Well folks, its almost the end of 2010. What a ride it has been for me?! Not only in my personal life with so many changes such as moving back home with my parents, going through a 6 week family crisis in which I nearly lost my mother and now finding love but most importantly the changes in my online income.
I started going full blast with my micro niche sites in January of 2010 and saw my monthly adsense income nearly double just 4 months later. It was very exciting to see the earning potential. Just as I was tooting my own horn in June, the majority of my sites got hit with the Mayday Update and most of my sites lost there solid SERP standings which then caused my income to plummet back down to all time lows adsense earnings. I never quit or even thought about quitting. I accepted what had happened and just did my best to move on.
I had decided to take on a mini-authority site challenge in which I pumped out 30 new pages of content plus articles to article market the site and new pages of content and saw my little site go from earning $0-.50 a day to now earning a solid $4-6 dollars a day within just 2 months. I basically got the site to earn 12x the amount it was used to earning. Now just imagine if I continued to add more content to it, article marketed the site and got more high quality backlinks; essentially just focusing on one site only, just imagine how much that site could be earning in another 2-3 months. Is it possible I could increased the income by 12 times again? That would be about $72 a day! What about if I focused on the same site for a year, is it possible that it could be earning $100+ days??? I’m pretty certain it could and I am ready to see if it can.
That’s where I am heading this year. I did the micro niche sites and it seemed to work ok for me but I need something that is going to be more steady in not only earnings but in the SERPs. Google will always be changing its algorithim and I need to develop a real quality site that Google will love and allow my inner pages to rank immediately for without hardly any back linking efforts.
So I am ready for the challenge for 2011 and even though I will get bored out of my brains by focusing on only one site, I am really interested to see where I will be at a year from now with one site.
So over the next 2 weeks, I will have to decide whether or not I will want to launch a new website which will allow me to write about various sub-niches related to my main niche all based around something I really enjoy and can see myself easily writing content for or if I will try and nurse a site that is already earning $4-6 dollars a day. I’m leaning towards a new site just because it would be pretty awesome for my 1 year challenge to start fresh and be able to take it from earning $0 a day to $100+ a day.
Another goal might be to have my new love interest get his feet wet into internet marketing. I might help him develop his first site and then slowly teach him keyword research and just set him lose on writing about the things he is most passionate about (besides my beauty of course…ok that was a joke).
Anyhow, that’s my new year’s goal. What are you going to do this year to super-charge your online income earnings?
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If I were you, I’d do both – work on growing the bigger site, and start the site you are truly interested in. If the one is already profitable, it wouldn’t hurt to make it more so. And you could outsource the work on it once it’s making enough money…
My main goal for the New Year is to make enough per month to cover TWO children in private school next year. To that end, I’m working on a PLR site for more consistent income (I hope!), building more backlinks and content for current sites, and monetizing the sites with significant traffic better by adding an autoresponder.
The trick will be not to get distracted by the new and greatest thing this year…
Steph recently posted..Airline Tickets PLR
Did you get John’s new book, then, or just moving forward based on what you’ve seen? Sounds like the latter. I just read Zaheer’s review (NetTech) about XFactor’s new, monumental book – sounds like he’s all about it.
I think between him and Lisa Parmley’s approach at InLineSEO, definitely going to be concentrating on one site for a while at least.
There are still a few directions I want to go, especially in branching out – since I have seen more sales to two other sites that need some more content. All in all, we’re talking 3 sites to focus on, but I’ll be doing the Amazonian Profit Plan approach of just a few products at a time and then ranking them.
(Also the “Dave” approach!
)
Best of luck to you – I have a 2011 goals report and looking back on 2010 coming up myself if I can get a hold of my current client work. Merry Christmas to you – and I hope Josh enjoys the ride, it’s definitely something I’m glad I’m into – hopefully he agrees, you two could be unstoppable.
JamestheJust on Elance recently posted..Do Not Use the Amazon Site Stripe – Final Word
I have heard about John’s new book and I have heard some good things about it but I have also read some conflicting information so I am not building my authority site after his suggestions. Just sort of returning to niche blogging at its best only tweaking things up a bit regarding how I write my articles, research keywords &LSI words and how I will be backlinking.
I’ll have to check out Lisa’s site.
Thanks for the well wishes! Much luck to you this year too James.
What conflicting information are you referring to?
It has been a crazy year and I have always been inspired by your motivation and perseverance. I think your new plan sounds like a good one – what you’ve already been able to achieve has been fantastic so I definitely think you could increase your current site. If you really will be more motivated to write more on a topic you enjoy more then starting a new site could be the fresh start you need. Really looking forward to following all your updates!
Ruth – Web Career Girl recently posted..My Earnings For November
Hi Sara,
I just found your site and i really enjoy reading it.
I’m new in IM, just a couple month ago i started to learn about internet, web 2.0, SEO etc. and what really interest me is called “Private Branding” . Well, i already have one site for it and plan to have more of it. For my future dream, i really want to have a marketplace site for web designer & Graphic designer, for example themeforest.net (my fav) or brandstack.com.
One of my biggest problem is i don’t have a writing skill and bad in English (sorry for any misspelled), so i really have work hard on it.
Regards,
Gerry
P.S: Say hi to your love one
Couldn’t be happier to have you back Sara! I think the authority site concept is something that we have all eventually come to terms with over the past years, all in varying degrees. The point in my mind is to make a site that I feel proud of, that I believe in, and that I can develop into a full fledged property.
Micro niche sites are interesting to play with, but we all know that ultimately, that isn’t what Google wants. They haven’t exactly found a way to stop it yet, but the concept in itself is just a shady business model long term. Don’t get me wrong, if that’s your thing, roll with it. But a lot of people have realized they want more.
