About Me
I?m 24, and I have a disability which means I can?t do a normal job.
It?s had a big impact on my life. I?ve become very poor and I?ve been forced to move back in with my parents. They are doing their best to support me, but it means they aren?t saving for retirement. I?m not happy about this. I don?t want my parents to have to work for the rest of their lives to support me. It?s not fair on them.
I also really want to move out. I want to move back to where my friends are and start doing the things I?m missing out on.
I want to make enough money so my parents can leave their jobs and I can get my life back.
Moral Marketing
I?ve been following Internet marketing for a while, but a lot of it doesn?t sit right with me. Manipulating search engines, posting reviews of products I haven?t used myself, giving rehashed advice from skim reading ehow. I?ve got nothing against people who do this stuff, but it makes me feel dishonest. I?ve tried in the past, before I got ill, and I couldn?t handle it.
So I?m going to build a totally white-hat authority site. I?m not just talking SEO - no part of this site will be morally questionable. I want to be completely upfront and honest. No product reviews for products I haven?t tried, no information before I?m 100% sure it?s correct and no affiliate links to products I don?t absolutely trust. I want to build a site which will leave me 100% guilt free.
I also want to go one step further: I?m not going to spend a dime on advertising for as long as possible. I want to make this case study work for everyone who is struggling to rub a few pennies together. I?m lucky enough to have the roof over my head, paid for by my parents. A lot of people won?t be able to reinvest their earnings.
Here?s the Plan:
I?m going to build an authority site based around my disability.
It?s something I know about, it?s something I can offer pure value on and it?s something I know I?ll be interested in for years to come. I?ve been coming up with site concepts for the past few weeks and this is one of the few that really gets me fired up. There are affiliates for products I use and the keyword metrics are pretty impressive.
I want to make $3000/month, or $100/day. That?s enough for me to move out, and have a little spare to put in my parent?s pension pot.
?Alright,? I hear you say. ?That?s all well and good, but not all of us have the unfair advantage of a crippling disability.?
That?s why, once I?ve hit my target, I?m going to start another site, and I?m going to make sure it?s in an area I have absolutely zero knowledge of at all. I want to prove that anyone can do this and stay completely white hat if they want to.
So What Are the Metrics?
First off, this website will not just be based on SEO. I?m trying to hit the whole market, so I?ll be taking a number of approaches to publicity. I?ve got a lot of ideas for things that would have helped me a few years ago, but that I couldn?t find on the net. These are things anyone with my disability would need, but the stuff that?s out there isn?t great. People aren't searching for these topics directly, but I know they'd generate clicks. Thus, I?ll be taking a mixed approach: half hitting specific keyword groups, half pitching to the general market via social media.
Facebook Audience Insights pegs people interested in my disability at around 120,000 people in the English-speaking countries, most of whom are university educated and middle-aged. That?s good, it means I won?t have to dumb down my explanations. They also have a higher than average tendency to shop online. Brilliant. A lot seemed to work in healthcare though - a significantly higher number than the general population. These are probably people who actually work on treating the condition, and they make up about 30% of the audience. Let?s discount them. That leaves around 80,000 people who are active on Facebook every month and public about having the condition.
If we look at the Google, searches for the condition are around 200,000 per month. I think that?s a safer number to use for an audience estimate. Obviously, most people don?t like their disability on Facebook. I?ll use the Facebook insights for demographic information.
Making my Target - $3000/month
For now, I?m going to have one flagship affiliate program which should bring in around $35 per sale. The product is extremely helpful to people with my disability, so I imagine I?ll get a good click through rate. I?ll use a rate slightly above what Pat Flynn gets on his Google ads for his security guard training website ? 1% (he gets 0.8%). If I assume there are 200,000 people actively looking for advice in my niche every month, I need to get 2% of these people on my website to make my target. That?s 4000 people per month, around 135 per day.
I'll build up the section related to this affiliate product, before moving on to other products to diversify my income.
A Lucky Break
I found a short tail keyword which is a specific subset of my disability, but only one of the front page results is a big med website (e.g. Web MD). It gets around 2000 searches per month. Including longtail traffic, let?s estimate that that keyword could bring in at most 20,000 visitors. The competition doesn?t seem strong - two regurgitated niche sites and one single page website. All I would need is better information and I could easily attract the link juice to rank. The long tail keywords related to this one are even more abysmal. I think it will be worth tailoring the language on my site to hit this keyword group specifically.
Site Plan
Okay. The basic premise of the site is to provide people with information about the disability, and advice on how to cope with it. First and foremost is providing the user with value. If I found a product helpful, I?ll recommend it whether or not it has an affiliate link. Likewise, if I didn?t like a product I?ll be honest about that whether or not it has an affiliate link.
Off-site, I?ll be creating a series of videos dealing with different topics, including how to use affiliate products as well as reviews of those products. Next up is to work out the content strategy. I?ve got a lot of ideas for topics to cover backed up in my notes folder, that I've been accruing for the past month. It?s time to bust those out and work out what I want to do first.
Conclusion
So, with that I?ll leave you. I?m going to try and post every single day updating you guys as to what I?ve done, and how much I?m earning. I?ll try and explain the concepts in such a way as it?s clear how you would apply them to your own attempt, although I won't be able to disclose my niche. Hopefully this works, and hopefully I can provide you guys with a lot of value.
Wish me luck.
