One site that can pay all your bills.

Hi FreshMedia,

I don't have a direct answer to your question, but I'm interested in the answers. I'm also considering a strategy change.

I wanted to add that even though I don't watch every auction at flippa, that one struck me as highly unusual - mainly due to the amount of time the site has been going coupled with no (or little) promotion or SEO, and then the level of traffic claimed.

Personally, I find some of the info about the site a little dubious based on certain things coming to light in the comments, and by checking the estimated stats and history of the site in various places.

As a note of interest - notice how they have 'news' and 'jobs' links at the bottom of the site that was auctioned - the news is not particularly ground-breaking and there are no jobs available (have there ever been?) but those type of links create a certain impression to visitors, as does the 'fastest speeds guaranteed' claim.

No. Not all traffic is quality traffic. If you can sell ad space based on impressions rather than conversions, you might be able to get something out of it. But raw traffic alone is no guarantee of anything, except extra bandwidth charges on your hosting account.

Lol page rank of 0.






Shawn

every now and then you can get a great idea from flippa, or sitepoint auctions as it was previously. I make $ off an idea I found originally on ebay of all places. 99% of the stuff is resold stuff, but keep your eyes open and you might be surprised every now and then.

Whilst I havent had a site of this size (in terms of traffic and revenue) I have owned and operated many member type sites where people either pay for memberships or paid advertising. These sites, unlike traditional flat html sales pages take a LOT more effort. If you're lucky you can be successful and make some money. If not, you're at risk of investing a lot of time and money with very little returns.

Im moving away from this business model - mostly because these types of sites have to be "babysat" constantly - 24/7. Infoproduct sites at least allow you to have a weekend off and not have to worry about checking ads and content moderation.

Thanks for the feed back guys. Ramone_Johnny, you make a very good point when you say these type of sites may require more constant attention.

Look, here's my take. Go to flippa. Look for a site that really pumps you up. contact the seller and ask them is they do custom sites and for how much. Have you ever wanted a specific site in a niche you feel really good about?

I think this is the key. I found someone to build me a site in August of 2009 and guess what? I'm getting more than 5,000 unique visitors per day and have more than 30,000 pages indexed in google. The guy is a genius. So far I'm making damn good money and really can't believe that I've finally found the ultimate web designer. I can't give you the url, because I don't want the mods to delete this post. I'm only trying to help you with this idea. I will be more than happy to give you the link via email but really don't want it to show up on the warrior forum or I'll be linked to something that I'd rather remain anonomyous about. Never could spell that word.

I also mostly do niche/longtail marketing but have a couple sites that breakout and do fairly big traffic.

Here is my take on it: First, that site that sold looks very fishy and has very high data/server expenses. That seems like a lot to go through for the supposed earnings, which aren't even that high- $8,500 a month after server costs, supposedly. Dependent on huge traffic and risk/expenses. Many big traffic sites make very little in comparison to the server expenses and upkeep.

I have sites that get several thousand uniques per day and make almost nothing, because they have no good fits for targeted advertising or affiliate programs. Adsense is useless if it's even allowed.

On the other hand I have sites that get 2 or 3 ( yes 2 or 3, not 2 or 3 hundred or thousand) visitors per day and make money. These are very targeted and the visitor is looking to take action, usually by making a purchase or at least getting a quote or clicking on ad to find what they want.

Personally I prefer not depend on any 1 site or even any 1 payment program for a majority of my revenue. I prefer less than 10% for each. For example if I have money site # 1 and that site has Adsense and some other things, my preference is that site make no more than 10% of my revenue and adsense account for no more than 10% of its earnings. That's just the way I like it.

This is how I look at niche sites. I might have some that only make a couple bucks a day or even less, but they all make money. I have started a few hundred sites and have never picked a loser. it's not that hard if you do any type of research/planning. I have had bad ideas and domains but I just turn them into winners as best I can. none of these sites have significant if any hosting or other costs. yes, they can be time consuming. For me the most part the most time consuming thing is just getting a site up and then building the foundation for SEO,etc. At that point maintenance is fairly easy.

I understand why people want to Go Big and make a living with one huge site. I just do what works for me. I know if I do niche marketing within multiple niches that are somewhat related and all have sub-niches and even broader possibilities, I don't have to hit a home run. I can hit a bunch of singles and even have many strikeouts but still make money.

Mike is right! Pick something that you are passionate about and the rest will fall into place. I commissioned a sight for something I was interested in because there was a need for the site. There are two more sites being designed, but this first one is now up to nearly 6,000 unique visitors per day. It's not my voice over site either. A week ago I thought I'd be happy with 500 visitors per day, but the designer did a little tweaking and by the end of the month we should be at 10,000 visitors per day. The site includes the following: Articles, A wordpress blog, a forum, classifieds specific for the niche, privacy policy, about, contact, and a section on the latest news which applies only to the niche that the site is attracting. One other part of the site which really drives visitors, but I really can't give that out. Not trying to be difficult, but can't give away all of my secrets.

Bottom line: Don't do a site just to make money or you will probably fail. Put up a site that you are really passionate about and the rest will fall into play.

Next site this guy will do for me will be my voice over site. He's a genius.

Ive just sold one of my "big sites" that Ive been running since 2004 for $25,000. I would have invested thousands of hours into that site, and a great deal of money.

Im now doing simple html sites selling info products. I dont plan on ever going back to that business model because of the overheads and time needed to run them efficiently.

As already said, diversify your assets and broaden your income, rather than wishing for the "big one"

I think the best option is to gradually build a site your passionate about and let it take it's course naturally, kind of what BIG Mike is saying. Just don't put all your focus and energy into it. At the same time continue building the niche sites you know will bring in the money.

If I just spend 30 minutes a day on the site adding my content, I don't think it would interfere much with my other stuff. Here is an example of a site that kind of took a life on it's own, and it even has an online store now. It's amazing how this site just took off, specially looking at how it used to look on the waybackmachine in 2007. You never really know what a site will turn to. Why not take a small chance with something that only takes a few minutes out of your day, and your passionate about.