A Little Side Project That Sorta Took Off...

51 replies
I just wanted to share this with you guys, because it's something that pretty much anyone could do.

I discovered that Indeed.com has an affiliate program that allows you to add their search boxes to your website.

So, I signed up and bought a domain (in sig, not trying to promote myself here, just sharing my story).

It started out as me just messing around in between classes one day. I haven't done any advertising except my sig here, and I added it to my sig on another forum today.

Somehow I'm getting 200-300 views a day - after less than a week.

I decided to put a little more effort into it - all offline. I ordered 1500 business cards (cheap from vista print - see image). I'm going to put these cards on all of the bulletin boards at my college, at the car wash, the barber shop, and anywhere else I can. I'm also taking out a classified ad in my local newspaper. I'm not expecting to make a ton of money with this, it's just more of an experiment for my own knowledge.




The reason I'm posting this is just to show that there are literally endless possibilities when it comes to making money online, and this is just something I happened to stumble upon. Just keep your eyes open and your head on a swivel because you never know what you might find.
#project #side #sorta
  • Profile picture of the author brendan9971
    that's great man. congrats. great site idea. it's great when the side projects we don't think will amount to much actually end up being out top earning endeavors, isn't it?
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  • Profile picture of the author Stuart Stirling
    great idea man.. that's awesome to hear that its
    working so well for you... right off the bat!

    would love to know how it goes from here on out
    after your business cards and classified ad.
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    • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
      Originally Posted by Stuart Stirling View Post

      great idea man.. that's awesome to hear that its
      working so well for you... right off the bat!

      would love to know how it goes from here on out
      after your business cards and classified ad.
      That's kind of why I'm doing it. I really just want to see if it has any real impact on the traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author Andre Lavell
    I like it. People tend to underestimate simple, basic sites like these. I can see it doing well for you.

    I've never worked with indeed.com before, do they allow you to edit their search form? Or is just a code that give you?

    I'd probably make it a look a little more authoritative and welcoming. It would probably convert better.

    Maybe something like this:
    http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4...worksource.png
    (just a quick sketch)

    You'd wanna center it ofcourse..

    And if it you're going to do this 'locally,' (like handing out flyers) you should put the city and state name somewhere on the site. Folks will probably feel more comfortable interacting with the site if it appears to be directly for them. (eg:: Portland, Ohio - Local Work Source)

    Otherwise there are geotargeting scripts out there that you can use to display the visitors location based on their IP address. It could work...

    Just my 2cents though - Good luck man.
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    • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
      Originally Posted by A Lavell View Post

      I like it. People tend to underestimate simple, basic sites like these. I can see it doing well for you.

      I've never worked with indeed.com before, do they allow you to edit their search form? Or is just a code that give you?

      I'd probably make it a look a little more authoritative and welcoming. It would probably convert better.

      Maybe something like this:
      http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4...worksource.png
      (just a quick sketch)

      You'd wanna center it ofcourse..

      And if it you're going to do this 'locally,' (like handing out flyers) you should put the city and state name somewhere on the site. Folks will probably feel more comfortable interacting with the site if it appears to be directly for them. (eg:: Portland, Ohio - Local Work Source)

      Otherwise there are geotargeting scripts out there that you can use to display the visitors location based on their IP address. It could work...

      Just my 2cents though - Good luck man.
      Wow awesome. I'll have to see if I can do something like that, I just need to learn how I guess.

      And indeed does provide the code, and they will even host it. OR you can get their API and do it all yourself, but that's out of my league for now.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andre Lavell
        Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

        I just need to learn how I guess.
        Nah, that's took much work. That's what fiverr is for..
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      • Profile picture of the author paulie888
        Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

        Wow awesome. I'll have to see if I can do something like that, I just need to learn how I guess.

        And indeed does provide the code, and they will even host it. OR you can get their API and do it all yourself, but that's out of my league for now.
        Great example of out of the box thinking. Offline marketing can be very powerful if you can target your prospects properly, and since you're currently going to college you won't have any shortage of them there!

        You probably cannot get any more targeted than this, and if your college is large enough (10,000+ or more student population), I'd recommend that you keep advertising in your college paper.

        Keep us updated on your ROI with this project.

        Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
          Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

          Great example of out of the box thinking. Offline marketing can be very powerful if you can target your prospects properly, and since you're currently going to college you won't have any shortage of them there!

          You probably cannot get any more targeted than this, and if your college is large enough (10,000+ or more student population), I'd recommend that you keep advertising in your college paper.

          Keep us updated on your ROI with this project.

