It would be useful if you told us how you were monetizing and also gave us some details about how you do your GSA campaigns.
Essentially I was doing something similar but with YT. And I started noticing similar problems. Then I realized it was the method as a whole that was trapping me in a corner. For instance, I was monetizing with CB. And I still do but eventually I'm gonna stop 100%. Now I monetize with my OWN "PRODUCTS". That got me out of the corner of needing to target the same niches everyone else using CB has to target. And even if I changed to Amazon/CPA... I hate being dependent on vendors. I also hate being the middle man. Now I get to do things exactly how I want which opens a lot of doors. It SEEMS intimidating when you start doing it but once you execute you realize how simple and smart it is.
What I'm doing is using REAL SKILLS I've learned to find hobby-like forums & niches. And many niches I'm not even experienced in. But if I see an opportunity to fulfill a need, I'll learn / research / read / study a problem until I have something to offer that I know people will buy.
It's not a cookie cutter method but basically what I do is...
1) Find cool shit people want to build, make, create, have.
2) Improve, consolidate, reengineer, simplify, commercialize x product into something more desirable AND accessible to the masses.
3) Target the DIY crowd. Hobbyists, science, chemists, backyard engineers, I'm trying to be vague on purpose here.
4) Find "unclaimed heros" in these niches. There are many people who do amazing shit for free out of mere passion, could have easily monetized their work but didn't.
5) I always know at least 80% of what I'm doing before I start to exectute. So I may not have found the "perfect solution" yet. But I know if I spend just a bit more time than your avg DIYer I'll find a BETTER solution that I can pack into a book with videos and whatever else they need so they can do exactly what they REALLY WANT.
Let me give an example.
King-Of-Random aka Grant Thompson on YT.
The guys a genius. And I don't mean an engineering genius. I mean his ability to sniff out, find and steal cool ideas. He'll take something that's already been done. Then he simply does it cooler. Faster editing, better delivery style, he repackages for mass consumption. Like the coffee can forge. I don't know the 1st person to ever think of that idea. I just know some guy did a video 2 years ago. Then Grant came along 1 year ago, swiped that idea, used a metal bucket instead... built a bigger forge and capitalized on it.
Then that forge had problems. It had to be powered with charcoal. It was messy. So he follows up with a cool ass "gasblaster torch." And if you follow him enough you start to notice he's a compulsive liar. Like when he melts down brass, puts the camera on it and says "this thing gets hot enough to boil brass" = false.
You're not boiling brass you lying fuck. You're ruining the brass by boiling the zinc out of it. Then he lies again about the price of his drill press. The guy lies, exaggerates, oversimplifies, makes up shit.... this creates problems.
If any normal person wanted to build that gasblaster torch they'd find it's much more complicated than they thought. And this isn't a specific idea I've done I'm just telling you the type of shit I look for. I'd steal that idea then renovate the PROCESS so it really IS simple. I'd go on forums where people are talking about forges and shit. Then I organically get involved. And I don't just register then start promoting shit. I register and start making power posts loaded with images.
It's pretty crazy but just by making yourself "that guy" who always posts pics to explain, people very quickly gravitate to and follow your posts. Because most other people are posting text. This gets your name noticed fast. It gives the impression "this guy doesn't fuck around" and people start to adopt your sentiments.
So what I'd do is post a bunch of free information using lots of pics. I'd show people how to tap the holes without a press. Anything complicated I simplify but I do it without lying. I never make something seem easier than it is I just make it easier. So I build MY OWN VERSION of the gasblaster torch. But mine is cooler cause it's made for APPLICATION, not entertainment. And if I can add any novel improvements, like a swirl head for the flame... I'll do it cause I know people will love it and will wanna copy me.
The thing is I create my product to become one of "them". Then I fracture it into 20-30 pieces and give it away "free". And in doing so I'm doing 2 things. 1) Making it cooler / building suspense / building a cult following around the idea and 2) making it less accessible although it *appears* more accessible. It's a "lie" that's impossible to spot. The crumbs are laid out everywhere. Like a broken puzzle. And by the time the last piece is laid it's perfect. People want it. But they gotta go back through a few pages of posts to get it. And even if they do it's not quite in the format they need to apply the idea.
