I plan to continue looking for more, though, and running them through the testing process just in case.

3. Signed up for an internship. Really debated doing this as it'll take up a good chunk of my time each week but I've been wanting to learn the more technique-y side of building websites for fun and profit. Things like keyword research still don't make complete sense to me and I really want to learn more about how to do outreach and promotion so think it'll be a worthwhile time investment. Oh, and have decided to hold off on building any new sites 'til post-internship.

4. Monthly income last month was well over $6K, mostly thanks to the info product I made for one of my websites early this year. That was the first product I made and I can definitely stand to improve it (especially the sales page and promotion) but it's been really fun watching it sell. Even received a few emails thanking me

5. Sent my very first email to a list! It's taken me a long time 'cause I think I was scared but it got an open rate of 25%, which was a lot more than I expected + I got a lot of replies, which is awesome 'cause now I have a good idea of what I could build another product on.

Things I failed miserably at:

1. Daily exercise. Yea, didn't happen. Think I made it to yoga once.

2. Eating small, frequent meals. Did manage to eat frequently. But not in small quantities.

3. Posting. Missed a few weeks.

Things I'll do this week:

1. Organize all the tasks I need completed on all sites and make sure general VA is trained and able to complete them (at least get all on-site tasks recorded and ready to be completed)

2. Create an opt-in offer for the site I want to create a product on so I can collect more emails before I launch

3. Start working on - and hopefully even complete - the product

4. Keep testing potential VAs with the purpose of finding people who can assist in creating new sites

5. Yoga, gym, or pilates every day

6. Put aside a day to go lounge somewhere and read good writing

That's it. Hopefully, this week will be less slump-y.

 

[Peakdesire]

Great thread man, just keep pushing!!

How are your sites generating income? ads, affiliate stuff, products?

I'll be following you bud. I'm also in the internet marketing stuff, just about to build my first product

 

[GodMode52]

Out of curiosity, where are you atm? Thailand?

 

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[Timbonitus]

I'm going to keep a close eye on this progress thread because you're doing exactly what I have been thinking about doing for a few years now. I started working on my website again after deleting all the posts because they were too random. I'm trying to make a Taiwan specific website with funny articles about anything about Taiwan. Yes, I know there's already a bunch of travel blogs out there, but all of them are super boring and not funny at all, so I thought I would make an entertaining one. Anyways, the reason I mentioned that is because I'm also working on building a list and eventually sell a eBook. Seems like we're are following the same business model. Right now my website doesn't make shit, cause I really haven't monetized it at all, but I'm working on a free report, and that should boost subscribers. In case you are curious, here's a link to my website www.timothytorrents.com. Keep it up man!

 

[aardvarky]

@Peakdesire - Thanks, but I'm actually a lady Pretty much all the sites are monetized with AdSense and affiliate offers (including Amazon). One site's got a product now and I'm working on a product for another site as well. About the product thing - omg, I wish I did this years ago. Good luck on yours! What general niche is it on?

@GodMode52 - in Bali at the moment. Didn't really care much for Thailand

@Timbonitus - Sounds really awesome! I actually lived in Taipei for a bit and would've been great if there had been a comprehensive, up-to-date expat-serving website, even with just basic info like places to go out, where to get a really great burger, events that are going on around town, weekend trips to take from there (and how to do it),adopting pets, etc (from what I remember, the only options were forums). You know, there was a GREAT site like this in Shanghai (http://www.smartshanghai.com/). It's different from your website (not so much a blog), but you should look into it. I love how they were able to leverage their platform into other monetization options - they started a ticket sales thing for events and may have had something to do with the Sherpa service (food/wine/anything delivery within Shanghai). Good for ideas
Anyway, city sites seem like a ton of fun to start - not to mention really useful in certain places - so wish you the best of luck!

 

[Peakdesire]

@Peakdesire - Thanks, but I'm actually a lady Pretty much all the sites are monetized with AdSense and affiliate offers (including Amazon). One site's got a product now and I'm working on a product for another site as well. About the product thing - omg, I wish I did this years ago. Good luck on yours! What general niche is it on?

Oh haha this has happened to me bunch of times. I always fail to look at the gender on peoples profiles. sorry.

It's in the fitness niche. Muscle building product.

What kind of products do you have?

 

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[aardvarky]

@Peakdesire - I still only have 1 (and a half) products up and selling. They're both beauty/nutrition-related info products. Now if I could figure out a way to turn the same info into a subscription model...