          Paul
          They are always having career workshops and career fairs and we have a dedicated career center - I'm going to go in and talk to them this week about some options. I'm also going to check out the school newspaper. We have over 20,000 students and I take classes at both our main campus and satellite campus so I plan on getting as much exposure as possible. I've never done any type of offline marketing, but I guess there's a first time for everything.
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          • Profile picture of the author paulie888
            Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

            They are always having career workshops and career fairs and we have a dedicated career center - I'm going to go in and talk to them this week about some options. I'm also going to check out the school newspaper. We have over 20,000 students and I take classes at both our main campus and satellite campus so I plan on getting as much exposure as possible. I've never done any type of offline marketing, but I guess there's a first time for everything.
            I didn't notice initially that you live in southern California. You'd be hard pressed to find many small colleges there, and since it is such a densely populated area you could also consider targeting your neighboring colleges and the general surrounding area.

            With the economy in the state that it is today, people are concerned about finding and keeping their jobs, and you have the perfect offer that should convert very well in this scenario. Keep going to those career workshops and fairs, even if they're for careers that you have absolutely no interest in - prospects you get at these venues should convert amazingly well.

            Paul
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            • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
              Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

              I didn't notice initially that you live in southern California. You'd be hard pressed to find many small colleges there, and since it is such a densely populated area you could also consider targeting your neighboring colleges and the general surrounding area.

              With the economy in the state that it is today, people are concerned about finding and keeping their jobs, and you have the perfect offer that should convert very well in this scenario. Keep going to those career workshops and fairs, even if they're for careers that you have absolutely no interest in - prospects you get at these venues should convert amazingly well.

              Paul
              Thanks for the advice Paul. I go to a local community college and we have over 20,000 students like I said. I have a friend who's moving up to Santa Cruz soon to attend UC Santa Cruz - so I'll reach out there too. I have another friend who goes to Cal Poly Pamona.. My GF goes to Cal State Northridge so I'm planning on getting something going there too. The more I think about it the more I realize the possibilities.
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              • Profile picture of the author paulie888
                Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

                Thanks for the advice Paul. I go to a local community college and we have over 20,000 students like I said. I have a friend who's moving up to Santa Cruz soon to attend UC Santa Cruz - so I'll reach out there too. I have another friend who goes to Cal Poly Pamona.. My GF goes to Cal State Northridge so I'm planning on getting something going there too. The more I think about it the more I realize the possibilities.
                I think you should also target the twin juggernauts - UCLA and USC. You could hand out your cards there all day long and never run out of prospects!
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                • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
                  Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

                  I think you should also target the twin juggernauts - UCLA and USC. You could hand out your cards there all day long and never run out of prospects!
                  Very true, I know a few girls down at UCLA I might have to make a call or two.
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                  • Profile picture of the author paulie888
                    Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

                    Very true, I know a few girls down at UCLA I might have to make a call or two.
                    Once you find that your offline strategies start converting well, then it'll be time for you to look into related CPA offers that'll also convert at a high rate with this same demographic, and pay out more than Indeed.com
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                • Profile picture of the author goindeep
                  Diversification is the key to an successful man/woman in business. I have something i devote like 70% of my time to and other small pet projects which im always constantly trialing.

                  The goal is to have 2,3 or 4 business's running solidly. If one dries up then you have the others to fall back on.

                  The key in my own personal experience for myself is to keep focused until momentum builds then you can spread your energy. I found that if i was trying to do to many things at once, none of them got far, where as if i focused on one until it got moving, i would give a little more focus to another and so on.

                  Good job.
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    • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
      Originally Posted by A Lavell View Post

      I like it. People tend to underestimate simple, basic sites like these. I can see it doing well for you.

      I've never worked with indeed.com before, do they allow you to edit their search form? Or is just a code that give you?

      I'd probably make it a look a little more authoritative and welcoming. It would probably convert better.

      Maybe something like this:
      http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/4...worksource.png
      (just a quick sketch)

      You'd wanna center it ofcourse..

      And if it you're going to do this 'locally,' (like handing out flyers) you should put the city and state name somewhere on the site. Folks will probably feel more comfortable interacting with the site if it appears to be directly for them. (eg:: Portland, Ohio - Local Work Source)

      Otherwise there are geotargeting scripts out there that you can use to display the visitors location based on their IP address. It could work...

      Just my 2cents though - Good luck man.
      Thanks for the awesome reply man. I was wondering if this was something you could do, and if so how much you would charge? I'm not so much worried about making it "local" friendly, but I do like the interface you created.
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      • Profile picture of the author Andre Lavell
        Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

        Thanks for the awesome reply man. I was wondering if this was something you could do, and if so how much you would charge? I'm not so much worried about making it "local" friendly, but I do like the interface you created.
        I don't do much coding, I leave that to the professionals. It was just something
        I put together in Photoshop.

        I can send you the psd if you want. I'm sure there are warriors here who can
        code it for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author lstoops
    I like this idea too. Have you made any money yet? I'm going to check out the program now.
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  • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
    Originally Posted by Chris Kent View Post

    Sure. That's the problem. Which ones to concentrate on.

