Where Are You? and So They Ask
I’ve been receiving emails from people who cares about me and wanted to know if I would still write for TSB or what had I actually been doing.
Thank you. I’m well and alive so is the blog.
First of all, I’d like to express my sincere gratitude to our team of associate writers who has contributed awesome contents and kept the community alive.
Kudos to you, guys.
And also a huge thank to everyone who is still very supportive of TSB.
How can I not thank you too? You guys are an equally awesome bunch of people.
Where have I been?
For the last couple of months, apart from ghost writing and doing other freelance works, I’ve been investing my time and efforts into building a portfolio of niche sites to generate passive income streams.
For the uninformed, a niche site is a specialized, highly-focused site that has been narrowed down to a specific market with a very specific target audience.
Just to give you some ideas, for instance, weight loss IS a broad yet hugely popular market. Narrow it down to weight loss surgery, you’ve got a niche. Zoom it further and you’ll find a narrower niche such as laparoscopic weight loss surgery waiting to be tapped
And there’s where the real money lies.
How It All Started?
It all started when I ghostwrote for a couple of people who built niche sites that sorta piqued my curiosity and not too long thereafter, Garry Conn came into the picture whom I first learned how rewarding and profitable niche blogging is.
It soon dawned upon me that there was a huge earning potential of building niche sites for passive income streams. The central focus of which is to make the most money from Adsense (and affiliate products) with the most targeted traffic from search engines.
It’s all about quality traffic vs quantity.
The niche blogging strategy is very straightforward. First, find a niche market with profit potential that isn’t already over-saturated with competition. Identify a list of related keywords that people are searching for and then create keyword rich content that is optimized for each one of those keywords.
And dominate it.
If you are on the first page of Google, you’ve got the job.
If you are on the first 3, you’re on probation.
Anything beyond, you’re fired!
Once your first niche site is successful, rinse and repeat the process and move on to next one.
The Best Way to Make Money Online
Yes, niche blogging is profitable.
A typical niche site might only earn $10-30 a week but at that rate, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the earnings potential of 100 niche sites.
The beauty of it is that it requires little or no updating unless it’s necessary.
Garry Conn is said to be having a whopping 500 sites in his portfolio. Unbelievable? Believe it or not.
With that said, I spend the best part of my waking hour trying to uncover hidden gems that nobody else has exploited them yet or few have.
Truth is there are lots of untapped, unsaturated niches waiting to be discovered, the key is where and how to find them.
And we all know for a fact that there has never been a shortage of keyword research tools to choose from. Some of them are free while others (e.g. Micro Niche Finder) comes at a price. Each with its own set of pros and cons.
But if you are just at the beginning of your learning curve, it’s best to experiment with free tool (e.g. Google Adwords Keyword Tool) just to get your feet wet in the business of building niche sites for profit.
I’m by no mean an expert but I’ve learned a thing or two and if there is one ebook I wish I had when I first created my niche site is “digging for gold”
One Week Marketing Plan with its extremely powerful step-by-step to make money online.
No joke! Even the greenest of all newbies could benefit from One Week Marketing Plan. It’s almost the missing puzzle to making money online.
It’s not a one-fit-all answer to picking the best keywords to target but it’s good enough to open your eyes to the truth behind keyword analysis. Ideal for beginners if you ask me.
Niche Blogging isn’t for Everyone
Niche blogging could probably be the best way to make money online.
The possibility to make money online building niche sites is only limited by your own inaction. By the same token, niche blogging can grow your income by sheer possibilities.
A word caution though. This game is not for the weak at heart or those in haste but if you have all the time on your side (and an eye for details) to do your keyword research, it’s all worth the effort at the end of the day.
The only downside to it is that the process can be pretty mundane and repetitive. Furthermore you could be writing something you aren’t passionate about.
But hey, it’s all about business, is it not?
Honestly, I’m not saying that you need to drop everything you are passionate about now. Before you jump into the bandwagon, however, you need to weigh in the risks and rewards. It is not for everyone and it might not be the thing you love doing.
But in the world of internet marketing, the adage of “Do what you love, the money won’t necessarily follow” might just hold true.
Just ask Jennifer, better known as PotPieGirl – She is the creator of One Week Marketing Plan who makes $10,000+ a month from Clickbank alone.
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{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Yan
I see you are doing like a few other bloggers including myself. Venturing out to gain passive income from other ventures. I myself have ventured into affiliate marketing. It is time consuming but once the things are in place and receiving good traffic no need to look back.Only from time to time to add fresh content.
