I Have Broken ALL the Rules (and Manipulated Old Fluff Along the Way)
DISCLAIMER: (Clearly all of my blog posts should carry a warning) NOT for Newbies. Don’t Try This at Home!
I’ve mentioned in passing that I was going to start a new website in October.
I even considered the Make Money Online niche.
However, I’ve managed to avoid it for pretty much 12 years, so there’s no reason to start going down that route now.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the MMO niche, it’s just not for me.
From a personal perspective, it’s all a bit too “salesly”, “in-yer face”, and at times, insincere, for me.
But that’s just ME.
So, I had a ponder.
What niche shall I focus on for my new website?
It needs to be weird.
It needs to be wacky.
It should make everyone say, “You’ll never make money in THAT niche”.
You know me, I like to do things my own way, I love an experiment, and nothing gives me greater pleasure than proving others wrong (I’m such an a***, aren’t I?)
Then I thought to myself…
“Hmm, I wonder if I could turn this into a joint venture. Perhaps find another WA member who’d be willing to join in on my madness. Now, who can I exploit?”
“I need someone who is very organised, likes to do things a certain way, can be strict, basically someone who is the complete opposite of me”.
Wouldn’t it be fun to drive someone absolutely bonkers with all my funny little ways?
And then it struck me.
I know.
OLD FLUFF (DianeScorpio).
A quick off the cuff chat, and the new partnership was born
Oh, this is going to be a LOT of fun.
I wonder how long it will take me to drive her utterly insane.
The countdown has begun.
The Rule-Breaking New Website
Pick a weird niche that has literally no commercial intent.
CHECK.
Oh yes, the niche has been chosen.
I suppose there is some type of commercial intent if you look hard enough, but I want none of that on our website.
I’ve picked an object.
It’s an object we all know.
Many of us love this object.
In fact, I’m willing to bet that most of you reading here today have this object in your home at this very moment in time.
Some of you probably have more than one.
I like to have 15-20 available at any one time.
Turns out Diane doesn’t like the object, or in truth, she simply can’t handle it.
Oh GOOD!!
Something else to drive her crazy.
Niche chosen - it’s weird, you won’t find an affiliate program for it (although if you looked REALLY hard you may find something, but I don’t care), I can guarantee that no-one else at Wealthy Affiliate has EVER had a website in this niche (actually never say EVER/NEVER, some of you are very weird, but it’s the weird ones that I love), and it will make most people ask, “WHY are you doing this?”
Sorted.
The next rule break (it’s not really a rule break).
All articles should generally be between 600-800 words.
I want none of this 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and above malarkey.
Clear, concise and to the point articles (in fact, with the niche and my topic research we may occasionally find it hard to hit 600 words).
Next!!
Clearly, there will be no use of keyword tools.
I am doing all the “keyword” research (I prefer topic research, as Google ranks mainly based on relevancy, so no need for exact keywords in 2021- yeah I said it and yeah I’ve written about before).
All topic research will be conducted via Google Autosuggest.
Every single article will be a Question that people have searched for in Google.
I don’t need to cover old ground, I’ve spoken about this many, many times.
And of course, we’re looking at undeserved topics, so not much competition on page one, mainly forums and Q&A sites.
Again, I’ve spoken about this before, you know where my WA blogs are if you need a refresher.
Any more “Rule Breaks”
I want none of this SEO plugin business, there will be no Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Email Marketing, YouTube marketing, and no off-page SEO.
This is pure and simple - writing articles by answering questions.
On-page SEO is as simple as the subject matter in the title, H2 tag mentioning the subject matter, external link, internal link, and a video.
We may throw in the occasional image, but an optimized featured image will suffice.
Remember, these are short articles, so no clutter please.
Plus, I want to keep room available for eventual monetization (oh yes, I expect us to earn money from this, and for it to do very well too).
A Final “Rule Break”
“It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint”
“You Have to Be Consistent with Your Publishing”
NOPE!!
I’m not doing it.
We will be “sprinting” for the first 3 months (AT LEAST one article published every day, who knows maybe more), and then we take it easy.
Maybe month 4 we’ll publish one article.
Month 5 we’ll publish 16 articles.
Nothing for Month 6.
Two in Month 7.
Who knows?
When the mood takes us we’ll write and publish (it’s all about how well you’ve targeted search queries in your published articles - if you target actual phrases and questions that REAL people are searching, you’ll get traffic)
Expectations
Okay, as we are simply writing question and answer type articles and doing no other promotion this will go the typical route of most informational-style websites.
We won’t receive ANY traffic for the first 3 months.
If we do, I’ll be very surprised.