 

[aardvarky]

It's a week and half later and my state is...better. I've started regular exercise - got my a** handed to me at Booty class today - and finally moved to a place with a kitchen so I can make my own (good) food instead of ordering in pasta and burgers. The wifi is also blissfully fast - the last place's wifi had me contemplating suicide so I'm ecstatic about this. Just these 3 changes have helped tremendously.

Also identified why work's been so demotivating lately:
1. I started all my existing sites on my own, with no structure, no processes - just me doing anything and everything I thought was necessary. So to go back and organize and systemize things in reverse is really headache-y. And I'm realizing, probably unnecessary, since so many of these little tasks aren't integral to earnings. I feel like I just spent several weeks trying to erase little scuff marks off the walls when I could've just re-painted the whole damn place.

2. I've been spending most of my time going over all my existing sites with a fine tooth comb, outlining the tasks that must be completed to grow the earnings of the sites, and then trying to find people to do these tasks (with the result being I end up doing or re-doing them myself). These are not fun tasks and it's been really difficult to wake up to the thought of doing them.

3. And most importantly: the "best case scenario" of any the sites I have does not excite me. The topics are interesting enough, but just not BIG enough. I think I'd reeeeeally like to move onto something that feels more challenging now.

All in all, I had 3 goals this year (GROW existing sites, CREATE new sites, and PLAY) and so far, I've been stuck on the first one and it's making me miserable. Considering the upside isn't really that great, this downside isn't worth it. I'm really thankful for these sites 'cause I learned a lot through building them but it's definitely time to move on.

So I've decided to:

1. Sell 3 of my existing sites. I've made a list of everything that needs to be done to grow these sites, gotten rid of anything that isn't really essential, and am almost done outlining recurring tasks that my VA and writer can do to grow these sites. I want to have all of the above done for these sites by the end of March so they continue to grow while staying as far from my mind as possible. My goal is to double their current earnings by optimizing well-trafficked pages, branching out into related topics, and selling my own info product(s), try to automate them for the next owner as much as possible and then just wait and monitor for a few months to see if the earnings/growth stays stable. I'm aiming to sell them by September this year.

2. Spend the rest of this year creating and exploring. Started internship and haven't done much so far, but cool to see how other people who're better at this than me are systemizing things. Have a few ideas for websites I'm really excited about and will start narrowing down soon.

What I have to get done over the next 2 weeks:

1. Create product and sales funnel for 2 sites - it's Nyepi this weekend (Day of Silence) and no one's allowed outdoors so I'll use that time to hopefully get MVPs up.

2. Figure out how to monetize email lists.

3. Complete everything on the annoying little maintenance/growth task lists I have for my existing sites. Ah, I can't wait 'til this is over.

Looking forward to getting all this done by the end of March so I can start fresh with new ideas and projects come April

 

[Choate]

Overall inspirational thread and and I like where you are going with it. Definitely on the right path.

Nearly a month later...and I've fallen into some sort of hole.

I'm doing horribly. And I can't seem to shift my state. Figured it was just a frustration/stress-fueled burnout and that I just needed a few days to unwind but now it's been nearly two weeks of very little productive work and lots of unproductive cheese burger and strawberry tart eating. Combined with marathon TV watching.

As far as this, I would read the Power of Habit and cut certain things out of your life completely. Otherwise you'll invite a person like me to play in your space, where I'm driven and able to put in those hours, and its motivating to know that competitors are slacking. Not saying this for your particular niche, but in general - definitely need to march ahead each and every day.

 

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[RazorCut]

@aardvarky great progress thread. Really enjoying it as I am currently building a sales funnel for a product I am currently in the process of building so see the parallels.

I would read the Power of Habit

Yes I agree, time well spent.

Also identified why work's been so demotivating lately:

The Chimp Paradox is also a great read for understanding our psyche and keeping us on the productive straight and narrow.

Looking on the bright side, you have time and freedom plus somewhere to hang out filled with like-minded individuals. You are also in Bali. Doesn't seem much to be down in the mouth about. Are you travelling alone or with friends/partner?

 

[Threenuc]

How does your most profitable site work? Is it the standard model where you have a blog and then you write a book for it?

 

[Polarbeans]

I have a few, maybe random, questions that comes to mind after reading your posts

Great progress thread by the way, I wish you best of success!

• Do you write niche sites or product review sites?
• Please tell a little about your site creating method, if you don't mind.
• Please tell us more about the idea, creation and sales process of your info product. I'm creating info products as well, perhaps we can exchange processes.
• Do you build your sites with any CMS, like wp or something? or just plain coding?
• How much do you write for each site (blog I'm guessing?) before you see results with it?
• Have you thought of creating a sales funnel of info products? to upsell more products
• How do you go about finding your niche for your sites?

 

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