- Jun 10, 2011
- 2,270
- 1,993
So this might be my first journey on here; I've done a few case studies.
I had set up a new site last year, but then C19 hit and things really ramped up at work so the site got put on hold.
Now that things have started to normalise a bit, I thought I'd start a journey to act as a way to motivate me to keep going.
This journey is really a two pronged deal. The first is on the site, and the second is on a YouTube channel. The YouTube channel has a been around for quite some time, but truth be told I got really bored of it, so it let it slide. With that in mind, the site and channel can compliment each other really well.
In terms of monetization, I'm using Amazon Associates on both the site and YT channel. The ultimate goal is to earn a nice amount of money from both. If the site really takes off, I'll sell it.
The title of the YT channel is very close, but il classing them as two separate entities. The benefit of this is that should I sell the site, I'll still have the YT channel to fall back on as well as get the Adsense commission and also the AA commission also.
So far, the stats are fairly modest for the site. There are two backlinks pointing towards it. One is from Wattpad (sadly these are a bugger to index now) and the other is from Reddit. The Reddit backlink is from a subreddit I own. I'm in two minds about adding more of these just now. I've got quite a few accounts for Reddit that I'm using for other people to build links, but I might make more to use for myself.
In terms of other links, I don't have any plans at this point to add any more. I want to get as much content on the site as possible before building links to it.
The content is "how to" guides as well as brand reviews.
As for the YouTube channel, it has 198 subscribers, which isn't bad for an account that's not been used in years.
Since the start of this year, the earnings from AA are as follows:
Not exactly the best, but there is potential there for it. That's for Amazon UK since that's where the majority of my traffic is coming from for the products I am reviewing.
Ideally as more content is added to the site, it'll bring in more clicks to Amazon and more money as well. Thankfully, for my niche, the commision price is still pretty good on Amazon, and I'm in the position that it's often the case that multiple items are bought at the same time.
As with others that do case studies, I will not be sharing my niche, so please don't taken any offense if you ask here, or PM me to ask what my niche is. You'll get an interesting response
What I will say though is that for this niche, the keywords range from incredibly easy, to hard. However, it's an area that I know a lot about and have been involved in it for the last 8 years. I firmly believe that having a strong passion for the nice means that you're able to add that little bit of flair to it. With that in mind, I will not be outsourcing the content for it. It goes without saying though that appart from Reddit links, I will be outsourcing the link building when the time comes. Since I'll be trying to sell the site down the line though, I'll need to be careful of the links that have been built to it.
For the YT channel, I won't be buying any view for it. I did try out the YouTube social signals and shares package from @GuerillaZ
It's early days to see what happens, but I've used his other services before and I was happy, and I can see one video that was uploaded last week already get a bit of traction. This is a what I would class as a medium level of competition video, so if it can get a little bit of a boost, all the better. I've always regarded YouTube as a parasite, so I know it can take this kind of attention that I might not necessarily want to give to my money site.
In terms of the money I want to make from the site and channel, clearly it's the case that it's the more the better. However, I'm also a realist with a mortgage and 9-5 job, so these will always take priority over this side hustle. The biggest commitment is filming and editing the videos, and getting the right conditions for this.
One thing I have considered is getting my hands on new products. Depending on the brand in question, they can be pretty expensive. The brand I'm using to create the reviews so far is one I've been using for years, so I would have bought them regardless and used them. My intention is to get enough traction to the site that competing brands will take notice and want to send out their versions of the products.
As an additional form of promotion, I do have an IG account and have a linktree link in the bio, which includes links for the YT channel and the main site. If anything, it'll be the IG account that will draw the attention of the brands. Thankfully the niche I'm in has a very supportive base with others in the community and they've really taken a liking to my account that has three photos on it. It already has 100 followers and nice engagement on each post. I've got no doubt that it'll skyrocket when I really start to post on IG. I think it's also time to dust off the IG guide from @IGKing
When I tried it years ago, it worked a treat and I've got no doubt it'll do the same again. This isn't a plug for his ebook, but I class it as a tool I'll be using, just like I'll be using AAWP for the affiliate links and Siteground for hosting.
