Introductions Thread

[Ryuzaki]

Welcome, @superjona. Glad you found your way over here and that you're already chugging along with a project.

I'd say to make sure that the $1k a month in revenue is just the first goal of many, with your eyes set on a much bigger prize. Because the bigger the goal, the bigger the actions it will inspire. If you dream small you'll act small, and that's what you'll get.

But yeah, do share your updates here. The Laboratory threads are always my favorite. It's exciting to watch people's projects grow and hopefully find major success.

 

[bernard]

Hello Jonathan,

Are you doing a site in English or in dutch/french?

There's a lot of potential in going after smaller language markets. If you're dutch speaking, you might only have your home market in Belgium/Netherlands, but on the other hand, all the guys here can't join the party.

Smaller markets is more of a big fish small pond thing, where it's more difficult to earn those $1000, but it can be easier to make the $10.000 because you can go after higher paying niches, that would be almost impossible to go after in the english speaking internet.

 

[superjona]

Hi @Ryuzaki,

Thank you so much for the warm welcome!

I know that the 1K/month goal is indeed a very, very common one - but I do aim to go higher than this eventually. 1K a month (around €500 after taxes) would be a life-changer for me: that's a lot of money I can put towards investments or saving for a home. The plan for myself has always been to have a stable full-time job (I'm aiming for a teacher's license) because social security in my country as a sole trader is an absolute mess and I'm guaranteed to receive the lowest pension possible if I don't save. Combining my full-time job as a teacher (in a year and a half if everything goes well) with income on the side has always been my main goal. I definitely see myself growing this site (and starting others) in the future - the dreams are definitely there, but I have to stay realistic and with both of my feet on the ground for now until things start hitting off.

We'll see where it goes!

Hello Jonathan,

Are you doing a site in English or in dutch/french?

There's a lot of potential in going after smaller language markets. If you're dutch speaking, you might only have your home market in Belgium/Netherlands, but on the other hand, all the guys here can't join the party.

Smaller markets is more of a big fish small pond thing, where it's more difficult to earn those $1000, but it can be easier to make the $10.000 because you can go after higher paying niches, that would be almost impossible to go after in the english speaking internet.

I've actually considered writing in Dutch, but I'm focusing on English for now. In my niche, there simply isn't enough search volume for a relatively small language like mine, while competition is pretty high. I might dabble into Dutch projects in the future, perhaps even try out affiliate.

 

[bernard]

I've actually considered writing in Dutch, but I'm focusing on English for now. In my niche, there simply isn't enough search volume for a relatively small language like mine, while competition is pretty high. I might dabble into Dutch projects in the future, perhaps even try out affiliate.

I think you should try a site in dutch at the same time and yes, focus on affiliate.

Pick a niche you're passionate about and go ahead and do a real niche site, where you go super nerdy on the topic, visit vendors, test the products, create local guides etc. Create a facebook page, market it in Facebook groups and so on. You'll learn a lot and you'll be able to gain an edge, because what works in dutch, might be different from what most people are doing in the american market.

 

[joemost]

Hi Everyone,

I've already posted a few times on this forum but I am new here as well. I am a Software Engineer who loves to build things. For the past 6 months I've had brutal 'writers' block. I've always been interested in sports and finance, and have long had the idea of building up my own network of sports sites with a very analytical, stats approach.

I would take this project in spurts but I've always had anxiety about what the long term potential of the project could be. Could I make real money off of just display ads on a site like this (seems like there is a lot of amazon). This project would require a ton of custom code for data retrieval, and how I display it, which makes me hesitant about if it worth spending the time, or perhaps pursing another passion such as stock trading/automated trading/building trading platforms for others (which could also be a brutal rabbit hole). However I've also always like the idea of having a web based business like such. Whats crazy is had I just started 7 months ago I'd probably have a site by now.

Any advice would be huge!

 

[CCarter]

For the past 6 months I've had brutal 'writers' block.

Maybe you are just not a writer? Why not outline an article and outsource the content, then create the charts/datasets for display along with images?

I don't know where the fuck it's written you have to write all the content on your website, but whoever came up with that was being cheap or was poor. In the end IF time = money, time wasting writing versus outsourcing is still costing you, probably a lot more than most want to admit.

Whats crazy is had I just started 7 months ago I'd probably have a site by now.

