[JOURNEY] Completely New - Here goes.

Hi All,

I noticed other beginners posting journeys and thought I'd contribute as well and to use this as a form of accountability, posting an updated once a week to stay on track.

I'd like to start by saying I'm completely new to affiliate marketing and SEO although I have had some experience in setting up websites and WordPress.

I've read everything I could find relating to SEO and a common theme that appears is to just jump in, get your hands dirty, learning as you go.

That's exactly what I've done.

The niche I chose is extremely competitive (didn't realize when I started, due to lack of research) but I've always wanted to launch my own physical product in it.

My thought process was I can learn more about the industry, build an audience, and some income via affiliates, then once comfortable launch my own physical product should I still have that urge.

December 3rd, I officially began, wasting little time on my website layout, no ones going to see my website for a while right? I went straight for content, managing to get out 8 articles by the end of what was a super busy month.

Not impressive but I'm happy about it.

This month (January) has started slow, getting back into work full-time 6am to 4:30pm (not including commute) and going to the gym regularly but now things have settled down and I'm back into a routine, I'm aiming to have another 8 articles by the end of this month.

Goals
My goals aren't as ambitious as some others on the forums, I first just want to prove to myself I can earn a dollar online. Once I can do that I would then like to supplement my full-time income.

• Earn first online dollar
• Cover start up costs
• ~$500 /month

My thoughts and concerns after ~1.5months.

• I've realized that my downfall might be the niche I'm in, as the more I'm learning about competitor analysis and keyword research the more I realize I'm up against some big players...

• I didn't do keyword research properly, I manage to get a Serpstat account but have started to realize how terrible its KW difficulty rating is. Saying certain phrases are easy but then looking into the SERPs it's very wrong. Did I waste time writing these articles that potentially will never rank? Should I figure out another way to find keywords?

• Writing is boring, writing is slow but I've been improving slowly and noticed I'm able to research and type quicker than when I first began.

Statistics


Any tips, advice, guidance and motivation is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for taking the time to read my introduction.

Hi mate, just a quick suggestion, at the outset if you think the the niche is competitive, I would suggest you either run a parallel project of a sub niche or a different niche else fighting well established competition is a going to be very frustrating and challenging

Following, keep updating and good luck.

redbandit said:

Hi mate, just a quick suggestion, at the outset if you think the the niche is competitive, I would suggest you either run a parallel project of a sub niche or a different niche else fighting well established competition is a going to be very frustrating and challenging

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I'd be lying to say if it hasn't crossed my mind, willing to give it a couple of months to see what happens. Writing about this topic is starting to become easier and easier, so once I improve upon my keyword research I should be able to get posts done quicker.

Worst case it fails but I've learnt and can apply it to my next endeavour.

Ranking Expert said:

Following, keep updating and good luck.

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Thanks!

I the I didn’t expect to have happen after getting the 30-40 articles typed up for my first website I’m working on now is how it gets easier and not harder to have new ideas. I was thinking it was going to be the opposite honestly.

Focus energy on making new articles with your new and improved keyword knowledge and hunt for obscure pockets of the subject you cover. You can use this also as a good opportunity to rewrite the subpar content you made and improve it now with your new found knowledge.

You work a lot so you might find it easier and cost effective to learn how to spin articles and rewrite them seeing as your so busy. This is something I need to practice a bit my self to see what kind of work it makes.

Good luck , I’ll be following for sure .

Interested to follow for update. But I think its better to develop sub product with low competition keyword to proceed for ti...

Hoboninja said:

Focus energy on making new articles with your new and improved keyword knowledge and hunt for obscure pockets of the subject you cover. You can use this also as a good opportunity to rewrite the subpar content you made and improve it now with your new found knowledge.

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Yeah that's the plan, as long as I can continually improve then eventually I know I'll succeed. Thanks for the support

Blacktizer said:

Interested to follow for update. But I think its better to develop sub product with low competition keyword to proceed for ti...

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Once I finish the article I'm midway through I will be focusing on finding low competition keywords, I've managed to get hold of a free 30-day SEMrush trial so hopefully that provides better insights than Serpstat.

Good luck. I'll be following your journey.

Do you do any promotion for the content articles you're posting your website?

Like building IFTTT networks for social spread? Parasites?

I mean just putting out articles, even with more or so properly done keyword research, might be not enough for good results to expect.

Good luck! I am also starting my new site so I’ll be following for tips and tricks

braindancer said:

Good luck. I'll be following your journey.

Do you do any promotion for the content articles you're posting your website?

Like building IFTTT networks for social spread? Parasites?

I mean just putting out articles, even with more or so properly done keyword research, might be not enough for good results to expect.

Click to expand...

No I don't do any promoting of my website yet, I'd like to populate it with more articles before I attempt to push people to a relatively empty site.

GenesisHype said:

Good luck! I am also starting my new site so I’ll be following for tips and tricks

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Thanks mate, good luck with your journey too!

I think the best time to pick a new niche was when you realised that you are up against heavy competition. The second best time is now. I admire your grit, but if you're low on resources, you are better off in a niche with less competition. Just an opinion. Wish you the best.

This might not help, but big competitors might not be too bad. I look top 10 manually and If there are weaklings in mix I go for it. Also research 10 LSI keywords to rank on those too. Hard work, but success is earned.

I also plan to focus on sub niche and beat them on volume and quality. Might work or might not, but If there are weak competition on mix it should be possible. It's also a challenge to me and keeps me motivated.

I did a similar thing for my first journey in a super saturated niche. I used social media to drive a ton of traffic to my site when I wasn't ranking for anything. Eventually started ranking, but it took a long time and a lot of work.

Good luck!

I'm starting out as well, but I'm not completely new to making money online. I've been a reseller for several years. I'm starting several sites of my own and figure if I work hard and give it time, I'll be one step closer to succeeding, even if it's not with these websites. I'm working on creating quality content on one of them right now.

Good luck! Lets see when we can have a good news from you.