If anyone has any suggestions or comments, drop them below.
I had set up a new site last year, but then C19 hit and things really ramped up at work so the site got put on hold.
Now that things have started to normalise a bit, I thought I'd start a journey to act as a way to motivate me to keep going.
This journey is really a two pronged deal. The first is on the site, and the second is on a YouTube channel. The YouTube channel has a been around for quite some time, but truth be told I got really bored of it, so it let it slide. With that in mind, the site and channel can compliment each other really well.
In terms of monetization, I'm using Amazon Associates on both the site and YT channel. The ultimate goal is to earn a nice amount of money from both. If the site really takes off, I'll sell it.
The title of the YT channel is very close, but il classing them as two separate entities. The benefit of this is that should I sell the site, I'll still have the YT channel to fall back on as well as get the Adsense commission and also the AA commission also.
So far, the stats are fairly modest for the site. There are two backlinks pointing towards it. One is from Wattpad (sadly these are a bugger to index now) and the other is from Reddit. The Reddit backlink is from a subreddit I own. I'm in two minds about adding more of these just now. I've got quite a few accounts for Reddit that I'm using for other people to build links, but I might make more to use for myself.
In terms of other links, I don't have any plans at this point to add any more. I want to get as much content on the site as possible before building links to it.
The content is "how to" guides as well as brand reviews.
As for the YouTube channel, it has 198 subscribers, which isn't bad for an account that's not been used in years.
Since the start of this year, the earnings from AA are as follows:
Not exactly the best, but there is potential there for it. That's for Amazon UK since that's where the majority of my traffic is coming from for the products I am reviewing.
Ideally as more content is added to the site, it'll bring in more clicks to Amazon and more money as well. Thankfully, for my niche, the commision price is still pretty good on Amazon, and I'm in the position that it's often the case that multiple items are bought at the same time.
As with others that do case studies, I will not be sharing my niche, so please don't taken any offense if you ask here, or PM me to ask what my niche is. You'll get an interesting response
What I will say though is that for this niche, the keywords range from incredibly easy, to hard. However, it's an area that I know a lot about and have been involved in it for the last 8 years. I firmly believe that having a strong passion for the nice means that you're able to add that little bit of flair to it. With that in mind, I will not be outsourcing the content for it. It goes without saying though that appart from Reddit links, I will be outsourcing the link building when the time comes. Since I'll be trying to sell the site down the line though, I'll need to be careful of the links that have been built to it.
For the YT channel, I won't be buying any view for it. I did try out the YouTube social signals and shares package from @GuerillaZ
It's early days to see what happens, but I've used his other services before and I was happy, and I can see one video that was uploaded last week already get a bit of traction. This is a what I would class as a medium level of competition video, so if it can get a little bit of a boost, all the better. I've always regarded YouTube as a parasite, so I know it can take this kind of attention that I might not necessarily want to give to my money site.
In terms of the money I want to make from the site and channel, clearly it's the case that it's the more the better. However, I'm also a realist with a mortgage and 9-5 job, so these will always take priority over this side hustle. The biggest commitment is filming and editing the videos, and getting the right conditions for this.
One thing I have considered is getting my hands on new products. Depending on the brand in question, they can be pretty expensive. The brand I'm using to create the reviews so far is one I've been using for years, so I would have bought them regardless and used them. My intention is to get enough traction to the site that competing brands will take notice and want to send out their versions of the products.
As an additional form of promotion, I do have an IG account and have a linktree link in the bio, which includes links for the YT channel and the main site. If anything, it'll be the IG account that will draw the attention of the brands. Thankfully the niche I'm in has a very supportive base with others in the community and they've really taken a liking to my account that has three photos on it. It already has 100 followers and nice engagement on each post. I've got no doubt that it'll skyrocket when I really start to post on IG. I think it's also time to dust off the IG guide from @IGKing
When I tried it years ago, it worked a treat and I've got no doubt it'll do the same again. This isn't a plug for his ebook, but I class it as a tool I'll be using, just like I'll be using AAWP for the affiliate links and Siteground for hosting.
If anyone has any suggestions or comments, drop them below.
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