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- Apr 7, 2022
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I was ''lurking'' the forum once again and decided to start a progress report to provide insights into different failures and successes along the way.
My ''business'' is a website or two actually, but I'm focusing on my second site as of now. I started my website journey on the 13th of January, 2021, so I've been at it for a little over a year now. My monetization methods for the website(s) are Ezoic Display Ads and Amazon Associates.
Here are some stats (site 1 | site 2)
Age(s): 15months & 11months
Artices: 193 & 436
Sessions last 30 days: 12,500 & 22,000
Earnings last 30 days: $740 (Probably nothing for some of you)
Below is Google Search Console (site 2) from the start date current.![Screen shot.png Screen shot.png](https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/39/39662-0c7407dd9edad74dd66337325931becf.jpg)
Now, failures, setbacks & successes.
Failures & Setbacks:
- Didn't have ANY experience in Digital Marketing, SEO, etc, before starting. Hence, progress hasn't been the fastest.
- Dived right into the execution. Initial articles weren't good from the start.
- I have a lot of articles, but the traffic doesen't correlate. Thus, I have been targeting too low competition phrases, etc.
- Started my site on Wix. Needed to migrate to WordPress at some point.
- Didn't read Amazon TOS properly. Got kicked out at one point but did manage to re-apply & be accepted.
- Nearly died at the hands of a stranger last summer, so production stalled for awhile
- Invested 5k to content out of excitement without PROPER research. There was a synonym or research pointing out the inaccurate volume. Thus, ROI is low or nonexistent.
- My monetization skills aren't the best, but I'm determined to improve. Hence, Display Ads & Amazon Associates are only for now.
- Have tried to acquire Email newsletter Leads with Popups & Forms, but the conversion rate is around 0,02% if that so yeah, learning!
That's all I could think of now, but I'm certain there's more.
Successes:
- I'm very determined, and I show up consistently & grind like hell.
- My mindset is in the right place (Even more so after MJ's books & others)
- Progress has started to become faster and faster each month.
- I actually landed a job as Digital Marketing Specialist (2 months back). That gave me confidence in my abilities and there I can learn more. However, it's taking a lot of time from me, so I'll quit when I can focus on my business full time.
Near future plans:
- Apply for Mediavine ads as soon as I hit 50,000 sessions on my website (Better earnings per thousand views)
- Improve on gaining email list signups for email marketing
- Research the market and make an info product / other digital product for better earnings
- General traffic increase
- I will quit my job as soon as I hit $4000/month earnings, if not sooner.
How do niche-websites land on the CENTS?
1. Control: My biggest issue. Websites are in the hands of Google, and my monetization is at the hands of Amazon and Ad providers. For example, third-party cookies will end at the end of 2023, so I'm curious what that will do to ad earnings.
2. Entry: Entry is kind of low, so it can be saturated. However, I know where to look for unserved topics, and by creating quality content, you can rank for decent phrases. Authority is required for competitive phrases, but that's a good way to get rid of people who aren't willing to invest effort.
3. Need: The need is massive. Have you ever searched something on Google, but the answer has been unsatisfying? Value is relatively high.
4. Time: The business will continue to grow and thrive for years after content creation, so the time aspect is good. Upfront time investment is
required.
5. Scale: The business can be scaled well by outsourcing or creating a team. I'm positive about the scaling possibilities and eventual exits.
My website could be classified as Content System when considering the five business seedlings to money trees. This is good as it doesen't rely on my time when the content is up, and it's very passive when doing affiliate, ads, and producing evergreen content. Also, the exit strategy is good as websites sell with 30-40x average multipliers. So, a $10,000/month website would sell $300,000-$400,000.
I hope my failures are valuable to someone reading. I know they would have if I were just starting, heh. Feel free to add any thoughts, insights, tips, warnings, recommendations, and everything between, as they are all welcome.
I will add monthly progress reports on the 20th day of each month.
PS. this became way longer than anticipated, so I'm not surprised if anyone doesn't read it. I hope this is valuable content for the forum.
