Tuesday, June 23, 2009

My 600th Post


The saying time flies while your having fun surely applies to me. This post marks my 600th post on this blog. It seems like yesterday that I set it in January of 2008. After looking back through some past post this morning, I am proud to boast what a huge collection of know how out there for the web. It truly is a rewarding experience both from an accomplishment and financial level. This blog as gone well beyond what I dreamed it would become. There is a ton of great information in here. Some of course may be a bit out dated, but for the most part everything is still relevant. I thought I would take a the opportunity to list a few things that have changed as far as niche site building over the last 18 months.

1. It is no longer niche store building, it is niche site building. You should be building a niche site, not a store. The eBay adds you list are just that, ads. It is not a store inventory. Like it or not, you are advertising these products. A page with nothing but eBay ads is worthless and offers no value. Build a niche and THEN ad the ads.

2. The BANS platform still works. A ton of bloggers have turned their noses up at the BANS platform over the last 18 months. They claim it will get you in trouble with the search engines and many other non sense claims. Yes there are other alternatives, many which I also use like PHPBay and Wordpress, but BANS still is the purest and easiest platform for any newbie getting into niche site building. Build a site the right way with BANS and you can still compete with any other platform in the niche of choice.

3. Your earnings in any niche will be reflective of how much authority and credibility you have of the said niche. The days of just niche hunting and keyword sniping along with throwing up thin niche sites are gone. 18 months ago, you could make money this way, today you will spend a ton of money to drive qualified traffic to a site that has no authoritative value.

4. A ton of information in the famous 2002 post on Webmaster World by Brett Tabke, still holds true today. You will notice one repetitive factor and that is new content. If you can not write or purchase original content, you need to get out of the business as it is not for you. Everyone has something to say, so just say it. You will get better as you go.

5. Social networks and niche networking are a must. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and Digg can all deliver fantastic quality traffic if used correctly. Do not spam or use it for search engine gain, use it to get in touch with other people that like your niche.

6. Common sense prevails over all. You do not need to be an SEO wizard to make money in niche site building. Use common sense when building pages. Everything you need to know is supplied by Google in the starter guide. Everything from site layout, SEO, content and link building can be gotten by on by using a common sense approach. You will learn more as you go, but when in doubt, let it be your guide.

7. You do not need 100 sites to make great money in this business. 5-10 highly authoritative niche sites will not only keep you busy, but will provide a hefty income for you. The sky is the limit, but you must become the niche. Focusing on things you know about is a ton more enjoyable than building sites you have no interest in. You can truly own a niche in one year.

8. Adding additional revenue streams is a must. Do not limit yourself to just EPN. Use Amazon, Linkshare, Commission Junction and Pepperjam to help enhance your sites. There is an affiliate program out there for nearly everything.

9. Every backlink is usually worth something. Do not get caught up with nofollow or dofollow. A link to your site is another doorway in. You can not control being linked to from bad neighborhoods, but you can control linking back to bad neighborhoods. Link directories, blog commenting, article directories and many other forms of backlinks all hold some value, especially if it results in a targeted surfer coming to your site.

10. Be careful what you read. For ever good source of information about making money online, there are 1000 bad sources that just want to sell you something. The list grows daily. There is a solid wealth of information available both free and paid, but if it promises guaranteed results or a cut the corners type philosophy, you should run the other way. The deeper you get in the business of building great niche sites, you will find there are no magic secrets, just different practices and hard work. Be wary of the latest tricks and easy way outs. Only buy from reputable sources or make sure you budget for bad investments.

All in all, niche site building should be fun and rewarding. I enjoy putting this information out daily for you and I hope you enjoy it just the same. Here is to 600 more blog post to get you earning more money.

Thanks for reading!

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5 comments:

Maurice said...

I always enjoy reading your work, it is the first place I go to daily. Keep up the great work.

Unknown on June 23, 2009 at 5:18 PM said...

Great post, Dave. Good common sense info everyone should know.

Randy on June 23, 2009 at 9:12 PM said...

Hi Dave,

Congratulations on your 600th post.

I was wondering before you started building Niche stores how long were you into Internet Marketing?

About how big (pages) is the typical store your try to build?

Thanks

soggy on June 23, 2009 at 9:54 PM said...

Thanks everyone.

@Randy I have been in internet marketing in some way shape or form for 9 years or so. Not good at it until about 2 years ago. Always trying top get better.

The second part is impossible to answer. Depends on the niche and if I have a blog on it. The thicker the better. I do not set out with a page count in mind.

Dave

Kelly on June 24, 2009 at 8:24 AM said...

Way to go Dave! Congrat's on your 600th post. As I have said before I read you daily and look forward to your insights.
Kelly

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