Any advice would be huge!

Just fucking do it. What's the alternative? Another 7 months twiddling your thumbs with mental masturbating ideas of "What if this fails or this goes wrong?"

It's like driving cross-country, you can have a map APP or GPS device, but there will be construction, road-blocks, traffic, and things your smartphone can't anticipate. Do you not go, or do you "overcome" those obstacles as you are driving and heading to your destination?

Get in the fucking car and start driving, that's it. It's called "pivoting", "adjusting to the new norm", "changing tactic", whatever. That's how business is done and continues to be done.

You can do all the research in the world you want, but the reason you are doing more and more research is really because you are looking for a reason "NOT" to do it. Otherwise you would have just pulled the trigger.

And most importantly, no one gives a fuck. No one cares about your failures, or your successes. No one cares that you'll be grinding 18+ hours a day for 7 days, for 10 years on this project. They only care about the value you bring to them. If it's customers/audience it's the value you bring over your competitors. If it's a wife/family, it's the value the project's revenue generates that trickles down to them. That's it at most.

Most people are scared to pull the trigger cause they are worried about being laughed at when things fail. You have to realize very very few people care about you. They are mostly concerned with their own Ws and Ls, and maybe they may comment here and there about shit they see in passing that you do, but overall they live in their own heads.

But you have to ask yourself, How fucked up can someone's life be to waste time and energy laughing at you and commenting "you should have done this or that instead", instead of bettering their own life and going after their own goals? Perhaps you should stop associating with negative people like that if you are surrounded by that.

You have to figure out what's really holding you back and then just attack. Maybe you don't want to be successful deep down? "Money is root of all evil" has been pounded into your head. Maybe you don't want to work hard cause it'll be hard work? Maybe you think you aren't good enough. Whatever the reasoning for your procrastination there literally is ONLY one solution, take action: "Just Fucking Do it."

Because what's the alternative? Always wondering "What if?" for the rest of your days and upon your deathbed?

Take a look at Day #14: Mental Strength. Then get off your ass and get to work. Or don't, no one gives a fuck.

 

[slayer]

Hey guys,
Just thought I'd introduce myself.
Been doing SEO both client side and inhouse for ten years.
Had on an off personal projects during that time including flipping an FBA business.
Currently in the process of building another site at the moment have around 250 posts with the goal of getting to 1k before the end of the year.

 

[MrMedia]

Hey guys,
Just thought I'd introduce myself.
Been doing SEO both client side and inhouse for ten years.
Had on an off personal projects during that time including flipping an FBA business.
Currently in the process of building another site at the moment have around 250 posts with the goal of getting to 1k before the end of the year.

Welcome.

Give us some numbers - FBA is on fire at the minute - what did you exit at?

Something I have never dabbled with but might consider down the line.

 

[BrandEngineer]

Hey everyone. I recently discovered BuSo and figured I would drop in and introduce myself.

What drew me to this forum was the focus on building a real, sustainable online business. I want to create something with longevity, purpose, and a huge financial upside. Not just chase fast money. Being completely beholden to the SEO gods or churn-and-burn blackhat tactics never really sat well with me.

There also seems to be a strong technical focus here which fits in nicely with my (somewhat mediocre) web dev skillset.

I gained a lot of value from going over the crash course and the in-your-face posts by @CCarter. I also read most of this post and man, there was some tough love in there. A lot of which was relevant to my previous mindset and entitlement issues. Great stuff.

Anyway, I want to take some time to discuss my business journey thus far, what I've learned from all my failures, and the general plan I have moving forward.

My Online Business Background

I've been immersed in the online business world off-and-on since late 2013. Yep, that long. Over the years, I've started a bunch of different blogs, web apps, products, and services, including but not limited to:

• Freelance web design and copywriting
• Local lead gen with Google ads
• Flipping items from CL on eBay
• Selling info products on social media
• Multiple blogs and niche sites
• Multiple eCommerce and physical product brands
• Multiple B2C web apps

In most cases, I either lost interest in those projects or didn't do proper market research and they fizzled out. Most of them were failures financially except for the freelancing and flipping which I've made a few $k from over the years.

Some of the projects got a decent amount of traction from an initial marketing push. However, they were either in a bad market or simply didn't fill enough of a need due to a lack of market research.

Not Wanting It Bad Enough

That brings us to the present day.

