Computer programmer niche or something I don't care about?

by kulale
10 replies
Hi guys,

I've been trying to come up with a profitable website for the last 5 months and been unsuccessful so far. I have tried different verticals such as gaming and dating. Different promotion methods like PPC, PPV, Youtube, etc. Nothing has been profitable yet :/

I have been reading this forum and others, and noticed that many people suggest to pick a niche that you have passion for. I think this makes sense, but at the same time, the guy who founded POF, for example, was just a computer programmer (like I am) when he started developing it.

So, with that on mind, I ask myself if I should keep searching for a niche that has a low competition and I don't really care about, or start blogging about computer programming and hoping that one day traffic will pick up.

What do you guys think?

Oh, BTW, how would you rate my English? I'm trying to get an idea of how good or bad my English is for writing blogs. English isn't my native language but I've been living in the US for about 10 years.
#care #computer #niche #programmer
  • Profile picture of the author Sarevok
    I'd say your English is excellent. I didn't notice any grammatical errors.

    Dating and gaming are both very profitable, so I'm curious as to how you went about monetizing your websites?

    Sometimes the niche you select is perfect, but the method of attack isn't.

    Another thing to consider, is programming training.

    I think people are hurting for jobs more than ever, and it's possible to develop some lucrative programming teaching systems.

    A good friend of mine has a membership site that teaches graphic design, so why couldn't you have a membership site that teaches programming?



    Food for thought.
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  • Profile picture of the author miklanderson2
    If you enjoy computer programming and specialize in a certain programming language, you could create a site centered around that language and offer training. I think it's a good idea to do something you enjoy, but only if there's a way to make it profitable.

    Your English seems decent. It definitely isn't bad enough to be off-putting. Your writing is better than a lot of native English speakers who have created blogs and information products, so I think you'll be fine there.
    Signature

    "A bargain is something you don’t need at a price you can’t resist."
    -Franklin Jones

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    • Profile picture of the author Mark Ferguson
      If you are creating a blog-style site where you need to regularly produce content, then going with your passion makes it a lot easier.

      Remember creating anything is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. If you don't enjoy the perspiration part you are doomed from the start.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ti
    Since you are a computer programmer and you are looking to earn $$ and do something you're passionate about then I suggest you send me a PM with your contact details. I've built many companies and have earned millions am looking for a coder who is interested in an entrepreneurial offer for a fun project.
    Signature

    Affiliates Wanted --> http://Pwnboxer.com <-- Promote to your MMORPG/World of Warcraft Niche
    Insanely Popular Software Lets You Play 5x WoW+ On 1 PC - 100% Legit Bliz Approves Multiboxing
    Current Affiliate Stats: June 4th 2011: EPC = $3.50, Conversions = 10.2%, $23.50/sale

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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Originally Posted by kulale View Post

    Hi guys,

    I've been trying to come up with a profitable website for the last 5 months and been unsuccessful so far. I have tried different verticals such as gaming and dating. Different promotion methods like PPC, PPV, Youtube, etc. Nothing has been profitable yet :/

    I have been reading this forum and others, and noticed that many people suggest to pick a niche that you have passion for. I think this makes sense, but at the same time, the guy who founded POF, for example, was just a computer programmer (like I am) when he started developing it.

    So, with that on mind, I ask myself if I should keep searching for a niche that has a low competition and I don't really care about, or start blogging about computer programming and hoping that one day traffic will pick up.

    What do you guys think?

    Oh, BTW, how would you rate my English? I'm trying to get an idea of how good or bad my English is for writing blogs. English isn't my native language but I've been living in the US for about 10 years.
    Yeah, your english seems fine. A lot of websites ARE run by programmers, and many others use primarily what programmers have done.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author IMDESTROYER
    Banned
    Dude i had the same problem when i first started out. The problem is that were developers, not internet marketers. We use internet marketing to profit more than the usual internet marketers because we have a lot more skill than they do. Trust me for people like us, we don't build small things like internet marketers do, we are way to good for that. It almost feels ike were throwing away our talent because were so creative.

    You have to develop things that you are passionate about, people like us dont have a choice and expect that your website to be a real company not just a site that makes a few hundred dollars. Like any other project it is going to take awhile to develop. Dont make my mistake, it took me 2 years to finally find something to develop. That sucks...


    Go through your list of projects and make a compare and contrast chart on what you like most and what you don't like. Seriously, we have to strategize on why this project will benefit us. It's hard for really creative people to be simple.


