Synergy Between Projects
My friend Kyle recently mentioned the Niche Site Challenge and I in his podcast, Troublesome Radio. He was referring to this post, in which I talked about a big mistake I’ve made: random niche sites and projects everywhere. Kyle’s thoughts are spot on: it’s much better to have synergy between your projects. It’s easier in terms of:
- Research
- Writing
- Traffic
- Customer Retention
- Brainpower
His examples – Thisistrouble.com and Ukraineliving.com – are good examples of this. He writes about travel on his main site and then sends traffic down a funnel for more specific Ukraine-based posts on Ukraine Living.
Kyle can link freely from his main site to his other sites in this way, because Ukraine Living is relevant to a portion of his followers. Now, it won’t be relevant to everyone, but the linking isn’t egregious; nobody is going to care if he links to a relevant site, they just won’t follow it.
In comparison, the problem with random niche sites is that – for example – I couldn’t link to mine in this way. I have some food-based websites (more on that in a minute) and I’ve never spoken about food on this site at all. If I suddenly said, “Hey… check out my site about whisky!” you’d probably think, “What the hell has Whisky got to do with copywriting?”
Some of my copywriting friends would say it’s crucial, but that says more about them that it does me. (By the way, I don’t have a whisky site.)
This is a lost opportunity for linking, and when you manage more than a couple of sites, it adds up. Not as much as the time commitment though; Kyle can write a review about dating in Ukraine, for instance, and have the essence of two articles for his two sites. This means more material in less time. It also confers other benefits; If a promotion strategy works for one site, it’ll work for both. If you market for one site, you’ll have a trickle-down effect. So on and so forth.
Anyway, this article isn’t about whining. The great thing about niche sites is that they’re good for making these mistakes and learning.
If you’re in a similar situation, then here are some things to consider.
Widening Your Authority Site
I’ve already written about how I’m fixing the unrelated niche sites before; in the link I posted above and also in this article on Diworsification.
However, listening to Kyle’s podcast clicked another idea into my head: If you’re thinking, “But my site is targeted and doesn’t relate to other niches!” then maybe a solution is to widen your main authority sites.
For instance, this site is about copywriting. I talk about niche sites, writing books and the like, but it’s all about applications of writing.
Now, I could build niche sites in those sorts of avenues. Some would probably be quite good, especially if I went the info-product route and wrote books on those targeted subjects.
But I could also widen what I talk about here as well. I’ve thought about this in the past, but couldn’t quite think of an angle. In reality, I’m not just a writing machine. I have other interests outside of writing. I could introduce those. (Obviously in a controlled manner – I wouldn’t just write an article about doing my washing or anything.)
This would make a) this site more interesting, b) provide opportunities for linking with other sites, and c) probably increase the value to the site’s readers and draw new ones in. (Although I’d have to get a lot smarter about organising the site.)
If you have a blog/authority site, then you might want to consider this. I’m not sure if I’ll do it, but it’s worth considering. Again, compare my site to Kyle’s – he talks about a vast range of subjects; travel, lifestyle, business, dating.
Whilst I don’t recommend starting a lifestyle blog, you don’t have to stick to one subject forever.
Related Niche Sites
If you have a bunch of random niche sites, it might be worth trying to connect the dots. Say you have a couple of food sites, a couple of sports sites and a couple of travel websites. If you’ve written for all of those projects and have at least a passing interest in those subjects, then chances are there’s a reason for it.
- Maybe you got into juicing because you’re trying to lose weight to be a better runner.
- Perhaps you’ve travelled to China because you’re learning Kung Fu.
Humans aren’t random creatures. Patterns abound everywhere. Chances are that your reasons for engaging in particular projects – even if seemingly random – have a connection between them.
Find that connection between your projects; and not just niche sites; books, business and whatever else counts. Then you can either link the projects in reality – through authority sites or simply your name as a brand – or you can link them spiritually to create more cohesion.
Now, if you don’t already have dozens of niche sites, then simply pick related topics and save yourself the trouble of doing this step. Even if you create less projects to start with, you’ll generate more ideas as you go along.
Streams Of Income
If you’re like me, then a big part of the reason you have a ton of different project ideas is that you get bored easily. I’ve got to admit this is a major failing, and the fact I can product thousands of words a day has masked this for a long time.
On the internet, we talk about building multiple streams of revenue all the time.
If you’re going to have dozens of projects, you might as well concentrate on creating multiple streams of income from the same topic as opposed to talking about different topics all the time.
For instance, you can start a niche site.
Then if you get bored, you can use the same information to write a quick how-to guide.
When you next get bored, you can make a podcast, sell T-shirts or create a course. You can keep stacking the different revenue streams and stave off boredom with different formats as opposed to different subjects.
Interestingly – and I’ve just thought of this – this approach also makes it easier to expand your business with freelancers.
I’ve had terrible experiences trying to hire out writing projects to others. That’s probably because I’m a writer and have a particular way of doing things that clash with other writers.
When you’re changing the format of a piece, it’s a different experience to creating new material. So where it might be implausible that you’d hire out the writing of a book, you could easily give a bunch of already written material to a freelancer and say, “Turn this material into a book.” It’d be more cost-effective, quicker and you’d still be using the same material.
Anyway, I’m veering well off the beaten path now. Let’s conclude.
Final Thoughts
The great thing about online business, niche sites and writing is that you can test out all sorts of crazy ideas and see what sticks. However, if you indulge this too much, you’ll find that you’re creating more work for yourself with little gain.
It’s better to create projects which add to each other synergistically. In the long run, this will increase your profits, save you time and probably be better for your psychology as well.