Online magazine vs. travel portal

[domi99]

Hi there,

I've been working on an online magazine (fataldose.com - please remove in case I'm not allowed to post it here) for more than a year now trying to make some money via Adsense. Unfortunately I've started building that site BEFORE I read "The Millionaire Fastlane " and thus didn't know that that business model lacks some of the commandments MJ talks about in his book.

Given that the number of fans, email subscribers and/or followers (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) as well as the number of daily page views is steadily increasing I'm still thinking about integrating a shop into the site offering gear for men.

I would love to get some inputs from members running successful ecommerce sites if that is an idea worth pursuing?

A second idea that keeps my mind busy is creating a travel portal tailored for a specific audience. Whenever I open sites like Tripadvisor I really get bored of getting an excess supply of offers that I'm not interested in at all.

I would love to build a travel platform that shows only destinations suitable for my target audience. I have an idea in mind to present those places in a very unique way that the site's visitors would benefit from (and thus provide value). I know that there are many successful travel portals out there, however after reading MJ's book in which he stats that we don't have to reinvent the wheel I think about starting that platform. My idea is to use that platform to sell leads to business owners and/or sites like expedia etc.

Any inputs on those ideas would be highly appreciated. Which of these two ideas would you pursue?

Before posting those questions I thought about how I might provide value to other forum members. Unfortunately I'm not (yet) an entrepreneur and therefore can answer many questions, however I could help answering questions related to SEO.

I know that this lacks some of the commandments as well, but I'm pretty good at it and wanted to provide at least some value to other forum members as well.

Thanks in advance and greetings from Germany,
Dominik

 

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[AndrewNC]

Hey Dominik,

I think I can help you here because I'm already in both industries.

With FatalDose - The main thing is selling your traffic on YOUR ads and YOUR products, not somebody else's.

Ask your audience what kind of products they buy, and what you can offer them. I see you have 8,500 facebook followers. I'm sure messaging 10 of them or so will give you a good idea with what products you can built.

If the advertisements on the site are not getting you the revenue that you want, perhaps it is time to try something else. The way I see it (at this point of your business) is that you are sending your traffic to other people...and not selling them yourself.

I know a few people who are starting some businesses in your demographic...I can put you in touch so they can help you choose what product to sell.

or

You can hook up some targeted affiliate links from clickbank/another affiliate network to see what kind of products convert with your traffic. This would be a good temporary solution while you are building your bigger thing.

Travel Platform - I would hold off on this because you already have a platform where you can market products, and doing this will start you from square one.

What I would do: Plug in some targeted affiliate links on your site to see if you are able to monetize your traffic. If you can't figure out how to monetize your traffic within a month, perhaps it's time to try something new at that point.

 

[domi99]

Thanks AndrewNC, appreciate your help (& Rep Transfer)

 

[HOVLane]

Write better titles.

http://www.fataldose.com/case-inlet-retreat/

instead of "case inlet retreat" it should've been "Top 10 Remote Wilderness Cabins" or "Dreamy Modern Lakeside Cabin That's Surprisingly Affordable".

More time on site, more articles read per visit, more engaged readers => more view => more $

 

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