Hey nichers,
I have some things in the works right now, but wanted to share with you some articles that I think are worthwhile to read regarding niche websites. Some of the most important things you can learn sometimes come from articles and posts that are not necessarily niche site related. In the below posts, you will find some that are specific to niche sites, and some that are just web design or business related posts. Hope you enjoy.
On a personal note… tonight is the final game of my son’s Pop Warner football season. I coach the 90 pound team, and we had a great year. The funny thing about these weights, is you have to be 9 years old or younger to play at this weight. So the majority of my kids are 60-70 pounders, and my son is 65 pounds. Surprisingly, we went 8-2 this year and really kicked some butt. We play in a bowl game tonight against another 8-2 team, so it should be fun doing the Friday night lights thing!
The reason I mention that is two-fold. First, I want to try to share more of my personal experiences in life and how they impact my niche sites here. Also, not having practice 3 nights a week and 2 hours per practice is going to give me more free time to focus on my businesses, my niche sites, and of course this site and the podcast that goes with it.
The Round Up:
How To Rank Niche Sites
The first post I want to share with you is a decent “how to rank niche sites” article by Spencer Mitchell for setting up niche websites. The reason I want you to read it is because it gives a different perspective on the process, and mentions some things I don’t necessarily agree with. If you are asking why I want you to read things I don’t agree with?? The simple answer is that you should always look at both sides of a situation before deciding for yourself what the best path is. This is a little older, but the information in the post is still very relevant.
Check Out Spencer’s post here.
Write Persuasive Content
The next post I want to share with you is focused on writing persuasive website content by Henneke Duistermaat. The article is a look at 7 lessons that a website builder can learn by following Apple’s practices. There are some really important points in the article. The first, which I love, is to write for scanners. Now this doesn’t always apply, as some sites (like this one) are meant to have someone actually read the page content… not deliver you to another destination after briefly scanning through the content. This is really applicable to niche websites because your goal of a niche site is to convert. Convert to adsense, convert to affiliate ads, convert to mailing list, etc.
Check Out Henneke’s post here.
Stop Trying To Make Money And Do It!
This is an interesting post by Darek Kargul for nichers that have tried but failed to have success building up their niche site network. The best part of this post is his discussion about how to analyze the results you are getting. Building a niche website is not a set it and forget it project. If you really want to make money, you need to analyze the traffic that is coming into your website, figure out what is driving it, where it is going on your site, and why it is leaving. He goes into detail about 15 of the many data points that you can track. Darek also provides a couple traffic generation ideas from social…and buying traffic. Worth a read.
Tips For Starting A Lifestyle Business
Most of you have read the 4 hour workweek. If you haven’t, stop reading this post and go read it now. I mean it, go!! Tim’s book planted many seeds about how to take mini retirements now by creating a lifestyle business that allows you to travel the world (or do whatever you feel like) while still making money. Rasmus Lindgren wrote an interesting piece that provides 10 specific tips for starting and managing that lifestyle business. I’m on the fence about his first tip, which is copy what is working. I think this is a good tactic if you have absolutely no idea what to do with yourself… but if you are always copying others, you are never able to distinguish yourself. This is actually a lesson I tried to convey to my 9 year old son. Most of us grow up copying others, trying to look cool, be cool, act cool, while deep inside you were full of insecurity about what people would think about you if you didn’t do everything your group did. Peer pressure is a nightmare, and it really doesn’t help anyone!! Look at the innovators in this world… very few just copied what is working. They had to be different in order to lead the pack, or just left the pack entirely to follow their own dreams. Aside from that, it is a post I have gone back to and reread a few times because it is full of great content.
How To Promote Your Blog Posts
Unfortunately, this is sitting in my “to-do” bin, but I still wanted to share it with you. Douglas Karr put together an infographic about 12 things you must do “after” you’ve written a blog post. It is a good looking infographic, but most importantly, it covers the basic points of what you need to do. Many of us (myself being one of the worst offenders) tend to focus on creating the content itself, but never do much after the post is created. The concept of content marketing requires two parts. The first, and what I think is actually the hardest part is creating the content. The easiest part is the marketing of that content. Pushing it out to others and creating a buzz about it. Very few of us do this, and even fewer do it the right way. Douglas lays it all out in an easy to read and follow infographic.
Got a post you think others should be reading? Let us know in the comments or shoot me an email.