My ''business'' is a website or two actually, but I'm focusing on my second site as of now. I started my website journey on the 13th of January, 2021, so I've been at it for a little over a year now. My monetization methods for the website(s) are Ezoic Display Ads and Amazon Associates.
Here are some stats (site 1 | site 2)
Age(s): 15months & 11months
Artices: 193 & 436
Sessions last 30 days: 12,500 & 22,000
Earnings last 30 days: $740 (Probably nothing for some of you)
Below is Google Search Console (site 2) from the start date current.
![Screen shot.png Screen shot.png](https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/data/attachments/39/39662-0c7407dd9edad74dd66337325931becf.jpg)
Now, failures, setbacks & successes.
Failures & Setbacks:
- Didn't have ANY experience in Digital Marketing, SEO, etc, before starting. Hence, progress hasn't been the fastest.
- Dived right into the execution. Initial articles weren't good from the start.
- I have a lot of articles, but the traffic doesen't correlate. Thus, I have been targeting too low competition phrases, etc.
- Started my site on Wix. Needed to migrate to WordPress at some point.
- Didn't read Amazon TOS properly. Got kicked out at one point but did manage to re-apply & be accepted.
- Nearly died at the hands of a stranger last summer, so production stalled for awhile
- Invested 5k to content out of excitement without PROPER research. There was a synonym or research pointing out the inaccurate volume. Thus, ROI is low or nonexistent.
- My monetization skills aren't the best, but I'm determined to improve. Hence, Display Ads & Amazon Associates are only for now.
- Have tried to acquire Email newsletter Leads with Popups & Forms, but the conversion rate is around 0,02% if that so yeah, learning!
That's all I could think of now, but I'm certain there's more.
Successes:
- I'm very determined, and I show up consistently & grind like hell.
- My mindset is in the right place (Even more so after MJ's books & others)
- Progress has started to become faster and faster each month.
- I actually landed a job as Digital Marketing Specialist (2 months back). That gave me confidence in my abilities and there I can learn more. However, it's taking a lot of time from me, so I'll quit when I can focus on my business full time.
Near future plans:
- Apply for Mediavine ads as soon as I hit 50,000 sessions on my website (Better earnings per thousand views)
- Improve on gaining email list signups for email marketing
- Research the market and make an info product / other digital product for better earnings
- General traffic increase
- I will quit my job as soon as I hit $4000/month earnings, if not sooner.
How do niche-websites land on the CENTS?
1. Control: My biggest issue. Websites are in the hands of Google, and my monetization is at the hands of Amazon and Ad providers. For example, third-party cookies will end at the end of 2023, so I'm curious what that will do to ad earnings.
2. Entry: Entry is kind of low, so it can be saturated. However, I know where to look for unserved topics, and by creating quality content, you can rank for decent phrases. Authority is required for competitive phrases, but that's a good way to get rid of people who aren't willing to invest effort.
3. Need: The need is massive. Have you ever searched something on Google, but the answer has been unsatisfying? Value is relatively high.
4. Time: The business will continue to grow and thrive for years after content creation, so the time aspect is good. Upfront time investment is
required.
5. Scale: The business can be scaled well by outsourcing or creating a team. I'm positive about the scaling possibilities and eventual exits.
My website could be classified as Content System when considering the five business seedlings to money trees. This is good as it doesen't rely on my time when the content is up, and it's very passive when doing affiliate, ads, and producing evergreen content. Also, the exit strategy is good as websites sell with 30-40x average multipliers. So, a $10,000/month website would sell $300,000-$400,000.
I hope my failures are valuable to someone reading. I know they would have if I were just starting, heh. Feel free to add any thoughts, insights, tips, warnings, recommendations, and everything between, as they are all welcome.
I will add monthly progress reports on the 20th day of each month.
PS. this became way longer than anticipated, so I'm not surprised if anyone doesn't read it. I hope this is valuable content for the forum.
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