dreaming up an authority site.. any thoughts

[rastabloke]

Hi Everyone, First of all I want to thank everyone in the forum! This is by far the most helpful collective I have come across.

I am a web developer/seo, and I make a decent living at it right now. I'd first like to stress that I AM NOT QUITTING MY DAY JOB

I have decided to put my knowledge and energy into an authority site. My ideal timeline is 2 years. The site will cover a few related niches... I guess I'll go as far to say that they are kinda like "sports niches", but I do not believe they are oversaturated.

Each one of the related niches will be on a sub domain with its own forum, videos, testimonials, reviews and stories.

I plan to compensate with products(dvds and stuff) to the visitors that contribute content to the site. Ideally, this will be a website that will be run by the visitors, and moderated by me.

I will use all possible marketing tactics to promote this site. Fortunately, I will be promoting something I'm passionate about. Similar to all the "warriors" that contribute to this sites content, I believe it is important to create a sense of community... and this niche needs it!

After the site matures and gets the rankings/traffic the affiliate marking should generate some decent income.

Here are my questions

1. Does anyone see any major flaws with my thought/idea process here?
2. IF I can make this successful... is it possible to make a living off of an authority site of this nature.
3. Any tips to keep me from falling completely on my face
4. What other questions should I be asking

Thank you all!

[Bebani]

1. Sport niches (if there are multiple niches on one site it can be hard to be an authority on all those niches)
2. This depends on the size of the niche (you can use keyword tools to find out the number of searches) Also you can use adwords to find out the cpc for the main keywords you will be targeting. (if people are not paying (much) for those clicks than not much is sold)
3. Traffic + testing + conversion= income
4. Ask/ survey your target market

[Tyrus Antas]

You can try do dominate one niche first and then expand into those other niches with the existing community doing most of the work.

Creating multiple authority sites is a lot of work, specially when you're starting from scratch.

I like the fact that you give yourself 2 years. That's a good timeframe for long-term internet projects.

I wish you the best of luck,
Tyrus

[MattSanti]

A lot of people tend to forget that since this is a business - not a hobby - that you still do need a business plan.

What is it you plan on doing day in and day out -whether that's you doing the actual work yourself or outsourced help?

But also remember don't get stuck on a $20 problem that takes 5 hours to resolve. That's time wasted.

[ztrek]

I have 3 things to say about this.
1. I once read that it's better to use just one domain instead of using subdomains for individual niches. That way all incoming links will boost your ranking for your site instead of being spread out over subdomains.
2. You should get BILT(Business Ideas Litmus Test) by Clay Collins.
3. Consider using themezoom.com to properly build an authority site.