I can tell you one thing Yan. There are a lot of marketers that are in niches they are not passionate about. They just do them because they see the potential in the market there.
At the end of the day business in business.
Bruno Auger´s lastest post..Make Money Online Work
Well, you can’t take away affiliate marketing from the equation. Though picking one that converts well goes through quiet a bit of trials and errors.
And you are damn right too. It all boils down to the business of making money online.
Good to see ya, Bruno. It’s been a while since. Crossing over to your site now.
Yan
Yup
I am still lurking in the blog comments from time to time but not to much since the start of this year.
Nice that you’re still around too.
Bruno Auger´s lastest post..Make Money Online Work
Looks like my comment on your blog didn’t pass through Akismet…… ;(
Yan, you’ve got me intrigued. I’ve heard about niche marketing before but your post made it much clearer what it’s all about. Thanks for the info. I’m not sure I’ll do it but it’s good to know about!
Would you be able to provide some links to some of these niche sites (yours or others) so I can have a better idea of what a niche is all about? None of the links in this article are to the niches you’re talking about right? Just curious, not important though if you’d rather not give away the links. :)
Daphne´s lastest post..Do You Have A Personal Creed?
Hey Daphne
Yes, I don’t share it to the public. From what I’ve come to learn, it’s best not to create unnecessary competition.
But drop me an email and I’ll send you one or two. If you are keen, I’ll point you in the right direction….;)
Yan
Hey Yan,
Good to see your name to a post again. You’ve taught me by example. I am starting to have guest posts on some of my sites.
This is a great explanation of niche blog sites. While I have heard of the concept before you made it simple and clear.
Ned Carey´s lastest post..Great Marketing With a Sense of Humor!
Cool! How are you, Ned?
I’m sorry that I’ve not visited your site for quite a while now. In fact, I’ve not been commenting as much as I used to. Anyway, thanks for dropping by.
Thanks for stopping by now. Brilliant comment you left. You saw the opportunity where I didn’t. I don’t have time to help the guy but since you are building lots of sites you could.
Ned Carey´s lastest post..Great Marketing With a Sense of Humor!
I would if I were in the area. He is losing out to the competition if he remains offline. Some needs to give him a little nudge
and that someone is YOU.
How difficult it is to create a niche site on “toilet cleaning” anyway…… LOL
Yan
This is a great explanation of niche blog sites. Thanks for share.
clickktdotcom´s lastest post..What is Blogger professional?
Hey dude,
You’ve been leaving one line comments that don’t add to the conversation at all. Not only on this blog but a lot of other blogs as well.
Blog commenting is NOT all about link building. It’s the connection that matters more. Relationship isn’t built upon a simple, “Thanks for sharing.” You know what I mean?
I’m sure you can pretty much tell how unique your comment is…. ;) I just thought I’m doing you a favor by telling you so before anyone send yours to Akismet.
Yan
Hi Yan,
Thanks to visit my site.
By the way, I am actually looking to venture into niche marketing and found a tool from Jeff Johnson named “Affiliate traffic machine”, I was about to fall for it, but it is 147 dlls the first month and then 19.95 per month to continue using it.
Did you know about this tool? I really want to know if it really may work or just skip the marketing and do not buy.
I will be glad if you can help me with this
Thanks.
Luis
Marketing Business Review´s lastest post..Top Commentator Link Love – February 2009
Hey Luis
Yeah, I did know about it. If there is one thing I’m not comfortable with is the use of someone else’s contents on auto-pilot and the fact that you need to pay a premium price of $147 might be too much for beginners to swallow.
Luis, if you have the budget, invest in Micro Niche Finder. For a one-time payment of $67, you’ve got yourself a good deal.
What I like most about is that this program will sorta tell you which keyword has the most competition, therefore drop it and which you can go ahead with. It isn’t perfect but it’s much better than shooting in the dark.
Lastly, I’ve recommended a few “gurus” whom you can learn from on my article above. Stick with them and try to pick up a thing or two from them.
Let me know if I can be of any help and good luck with your niche marketing.
Yan
Hi Yan,
Yeah it seems too much, thats why I just stop it and look around for reviews about that product.
But how did you make the content if you use Micro Niche?
I also know about some free plugin for WP that fetch the content from other RSS, but haven´t found it yet, just heard of it.