Here I am, ~8 years into the game (off-and-on) with very little progress to show for it (besides some beer money, skills, and knowing what not to do).

Depressing, yet humbling at the same time.

I'm not here to complain. In fact, I'm done being a victim of my circumstances. I'm finally at a point where I'm ready to take responsibility for my life and find a way to support myself outside of a typical job. No more excuses.

Here's why I think I've failed in the past...

I discovered the world of online business when I was just 18 years old. Back then, I was an immature college kid who liked the idea of starting a business but wasn't willing to put in the necessary work. I still had my parent's safety net and hadn't been punched in the mouth by life yet.

Ultimately, I just didn't want it bad enough.

After college, I got a job in IT support and hated every second of it. I really only started getting serious about making this online business thing a reality once I realized how much I despised the 9-5 corporate life. I knew from the jump that life wasn't for me, but going through the grind day after day really solidified it for me.

Still, that safety net of the bi-weekly paycheck kept me locked in a cage with golden handcuffs for a few years while I half-assed different ideas. I felt stuck.

Quitting My Job, Where I am Today

A few months ago, I got fed up with the direction my life was going and quit my job on a whim thinking that would kick me into gear. I decided to move back into my parent's house at age 26 to regroup (which turned out to be one of the worst mistakes of my life).

I've been here for a few months now and having access to that safety net again has had the complete opposite effect. Granted, I've gotten back into learning Django web dev and kept my skills fresh, but that's about all I've accomplished.

Long story short, my parents think I've gone completely off the rails and that I'm throwing my life away.

We fight almost every day and I'm basically a loser to my family until I get a job again. They are embarrassed to tell their friends about my situation, yet they refuse to kick me out of the house because they think I can't support myself without a job.

This helped me realize that I need to take responsibility over my own life and throw myself into the deep end. I want to start fresh in a new city away from all the noise and negativity. Just pure drive and focus.

I'm done living for other people. It's sink or swim for me at this point.

So moving out again is now my #1 priority.

Currently, I have 2-3 years of living expenses saved up from my 9-5 so finances aren't really a problem as of yet. I should have just gone all in when I quit my job in the first place but hey...hindsight is 20/20.

My New Plan / Direction

That begs the question: how will I support myself moving forward?

I'm an okay developer, but web dev is simply a means to an end for me. I can't imagine ever getting a full-time job doing it. I would be miserable.

I'm also not that interested in pursuing the freelance grind long-term. While it has its upsides like skill development, it feels like just another job to me.

Worst case scenario, I run out of money and have to do some freelance work or get a job at an agency. But that discussion is for another day.

Here's what does pique my interest...

I've always enjoyed strategizing and brainstorming ideas for brands.

I love the idea of picking a vertical, niching down, and building a brand around a specific customer profile. Then running point on getting traffic to my site from various sources, slowly growing the brand and building equity in it. I'm specifically interested in B2C.

So I thought about what that means for my future plans and came to the following conclusion...

I need to get really good at audience building.

I've been doing this whole thing backwards all along: starting with the product without having a plan for who I'm building for or how I'm going to reach them.

So audience building is key. Whether that's organically on social media, traffic leaking from 3rd party platforms, or running ads. Everything needs to be centered around building a native list of customers and selling to them.

This is the type of stuff that gets me excited about online business again. Sure, I'll focus a bit on SEO best practices as well but the idea of choosing a niche based on SEO potential is a strategy of the past imo.

As I mentioned earlier, I've been focusing on improving my web dev skills as of late. Why?

I want to build websites that are useful to my chosen market, further incentivizing them to engage with my brand. Basically, building useful microservices. Tools, quizzes, calculators, toplists; whatever is useful to my ideal customer.

Couple that with niche-specific content repackaged across mediums and I think this could be the perfect strategy for me moving forward.

Obviously, a monetization plan is key as well. I just need to figure out what types of products I can improve upon that solve a problem for that market. That would ideally be physical products, software, a community, or info products. Whatever fits the bill.

But that happens over time through research and actually engaging with the market.

What's Holding Me Back

The biggest issue I've always had is being confident in my niche selection and falling victim to shiny object syndrome. I feel that I'm not really an expert in any given topic. I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades, so how could I build a site about something I'm not an expert on? The topics I am well-versed in aren't exactly commercially appealing.