I?m 24, and I have a disability which means I can?t do a normal job.
It?s had a big impact on my life. I?ve become very poor and I?ve been forced to move back in with my parents. They are doing their best to support me, but it means they aren?t saving for retirement. I?m not happy about this. I don?t want my parents to have to work for the rest of their lives to support me. It?s not fair on them.
I also really want to move out. I want to move back to where my friends are and start doing the things I?m missing out on.
I want to make enough money so my parents can leave their jobs and I can get my life back.
Moral Marketing
I?ve been following Internet marketing for a while, but a lot of it doesn?t sit right with me. Manipulating search engines, posting reviews of products I haven?t used myself, giving rehashed advice from skim reading ehow. I?ve got nothing against people who do this stuff, but it makes me feel dishonest. I?ve tried in the past, before I got ill, and I couldn?t handle it.
So I?m going to build a totally white-hat authority site. I?m not just talking SEO - no part of this site will be morally questionable. I want to be completely upfront and honest. No product reviews for products I haven?t tried, no information before I?m 100% sure it?s correct and no affiliate links to products I don?t absolutely trust. I want to build a site which will leave me 100% guilt free.
I also want to go one step further: I?m not going to spend a dime on advertising for as long as possible. I want to make this case study work for everyone who is struggling to rub a few pennies together. I?m lucky enough to have the roof over my head, paid for by my parents. A lot of people won?t be able to reinvest their earnings.
Here?s the Plan:
I?m going to build an authority site based around my disability.
It?s something I know about, it?s something I can offer pure value on and it?s something I know I?ll be interested in for years to come. I?ve been coming up with site concepts for the past few weeks and this is one of the few that really gets me fired up. There are affiliates for products I use and the keyword metrics are pretty impressive.
I want to make $3000/month, or $100/day. That?s enough for me to move out, and have a little spare to put in my parent?s pension pot.
?Alright,? I hear you say. ?That?s all well and good, but not all of us have the unfair advantage of a crippling disability.?
That?s why, once I?ve hit my target, I?m going to start another site, and I?m going to make sure it?s in an area I have absolutely zero knowledge of at all. I want to prove that anyone can do this and stay completely white hat if they want to.
So What Are the Metrics?
First off, this website will not just be based on SEO. I?m trying to hit the whole market, so I?ll be taking a number of approaches to publicity. I?ve got a lot of ideas for things that would have helped me a few years ago, but that I couldn?t find on the net. These are things anyone with my disability would need, but the stuff that?s out there isn?t great. People aren't searching for these topics directly, but I know they'd generate clicks. Thus, I?ll be taking a mixed approach: half hitting specific keyword groups, half pitching to the general market via social media.
Facebook Audience Insights pegs people interested in my disability at around 120,000 people in the English-speaking countries, most of whom are university educated and middle-aged. That?s good, it means I won?t have to dumb down my explanations. They also have a higher than average tendency to shop online. Brilliant. A lot seemed to work in healthcare though - a significantly higher number than the general population. These are probably people who actually work on treating the condition, and they make up about 30% of the audience. Let?s discount them. That leaves around 80,000 people who are active on Facebook every month and public about having the condition.
If we look at the Google, searches for the condition are around 200,000 per month. I think that?s a safer number to use for an audience estimate. Obviously, most people don?t like their disability on Facebook. I?ll use the Facebook insights for demographic information.
Making my Target - $3000/month
For now, I?m going to have one flagship affiliate program which should bring in around $35 per sale. The product is extremely helpful to people with my disability, so I imagine I?ll get a good click through rate. I?ll use a rate slightly above what Pat Flynn gets on his Google ads for his security guard training website ? 1% (he gets 0.8%). If I assume there are 200,000 people actively looking for advice in my niche every month, I need to get 2% of these people on my website to make my target. That?s 4000 people per month, around 135 per day.
I'll build up the section related to this affiliate product, before moving on to other products to diversify my income.
A Lucky Break
I found a short tail keyword which is a specific subset of my disability, but only one of the front page results is a big med website (e.g. Web MD). It gets around 2000 searches per month. Including longtail traffic, let?s estimate that that keyword could bring in at most 20,000 visitors. The competition doesn?t seem strong - two regurgitated niche sites and one single page website. All I would need is better information and I could easily attract the link juice to rank. The long tail keywords related to this one are even more abysmal. I think it will be worth tailoring the language on my site to hit this keyword group specifically.
Site Plan
Okay. The basic premise of the site is to provide people with information about the disability, and advice on how to cope with it. First and foremost is providing the user with value. If I found a product helpful, I?ll recommend it whether or not it has an affiliate link. Likewise, if I didn?t like a product I?ll be honest about that whether or not it has an affiliate link.
Off-site, I?ll be creating a series of videos dealing with different topics, including how to use affiliate products as well as reviews of those products. Next up is to work out the content strategy. I?ve got a lot of ideas for topics to cover backed up in my notes folder, that I've been accruing for the past month. It?s time to bust those out and work out what I want to do first.
Conclusion
So, with that I?ll leave you. I?m going to try and post every single day updating you guys as to what I?ve done, and how much I?m earning. I?ll try and explain the concepts in such a way as it?s clear how you would apply them to your own attempt, although I won't be able to disclose my niche. Hopefully this works, and hopefully I can provide you guys with a lot of value.
Wish me luck.
