» February 19, 2008 in
Yesterday I asked is it Easier to make one site that makes $3000 per month or 100 sites that make $30 per month? Thanks for all the comments. One question from Newest On The Net I thought should get it's own post ;)
Would you please provide your tips for creating a site that makes $30 per month?
Run Before You Crawl, Not
I think someone who is new to making money online and blogging should start by making a static html website that makes $30 per month first. (actually create 5 or 10 for starters, most will bomb your first go around)Not only will you learn some basic skills like html, creating something useful or worth looking at, marketing, linkbaiting, networking, etc. that will all be valuable when you do start a blog, it's just a waste of time to do something like install wordpress yourself, or play with themes and plugins all day.
It's like trying to run before you can crawl setting up your own hosted blog. I'm sure many will disagree, but just my opinion. And if you must blog I HIGHLY recommend Typepad over any other blogging solution.
How To Make One Website Earn $30 Per Month
Ok, so you've decided blogging is a bit overhyped and you want to make some small websites that bring in a small commission or two per month. How do you do it?
There are bunches of ways, I'll cover a few ideas and you can share yours in the comments:
Build a referral site
Many sites pay good money for referrals. Ebay for instance pays $25-$35 dollars per new active user you send their way PLUS commissions on revenue they make ebay.
Build a small site with some compelling reason for a visitor to read and want to click through to the main site. Maybe a beginner or getting started guide to ebay? Maybe a howto guide or tricks and tips minisite? Maybe a few videos on the site on finding deals on some items there? Maybe a comparison niche site showing how much cheaper people get stuff on ebay?
Whatever it takes to make something clever enough that some people might link to it (when you pitch the minisite) and that will drive people that will convert to referrals.
Clickbank Minisite
Pick one product from clickbank.com, which have tons of products with commissions over $30 and build a minisite promoting the product. A popular one is if you buy through my site and send me the receipt I will give you this free "fill in the blank here" also.
Other ways are review minisites, videos collections on the digitial product.
Your site only needs one sale every one month to make your goal for this site.
Create Your Own Product Mini Site
I'm not as experienced with selling my own stuff but I know many people who have done it well.
Create your own info product or have someone do it for you then sell it.
Tip: It helps if you make it complimentary to something else which makes it easier to pitch. For instance a "top hacks guide" for some popular software or electronics. You can also give away some articles to help pitch the site.
Build A Niche Store
I don't mean to literally use the software build a niche store, although some people have luck with it, rather build a store that is commercial, using a script, based on data from a merchant like amazon.com or any from shareasale or cj.com.
The key with any script is you have to modify it. Anything that anybody can do isn't worth the money you pay for it.
However if you modify the script enough where you would feel ok pitching the cool new version to someone then you are golden.
Just make sure you pick a product that is expensive and one sale can make this sites $30 per month.
One example might be to make a minisite showing almost ending deals on ebay, or stuff going dirt cheap. Sure they've been done on a larger scale, but niche people still like to see and link to their own version for people like them. Many other ways to do this.
Private Advertising On Minisites
Imagine taking the 45n5 Top100 and making it for other niches. That is EXACTLY how you could make $30 per month selling a single ad space to a private advertiser with only a ONE PAGE site ;)There are other ways to make minisites that are viral, from quizzes related to a niche to parodies etc. You then sell private ad space on the sites. Sell a sitewide sponsorship for $30.
Seo - Contextual Ads - Adsense - Minisite
Make a mini site that you will monetize with contextual ads like adsense and rely on SEO for your traffic.
Be smart, use lots of specific product names, NEVER correct your typos of non dictionary words, other people will find you that way, use lots of buy words like buy, compare, coupon, cheap, etc. Use natural language, write like you would be talking to a friend. Pick a keyword rich domain with keywords that have traffic already.
Use common sense seo like how do people search for stuff and not some nonsense you read on a blog about fumbling your url to show differently.
Play The Text Link Game
This is basically the same as playing the private ad sale game except you get someone else to do all the selling for you.
If you are good at playing with pagerank and alexa text links are still being sold every day though linkworth, text-link-ads and others.
Disclaimer, google may penalize sites that use some of these sites, especially if they are near the marketing/seo niches.
However it is real easy money if you can maintain your pr and alexa.
Finally
Good luck building your websites that make $30 per month. Hopefully this post got your wheels spinning.
Yes it takes WORK, but done correctly and with a bit of luck a minisite bringing in $30 will continue to earn that year after year.
It's a great exercise and a bunch of fun. Plus if you have any other suggestions share them in the comments.
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John says on February 19, 2008
Hey Mark, I've followed you posts and videos for a while now. I have to say.. or ask rather.. Which of these ideas are you putting into action? I see you every day (I love the 365 videos a year idea) giving out great content but you consume all of your time doing that (or so it seems). Have you put together an information product to sell? You could package your videos up, clean them up a bit and sell them as an information product.
This isn't a dig at you, just a friendly reminder to "take action". You have some great talents and awesome content. If you market and promote it properly you could be doing a lot better.
Just my .02 - I'll go back to lurking and watching now :)
John
45n5 () says on February 19, 2008:
@john - I have over 100 sites using almost every technique mentioned in the post above ;)the post above was written from hands on experience.
Unless you are referring specifically to 45n5.com, no doubt I could monetize it better. I only recently even started selling ads here so I hear you loud and clear, however it's still not at the top of my list.