But I know I just need to do my due diligence / market research, pick something, and learn along the way. Even if it's in a relatively saturated market. I'm pretty confident that once I jump into the deep end I'll be able to make some good progress as long as I stay focused.

So that's my plan so far. Let me know what you think, or if I'm completely missing the mark. Hopefully being part of this community will help provide some accountability and make this journey a little less difficult. And I will do my best to share value in return.

I appreciate you reading my story and look forward to interacting with other likeminded people here.

-BE

 

[Siberian]

Hi

I joined a few months back, from a recommendation over on r/juststart, and have been browsing merrily away, learning lots and finding lots of inspiration.

I've done some form of web development/management since 2004, when I started a blog while I was at university. It was quite well respected in its field, quoted in major news sites (BBC, CNN, etc) but all my traffic came from other blogs & word of mouth, and I could never figure out how to turn that recognition into traffic and income.

Until around 2011, when I finally stumbled across the realisation that keywords were driving traffic from google, and joined a forum called the Keyword Academy (now long defunct). I took the lessons I learned there and built a decent site, which a year on I sold for $xx,xxx. I used the money to fund my wedding (bride with expensive tastes, still no regrets!) and pretty much forgot about making money from websites for a while apart from the occasional half-hearted dabble.

More recently, spurred on by realising that the site I sold now has approximately 5 million search visits a month, I thought it's time to get back into the game. So I've dusted off some old plans, done my keyword research and built a couple of new sites (both cover a similar topic, but each targets a different geographic area) and am starting to see some traction.

So, that's me. Hello, and I'm really looking forward to learning the latest on the forums here.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Welcome, @Siberian. You've got the skills to pay the bills. Nothing to it but to do it at this point. Glad to have you aboard.

Welcome, @BrandEngineer, glad to have you aboard.

You've learned four important things when it comes to the entrepreneurial life:

1. Being pushed away from pain isn't a strong enough motivator, but it's a good start.
2. Complacency kills all motivation.
3. Being pulled towards desire is the only motivator strong enough to keep you going.
4. Motivation doesn't mean jack shit. Discipline is king.

You've got balls and an obvious big brain. I see no reason you can't win, except a lack of discipline and really understanding the landscape before you start.

I've been doing this whole thing backwards all along: starting with the product without having a plan for who I'm building for or how I'm going to reach them.

^ This is the understanding of the landscape before you start. (Check out the Digital Strategy Crash Course if you haven't). But I'm going to disagree with your quote above.

You should start at the conversion. Finding an audience and then creating demand is a million times harder than filling an existing demand. By starting at the bottom of the conversion funnel, you can work your way back outwards, optimizing as you go. Then when you hit the top of the funnel and are trying to collect an audience, you're finding those who want and need exactly what you have.

Once you have that audience it's easy to launch new products or services to them because you know what makes them tick. But that's a hot, refined audience, the kind you won't really have if you start at the top of the funnel. Once you start disqualifying your leads, you'll find out how many are window shoppers and tire kickers.

It's definitely a chicken and the egg thing though. Because to formulate the product or service that's being demanded you do need to understand an audience and their needs to some degree. I'm not trying to contradict you. I just think that when you're actually in the trenches doing these things, there's a thousand other variables that work out better when you start at the conversion.

The biggest issue I've always had is being confident in my niche selection and falling victim to shiny object syndrome. I feel that I'm not really an expert in any given topic. I'm more of a jack-of-all-trades, so how could I build a site about something I'm not an expert on? The topics I am well-versed in aren't exactly commercially appealing.

Saturation is a good thing, by the way. But shiny object syndrome is easy to put to rest. It happens when you don't believe in what you're doing and don't believe in yourself, and you're chasing easy, get rich quick fantasies.

It's easy to not be confident when you're not an expert. That's literally how everyone starts. That gets solved in time by simple involvement in your project. In the mean time, you know enough to get it started and then can hire experts.

And yeah, don't chase anything that's not commercially appealing. You need to create a business, not a hobby. People spend a lot of money on hobbies, but you're saying it's not commercially appealing, and also that's the fastest way for you to start to hate your hobby (turning it into a job).

You're 1000x better off choosing one thing and seeing it through to completion, whether that's success, failure, break even, liquidation, whatever. If you don't go all the way in and all the way through, you won't have a clue how to understand the viability of a niche and audience.

