Laying it on the line and looking for advice

5 replies
Hello All,

I am new to the Warrior Forum, actually I am using my husband's account here to ask these questions. See he has been helping me with my first website so he is the one who joined this forum as a means of assisting me to gain more knowledge about internet marketing.

I am laying things on the line here and looking for you all to give me some advice about some burning questions I have about my site and where we should go from here.

Based on the knowledge that we have gained along the way I know that my site is not a true "niche" site because my categories are varied in nature. We have been told from the beginning that you should start a site based on your passion. Therein lies my problem. I don't just have one passion, I have more than one "passion" that I truly enjoy writing about. Is it feasible to have a variety of topics on one site or should I make different sites based on each passion?

The site is fairly new, it has been up and running for about 3 months now. We try to learn new things to help us everyday. We have not gotten our first sale yet and the traffic to the site is not very heavy. Any pointers in this department? We would greatly appreciate it.

I know from reading over my husband's shoulder that the advice given here is both sound and helpful. If you would like to take a look at the site the url is:
womenshomeactivities.com

Thanks for giving me this opportunity,
mrs. newby31
#advice #laying #line
  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    The reason you are told to find something to be passionate about is
    because it sucks to do stuff that bores you... however - if you
    are in it for money you must make sure there are buyers out there
    in sufficient number to make it worthwhile to market to them.

    Most uncompetitive "niches" are that way because there is no
    money to be made marketing to them.

    Follow the money. It's all about people really. Take an interest
    in people and find out ways to make money doing it.
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    • Profile picture of the author Colorado Deb
      I popped over and checked out your blog - and I agree with Loren about first needing to identify a market who is looking for what you are offering.

      It looks like you are wanting to use affiliate marketing on your blog - discussing certain topics and/or products and then referring people to a product or service.

      I did some keyword research around your title terms, and nothing much came up in the way of people looking for those words - at least they weren't using those terms much in the search boxes. Then I headed to the hot tub (a great place to ponder) and thought about it a bit more.

      I started wondering what the goal was of your site - whom do you expect to be looking for information such as you provide, and what are you offering them that has great value once they find you?

      If I were looking for activities to do at home (other than my internet stuff!), I very probably would already have some ideas about what I enjoy doing. Perhaps gardening -- you have a post or two related to gardening on your blog. But if I were interested in learning more about gardening, and buying gardening information and products, I'd want to find a site that offers more information, in more depth, about my topic of interest.

      And I probably wouldn't be all that interested in seeing posts about teaching my child reading and Father's Day Gift ideas.

      I think you hit it on the head with your question - can you lump all of your interests into one blog (and make money)?

      My opinion (and remember - this is just an opinion) is that you are better off if you pick one market or topic and start there - and create a site or blog focused on each.

      You might do some research within your various interests and pick a market or niche that has lots of people looking for the information or products, they can't find it free with a Google search, and there aren't millions of competing pages already out there on the web. And start with one market or niche with its own site or blog.

      Then provide info of great value - product review sites might be just the ticket for you, but be real about it. Buy and use the products you review. And do real reviews. Then you can provide your affiliate links to the various products you are reviewing.

      Remember to use opt-in forms or boxes to collect the names and email addresses of people who are interested in the products for each market (use a reliable autoresponder service). Standard practice is to give subscribers an 'ethical bribe' in return for their contact information - maybe a special report in their area of interest, a how-to video, etc. That way you can follow up with them and offer them other related products and services.

      With more of us baby-boomers entering retirement age every day, we'll probably be looking for ways to have more fun, save time and frustration, and expand our areas of interest.

      Best of luck!
      Deb
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  • Profile picture of the author billionareHuman
    It's great you have a passion for a variety of topics.

    I would create a different site for each passion so each one can be more focused you can also build a community and newsletter better this way otherwise you would have to try and segment your list all the time if it were all on one site.

    As well as having 3 sites you are not putting all your 'eggs in one basket' if one site fails or doesn't make much money another one can take off and you can really profit.
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  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    Passionate?

    The one thing that is lacking on your site is PASSION!

    There is nothing on the site that indicates that you have any interest in any of the subjects whatsoever - in fact it looks like any other site that has the prime purpose of putting adverts in front of people.

    Just as an idea. look at your article on gift ideas for Fathers' day. It's nothing but a sales fest. Buy this. Buy that. Offer this. Offer that and so on.

    Why is there nothing about getting involved with the kids and planning something special for Dad? Why not something as simple as planning a special Fathers' day meal and getting everybody involved? What about encouraging the kids to create their own cards with their own messages in them? What about planning a surprise day out while 'kidding' dad on that you want him to take you to the shopping centre? There are so many little ways that dads can be really made to feel special - and you don't mention one!

    Your whole site is doomed to fail because there is nothing on it to engage a visitor. A picture or two would be nice. A headline that attracts and intrigues would be nice. Try - Don't come between a woman and her Mantis Tiller!
    Signature

    You might not like what I say - but I believe it.
    Build it, make money, then build some more
    Some old school smarts would help - and here's to Rob Toth for his help. Bloody good stuff, even the freebies!

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  • Profile picture of the author Profnet
    When it comes to multiple topics promoted on the same website, you run into the challenge of looking like a Jack of all Trades and a Master of None (or as I have told some clients, looking like you are holding a garage sale). Plus, the free tools that you have available online (like search engines) don't work so well when there are too many subjects in one location.

    If you've got subjects of passion (or interest or knowledge), you will far better with separate websites per topic. You will have a greater chance of driving the "right" traffic that way - which you need for online business success.

    Respectfully,

    Nancy Roebke
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