John says on February 19, 2008
Good to hear Mark. You don't mention any other sites that you own or are working on. You give away a ton of content here and it would seem you spend a good portion of your available time doing videos and supporting 45n5. Glad to hear you are taking action and not just talking about it like sooooo many others out there do.
45n5 () says on February 19, 2008:
@john - np, I've got 115 domains just at godaddy, the majority of them have something indexed in google at the least.for another example, above when I made the reference to making a top100 for another niche, I'm doing that with political blogs at the moment and will also add an aggregator for them.
appreciate the feedback though, I should do more with 45n5.com
Lori says on February 19, 2008
I like the minisite idea. I know there are tons of those out there because that is actually how I came to blogging. I was looking for a way to make money online and I came across an ebook about building websites that make money by themselves via adsense. Obviously, I didn't go that route, however, it might be something I do later on to just have that extra cash!
Stephan Miller says on February 20, 2008
About the only difference between minisites and a blog is structure and dated archives. So remove all dates and use various plugins and a blog can be a minisite. I just find it easier to use one or two pieces of software to build sites. That way each use teaches you more about it until you are an expert.
Plus, a hybrid like this will give you more oppurtunities to get links, because despite the fact you structured it like a mini-site, you still have feeds that update with each post.
Think of it as a blog with only the flagship content.
Tom Beaton says on February 20, 2008
It is a great idea to help people get started. The ultimate aim is of course the one big site (and a few extras to cover for bad times) as opposed to 100+ sites.
Steve says on February 20, 2008
I still prefer the idea of having several larger sites rather than 100+ $30 a month sites. If you don't mind my asking you Mark, how long have you been at it to put together over 100 sites that have good content and are indexed? And how large are each of these sites? Just curious because I think it is still a lot of work to put together enough good content for that many sites
Donovan says on February 20, 2008
I've been using this method for the last several months, thanks to your inspiration, and it's certainly improved my bottom line. I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 sites up and running.
I've tried all the methods you described in the video and the digital product sites have consistently outperformed my other sites by a long shot. I have one digital product site that's earned $600 in the last three weeks and two more that are starting to ramp-up.
It would be great to have 100 sites that earn $30 per month, but the reality is that most of them will fail to earn much. The good news is that a handful of the sites will be really profitable and teach you how to replicate that success.
Get to work and NEVER give up! :)
Vlad says on February 20, 2008
Oh come on man. WordPress is not that bad. ;)
45n5 says on February 20, 2008
@lori - give it a shot, it only costs a few bucks and a small amount of time to make one or two
@stephan - using wordpress or similar to make a minisite is like driving and rv to work that is a mile away from your house. It's way overkill and a liability in my opinion.
@tom - my aim is a bit different, I'd rather have 100 making $30 per month and in my free time work on the single home run
@steve - I've been building and acquiring sites for roughly 2 years. However if you are creative enough with some programming skills it can be done in a few weeks ;)
http://www.45n5.com/permalink/their-content-your-money-an-intro-to-mashups-for-s.html
@donavan - congrats on the success ;)
"the reality is that most of them will fail to earn much"
true, but you are still creating value for yourself, aging the domain, having bunches of sites indexed, you can always go back and work with that and improve it much easier than starting from scratch.
45n5 says on February 20, 2008
@vlad - i wouldn't wish wordpress on my worst enemy. It's not that bad for an experienced webmaster but for a newbie it's an enormous waste of time and a security liability.
Vlad says on February 20, 2008
lol
well I take your last comment as compliment, although I am not that experienced.
I think its all about learning curve. My first attempt to blog was with Blogger. I think I have above average familiarity with WordPress and would not like to go through another learning process ....
You forgot to mention 19pages in your article. I think you can create 30 websites rather quickly with that little script.
45n5 says on February 20, 2008
vlad - you are super experienced compared to a newbie.
And, I still think typepad is the #1 blogging solution for non techies.
yep, 19pages works well if you are typing your own content, especially since it is database free, i also like to modify existing scripts ;)
Stephan Miller says on February 20, 2008
I guess to some, but after I learned php, hardcoded html is like riding your tricycle in the NHRA. Too much manual stuff. Automation is the way to go.
Donovan says on February 20, 2008
I totally agree with you about the aging of the domains and having the sites indexed. There's certainly still value in keeping those domains live, even if you just sell them off later. ;)
Plus, you can build a good list of keywords people are using to find your site. This sometimes is much more valuable as it opens your eyes to other niche opportunities.
Zac Johnson says on February 20, 2008
Awesome! 50 videos in a row! Quite an accomplishment!
homeless says on February 20, 2008
"Good to hear Mark. You don't mention any other sites that you own or are working on. You give away a ton of content here and it would seem you spend a good portion of your available time doing videos and supporting 45n5. Glad to hear you are taking action and not just talking about it like sooooo many others out there do."
So Mark, what are the websites or domains you own?
thanks
45n5 says on February 20, 2008
"So Mark, what are the websites or domains you own?"
45n5.com
showyouradhere.com
19pages.com
can't remember the rest ;)
homeless says on February 20, 2008
Do you rather get $100 from 2 million people or just 20million from one?
That how Obama gets his money.
Same analogy?
Jim Kukral says on February 20, 2008
Congrats on 50 videos. It's hard work.
45n5 says on February 20, 2008
thanks Jim! no doubt.
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