You can do it. I think you just need to get in the trenches and not ride the bench watching the game get played (meaning choosing a niche or angle and starting and then quitting). Play the full game to the final inning. You'll learn enough to start stacking up big wins at that point.

Best of luck, glad to have you, and I hope you stick around and keep having conversations with us.

 

[BrandEngineer]

It's definitely a chicken and the egg thing though. Because to formulate the product or service that's being demanded you do need to understand an audience and their needs to some degree. I'm not trying to contradict you. I just think that when you're actually in the trenches doing these things, there's a thousand other variables that work out better when you start at the conversion.

That makes a lot of sense. I agree there needs to be a balance between defining an audience and monetization considerations.

Yeah, now that I think about it building an audience aimlessly is probably a lot more difficult than building one around people who are the most likely to buy from you. I kind of took it from one extreme to another there.

I think what I was trying to say is that I need to take the audience into consideration along with the niche and monetization strategy to have a full plan before getting started. It's kind of impossible to define which comes first like you said as they're both key aspects of the due diligence process.

And yeah, don't chase anything that's not commercially appealing. You need to create a business, not a hobby. People spend a lot of money on hobbies, but you're saying it's not commercially appealing, and also that's the fastest way for you to start to hate your hobby (turning it into a job).

You're 1000x better off choosing one thing and seeing it through to completion, whether that's success, failure, break even, liquidation, whatever. If you don't go all the way in and all the way through, you won't have a clue how to understand the viability of a niche and audience.

You can do it. I think you just need to get in the trenches and not ride the bench watching the game get played (meaning choosing a niche or angle and starting and then quitting). Play the full game to the final inning. You'll learn enough to start stacking up big wins at that point.

The whole "build a business around your hobby" paradigm is tough because there are definitely people out there who have had success doing this. And it's not like my hobbies are all commercially irrelevant. There may be an angle in there I'm not seeing.

For example, I'm big into a few different sports, games, and a niche music genre. But I have other less passionate interests in the health/fitness, technology and self-improvement spaces which may lend themselves better to monetization.

The problem is, a lot of hobbies kind of box you into a small subset of the market. i.e. if I were to create a site about X sport, that's part of the sports vertical. But expanding to Y sport wouldn't bode well for audience alignment. Unlike fitness where you can start out writing about nutrition, then expand to weight training and still target the same audience (i.e. nerds trying to get in shape).

You're 1000x better off choosing one thing and seeing it through to completion, whether that's success, failure, break even, liquidation, whatever. If you don't go all the way in and all the way through, you won't have a clue how to understand the viability of a niche and audience.

You can do it. I think you just need to get in the trenches and not ride the bench watching the game get played (meaning choosing a niche or angle and starting and then quitting). Play the full game to the final inning. You'll learn enough to start stacking up big wins at that point.

That's my #1 problem right there. The combo of 1). Not wanting it bad enough and 2). Chasing fast money, is a recipe for failure. And if you quit too early you gain surface level knowledge on how to start but never really learn the valuable lessons that lead to big wins.

I really appreciate the reply. This has given me a lot to think about as I make the jump into a new project.

 

[slayer]

Bought for 80 sold for 120 so not too bad but it was more based on the demand in the market more than my skill. The lesson was I learnt was I'd much rather stay in the affiliate/ publishing world than dealing with the logistics of physical products.

 

[BrandEngineer]

Alright guys, quick update. Since I can't post outside of the orientation forum yet I'll just throw it here instead. I'll make an official progress thread once I've committed to an idea and started working on it.

Current Action Items:

• Going through the full crash course and taking notes. I want to absorb it in its entirety first so I can form a solid plan of attack from every angle. Currently halfway through
• Defining my mission/purpose, writing down goals, strengths and weaknesses, current assets etc.
• Starting to think about a vertical / niche / product / monetization strategy to go after
• Moving out and planning which city I want to land in

What I Don't Want
I know for sure that I don't want to do agency / consulting work, despite this being the best approach for immediate cash flow. Remember, I don't have any income coming in at the moment (just a safety net of close to six figures). I've tried to commit to agency work in the past but burned out because deep down I knew I was just creating another job for myself.

I also don't want to create an MFA / affiliate site, rely heavily on SEO, or sell digital courses. So a site with a primary focus around Information / Entertainment (from day 9 - Monetization) is also out of the question.

