How I Created a Niche Site That Makes 4-Figures a Month
It’s only 1.5 years old.
I started my marketing career back in 2015.
I must admit it was tough.
I used to do random tasks for a while without understanding their purpose and value. My manager did not care about utilizing my time purposely because she seemed too busy.
Years have passed. I’ve changed several workplaces, but the feeling that my personal goals were not aligned with the companies’ goals was only getting stronger.
I knew my inner dissatisfaction would change my life somehow, but I did not know how.
Today, sitting on my couch, analyzing my professional life, and writing this article, I am thankful for all the good and not-so-good moments from the past five years.
One observation helped me discover new opportunities and implement the learnings in my niche website.
My experience working as an online marketer for B2B and SaaS companies taught me that big businesses often disregard small opportunities.
Their goal is to make high profits by gaining more clients. This is the way how established businesses work.
However, I saw other ways to earn money that could help differentiate income sources. I am referring to the following:
- Affiliate income
- Paid mentions
- Adapting existing services to new circumstances and user needs (during and after Covid-19)
These ideas lived inside me until I quit my full-time job and became an online entrepreneur.
This was the moment I realized I had the freedom, time, energy, and desire to implement my ideas into life.
This was the time I wanted to get serious about my website.
Here is what I did to grow my website from 0 to 4 figures per month.
From 0 to 4 figures a month in 1.5 years
Growing a website is a tough, challenging, and sometimes tedious task.
I feel an even bigger responsibility when doing it for myself. Likely, I’ve learned the do’s and don’ts of running a website while working full-time.
My website, SelfMadeMillennials, grew from 0 to almost 5k visitors in 1.5 years and less than 50 web pages.
I am a slow writer but a good SEO optimization specialist. I don’t publish often, but every content piece is written with users and Google in mind.
Here is what helped me grow and monetize my website:
- Choosing a niche that I can support with my personal brand
- Choosing a niche where I already have an expertise
- Defining users’ pain points in a broad niche (SEO) and niching down (SEO writing)
- Validating product and service ideas through my content before creating any
- Having a dedicated website category to grow affiliate income (Creator tools)
Succeeding in organic search results comes down to targeting low-competition keywords with decent search and business potential.
If you keep this idea in mind and conduct niche keyword research before launching a new website, you will succeed sooner or later. I assure you.
This strategy helped me grow my website and boost organic search traffic for my clients.
I grew my affiliate income to $500+ monthly by writing in-depth reviews about new creator tools.
Why does it work?
Newly launched businesses have low competition for their brand name keywords. Therefore, it’s easy for a new website to reach the first Google search result page.
For this reason, most of my tool reviews rank on the first Google search result page.
You can see how I structure and write tool reviews here.
Here is how much I earned from this article as an affiliate in March 2023:
Besides affiliate income, I sell my ebooks and SEO services through my website. By “selling,” I mean placing banners in the right sidebar of related blog posts.
Since many of my website pages rank in the top 10 Google search result pages, my products and services get exposure.
Here is how much I earned from selling my ebook on “How to write blog posts that hit the Google front page” on my website in 2023.
I sometimes run ebook promotions via email, which helps boost sales, but it does not happen often. Most of the time, my website helps me make ebook sales.
I want to share one more proven-to-work tip with you.
Success stories sell!
If you create success stories featuring your expertise and how you help people cope with their challenges, you’ll become a go-to expert in your niche.
Someone who’s read your success story might reach out to you since they believe you are the right person to help them solve their issues.
It works.
I use this strategy to sell my 4-figure service via my blog.
I’ve recently launched a new SEO service — a 12-month content writing plan for website owners.
It’s difficult to sell an expensive service to an audience who does not know you. However, people are more open to purchasing after learning more from you and your expertise.
Since I’ve launched a 12-month content plan service, I consistently sell at least 1 service per month, which is $997.
The best-performing pages that feature my expertise and help me sell my services are the following:
My observations from running a niche website for 1.5 are that a website can indeed become a money-generation machine, but it will take a lot of time, energy, and resources before it happens.
I would never have ended up where I am now without niching down and establishing my online presence.
In conclusion
I write a lot about my website transformation because people want to know all the success stories and failures I’ve been through lately.
Even though I publish 1–2 optimized content pieces monthly, there is always something to say.
With so many changes to Google algorithms, the appearance of AI-generated text, and increasing competition, the life of website owners will become tough.
You don’t know what to expect and how the changes will impact online user behavior. But you’ll have to experiment to continue growing your online businesses.
I’ve said it once and will repeat it — you are not late to the party yet! You can still grow a website if you pick a niche with moderate competition.
I wish you luck in future endeavors and will keep you updated on my progress.
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