Been doing this for nearly a decade, mid-six figure income. No employees, no customers to deal with, just content that I update on a weekly basis, with links to high-quality affiliates that I trust and actually recommend.
Anyone who can write a decent book on a subject that consumers care about can do this, but it does take time, probably a good 3 or 4 years before you start making decent income, would need to start it as a side project while working full-time, but I'm convinced any decent writer can do this.
How did you initially build traffic to you site? I know it takes time, but how did you approach getting folks to read you content and keep coming back?
test lots of different things and different media channels. What works for one subject may not work as well for something else. Just got to be persistent.
My issue is when I could (hypothetically) bill out at $100 an hour is spending 3-4 years earning cents per hour worth it? (I do find the industry fascinating though as someone who used to pay affiliates millions a year.)
EDIT: also the issue of being defensible and having only one primary supplier for visibility (Google Search) and limited monetisation options which people have had issues with (Amazon Affiliates or Ads)
pick a niche within a large, popular category. For example, travel is a huge category. How do you differentiate yourself? Dive deep within a niche. Example could be targeting travelers looking for deals in first-class flights. Research the hell out of this niche, do a lot of things that don't scale, find awesome deals and build an email list alerting your audience to these deals, etc, etc...
From my experience, having a genuine interest in the topic is most helpful to longevity. But finding a nexus with this and something that is also ripe for opportunity can be a challenge.
What are ways you gained traction for your content? I know there's no silver bullet and it takes time, but what are ways you approached getting people to visit your site when you started off?
Comments
Been doing this for nearly a decade, mid-six figure income. No employees, no customers to deal with, just content that I update on a weekly basis, with links to high-quality affiliates that I trust and actually recommend.
Anyone who can write a decent book on a subject that consumers care about can do this, but it does take time, probably a good 3 or 4 years before you start making decent income, would need to start it as a side project while working full-time, but I'm convinced any decent writer can do this.
How did you initially build traffic to you site? I know it takes time, but how did you approach getting folks to read you content and keep coming back?
test lots of different things and different media channels. What works for one subject may not work as well for something else. Just got to be persistent.
I'm a copywriter who's trying to get into affiliate.
I've literally spent the last few weeks mulling over one niche to the next. I've read almost every post on nichehacks but still can't pick a niche.
Any advice on how to bite the bullet?
have you read /r/juststart?
My issue is when I could (hypothetically) bill out at $100 an hour is spending 3-4 years earning cents per hour worth it? (I do find the industry fascinating though as someone who used to pay affiliates millions a year.)
EDIT: also the issue of being defensible and having only one primary supplier for visibility (Google Search) and limited monetisation options which people have had issues with (Amazon Affiliates or Ads)
If you have money you can buy content. Quality content costs more money, of course.
pick a niche within a large, popular category. For example, travel is a huge category. How do you differentiate yourself? Dive deep within a niche. Example could be targeting travelers looking for deals in first-class flights. Research the hell out of this niche, do a lot of things that don't scale, find awesome deals and build an email list alerting your audience to these deals, etc, etc...
From my experience, having a genuine interest in the topic is most helpful to longevity. But finding a nexus with this and something that is also ripe for opportunity can be a challenge.
Any links to your content?
What are ways you gained traction for your content? I know there's no silver bullet and it takes time, but what are ways you approached getting people to visit your site when you started off?