Remaining Options
That leaves selling my own products (software or physical eCommerce) or lead generation, basically.

Lead Generation
Assets: I had some brief success in the past generating leads with Google Ads, and a family member who owns a local service business. I'm also great at creating landing pages with copy that convert well for these types of sites. Along with some basic local SEO knowledge.

Challenges: Local SEO is starting to get cannibalized by search ads and GMB restrictions are tightening. I would either need to focus on paid lead gen or find a way to register legit GMBs. Otherwise it's getting into service business territory instead of PPL-style lead gen. I'm sure there is more to lead gen than local though, I'm just not too well-researched on that front yet. Maybe I'll look into it.

Software
Assets: My development skills are currently at the lower end of intermediate. I do a mix of backend and frontend - Django for backend and Hugo for static sites. I can definitely build and deploy a basic MVP in a few months time.

Challenges: I don't know if I'm a solid enough developer yet to build a fully-functional SaaS product that's better than what's out there. I'm sure this is just a limiting belief though, as there's nothing stopping me from hiring devs to fill in my gaps of knowledge. Maybe niching down is the answer. I also don't have much industry-specific expertise aside from online/tech stuff, which may pose as a challenge.

Physical eCommerce
Assets: This is what I believe to be the best combination for my skillset and what gets me the most excited. I have built ecom storefronts before and understand the basics of how to source product. I also think my marketing skillset lends itself better to consumer products. I'm a branding geek and love planning that aspect of a business.

Challenges: What worries me with physical products is cash flow. I'm hearing from a lot of ecom store owners (who carry inventory, not dropshipping), that most of your cash flow goes back into inventory and there isn't a lot of opportunity to pull cash out of the business to live on while it grows. Plus, Facebook ad privacy changes have been nuking a lot of DTC brands paid traffic strategies from what I can see on Twitter (which could be an opportunity in and of itself). Not complaining about these things, just some observations I made.

Closing Thoughts
Those are just some of the ideas running through my head right now as I go through the crash course. Ultimately the monetization strategy is going to depend on the niche I choose so maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Oh well, time to get back to work.

 

[dvdbrnds]

Hi there,
I'm a technology professional who wants to stop working the 9-5. It's been 30 years in the salt mines for me and it's time I changed the formula. I have a pretty decent amount of tech skills from my career but this area is a whole new world for me. I will thank you in advance for being patient and will tank you along the way too.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Hi, @dvdbrnds, glad to have you. If you have experience in the tech industry, none of this will be that foreign to you. If you need to get a bird's eye view of this internet marketing industry, I can't recommend enough that you read the Digital Strategy Crash Course we made here (it's free). I see it as a way to see the forest from the trees so you aren't wandering around lost at first and losing time and efforts to bad choices. Best of luck!

 

[dvdbrnds]

Hi, @dvdbrnds, glad to have you. If you have experience in the tech industry, none of this will be that foreign to you. If you need to get a bird's eye view of this internet marketing industry, I can't recommend enough that you read the Digital Strategy Crash Course we made here (it's free). I see it as a way to see the forest from the trees so you aren't wandering around lost at first and losing time and efforts to bad choices. Best of luck!

Thank you for the advice and welcome! I am excited to check out the crash course, I've been banging around youtube trying to find something that resonates with me but other than the Very Good but Very expensive Authority Hacker type courses I am feeling lost.

 

[Alexistrophic]

Hello all - I’m a lady in her mid-30s based in the Northeastern USA.

By day, I work at a digital marketing agency. By night, I’m working to build something for myself. I’ve been a dabbler most of my life, but I know that building this type of income takes tremendous amounts of commitment, dedication, and good old-fashion grind.

No kids (yet!) but my goal is to build out something I can work from home, or location independent in order to be fully present for my family.

Right now, I have a small youtube channel and I’m working to build out a website.

I’ve had the domain for 3 years, but haven’t added much to it yet. As of today (Sept 2021) I get a whopping 500 page views per month. Only have 34 articles indexed by Google and I’m cranking out content to raise that number. My goal is at least 100 articles on the site by the end of the month.

Short-term Goals -
Monetize 1st Website
Hit 4 figures on youtube

Medium-term Goals -
Hit six figures per year in revenue across all online platforms
(Take at least 40-50% profit)

Ultimate Goal -
Build up nest egg and live off interest
Work optional
Only undertake projects that light my fire.

