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Does this sound like a good idea? Newbness so beware

by bherl0
7 replies
Hi warriors. I'm very new to internet marketing. I've read some free ebooks and articles online so I have basic knowledge but no experience, which is what counts in the end. If you don't want to read my rambling, it'd be greatly appreciated if you could answer the question in blue font at the bottom.

Well, what I was thinking is since I enjoy cooking and baking I could build a site promoting recipe guides. Beforehand I buy the cookbook off amazon or download an e-book or whatever it is, and make a recipe or two. I would then take pictures of the ingredients, the process, and the final result with captions and write a review of what I've just eaten and the recipe guide I purchased. I guess this would be a general affiliate marketing strategy, is that what it's called? What concerns me is what my following would think of my character: rather than a food-loving gal with earnest intentions, will I be a materialistic witch absorbed with moneymaking to them? (look at me, thinking about what I'm gonna do if too many people enjoy a non-existent site :rolleyes.

Let's just say I get it up and running and I've designed it as non-horrendously as I possibly could, where would I begin in terms of getting it ranked on google and getting traffic? I know its all around me (especially on this forum) but I wonder why there are so many expensive products around that teach you how to do this when its freely available? I have very little money to invest on a WSO. I'm already dead broke and I'm gonna go negatively broke if I get a quality webhosting service and a .com domain.
heeeeeeeeellpp...whimper.

What's the best strategy for creating an authority site and where do I start in order to get visitors? Any advice or resources you recommend?
#beware #good #idea #moneymaking #newbness #sound #website
  • Profile picture of the author Rich Struck
    I think you would have a hard time making money with a site like that. I think you would be doing a lot of work for very little in return. It could take you all day just to come up with one review. At that rate it would take months before you had enough content for anyone to care about.

    Keep in mind that recipe type sites are hard to monetize because people are looking for something to make for dinner tonight, right now, and they aren't really buying stuff. You would need a ton of traffic to make it work.

    If you are really dead set on doing something with recipes, you'll want to have some kind of focus. For example, diabetic recipes, recipes for kids, recipes for people with allergies, etc. etc. etc. Even then you'd need to be really clever because pretty much everything has been done to death already.

    On the bright side, your line of thinking is correct and you are going in the right direction but eh... not sure this is a winner.
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  • Profile picture of the author SiteSmarty
    You can absolutely make money in this or any other niche. Forget SEO, forget marketing. For get it all. Setup your blog, start writing. Use photos and video if you can. Just get a lot of great content.

    Collect e-mails from the get go. MailChimp gives you a free option to get started. Your broke, use a low end HostGator account and when you get lots of content, upgrade the server account.

    You can monitize your work later. Think long term and you can make it happen. Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author high_plains_drifter
    If you are going to go into the negative $$ just from buying hosting and a domain i would seriously consider getting a real job or something first to get some funds.

    You need to spend money to make money

    I could really see a lot of money being made from review foods, however you could make some nice affiliate sales on products that you use to cook the food

    ie - steamer, George Foreman Grilling Machine (RIP), Ice Cream Maker etc

    but all these things will cost more than hosting and a domain put together
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  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    I would say "just start". I think you have a great idea there. By cooking the recipes and photographing the process you are adding HUGE value to the books.

    Don't worry to much about seo and google ranking at this stage. Concentrate on making a good, chatty, informative site that people will want to come back to.

    For a subject like yours, I would strongly advise that you build an email list. Then, when you find a new recipe book on Clickbank, or somewhere else, that you recommend and know is good you can tell your list about it and hopefully make sales.

    Once the site is up and running and has a good amount of real content then comes the time to learn seo and other techniques. Meanwhile, just by writing, you will gain visitors.

    Never underestimate the power (google-wise) of just writing. If you know your subject you will find that you include the terms people are searching for without even realising it.

    (A side note. I have a B&B website client who adds her own content. One page is some of her own recipes. She gets visitors from Google to that page. She knows absolutely nothing about seo - she just writes.)
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    • Profile picture of the author Sue Bruce
      Since you are "dead broke" I would look at selling the recipes for $1 each..You can find people using Facebook Twiiter etc. who love quick and easy recipes and like to bake or cook.

      i.e. Make your sweetie a Valentine surprise they will adore.

      This would be easy to set up. The trick is to spend as much time as you can spreading the word to your target market using social media, forums etc. There are many people who have made a lot of money doing this, selling individual recipes.

      Once you start selling recipes, you can take that money to get your blog on the internet.
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  • Profile picture of the author bherl0
    Thanks everyone! I'm gonna start designing it and if doesn't work out in the log run...well at least it's something I'm passionate about.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris-
    Why not test it free as a Squidoo lens (or other free page). That way you can find out for real, what happens in practice. There's a LOT to learn in IM, and the best way to learn is just to start taking action, so why not do so for free, today.

    As other's are saying, it's possible to make money from something like what you are saying, but it is probably not going to be easy. There's a lot of FREE recipies on the internet, so you've got to offer something they don't. Why not give some unique and valuable recipe info for free, to collect email addresses of those interested, and when you've built up a list, ask THEM what they would pay for and why. Of course, what they say they'll pay for, and what happens in practice, might be somewhat different, but at least you'll make a start. If you can solve a real problem for people, you can even pre-sell a product, before you've finished creating it, then do JV's with other relevant lists etc.

    My advice, take action today, for free, and start learning! Do what you think will work, and keep asking questions here about specific aspects of what you need to learn how to do better, like getting more traffic (there's a FREE 26-page backlinking guide on the site in my Sig (just go to the site, click the "free downloads" page), if you are interested in learning about backlinking, which can certainly be applied to a Squidoo lens or other free page), and whatever other challenges you find along the way.

    Chris
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