But as you said, still not very confrotable using someone else´s content, seems like stealing.
I am still with a Full time job looking forward to fire my boss, pretty much like Peter Lee.
Luis
PS: I subscribed to your blog feed by email, just hope you continue updating this blog, even that I am not a complete newbie anymore, still something too learn about from you, like new discoverings.
Marketing Business Review´s lastest post..Top Commentator Link Love – February 2009
Luis,
I write my own contents. MNF will only point you to some articles based on your chosen keywords. You can then write (rewrite) your own. Yes, it can be time-consuming but then no one says it doesn’t come with a price.
It seems to me like you’re concerned about writing your own copy. In all honesty, I don’t recommend pulling someone else’s content and using it as your own. I did that before and I thought I could get away with it but Google is smarter than anyone think it is.
You see, it’s almost impossible to be on the first 3 pages of Google with duplicate contents. Unique is the way to go, period.
Oh, you can outsource your contents too if you desire so…and I’m sure you know where to find…. ;)
Yan
Well if you deliver such a nice post after break … than you should continue that. I was reading your post and it was like you are opening one layer by one layer.
Simply amazing one. But you should not disclosed this secret … lolllzzz ;) now people are busy to do niche based blogs and website …
ZK@Internet Marketing Blog´s lastest post..Tips to create a Squidoo lens and rank high on Google
LOL, probably you are right, ZK. I shouldn’t but this article is just a tip of the iceberg. There is more to it than meets the eye.
Yan
500 sites! Holy …
I am still not able to find time to maintain my two blogs. Btw, how do they generate passive income unless sustainable traffic is generated via frequent upgrades? Is the traffic coming via organic (search) means only?
Ajith | Blog Money´s lastest post..SEO – Link Building Series: Arrest Page Rank leak & Optimize Your WordPress Blog
Yeah, it took him 3 years to build up his portfolio and guess what? He doesn’t even need to update them all but only tweaking the un-performing sites for better SERPs.
And yes, it’s purely on organic traffic due to the power of super longtail keywords with very little competition.
Yan
But however Yan … tell us the format of his website and content. Every niche required some kind of updation to be in the competition.
May be in one week or in one month but some kind of updation is must. Plus link building and other things as well.
What’s your exactly meaning by this – “but only tweaking the un-performing sites for better SERPs.”
ZK@Internet Marketing Blog´s lastest post..Tips to create a Squidoo lens and rank high on Google
Not necessary true if you aren’t in a super competitive niche. Once you rank top in the SERPs, you will get links pretty easily since you become sort of like an ‘authority site’ for the rest of the blogs. Updates isn’t required unless you are targeting another new set of keywords.
What’s your exactly meaning by this – “but only tweaking the un-performing sites for better SERPs.”
I guess Yan means his own network of blogs if I am not wrong. =)
Wei Liang | Earn Money Online´s lastest post..Lesson 26: Affiliate Marketing (Part 3)
ZK,
You might be surprised that there are some (lots of) super tight niches that have very little competition. No link building is necessary so to speak.
By the way, when you have a portfolio of say 100 sites spread across different IPs, how difficult it is to do internal linking.
As for your last Q, here’s the thing, the way people are searching for a particular subject of interest or a product may change overtime or perhaps the affiliate products you carry do not convert well enough. These and many more often require some forms of maintenance.
As for the format, I’m afraid Garry has never shown any of his niche sites but he built them using WP.
Yan
I knew you were keeping busy Yan. Whilst niche sites seem profitable I just don’t have the time to do anything about it. At least with blogging it’s relaxing and I use it as a way to unwind. I reckon if I had to worry about setting up a whole lot of niche sites I would simple stress out, and that ain’t worth it.
Sire´s lastest post..Chitika The Mark Of A Good Affiliate
Probably when age catches up with me I could go back to blogging and use it as a way to unwind…… and start telling some jokes on videos too…… LOL
Yan
Why wait Yan, there is no time like the present for making a video.
Sire´s lastest post..In Search Of Fame And Glory
Still searching for my fame and glory, I guess…. ;)
Yan
I would almost pay to see a video of both of you together. How far are Malaysia and Australia from each other?
Brian D. Hawkins´s lastest post..If You Are Not Growing You Are Failing
Great going Yan. Well niche blogging is very profitable – true. But as you said patience is the virtue in finding a profitable niche.