I read John’s new authority site book and it has just verified everything I have been thinking and working on for the past year (based on his research and testing), so I am fairly satisfied that the authority site model works and works long term (and also makes the Big G happy).
You are definitely going in the right direction, and I would suggest NOT starting a new site if you have any at all that you could develop out instead. Domain age and the links you have already built up will go farther than you think in getting you going (IF you have a domain and site that can feasibly warrant authority development and proper structure).
Anyways, I will be here cheering you on. Welcome back, Merry Christmas, and GOOD LUCK in the new year!!
Matthew DC recently posted..Using SEO and Keywords to Increase Sales at Amazon
Hear hear Mathew,
Couldn’t agree more. I think when you read eBooks from credible people like John, it just cements what you’ve been doing all this time.
Zaheer
Nettech recently posted..The Authority Site AdSense Guide by John XFactor now available – My Personal Review
Yea, you are right. Domain age plays a huge role in ranking faster for new pages of content so I have decided to stick with a domain that is 2 years old.
Hi Sara,
So you have a number of mini-sites and you are not happy with them?
Do you want to start and expand only one website
I wonder, because in my book having something like 100 website doing 2-3$ a day is easier to sustain then having one website that necessitates constant link building, articles and you have to be on almost daily to watch it, respond to inquire and so forth.
I am not saying that if you have 100 website is going to be easy but you have to write let’s say only 100 articles per month and the link building part is tricky because there are so many websites but you can start making them one by one, and even outsource some of the link building while you make the others.
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Alex,
I’m not sure if managing soo many sites is sustainable. From my experience it can be a nightmare to manage. Trying to acheve $2-3 per day per site is a lto harder than you think and only a small number of sites actually hit that amount in your overall plan.
With an authority site however, as the site ages and builds up trustrank with Google, you’ll find that pages can get ranked quicker since you have a ‘thicker’ site than your micro niches. Its a lot easier to pass on juice and also the site will have a ‘theme’ associated to it…all of which helps in SEO.
Having been through the whole micro-niche (thin site) concept, I think its just too risky to have small sites. it does work but my question is for how long?
You may want to evalute which niche sites work and then build them out.
Just my 50 pence.
Zaheer
Nettech recently posted..The Authority Site AdSense Guide by John XFactor now available – My Personal Review
Hi Sara,
Glad you’re back to business.
I’ve also gone down the authority route. Basically I had almost 300 domains which I’d purchased over the years with about 100 sites ‘live’ in some way, shape or form. Anyway, about 4-6 weeks ago, I decided to consolidate this down to a manageable level to sites that had the most potential, i.e those that were making money and those that had the ability to grow.
I then created a short-list of 28 sites that I am now working on. If any sites other than this make me money then great but my focus is ONLY on these 28…(its very difficult not to digress). Now just building out the site and achieve a minimum of 50 pages per site, the next target is 100.
Just like you Sara, I’m working on 1 site at a time and for the next few weeks I shall be refining this process until I am happy to replicate this out to the other 27. After reading John XFactors new book, its been VERY refreshing to see his approach to keyword research, article writing and also his common sense to developing sites.
Good luck with it all, considering what you’ve been through the last year (can totally relate), you’ll come out even stronger, happier and definitely more successful.
Oh, and I think its all about ‘Mobile Marketing’ so that might be something your readers may want to consider in their forthcoming IM strategies.
Have a wonderful Christmas to you and your family and hope the New Year brings you every happiness.
Zaheer x
Nettech recently posted..The Authority Site AdSense Guide by John XFactor now available – My Personal Review
Hi Sara
God really does work in mysterious and wonderful ways. I’m So happy to hear your Mom is doing better and that you have a boyfriend! Woo Hoo! You rock!
I have just one site i’m working on. I got side tracked earlier in the year when I planned to use the micro site approach. After seeing the effect the Google algorithm change had I changed my mind. I think Google will be looking for approaches that “game” the system. So I think the Authority site approach makes more sense.
Have you given any thought to putting some of your micro sites on Flippa? That would bring in some $$$ for sites you’re not interested in.
Also are you focusing on Adsense with your authority site? I know at one time you were thinking about going the Amazon route.
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you and your family!
Sandy
I have to agree with Steph from the first comment. I would begin a new site but continue to develop the site that seems to be working for you already. Why neglect a successful site to focus all energy on something that may or may not pay off? Split the time 60-40 or so. There is no reason why 1 site earning $100 daily is better than 2 each earning $50.
Best wishes for you in 2011 as you continue to work hard. Whatever you decide to do, I look forward to reading about it here.
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I do thing that splitting time between two sites could be a good idea but unfortunately if I went that route the next thing I know, I would be talking myself into doing 4 sites or maybe 10 sites and then I am right back where I am now with no time to build quality sites and get the inner pages ranking.
Personally, the first site that I published was an authority site. I still have it and it is a huge amount of ongoing work to maintain. It has thousands of pages, but only a handful are passive income generators. The bulk of the income for that site comes from direct ad sales . . . which is also work.
I think the key to any successful niche site, micro or authority, is to create something that has value.
Look at the niche and see what you can say that is worth saying.
If you can create a targeted site that gives value with 5 pages . . . awesome. If you have to build it out more to make it worthwhile, then do so.
I definitely agree with you that the key to the success of a site is to create something that has value. That is definitely my intent with my new authority site.
Sounds like your roller coaster year ended on a high with your mom and your love life (when are we going to get a post about the love thing?!!! Intrigued!!!)
Just wanted to know: where can we find/buy the new XFactor book on making an authority site – will you be doing a review?