Wednesday, February 24, 2016

How to Monetize Your Niche Website: Coaching Call #7 with Samara

Hey there…welcome back to another Niche Site Project 3 coaching call!  Today we finally started talking about how to actually make some cha-ching from your website.  This call was all about monetization strategies for your niche website, both short term and long term.

The reality is that there are lots of different ways to make money from a website.  However, it seems like the default answer for many people building websites is to just throw on Google Adsense or Amazon Associates and call it good.

So, before I led Samara down that default path, I wanted to discuss lots of other options that are out there including creating your own information products, software, or other methods of bringing in the mula.

Whether you have an existing site or are just creating one from scratch, hopefully this call will help you think about all the options available to you to monetize your website.

Samara’s Update…

What up everybody? It’s me again!

Spencer and I had our seventh coaching call about a topic that should pique everyone’s interest: monetization. He covered some of the main strategies, both short- and long-term, and it was all very exciting.

First he talked briefly about creating your own product. If not for Niche Site Project 3, I don’t know if it’s something I would have even considered, but it actually makes a ton of sense. You have greater control over a product you create and you have much better margins.

Affiliate marketing is what I think about first when talking about monetization. Spencer gave a quick demo for inserting Amazon affiliate links, and gave two real-world examples of websites that are doing affiliate marketing extremely well, which is great to have as both a reference and as inspiration.

Of course, there are many ways to become an affiliate. Spencer spoke about Adsense as being a great and profitable option. This was news to me, as I had thought that it was quite hard to make any real money using that method. Oh how wrong I was! Turns out Spencer has had massive success with Adsense and, shockingly, he said that in many cases Adsense will be more profitable than Amazon!

We looked at a few examples of websites using Adsense, some more aggressively than others, but it was a great exercise because now I understand a little bit better how it works and how it should look. Spencer also said that it doesn’t necessarily make sense to use Adsense on every site, and that it’s something you need to test. I would be really interested in learning how to test that out: how do you figure out the best size and placement of the ads? Is it just a question of trial and error, or is there a strategy?

We also took a quick look at CPA, which is cost per acquisition. I don’t think it makes much sense for my website at the moment (or maybe it does and I just don’t realize it yet), but anyway it’s great to learn about another monetization method for future sites.

Spencer went into a little more depth about creating your own product, whether it’s software, services, or a physical product. I can think of a whole bunch of potential products that might work in my niche, and like Spencer said, you can see which articles are getting the most traffic and earnings and then consider private labeling a related product.

I also have to sign up for an email provider and work out an opt-in form for my site. I’ve never done this before. I bet it’s a pretty great feeling when people sign up to receive your content or newsletter. I can’t even imagine what that’s like; it still feels like that’s a long way off at the moment. I love the idea of building a community of people that I might be able to help in some way.

Well, I better not dawdle any longer. I have to get to brainstorming product ideas and adding affiliate links. At the moment, I am living and breathing content creation as I try to get as many articles up as possible. It’s actually taking a lot longer than I expected, but it’s rewarding once you see the site start to take shape. I better sign off then, I have lots to do!

Coaching Call Video


Outline of the Coaching Call

Coaching Call 7: How to Monetize Your Site

Project Overview

1.Brainstorm general market/niche ideas

2.Pick a niche through keyword sampling and site Doppelgangers

3.Begin In-depth keyword research (find hundreds of low competition keywords to create content on)

4.What problem is your site solving? How will your site stand out?

5.Domain, Theme, Logo, Voice, and more to help build a brand

6.Develop a long term content strategy

7.Writing and publishing content

8.Monetization strategy: short and long term (possible product ideas)

9.Getting noticed: Outreach, PR, and Linkable Assets

10.Social Media strategies

11.Maximizing revenue through list building

12.Paid traffic strategies

13.Long Term strategies to continue growing

Assignment Follow Up

How to Monetize a Website

Sell Your Own Products – most profitable; long term strategy

  • Information
  • Software
  • Physical Products
  • Services

As an Affiliate – short term strategy

  • Google Adsense
  • Amazon Associates
  • CPA offers
  • Thousands of other affiliate programs

Amazon Associates Examples

  • theWireCutter.com
    • Detailed reviews
    • Image affiliate links
    • Text affiliate links
    • Links open in new window
  • BabyGearLab.com
    • Comparison Charts
    • Image affiliate links
    • Text affiliate links
    • Links open in new window

Google Adsense Examples

CPA/Lead Offers

Creating Your Own Products

Build an Email List

  • Most Profitable = Build a community, keep them engaged, sell products to that community.
  • Easiest way to stay engaged in with an email list.
  • You can start for free with MailChimp.com
  • Aweber is about $20/mth – good solution

Assignments for Call 7

  • Add affiliate links to your existing content (short term strategy)
  • Brainstorm 3 products ideas you could sell to your niche
    • Information?
    • Physical Products?
    • Other?
  • Sign up for an Email provider
  • Get an Opt In form on your site

The post How to Monetize Your Niche Website: Coaching Call #7 with Samara appeared first on Niche Pursuits.



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