Onward and upward!

 

[Ryuzaki]

Welcome, @Alexistrophic. Glad to have you. Your 3 year old domain with 500 views a month already makes you far more successful than most who try, simply because most give up in the first year. They never reach that much traffic due to the time factors in place. SEO is definitely not for those who need immediate gratification.

What kind of responsibilities do you have at your agency? Any non-SEO related skills you can use to help your own projects?

 

[bernard]

Hey Alex,

Welcome to BuSo, sounds like you're pretty knowledgeable about the basics of online marketing.

I like that you have a Youtube channel, how many subs do you have?

Honestly, I feel like if you're extroverted enough to have a Youtube channel and introverted enough to have a blog, then you're in a really good spot to succeed.

You might want to follow Income School on Youtube, the slightly older stuff before Jim quit. They did a lot of Youtube and seemed to be successful with that.

In any case, those who succeed here are usually active and tend to share their progress and failures, so I hope you will continue to do so.

 

[Alexistrophic]

Welcome, @Alexistrophic. Glad to have you. Your 3 year old domain with 500 views a month already makes you far more successful than most who try, simply because most give up in the first year. They never reach that much traffic due to the time factors in place. SEO is definitely not for those who need immediate gratification.

What kind of responsibilities do you have at your agency? Any non-SEO related skills you can use to help your own projects?

Thank you!!! I'm more of a general project manager role in my day job, but I am exposed to enough to know some terminology. Not enough niche SEO or website stuff right now, but I'm starting a new project that may help!

Hey Alex,

Welcome to BuSo, sounds like you're pretty knowledgeable about the basics of online marketing.

I like that you have a Youtube channel, how many subs do you have?

Honestly, I feel like if you're extroverted enough to have a Youtube channel and introverted enough to have a blog, then you're in a really good spot to succeed.

You might want to follow Income School on Youtube, the slightly older stuff before Jim quit. They did a lot of Youtube and seemed to be successful with that.

In any case, those who succeed here are usually active and tend to share their progress and failures, so I hope you will continue to do so.

Thank you! I have about 7k subs on YT. I upload about once a week and I'm making about $100 per month. It's not enough to retire on, but it's a start. I have watched a few Income School videos for sure. I also watch Doug Cunnington, Carl Broadbent, and Emilia Gardner. There's some great advice out there! Right now, my main plan is just to keep my head down and crank out the content with the goal of monetization on the website.

 

[buddyosborne]

Hey y'all

I finally signed up, too many interesting threads out there.

A bit about me.

I'm an e-commerce agency owner for the past 7+ years now with current team-size of around 25 developers and 5 non-technical employees. We specialized in Magento, and after getting a decent clientele we've expanded to Shopify, BigCommerce as well as some SEO / PPC for our clients. It's much easier to upsell once you have a trusted client base, so we don't advertise additional services directly on our website but keep them for our clients only.

I've been following @CCarter and @Ryuzaki for an year or so now, been applying their SEO-related theories on some of my personal projects, but they didn't get much of my time. I'm looking to embark on a serious side-hustle to expand my income stream.

Hoping to learn from the interesting threads / discussions here.
Feel free to ask me any Magento / Agency / e-Commerce related questions, I'd be happy to give my insights.

Have a great day, y'all.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Welcome, @buddyosborne, glad to have you on board. That's an amazing feat you've accomplished, building out such a sizable agency. I'm sure you'll find similar success your personal projects.

 

[Kingkong]

Hi everyone,

I'm Kalis and I'm new to building niche websites. I discovered a guy called Jon Dykstra who runs a blog called Fatstacksblog. After going through his articles and income report, I was fascinated by how much income he makes in a month from his websites.

So, I started researching more about building niche sites and discovered even more guys on Youtube talking about it. After two months of research, I've finally killed procrastination and bought a domain name, Webhosting, and built my first site.

I understand this is not a get-rich-quick business and will certainly take at least a year of consistent effort before I start earning any good income. But I'm patient enough to do the work.

I hope to learn a lot from everyone here.

Thanks.

 

[Pagey]

Welcome, King Kong!

John's email list is very well made. He is a very good writer and speaker.

How are the articles coming along?