    No offence but we don't even know if you'll break even yet. We don't know if your efforts are a waste of time and you could be better off doing something else or not.

    Good luck, I hope it is worth it.
    Could be a waste of time - but I don't have that much time invested into it. And leaving business cards around school doesn't really hinder my productivity because I'll do it between classes, same with other places - when I'm there I'll leave a few behind.

    I am doing something else that I focus most of my attention on. This is just a side project as I said.
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  • Profile picture of the author Presto Smith
    Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

    I just wanted to share this with you guys, because it's something that pretty much anyone could do.
    I took your advise and joined the program. Here is my similar job search site through indeed:

    Get My Dream Job

    What do you all think about the layout? I literally threw this site together after reading this post, so its pretty simple. I borrowed from the layout that A Lavell put together as you can tell. I could not find an easy way to alter the search buttons, but to start out with this should do fine.

    Thanks for the idea doorkicker13 I will be interested to see if I can generate any revenues from this site.

    -Presto
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  • Profile picture of the author TycoonRob
    Awesome stuff! You could probably sell this as a WSO and make a few bucks. Ha. I like it though, especially the business cards with the QR code. I may just try this.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Hessler
    Thanks for such an interesting idea. With being on point with my shtick, I took out 5 mins to register a domain name, register with 'indeed', all from my iPhone...
    On the street getting ready to busk(I'm a street magician), on tour but on return home I'll finish it off.
    Got some ideas about site design using big video, vox pops, and a dynamic 2minute video.

    Thanks for posting and sharing. Gotta love this forum. Once completed I'll post a link for critiquing...

    Regards
    James
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  • Profile picture of the author Xavier Tan
    That's a decent and cheap offline marketing strategy. You can put your flyers or business cards in those booths of fairs or exhibition that are related to your niche, you will be surprised by the results
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  • Profile picture of the author pdrs
    pretty cool I must say. Just curious though with 200-300 visitors daily, have you actually banked any cash yet?
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  • Profile picture of the author athanne
    No wonder someone once told me that what matters most is what you do after and before normal working hours. i can now understand the point better
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    • Profile picture of the author raindog308
      It'll be interesting to see if this breaks even.

      Costs:
      • $7.49 to register a domain or thereabouts
      • hosting we'll say is free because it could easily be hosted on a free web host or alongside the owners other sites if any
      • $20 for 500 business cards via vistaprint
      • some cost to print out fliers
      So let's say $30 to get this going. (I think the OP is a college kid so he probably has access to near-free if not free printing at school )

      Possible revenue:
      • Adsense on the domain
      • Indeed.com referrals
      • Employers posting jobs, though I think that's a little bit more of a long shot
      Will he make > $30? Enough to justify the time investment?

      I honestly don't know but it's a great, cheap experiment.
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      • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
        Originally Posted by raindog308 View Post

        It'll be interesting to see if this breaks even.

        Costs:
        • $7.49 to register a domain or thereabouts
        • hosting we'll say is free because it could easily be hosted on a free web host or alongside the owners other sites if any
        • $20 for 500 business cards via vistaprint
        • some cost to print out fliers
        So let's say $30 to get this going. (I think the OP is a college kid so he probably has access to near-free if not free printing at school )

        Possible revenue:
        • Adsense on the domain
        • Indeed.com referrals
        • Employers posting jobs, though I think that's a little bit more of a long shot
        Will he make > $30? Enough to justify the time investment?

        I honestly don't know but it's a great, cheap experiment.
        I will let you know.

        I am a college student (no so much a kid - got a late start.. Army blah blah).

        So far I have:
        $10.16 - domain at namecheap
        $44.98 - 1500 business cards from vistaprint

        Hosting is relatively free since I already have a hosting plan.

        I'm almost positive I will come out ahead before the month is over.
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  • Profile picture of the author xMarkPro
    Congrats on the new site idea!
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  • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
    I went through a lot of pages on the indeed site, and couldn't find out how much they paid. If it is free for job seekers, they might only pay when an employer pays to advertise. Any affiliate company I've joined has had this information out in the open. It seems odd to me that they don't.

    It's easy to get traffic from job seekers, but the chances of an employer landing on a 'looking for work' site and then clicking through on an affiliate link and paying for something, aren't much.

    I don't know if that's their business model, but if it is, advertising to job seekers isn't going to do any good. Printing business cards to pass out to students would be a waste of money, wouldn't it?
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    • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
      Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski View Post

      I went through a lot of pages on the indeed site, and couldn't find out how much they paid. If it is free for job seekers, they might only pay when an employer pays to advertise. Any affiliate company I've joined has had this information out in the open. It seems odd to me that they don't.

      It's easy to get traffic from job seekers, but the chances of an employer landing on a 'looking for work' site and then clicking through on an affiliate link and paying for something, aren't much.