So they ask you "can you do a video or compile everything into 1 post." Then I start take away selling. And I exaggerate facts to make them feel bad. Like, "I'd love to but I spent x weeks learning plumbing, endless hours plundering the depths of lowes, home depot, harbor freight... just match making shit with my hands some pieces took 3 hours just to find" I make it seem like it took me a SHITLOAD of work just to create this new and better version. And I let them know the compiling / repackaging process will take a lot of work (another lie). I normally tell them straight out I own a business. Like "I don't wanna charge for this but that's the only way I'll get it done."
And before you know it I got some shitty wordpress page up with a paypal buy button. What's cool is you don't have to sell anything. You don't need to convince, coerce or write great copy. Even for organic, cold traffic. You just say "this was x idea that started on [forum name] you can see how the idea started here [link]. After months of tweaking and simplifying this is how it ended up [sales video that doesn't look like sales video]. It's all in the positioning. You just show people the final product, table of contents, tell them there's a free video in there as a bonus. Then charge a mandatory "donation fee". The thing is, that "fee" is saving them lots of money & time and they know it so they'll pay as long as it's reasonably priced. I don't get greedy. I like to keep my fees around (or under) $10 for simple shit and I'll charge more for more complex things with less demand. Then I also rank for peripheral terms. Like the gasblaster thing I might go for "can you melt steel with propane" or "can you melt brass with forge", "can you melt copper with forge" etc etc. There's lots of peripheral terms you can target to widen the net and bring in more sales. And that's the real fun part. After you "cement" yourself socially and buyers see that they have no problem spending $8 for a guide that'll teach them the coolest way to build a propane powered torch for their forge.
You can also upsell them plans for a custom forge. But your forge is different cause again you do some crazy shit noone's done. Like you teach people how to cook cheap harbor freight grinding wheels. They're made of aluminum oxide and silicon carbide. Really cheap but dense wheels. If you cook the wheels you smoke the resin out and can powder them down. Then you mix that powder with waterglass. You can line your furnace with materials in a way noones done before. Silicon carbide melts at 5000F there's not 1 video on youtube that shows people how to get silicon carbide nevermind how to line forges with it.
I'm ranting now but when you actually get involved online doing fun things you like.... when you add real value.... as opposed to blindly spamming G - you rewrite the rules of the game. I have a huge list of projects I'm working on right now. Things I do on the side of my main business. My goal is to build a huge funnel of low priced products like this in different niches all around the web. And the best part about it is AS I'M DOING IT I'M EXCITED. I love it. It doesn't feel like work. One of the projects I'm working on right now is a 12 year old thread with something with over 400,000 views. It's around 36,000 views a year or 3,000 views a month or 100 views / day in that 1 thread. I registered and slipped in there a few months ago. Then slowly started dropping power posts. These posts are mostly just pictures with captions of me doing shit I'd be doing in my spare time anyway. And right now I OWN that thread. There's members who've been on that forum 10 years coming into that thread asking "why are so many people interested in this?" and nobodys answering them. They just keep responding to my posts. I keep adding value. When you reach that point that members are ignoring the oldest members on the forum and your center of attention, you have more images and bait in that thread than any other member and the forum admin loves you cause you're contributing awesome shit.... this is real "blackhat" imo.
Anyway, I wrote this post just to show you and other marketers that there is money everywhere to be made the hardest part is opening your mind. At first I thought I'd need to be a pro at every niche I targeted. That's completely false. If I don't know something I just go read. Then use my marketing ability to translate that into something easier that can be done faster for cheaper and work better.
Just go crazy dude. Find shit you love and get involved. Spamming with PBNs is still very profitable it's what I do for my main local business sites. But for smaller, more diversified streams of income I'm sick of GSA. Blackhat today for me is nothing like it was in 2013. In 2013 you'd spam anything, rank and make money. But blackhat today in 2016 is like a cat falling upside down. They have this natural ability to always turn their heads in mid air and land on their feet. Like they're hacking gravity. That's what blackhat means to me today. You have to build a natural ability to quickly adapt to unnatural & uncertain circumstances.
Gluck - BB
