Have domain and tired of learning the hard way.

If you're committed to using the domains that you've already tinkered around with, I would study the sites that rank highest in Google for your target keywords. If it's a big corporate site, chances are they are tracking offers and conversions, so what they're doing on the site in terms of monetization is likely working well for them. If you see the same offers prominently placed on multiple successful sites that are targeting your keywords, I would definitely try and replicate what they are doing and use the same offers.

Hi,

I have been in your situation!
Doing clients projects and keeping own projects in back burner for years...

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You know as I have highlighted above... You have given important clues already.

1. You need to take a piece of paper, and write the GOALS and Direction for
this project/domain/site you want to build. Why you want to build it,
what are the goals... and what direction you want to take it.

What are first few steps... then list those steps..and then just do them
one by one.... plan the list of tasks every week, and then knock those tasks
out the list everyday whenever you get some time off from clients projects.

2. You do not like writing own content, outsource it to a writer, simple and cheap solution. Do not kill yourself, your time, and your energies to produce average content with so high tension from your side.... simply outsource it to some writer...and in that time get your clients projects done, so you make more money after paying to writer from the same time...

3. You need to take risk.. you need to be willing to put work into the project FREE of cost, before somebody guarantee you any returns.... as a business man you get profits because you take risk in the first place...

Now being a freelance worker for others, we tend to be very realistic, and associate work hours with money we earn. As we do work only when clients pay us. It is very hard to convince us to work free of cost on our own projects, but we have it, that is what enterprenurship is, you have to take risk ....before you earn profits.

Nobody can tell you in advance that if you will make money from your projects.
Even you cannot tell this..unless you do some work, test the model..and start from there..
only some effort, and some results in the end..will tell the truth...

In the end, i suggest you take it easy, and small baby steps. Make list of small goals,
make list of small steps to achieve those goals for the site... do those tasks (yeah you have to do it with the risk of wasting labor, but just do it to know the final truth), see
the results..and then again set new goals, new steps to be taken... so on...

You have to keep going for some time, without worrying about return on work, on your
own projects... until you start seeing the results. Maybe your first project do not break even. But keep going.. maybe it is your second project which make you the profits you
have never dreamed off in your service business. You have to do it before you know it.

Wishing you Best of Luck with your Own Projects!
Best regards,
Mohsin Rasool

I'm confused about what you're really asking. Are you starting out with the website in a particular niche (and domain) but without a product to promote? I'm concerned you may have the whole thing backwards.

Typically, you select a niche (let's say dog training), then you do keyword research to find some good, not-too-competitive keywords that you can base some content on, THEN you develop your website and find products to promote.

OR, you might find product(s) to promote earlier, right after selecting that broad niche. Then do keyword / domains, then website building.

Does this help, or did I completely misunderstand??

I can't tell what it is that you are focusing on - and I suspect you may have the same problem.

If I were you, I would pick-a-horse. Take a single domain, or single method of driving traffic( i.e. SEO or PPV or PPC or whatever) or a single niche or a single tactic (i.e. list building) - and focus 'like a laser beam' - build one tiny bit of success in one of those areas - keep your goals simple. 1 opt-in, or 1 email/zip sale or whatever the case may be. But MASTER that first step.

Then set the bar a little higher, just a little. Then build that next *small* success. I think I know how you feel because your story feels a bit familiar. I picked a single thing at first that I wanted to succeed with before I moved to the next - after years of wasting time and money.

In my case, I picked CPA. I found a cheap traffic source ( 7search ) and some offers (peer fly, maxbounty, never blue) - and just built tiny little small 5 dollar campaigns until I got one profitable. I didn't make much, BUT I was in the black. Then went a little bigger and little bigger.

Once I felt good about that, I turned to list building.

Anyway, I hope this helps, it's a VERY common problem, don't beat yourself up. You are an action taker it sounds like - so focus small and simple - it will happen!

Good Luck