Make Money Online´s lastest post..How To Get Top Ranking In Google
Are you kidding? You are way ahead of me in that respect. Perhaps all it would take to seal your fate and bring you all that you are seeking in that one sting in front of a camcorder, and they your name will be up in lights forever more. Just imagine all those screaming young girls who will want you to link with them. ;)
Sire´s lastest post..In Search Of Fame And Glory
If I really seal my fate this way, the other significant half of me will certainly *seal* my fate. No question about it.
Unless the girls keep their voices soft and sweet……;)
Oops, I forgot about the other half. In that case you better give those girls a miss, no matter how sweet they are.
Sire´s lastest post..Chitika The Mark Of A Good Affiliate
Thanks for the update Yan !
I am glad everything is fine with you, and I am happy that your business is growing ! Cheers for that !
The Moneyac
The Moneyac´s lastest post..16 Interesting Internet Facts You Should Know About
Hey pal,
Thanks for being ever so supportive. Good to see you too.
Yan
I Agree with your comment about benefit of log tail benefit.I am newbie here and just about a week using hittail to combine with my next blogging content ,and XML site maps publishing.,So far I follow ,TSB for couple of thread.hence since i found similar idea here.I will be here more often and I congratulate for your team.You had done great job already
Welcome to the community. If there is anything we can help, you know where to find us.
Yan
Yan,
What do you do to promote the sites? You said it is through organic searches. Do you do a lot of link building? How do you do that. It would seem if your are commenting a lot, Your competition would discover your niches.
Ned Carey´s lastest post..Great Marketing With a Sense of Humor!
Ned
It depends on how tight and highly focused your niche is. If you are not on the first 3 pages, link building is necessary.
See my reply to ZK above.
Oh, you know what? The competition arises ONLY when they stop taking in too many and start taking action.
And most don’t.
Yan
Good to see ya buddy, are you “back”?
Nice choice btw, I’ll be joining you and Garry soon enough. He is after all a great go to guy for niche blogging skills. ;)
Dennis Edell´s lastest post..Best “Blog Improvement Review” Contest – 1 Winner – $100 via Paypal
Dennis
I didn’t go anywhere. I’m always around….. ;)
You just don’t see me commenting a lot these days – using my own name…. ;)
Yan, I saw some of your guest posts on other sites, and I do really love it. Anyway, about this one, I guess I would rather take the risk of it than doing nothing.
Hey Ron
Good to know that you aren’t “doing nothing”. You’ve got a pretty cool niche too on your blog.
Thanks for dropping by and welcome to TSB.
Yan
Thanks for the welcome Yan. Thanks also for the blog visit.
Hi Yan
I was first introduced to the idea of niche sites on Gary’s blogs. Since I am a newbie, I wish I could see what one looks like. Also, how are they monetized? With Adsense? Thank you for sharing your insights.
Hey JL
Yup, Garry is the man you can follow and learn. If I’m not mistaken, he has a membership area where you can learn, perhaps, everything there is to building niche sites.
Oh, by the way, thanks for the short review on your blog. I wanted to thank you but somehow I’m required to login to comment. Did you set it that way on purpose?
Yan
Hi Yan
No I did not set it up that way on purpose. This is my first time with a paid host, and I still don’t quite understand how to set everything up yet. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck with the niche sites. I noticed that both you and Gary recommend that Micro Niche Finder. I went to that other link you recommended about “Digging for Gold” and listened to his video. He said he didn’t use any tools.Do you think if you didn’t buy the Micro Niche Finder you would be a lot less successful? Good luck with your new venture.
J. L. Jacobsen´s lastest post..Blogging on Blog Design Blog
Hey JL
Good to see that you’ve made it easy for your readers to comment.
Now pertaining to your question on Micro Niche Finder, it really depends on whether you’re willing to “trial and error”.
Choosing what keywords to target on is easy, studying how those keywords stack up against the competition is where MNF comes into the picture.
In simplicity, it tells you how strong or weak the competition is. A time-saver if you ask me.
So you decide if it’s worth your investment. I’m not trying to sell you anything here but if you ask me whether you should buy it, the answer is positive.
Good luck!
Yan
The one thing I love about your blog is that you really take the time to talk to commenters… Hope I get a little note too..LOL Anyway, it made me a bit sad about the thing you said that “money won’t necessarily follow, even if you love what you do”.
Tuesday´s lastest post..March Madness Promotions – Get Free Ipods!