I’ve never quite subscribed to the “Google Sandbox” theory.
However, most websites any without outside promotion receive very little traffic for the first 6 months, and probably nothing for the first 3 months.
(10,000 newbies immediately leave Wealthy Affiliate after reading that sentence - Sorry Kyle, don’t hurt me).
That being said, due to the “niche” and the fact that we are focusing on underserved topics, we could be in for a bit of Google surprise.
Plus, I’ve already introduced Diane to one of my “Secret Squirrel Sooper-Dooper SEO hacks”.
Oh yes, how to get a question-type article that you literally have no more than about 50 words to write about to rank for a vast array of “keywords” and “search phrases”.
This little “trick” is generally responsible for those single articles that produce 5,000, 10,000, or even more visitors on a monthly basis.
Anyway, I’m not expecting any traffic at all for the first 3 months, and probably no more than 1,000-3,000 visitors in total from month 3-6.
BUT
Then I expect the website to start taking off.
Traffic literally doubles month-on-month (then we start a more consistent publishing schedule again once this happens).
How Are We Going to Make Money?
Aha!!
This is what all you greedy little munchkins want to know.
Well, this is all about display ads.
So, there is no real commercial intent with any of the articles (nothing is being sold).
This means that we won’t be getting a great EPM from display ads.
This is not going to be a $40-70 per 1,000 visits type of website.
However, I’m sure once we have a few thousand visitors I can add the site to my Mediavine account (oooohhhh, Diane’s going to have to trust me. Millions wouldn’t).
So, as Mediavine is a premium ad company I would hope to achieve around $10-15 per 1,000 visitors, maybe even $20 per 1K after a few months (this will depend on where the traffic comes from and the viewing device of choice).
However, due to the traffic potential of these types of articles (plus the “niche”, people are always asking questions about this object, ALWAYS!!) I can see some very healthy earnings by the 12-18 month mark.
Then it’s a case of do we continue, do we sell, do we sit back and do nothing and let the income steadily decline over the next year?
Who Knows?
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it.
The Rule-Breaking Website.
I did it my way (and took Old Fluff along for the ride).
We shall of course do some updates on this next year.
But, as I say, due to no other promotion, we’re not really looking at any traffic for quite a few months (but we will update if this happens).
I currently have two of these objects on the table in front of me.
I’m sure I saw one or two in the kitchen, and my son has one in his room (I’m too scared to ask why).
All that remains is for me to reveal the niche…
Nah!! I’M NOT TELLING YOU.
Thank You For Reading
Partha (Oh yeah, and OLD FLUFF - she loves it when I call her that, Hahaha)
p.s. This blog post has been written in first person and third person, with inappropriate double-spacing, and it hasn’t been checked for spelling or grammar. Who knew? This really winds Diane up, she gets very touchy about it.
p.p.s. I have gone back to the website and changed the font size of some of the text within one of the articles. Ssshhhh, don’t tell Diane, she gets really angry about it.
p.p.p.s Oh yes, the website has been live since Friday, and we've been indexed if anyone wishes to celebrate on our behalf.
p.p.p.p.s.If you would like to take part in my October 2022 joint venture please email at oldfluffseriousorganisationalangermanagementissues(dot)com
Recent Comments
84
OK, so according to PP you can "drink it, wear it, observe it, mould it, play with it"
It can be found in kitchens and boys' bedrooms
PP likes 15-20 of them at any 1 time (and his wife doesn't seem put out by this) and he had 2 on his desk in front of him.
It reminds the Queen of a bad night out
There's no obvious affiliate program for them/it
Most of us will have this object in our house right at this moment and we know and love this object.
There is no obvious commercial intent.
PP and Queen seem to think there's enough material that they can publish for 2+ years.
Oh, and there seems to be plenty of imagery about the object that every post can contain a video and/or an image.
It's the 'drinking' bit that stumps me - if it wasn't for that I'd say 'Bags for Life'
Congrats on gettting your website indexed Partha! Lol.
This post is rally amusing and interesting.
I try to figure out what this niche specific object is.
the clues you revealed made me sort of puzzled.
An object we all know - that many of us have in our homes -That could be any object almost
* You have 15-20 weird, shocking objects available at any time in your home -
So what shocking weird objects do you need 15-20 of at any time Partha that Diane have two of but is simply refusing to touch in her home?
You can Google it - Ha, Ha very helpful :)
It is shocking (The pictures suggests so)
You have seen one or two in the Kitchen - Is it a kitchen object or just a distraction? :)
Your son have a weird, shocking object we all know about and many of us love in his room.
Yet you were scared to ask why? - This make little sense to me (maybe not when I hear what it is:) ).
