The Niche Website Challenge
I don’t normally make posts talking about how I plan to do something; there’s little value in it because I haven’t actually done it.
However, today I’m going to make an exception because I’ve had a great idea running through my head for a few weeks, I’ve just finished writing a book as of last night (so I haven’t got any outstanding work to do) and I can feel a migraine coming on, so I’m not really in the mood to write anything too taxing. (You might be wondering why I don’t just not post – I’ve got a daily streak of posts going that’s nearly one-third of the year long. I’m not going to break the chain!)
The Niche Site Challenge
As regular readers will know, I’m a big fan of the website 30daystox.com. I started freelance writing after taking Robert (the site owner) did a short course on it. Seeing as that course was probably the biggest return on investment I’ve ever had on anything, whenever Rob talks about another business idea, I try it out. Some things work – freelance writing, niche sites, some things I haven’t gotten to work. (I couldn’t get the T-shirt idea thing to work because I couldn’t find a unique thing to do with it.)
Anyway, if you guys have got favourite business sites or whatever, you should probably try doing what I do which is just trying new ideas out. You’ll probably win more often than you lose.
Anyway, a few weeks back, Rob said some things on Twitter which caught my attention:
Rob is suggesting that you could make more than doctor from working two hours a day on niche sites with the goal of them earning $500 a month. When I first read these, the usual weasel thoughts came into my head; “That sounds like a huge amount of money” and “most websites don’t earn anything like that” and “If it were that easy, everyone would do it.”
Of course, weasel thoughts are there to stop us from trying anything. The only way to find out whether the statement “You could build a few niche sites earning $500 a month and earn more than a doctor within a year” is true is to do it.
Here are some rules:
- No advertising
- No product creation (This’ll be a challenge for me)
- Just basic copywriting (i.e. sales letters etc.) and basic SEO (so, on-site SEO and natural linking, I guess.)
The Niche Site Challenge: More Guidelines
Robert suggested that you should do two hours a day on one site, then rotate that through the week until you’re three months in, then start another seven sites and do that four times throughout the year until you have twenty-eight. The twenty-eight are started with the aim of earning $500 a month each.
$500 x 28 = $14000 a month. Or, $168000 a year. That’s the “More than a doctor figure.”
In glorious old England (Happy St. George’s Day, by the way!) that’s about £116k per annum. A lot more than a doctor here makes!
Niche Site Challenge: Get To The Point Jamie, What Are You Doing?
Firstly, I don’t think that I’m going to do seven for three months then start over again. Instead, I’m going to plan twenty-eight and then dedicate a couple of hours a day on whichever ones I feel like.
Regardless, for anyone playing along, let’s just say this:
The Niche Site Challenge Rules Are As Follows
- We’re going to spend two hours a day on building niche websites. (No more than that.)
- We’re going to aim to have twenty-eight completed by the end of the year. (I’m starting on May 1st to give myself an extra week because why not.)
- We’re going to be aiming for $500 in income per site.
- We’ll follow the rules above: No advertising, no product creation.
That’s it really. When I say, “We” I mean that that’s what I’m going to attempt. Nobody else has to read this, do this or pay any attention.
Why Are You Doing A Niche Site Challenge?
There are a few reasons that I’m doing it. Firstly, it’ll give me something to write about. I’m thinking that I’ll update everyone on the topic once a week. Maybe I’ll call it “Niche Site Saturday” or something.
Secondly, there’s nothing quite like an unrealistic goal to get you moving. Starting a niche site is pretty realistic, starting twenty-eight and having them be successful is a bit more ambitious.
Thirdly, we get to scientifically provide reasonable data that answers the question, “Can you make more money than a doctor with simple niche sites and a couple of hours a day?” Obviously, I hope the answer is yes.
Fourthly, if the answer to the above question is “yes” then I’ll have loads more money. Who doesn’t want to earn more than a high-earning career person?
Fifthly, if you’re a writer then it ties into the skills you’ve already got. If you read this site and think, “I’d like to try some of these ideas out but I don’t know what to do with this stuff” then this is going to provide a concrete goal so you can see how everything I talk about fits together.
Sixthly, I get to both compete with myself and compete with others. The idea that I’m going to fail and build 3 websites which make a grand total of $12 a year between them is pretty horrid – I can feel it in my gut already, and nothing has happened yet.
Finally, there’s the “Why not?” aspect to it. I figure that 28 domains will cost me $10 each, so the whole project will cost me $280. That’s not a significant amount of money. Two hours a day is a significant amount of time when you add it up, but it’ll save me from sitting around doing nothing for two hours.
I suppose I should also mention that the niche site challenge probably make me a better writer, businessman and person, but we’ll see.
Final Thoughts
Consider this the mission statement and first entry into the “Niche Site Challenge” or “Niche Site Saturday” collection. To summarise:
A guy on the internet said you could make more money than a doctor by building niche sites in two hours a day. The guidelines are to build twenty-eight of them over the course of a year. The rules are that a) you have to do it and b) just niche sites. No product creation, no advertising. Just you and your sales letter writing ability against the world.
You’re free to join in or think “This guy is ludicrous” or both. If you do decide you want to join in, leave a comment though so we can spur each other on (and so I won’t feel like a lone crazy man.)