Niche Site Saturday Week 39
It’s Week 39 of the Niche Site Challenge.
Everything is progressing, as it does on a slow but steady basis. I’m sure you all know what the Niche Site Challenge is by now, so I’ll jump right into what I’ve done followed by some thoughts about random niche site stuff.
What Have I Done This Week?
Slowly but surely, all of my sites are switching over to HTTPS using SSL certificates. The niche sites don’t really need it so I’m in no hurry, but the certificates will help in the end.
I’ve spent today writing ten articles for a niche site which currently has two articles sitting on it. Someone actually offered to buy the domain. I said “no” because I’d sat and planned the articles out for the whole year already. That said, it gives me a good feeling because it must be worth something if someone is willing to pay for what essentially amounts to an empty site.
I’m writing everything out on paper at the moment, so progress is slower than usual as I have to type everything out afterwards. That said, I’m spending less time in front of a screen, I get distracted less and I think my health is improving for it.
In total, I’ve written about fourteen articles this week for niche sites, though I finished another four that I’d started the week before.
Random Thoughts: Most Stuff IS Inter-Related
Last week, I wrote about the fact that I’d written about lots of unrelated topics. This made everything more difficult because of a lack of transfer of knowledge, not being able to cross-pollinate materials across multiple sites.
Whilst those things are true and you should try and write in niches which are related (because your knowledge through to your actual words go further) you can also look at it from another point of view.
Most topics can be related if you try hard enough. This week, I’ve tried to connect the dots as far as some of my sites go, and you’d be surprised where crossover exists.
Here’s a made-up example:
You might have two niche sites. One is perfume for women, and another could be go-karting.
You might not think there’s any overlap – and I’m actually going to struggle here because those are stupid examples, but let’s prove a point.
- Best fragrance that lasts through rugged exercise
- Fragrances that evoke an adventurous spirit
- How to take your girl on an interesting (go-karting) date (and what present to bring her)
- How to appear feminine whilst doing action-movie somersaults in your go kart
Those are mostly terrible, but they’re examples of how subjects can overlap and intersect at different points. Let’s say you had more time on your hands and even slightly related subjects; you could do this quite easily.
For instance, a camping website and a travel website will sync up nicely. A website about learning to cook will probably work with a style website or a fitness website easily. So too would a style for girls and style for guys pair of niche sites.
You Can Always Go Bigger
I have a new freelance client. He creates websites for a living. Some are niche sites, some are bigger sites. Some start as niche sites and get bigger.
Naturally, I asked him about his projects and what I was doing in the context of his wider project. What he said blew my mind a bit.
Across all of his websites, he (or, his team) is publishing twenty-thousand words a day. A day.
I think that the Niche Site Challenge is a case of me biting off more than I can chew, but then there are people who are creating vast online empires on a scale that make mine look a bit ridiculous in their tameness.
I pass this thought on because there’ll probably be people out there who read that and have the same reaction I did.
You can always think bigger, even with small sites.
Final Thoughts
With that inspirational message, it’s time to wrap up this week’s edition of the Niche Site Challenge.
As always, let me know your thoughts, feelings and experiences in the comments.
P.S. Special Thanks to Matt, who last week offered to help me with SSL transfer stuff. I managed on my own, but the offer was much appreciated!