    Just choose one of your projects and dont think about anything else, because if you do you may panic and be like "NO i want this one instead" and you will do that for another 5 months. Do not think about the money (if you are), think about developing something that is cool as hell for you with the intention of other people going to it and saying "this is a bad ass website" (to do what ever it is the website is about) and dont make it too big you know, you dont have to make a Stick Figure Death Theatre or a New Grounds,


    - just choose one thing.
    - dont think about it, get it done and manage it
    - dont think about money, think about how cool its going to be
    - Say to yoruself "i want to make a bad ass website that other peopel will think is badd ass too"



    Hope i helped and if you find any secrets, as creative as we are, keep them to yourself because the internet marketers will annihilate its creativity and bring it down to some cheap dirt. It better to develop something that will benefit you in the long run than to give out the method that allowed you to make so much and then have everything you built under it crumble. This has happened to me 2wice, you try and help people and they rape everything about it. Share nothing to anyone except developers and dont sell any of your ideas to google, apple or microsoft or any company unless you know you can benefit from it in the long run.
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  • Profile picture of the author IMDESTROYER
    Banned
    Dude i had the same problem when i first started out. The problem is that were developers, not internet marketers. We use internet marketing to profit more than the usual internet marketers because we have a lot more skill than they do. Trust me for people like us, we don't build small things like internet marketers do, we are way to good for that. It almost feels ike were throwing away our talent because were so creative.

    You have to develop things that you are passionate about, people like us dont have a choice and expect that your website to be a real company not just a site that makes a few hundred dollars. Like any other project it is going to take awhile to develop. Dont make my mistake, it took me 2 years to finally find something to develop. That sucks...


    Go through your list of projects and make a compare and contrast chart on what you like most and what you don't like. Seriously, we have to strategize on why this project will benefit us. It's hard for really creative people to be simple.


    Just choose one of your projects and dont think about anything else, because if you do you may panic and be like "NO i want this one instead" and you will do that for another 5 months. Do not think about the money (if you are), think about developing something that is cool as hell for you with the intention of other people going to it and saying "this is a bad ass website" (to do what ever it is the website is about) and dont make it too big you know, you dont have to make a Stick Figure Death Theatre or a New Grounds,


    - just choose one thing.
    - dont think about it, get it done and manage it
    - dont think about money, think about how cool its going to be
    - Say to yoruself "i want to make a bad ass website that other peopel will think is badd ass too"



    Hope i helped and if you find any secrets, as creative as we are, keep them to yourself because the internet marketers will annihilate its creativity and bring it down to some cheap dirt. It better to develop something that will benefit you in the long run than to give out the method that allowed you to make so much and then have everything you built under it crumble. This has happened to me 2wice, you try and help people and they rape everything about it. Share nothing to anyone except developers and dont sell any of your ideas to google, apple or microsoft or any company unless you know you can benefit from it in the long run.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7615962].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author talfighel
    Originally Posted by kulale View Post

    for example, was just a computer programmer (like I am) when he started developing it.
    The best thing to do if you don't want to create your own is to build a website and start promoting related stuff to computer programming.

    I would suggest to create a website, review some products, and also create your own newsletter so that you can follow up with prospects about some of those products that you will have on your home page.

    Originally Posted by Sarevok View Post

    A good friend of mine has a membership site that teaches graphic design, so why couldn't you have a membership site that teaches programming?
    A lot of people don't have the know how to create such membership sites and do well by promoting them.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
    I'd think the answer is obvious..

    create a software or SaaS product to market!
    Signature

    -Jason

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    • Profile picture of the author kulale
      THANK YOU very much for all the replies, they were really inspiring!!!

      Originally Posted by Sarevok View Post

      Dating and gaming are both very profitable, so I'm curious as to how you went about monetizing your websites?
      For the gaming niche, I gave up very quick as I wasn't actually building anything new, I was just copying what I was seeing. It was the first niche I got involved though so I didn't have much experience with IM yet. I was learning the process of landing page, direct linking, etc...

      I've tried:

      1st) Direct linking from Bing to game download offers. Got conversions, but at a loss rate.

      2nd) Built a landing page to build a list. Got leads but no conversions after sending out emails. Very low email open ratio (I believe that in my last test, I had a list of 30 people and only 2 people actually read my message). My thought on that was the people wasn't really interested to download games from email messages.

      For the dating niche, I have built a product that I think it's unique - I couldn't find anything else online similar to what I have built, and I am trying to come up with content to the site to get organic traffic, but I fear the competition as the articles are general dating articles, and there are billions of the same kind of articles online

      Originally Posted by Ti View Post

      Since you are a computer programmer and you are looking to earn $$ and do something you're passionate about then I suggest you send me a PM with your contact details. I've built many companies and have earned millions am looking for a coder who is interested in an entrepreneurial offer for a fun project.
      Thank you, I sent you a PM.
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