Diane says it reminds her about a bad night out.
You say she do not like it or can`t handle it.
People always ask questions about this object - So it must be an object people struggle with, do not use often or know little about maybe?
it’s weird and you won’t find an affiliate program or website for it
It is an undeserved topic.
I have twisted my brain and tried many different objects to fit into this riddle Lol :)
Could you give us a few more hints to what it can be?
I love riddles but this one was kinda hard to get.
Well, aren't there some funny guesses about which niche?
However, I think Julia's initial thoughts definitely win - "Babies".
Diane - "There are some of these objects in my house, but I refuse to touch them" (Her poor, unloved daughter).
Partha - "Some of you probably have more than one. I like to have 15-20 available at any one time."
Clearly, I like to have 15-20 babies available at any one time
But, it often gets me into trouble with the wife:
"Have you brought more babies home with you again?"
"Yes, sorry about that, there's a couple on the table, I've left three upstairs, and I'm pretty sure I saw one in the kitchen earlier".
Babies!!
I would check the babies potential For earning ad revenue at the minimum.
The niche name will “Google’s Peril “
How about Babies with a drinking glass and a knife... just kidding... lol.
However, that would definitely be an underserved market I do believe!!!
Challenges are good for us especially when they are internal/only with ourselves. I am not a fan of external/group challenges, but I do like to challenge myself.
I look forward to the results and learning why you are scared to know why your son has one of these in this room....
Alex
You two rock!!!
With you working together on this, well... let's just say it is sure to be a success.
I look forward to hearing what the niche is when you two are ready for the reveal.
I will definitely be watching for the updates. I wish you all the luck in the world, tolerating each other that is... LOL!!
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My side of the story...
So, it's always a pleasure to receive a PM from Partha.
It's guaranteed to be entertaining, whether it be a rant, a crazy story, a forthright opinion, poetry or just a few random thoughts that he knows will appeal to my odd sense of humour.
On this occasion, he announced in his usual exuberant fashion with far too many exclamation marks, that he had an exciting new plan, and would I like to join him?
Of course, I was intrigued and ready to jump on board, until he told me the niche subject...
Oh no! How do I tell him he is completely deranged and it will never work?
It's too niche-specific, people never ask questions about it and there isn't enough content to write 10 posts, let alone hundreds!
However, once he patiently (exasperatedly, I mean) explained it to me, in sentences that a five-year-old would understand, I got it!
Damn, that man is a genius!
So, as self-appointed queen of the kingdom, I formally declare our joint venture is open!
As for the niche, I really don't like it.
It brings back unhappy memories of a night out, for one thing.
And there are some niche objects in my house, but I refuse to touch them.
And yes, Partha is already driving me crazy, particularly having to adapt to his weird writing style so all the posts look consistent.
And if he touches my posts, there is going to be an almighty explosion that will be heard from one end of the kingdom to the other!
But in the end, this is actually fun and I am enjoying the process already.
With our combined skills of organisation (me), topic finding (him), motivation and commitment (both of us), old age (me), inappropriate capitalisation (him), and writing talent (both of us), what could go wrong?
Lol Diane, you're a better person than me, but you're going to tell us the niche either?
Congratulations/commiserations
You can fill in us in on the ratio later
You should do fine, there will be challenges on the way. It’s not going to be easy, maybe y’all will break a record with Google and it will come in hot. Never know.
i Really HAVe No iDEa What YOU mEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I@m a DELight!!!!
Ohh the lure of a bit of adventure on the dark side, you girls just love the bad guys, however the ride will be fun.
I will be a voyeur for sure.
Peter H
ps You mother is probably saying "Dianna what are you thinking".
LOL
I can't stop laughing Diane, you two make a great team.
This is going to be very entertaining.
:)
Good luck!
Is that what Mum said to your father, “what do you mean annoying, he is a delight, an absolute delight”
Which of course you are.........also boundary pushing, problem solving, resourceful, keen and enthusiastic Partha.
I am really excited to see how this venture unfolds...can we have more clues about the niche? can you eat it? Can you drink it, wear it, observe it, mould it, play with it?
👍😎
Funnily Enough - ALL of the above!!
Now, there's a massive clue if ever there was one!!
The niche Topics will be kitchen knife, bamboo cutting board, herbal tea, 10,000 cal breakfast, how to sit on your blogging chair and exercise till you get the Desired weight oF your body etc?
I am just making up. You can add whatever you like where you can get some ads to sell.
I never was good with crosswords..i am truly perplexed...ha ha 😕❓
See my new comment on this thread.
Julia has won the entire Internet!!!
Hahaha