      I don't know if that's their business model, but if it is, advertising to job seekers isn't going to do any good. Printing business cards to pass out to students would be a waste of money, wouldn't it?
      I'm not exactly sure how the payments are structured, but I know it's not only when a job is posted.

      I'll put it this way - I have made more money with this project over the last week than I have with all my other efforts from the last several months combined (aside from Fiverr).
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      • Profile picture of the author raindog308
        Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

        I'm not exactly sure how the payments are structured, but I know it's not only when a job is posted.
        I asked indeed.com for more details. Here is the response I received:

        To generate revenue by using the Instant Job Site:

        Your visitors will click the job listing link and go from your site to
        an Indeed landing page. Once there, if the visitor clicks on one of the
        sponsored job posts or keyword sponsors then you will generate affiliate
        revenue.

        If you choose to sell job postings through your Instant Job site, we
        provide this product FREE of charge other than an administrative fee of
        $20 per posting sold via your site. You can set the job posting price
        yourself (job board avg $200 per post) and keep the difference between
        that and $20. You may also earn affiliate revenue from clicks by your
        users on our job listings.

        The jobs that are bought through your site can be shown by themselves or
        shown first followed by our job listings. Plus, they become part of our
        index on indeed.com and they are distributed out to thousands of other
        partner sites. This drives more traffic back to your site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chuck Avants
    Did you do any SEO? Backlinking? Submit to Web2.0?
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  • Profile picture of the author dtang4
    Wow, this is really interesting to me, because I am actually conducting a very similar test.

    I created a website based solely off of the Indeed API, but focused it on a specific job niche. In my case, I chose clerical jobs -- i.e. my site is a clerical jobs search engine.

    I've been tracking stats related to this test since it's launch:
    Live Case Study: The case of 300,000 pages and counting. | The Man Who Sold the Web Blog

    I'm into my 4th week now and just started to monetize the site mid last week.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tiptopcat
    Excellent story.

    It is always good to hear people making extra money on the side from completely unexpected sources.

    Good luck with it.

    Tiptopcat
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  • Profile picture of the author armyants
    Hi doorkicker13,
    Great Idea Thank you for sharing.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Hessler
    Sitting waiting for a plane and after starting yesterday I put the site up etc. Now put an indeed YT video up on site.

    I Need That Job › UNDER CONSTRUCTION

    All done whilst in transit and waiting to do a show. Not perfect, and will delve into it more, own video, etc etc...

    Haven't figured out payments as yet but will do.

    James
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  • Profile picture of the author Claire Sharp
    Your idea really make sense. Endless possibilities in terms of making money is pretty true. I wonder why there are still people doesn't know what to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Surferjock87
    Sounds like a neat idea! Keep us updated with progress. Now this is what you call inspiring.

    Anybody know how you get paid? If someone searches a job through your website are you getting paid per vist, click, lead, per signup, or resume posting, or if someone gets successfully hired? And is this cents thats being paid that will addup over time due to many people? Am a bit confused
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    • Profile picture of the author raindog308
      Originally Posted by Surferjock87 View Post

      Sounds like a neat idea! Keep us updated with progress. Now this is what you call inspiring.

      Anybody know how you get paid? If someone searches a job through your website are you getting paid per vist, click, lead, per signup, or resume posting, or if someone gets successfully hired? And is this cents thats being paid that will addup over time due to many people? Am a bit confused
      According to indeed.com: "Your visitors will click the job listing link and go from your site to an Indeed landing page. Once there, if the visitor clicks on one of the sponsored job posts or keyword sponsors then you will generate affiliate revenue."
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  • Profile picture of the author keleli
    Thats great man, let me check out that site see if i can reep any benefits, otherwise thanks and congratulations on your progress.
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    • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
      I just submitted a press release so we'll see if that has any impact.
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      • Profile picture of the author celente
        Originally Posted by doorkicker13 View Post

        I just submitted a press release so we'll see if that has any impact.
        Press releases are good, but i have found that you cant make it sound liek and ad.

        Gotta make it sound like a news story and come from an angle that makes people.

        1) Curious

        2) Interested to find out more.

        If you can do this, you will have a winner. I normally get a professional writer to do this for me. However they are right here in the WF. Cool ey?
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        • Profile picture of the author doorkicker13
          Originally Posted by celente View Post

          Press releases are good, but i have found that you cant make it sound liek and ad.

          Gotta make it sound like a news story and come from an angle that makes people.

          1) Curious

          2) Interested to find out more.

          If you can do this, you will have a winner. I normally get a professional writer to do this for me. However they are right here in the WF. Cool ey?
          This was my first, I'll see how it goes. If I can really get this site to take off with what I currently have in the works I'll surely be looking into some more official stuff.
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