So I've been reading up on IM and how to earn some side-income and it's time to start getting a little more serious about it. While I have a regular job, I'm very conscious of the fact that most of us who work for someone else no longer really have job security in the modern day world and you can be let go at any time. With that in mind, it seems prudent to build up some alternative sources of income and hence this journey.
What is the goal? Well, the first goal is simple: make any form of sale. Once that's done, I can start thinking about setting new goals.
In terms of what I've done in silly fashion prior to this:
a) set up a website to write about an area that I thought I liked. The problem is that it slowly became a drag when I realised that I really didn't like writing about this area that much. Bigger issue? The fact that there is no real way to monetize it because I was essentially writing about products in a very sophisticated niche and where the readers would probably already have the products. So that was money and time wasted. Key lesson? Keyword research is still incredibly important. This site is likely to be left alone for the foreseeable future.
b) set up a 2nd website to write about another area and, yet again, I don't think I did the keyword research very well here. However, this will be the first site that I will monitor during this journey because it's broad enough that it could be built into an authority site. I'm not convinced it will succeed but it will be a useful case study for myself. If it doesn't seem to move anywhere, I may practice some blackhat techniques on it, just to see its effect. Henceforth known as Website 1.
c) in the process of setting up a 3rd website based on a much more niche area. The hosting site has some issues with the domain registration though and won't let me register the domain so it's being manually done by them after a ticket was raised. While the initial idea is to target a very specific area, the initial keyword can potentially branch out into other areas so the website will have a more generic brand-name, rather than an EMD (which I understand is no longer useful anyway). Henceforth known as Website 2.
So that's it, 2 websites to try and generate some income and, if successful, to scale the operations up more.
The plan?
The current plan is to let the 2 sites grow organically at the start, with some content being hand-written by me and maybe some being outsourced. I hear Natasha Nixon is good for this, let me know if you have any other recommendations.
In terms of tools, I have a bunch that I bought, such as Scrapebox, GSA, Captcha Sniper, Kontent Machine and The Best Spinner. Not sure whether to invest in a serps tracking tool at some point as well but I suspect that will only happen if the sites actually show some potential. Now I'm a noob when it comes to these tools so I will be learning how to use them as I go, largely via YT videos and the like. I think these tools will only be used when I need to, rather than trying to create a churn-and-burn site from the get-go (although I may try that at some point).
Current status and plans:
Website 1: it has 4 articles and a couple of pages at this time. What I intend to do in the course of this week is the following:
a) add in more standard pages, such as the contact form, the privacy policy, etc.;
b) write 3 product reviews with content being drawn from Amazon and other review sites, each review likely to be between 500-900 words;
c) update a news article section whenever there is noteworthy news in the sector that the site covers. This is a very simple update, not more than 300 words each time.
Website 2: currently nothing until I can get the domain registration issue is resolved. Once done, I want to add an initial 3 reviews, the standard pages and maybe a couple of articles within 2 weeks.
Hopefully I learn something on this journey, even if I don't earn anything! Feel free to comment or give me suggestions here, always happy to hear what others have done before.
What is the goal? Well, the first goal is simple: make any form of sale. Once that's done, I can start thinking about setting new goals.
In terms of what I've done in silly fashion prior to this:
a) set up a website to write about an area that I thought I liked. The problem is that it slowly became a drag when I realised that I really didn't like writing about this area that much. Bigger issue? The fact that there is no real way to monetize it because I was essentially writing about products in a very sophisticated niche and where the readers would probably already have the products. So that was money and time wasted. Key lesson? Keyword research is still incredibly important. This site is likely to be left alone for the foreseeable future.
b) set up a 2nd website to write about another area and, yet again, I don't think I did the keyword research very well here. However, this will be the first site that I will monitor during this journey because it's broad enough that it could be built into an authority site. I'm not convinced it will succeed but it will be a useful case study for myself. If it doesn't seem to move anywhere, I may practice some blackhat techniques on it, just to see its effect. Henceforth known as Website 1.
c) in the process of setting up a 3rd website based on a much more niche area. The hosting site has some issues with the domain registration though and won't let me register the domain so it's being manually done by them after a ticket was raised. While the initial idea is to target a very specific area, the initial keyword can potentially branch out into other areas so the website will have a more generic brand-name, rather than an EMD (which I understand is no longer useful anyway). Henceforth known as Website 2.
So that's it, 2 websites to try and generate some income and, if successful, to scale the operations up more.
The plan?
The current plan is to let the 2 sites grow organically at the start, with some content being hand-written by me and maybe some being outsourced. I hear Natasha Nixon is good for this, let me know if you have any other recommendations.
In terms of tools, I have a bunch that I bought, such as Scrapebox, GSA, Captcha Sniper, Kontent Machine and The Best Spinner. Not sure whether to invest in a serps tracking tool at some point as well but I suspect that will only happen if the sites actually show some potential. Now I'm a noob when it comes to these tools so I will be learning how to use them as I go, largely via YT videos and the like. I think these tools will only be used when I need to, rather than trying to create a churn-and-burn site from the get-go (although I may try that at some point).
Current status and plans:
Website 1: it has 4 articles and a couple of pages at this time. What I intend to do in the course of this week is the following:
a) add in more standard pages, such as the contact form, the privacy policy, etc.;
b) write 3 product reviews with content being drawn from Amazon and other review sites, each review likely to be between 500-900 words;
c) update a news article section whenever there is noteworthy news in the sector that the site covers. This is a very simple update, not more than 300 words each time.
Website 2: currently nothing until I can get the domain registration issue is resolved. Once done, I want to add an initial 3 reviews, the standard pages and maybe a couple of articles within 2 weeks.
Hopefully I learn something on this journey, even if I don't earn anything! Feel free to comment or give me suggestions here, always happy to hear what others have done before.
Hope You won't disappear after two or three updates. 
