To Hold or Fold.?

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2.5K followers
Updated

Hi all,

I was going to write this as a private message/question to Kyle but I figured there's probably a few members on here who may be facing the same dilemma as me, so decided to write this as a public post instead.

You see, I fell into the trap of many newbies on here, of an attack of the 'bright and shiny' syndrome, which resulted in me chasing a few different niches... and not really settling firmly on any. The net result - I now have about 5 websites, all in various states of completion, and none of them are performing as well as they should be. Given that this is a trap so many of us fall into... this newbie mistake is probably an important part of the learning curve here at WA.

So... now that I'm out the other side of this lesson... my big question is - Which websites do I hold and which do I fold?

The good news... to 'hold'

I'm 200% committed to growing my WA business (and of course I have applied to be part of the super affiliate group) in order to really achieve those goals in 2018. Choosing to 'hold' my writingforcash.com website was super easy, as it's well suited as the vehicle for this purpose.

But which ones should I 'fold?'

This is where I get completely flummoxed. I have the following sites:

  • kdforsman.com (really don't want to fold this one - can I just park it?)
  • paidblogjobs.com (had this domain name for a while now and while the site is still largely incomplete... again, I kind of like it)
  • horsesforsale.co.nz (my last new shiny object - it's ticking along - but I know now that it's not the niche I want to be in... however, I do have the starts of a mailing list and a reasonable subscriber base)

On top of that, I'm still sitting on the following domain names:

  • driverjobswanted.com (Great SEO keywords, but what the &*## was I thinking?)
  • midlifecrisis.com (idea of a humorous look at an age and stage we all go through - I have the concept all mapped out in my mind - taking up much needed grey matter spacehaha)
  • As for social media accounts - well - don't even get me started on that! They need a prune too, but first things first!

Super Affiliates out there - I need your help!

Kyle and all the super affiliates out there who have walked this path before me... please share your wisdom! I'm well on the road to recovery from bright and shiny syndrome and am finally in a position to; HEAR your expertise, IMPLEMENT your advice and COMMIT to a long term strategy to build my online Wealthy Affiliate business.

Do I simply fold some of my surplus sites? And if so, which ones?

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Recent Comments

13

Put your ducks in order or in this case your web sites.
Number them one to five and start to advance them in that order. On at a time. And take your time.

Hi Nick, thanks for that suggestion I will definitely do that with a few of them!
working out the priority is important.

Now that I am clear in my focus on the WA affiliate space - I'm also going to release some of them. In fact, I've just listed the horsesforsale.co.nz domain for sale on our NZ equivalent of ebay.... so there's one I can tick off the list.

In truth, you don't have to get rid of any of them. Just prioritize them and work on them one at a time until they are each a success. You can pick the one that you are most passionate about now - make sure it's long term passion, not short term passion, then go for it. Once you have that one successful, you can move to the next, and so on, and so on.

I have quite a few domain names myself - some are strong now, some are waiting to be built. I've kept them all.

Hi Jeannine, thanks for your feedback. Good on you for being about to prioritize like that. I tend to be a little easily distracted (and I can't cope with clutter or unfinished work)... so for me the best solution is going to be to 'free up the future' of some of the sites. If that means ditching them completely, I'm prepared to do it - just to get my focus on the right things.

At the most recent Affiliate Summit, one of the speakers talked about ADD people in affiliate marketing. She said that basically we all are a bit ADD - part of why we can do well in this industry. So don't let that make you end any of those dreams - compartmentalize as if those sites are gone. It's okay if the only place they show up is in the list from your hosting company - otherwise consider them gone. They will all be just fine if you don't touch them for months or a year. So start with that little piece of self-discipline.

FYI, I call it ADOS - Attention Deficit Ohhhh Shiny!

Great words... thank you, you make some fantastic points and I love the ADOS - sums it all up beautifully!

Totally agree, JeanineC. :-)
Cheers
Rich

Oh, I have the same dilemma, and I have decided to just hold and put my energies into the ones I want right now.

I will 'play' in the others domains maybe once a month, and then revisit them in a year.

I noticed that MKearns has already suggested Flippa.

You could try locally to sell them o craigslist or such and see what kind of hits you get.

I am one not to give a domain up too quickly, but there does come a time where the domains can consume

All the best,

NCH

Hi Noreen, thanks for your comments - definitely there are some domain names that I'm going to struggle to part with - and as you say, perhaps I shouldn't give up a domain too quickly. It's just the half finished websites that I'm feeling overwhelmed with... LOL

Hi Karen, I'm really glad you shared this with the members. I think you need to search in your heart your true passion for your niche. You can park the ones you don't really want and focus on just one niche or let it expire. Working on one niche website is much easier and when it's making the profit you want, then move on to the next niche if you like. Keep in mind then, you still have to maintain the first site and next site.

Ask yourself... who is the target audience, what are their problems, how can you help. Whatever niche you choose, you want to be the authority over it. Create your brand...

I read your profile again and it's really very good... I can see some of your passions in there. You are good at writing and you enjoy writing... I like your 'writingforcash.com'..

I don't want to tell you which ones to hold or fold, I think after you search more into your heart you will know.

I hope this helps...

Hi there and thanks for your feedback. Yes you are correct. In my heart, I do know which ones are not worth me pursuing - and those are the ones I need to try and find good homes for, with someone who is more passionate about that particular niche. The niches I keep coming back to time and time again are going to be the long term stayers in my little portfolio...
Thanks again, cheers, Karen

You'll get many answers Karen. For folding you can investigate Flippa.com. For holding the primary determination is the traffic . Particularly the return visits you get. Check out the Google tools like QSR!

Thanks Michael, great advice as always! I'm heading off to google analytics to look at the traffic on each! Thanks again, cheers, Karen

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