LOL, perhaps if you take the time to read that article I wrote, you’ll understand that “doing what you love blindly“, at times, might not lead you to where the money is……..
Thanks for dropping by, Leslie.
I made my first niche site in October..and it could possibly sell for over 5 Grand now..awesome..I will be niche blogging more.
Meji – 365hustle.com´s lastest post..February Earnings Report – 365Hustle.
sometimes i having difficult to make niche blog sites but i will learn more to try make niche blog sites.and i want to feel what different between niche blog and not niche blog.thank you Yan
joe comp´s lastest post..Win A MacBook Air On Twitter
Thanks Yan, I have been learning a lot since i discovered TSB. I am still new in niche blogging, but I think it takes practice to make perfect. Thank you for all your tips, as they are very useful. And yes, checked out potpiegirl. Your blog is so successful, a lot of people seem to look out for your posts. Sharing is indeed good, being generous at heart is exemplary. Cheers!
I’m trying my luck on niche blogging .
Paul U´s lastest post..How to choose an affiliate program for your site?
Like Dennis, I’m going to start following you and Garry soon. I didn’t realize you were writing your own content. As time consuming as that must be I think that’s the best way to go about it. Time isn’t on my side but multiple sources of income is a must in internet marketing. I already watched the majority of my online income instantly once. That was a valuable lesson to create multiple steams of income like you are doing.
Yes, Brian. For the most part, I write my own contents. I’ve experimented with auto-retrieval content software. Some work fine but still nothing beats original keyword-rich contents written by myself.
Oh by the way, I have a team of writers at my disposal who writes for me too.
Yan
If I had a team of just one ‘Yan’ I could rule the world ;)
Brian D. Hawkins´s lastest post..If You Are Not Growing You Are Failing
Brian
I’ll take that as a compliment but I don’t like to rule the world. They say, “Hero dies young…” ;)
Yan
Hi Yan,
Glad to see you still around here. I have heard about creating niche site and how it brings in more income then plain blogging. Am keen to try out but not certain about it.
QN in your niche site.. you feature posts or articles about the chosen subject/topic IE: Fat loss). Do you need to sync the articles with article directories to give more exposure to the website?
Dominique
Dominique´s lastest post..Ryan’s Birthday Celebrations (Part 2)
Hey Dominique
Article marketing is one of the primary strategies to drive targeted traffic so yes, it’s necessary to write related articles and submit those to article directories (e.g. Ezine) with a resource box linking to your niche sites.
Let me know if there is anything I could be of help.
Yan
I heard its really good. But maybe something that’s out the interest of most people I guess.
Melvin´s lastest post..Free Shirt Monday – YardBarker.com
It needs patience to build up niche blogs.It is not for those that wants to earn big money overnight.However,the way you explained it sounds rather addictive.Thanks for sharing.
It’s been a while, Jasmine. Good to see ya here. Of course, if you still remember me.
You are absolutely right. It’s NOT for anyone but it can be interestingly fun and lucrative if you know what you’re doing.
Thanks for dropping by.
Yan
Yan,
Thanks for shedding some light as to what you’ve been up to. I heard so much good about niche blogging but I guess time is not on my side to do this yet. But hopefully I’ll be able to do this some day.
Peter Lee
work at home blog´s lastest post..Make Atomic Blogging 3.0 Your Complete Blogging System
Peter
Recently, Seth Godin wrote something that I’d like to share it with you.
The only thing worst than starting something and failing… is not starting something.
Yan
I decide to make a “make Money Blog”, i can learn it from here if you dont mind..
Is it still worth to make blog like that?
Because, there are alot of site/ blog like this?
monique´s lastest post..Holiday without any bother from jobs
I use the fantastic micro niche finder tool to find my niches. It’s the best purchase I’ve made online, and it already paid for itself ten times over.
I find you need to put in quite a bit of work into your niches blogs at the beginning, but what a fantastic feeling 6 months later, when they start ranking well for your chosen keywords and the money starts rolling in.
Keith (My Body Fat Blog)´s lastest post..Weekly Weigh In April 3rd 2009
500 sites in his portfolio…that’s just unbelievable…I’m sure he won’t be able to keep those portfolios fresh but instead it might be just create it, slap ads and then forget about it.
Thanks for your useful imformation.I began to do AM last month.
great tips building little niche websites sounds very profitable but it will take a lot of effort, and research on your part. But if you have the time on your hands I can definitely see this being very lucrative.