It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Caroline Middlebrook’s. I’m sure I’ve mentioned her here on the blog before and also linked to postings on her own blog as well.
While going through my daily reading list of RSS feeds I came across another fantastic posting by Caroline titled “A Simple Strategy to Make Money Online with WordPress”
If you’ve read my blog for any length of time at all you should know I’m a big fan of small niche minisites. I’ve been building these things for years now and I’ve even written a book on the topic.
The concept is really simple and the practice is a sound business (or money making) model as I can personally attest to. I’ve got over 70 mini-sites operating right now. Most earn me between $25 and $40 per month, some earn me over $200 per month; and while those numbers may not seem Earth shattering at first glance, the key factor is that none of them cost me anything in time and only pennies per month in money for the hosting since I use hosts that allow multiple sites on a single account.
That’s the gem with mini-sites, once you build them you can forget about them and spend your time on either building more or getting into other projects while those mini-sites keep earning you a steady stream of income–and there’s nothing special needed to do this, seriously I believe anybody willing to do the tiny amount of work involved in making these quality mini-sites can do it the model is so simple.
In Caroline’s words:
1. Pick a topic
2. Do some keyword research
3. Write or buy some articles on that topic targeted to those keywords
4. Use the articles as your site content
5. Monetize the site with ads of your choice
6. Allow the traffic to come in from search engines
7. Go to Step 1
Now, Caroline takes a slightly different approach than I do with the idea only in that she promotes using WordPress to build niche sites from. I don’t disagree with her by any means, in-fact it’s something I’m going to look at to see if there’s any benefit to doing so. But my concept has always been that a niche mini-site is going to be between 1 and 6 pages at most, so using strict XHTML validating templates from places like Open Web Design was perfect.
The search engines love the compliant coding of these templates (though a good WordPress theme should also be compliant) and I have a couple that seem to work perfectly in how they’re designed for advertising placement that facilitates high click-thru rates.
That’s my only concern with using WordPress for a mini-site really. The fact is mini-sites tend to get very low traffic levels and so making money from them depends upon being able to maximize that traffic for the highest click-thrus and sales. I’m just not sure that I’ve ever seen a WordPress theme that was designed perfectly for optimal ad placements, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any out there.
And if using WordPress has some SEO benefits that might increase traffic over the use of an ordinary template that could be a mute point anyway. So I definitely intend to do a little personal testing for myself to see what I feel works better for me.
The Real Key
Okay, the most important thing I want to comment about is step 7 in Caroline’s description quoted above.
Read it over and over again as many times as it takes to sink in deep.
Honestly, no matter what you’re doing online to make money–it doesn’t have to be mini-site related–this is the #1 rule of every successful business.
Find something profitable that you can do on a regular basis, then rinse and repeat.
Seriously, I don’t care what you’re doing to make money, if you find something that earns you a profit from your time and money investment and you do it over and over again you’ll be able to build a solid business from it.
Everything else you ever read or hear about making money online or tweaking this and that to increase the bottom line… it’s all just peripherals! Those are important, but they won’t make or break your efforts alone. It all really comes down to being able to do something that’s profitable over and over again.
Once you’ve got that core principal in place, then the peripherals become important.
Some Final Thoughts
Caroline touches on most of this in her posting, and I really urge you to check it out if the topic of niche mini-sites interests you, but here are the basic reasons I’ve always supported this model so strongly:
- The startup investment is almost nil. A basic hosting account (and some include the domain registration free), a domain name and a little bit of time to research and write about your site topic. I can’t image an easier or cheaper business model to start from for anyone with so little risk versus potential rewards attached.
- To be effective a niche mini-site must be of value to visitors. Call me prudish but there’s plenty of garbage on the web already. Quality mini-sites are of informational or resource value to visitors, so when you add in that they’re profitable to the owner it’s a win-win situation in my mind.
- There’s no Google-dance worries to fret over. I say Google-dance because the term is popular, but what I’m really talking about is you never have to worry over a specific site or topic falling from favor with people or the search engines–and that can happen to any site in an instant. If your business is built around a single site or topic that suddenly falls off the radar it can be back-breaking to your income. But if one of my mini-sites drops off I’m able to easily absorb the loss of revenue and replace it fast with another.
- There’s no earnings ceiling. As long as you’re able and willing to do the little bit of work behind creating a niche mini-site you’re able to continue growing your income. There is no maximum level to it as there’s always something to talk about, which means there’s always something to build another mini-site about.
- I get bored easily. It’s true, that’s why I don’t post to this blog more frequently. I simply get bored talking about the same topic every day. Mini-sites allow me to explore and work on new and different topics with each one though, so that’s a huge bonus for me.
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Tags: mini-sites, niche, wordpress
That’s a great article which really complements mine well. The main reason I use WordPress is because it’s something I am familiar with even though it may not be the most efficient solution. One drawback to WordPress is the requirement to have a MySql database for each installation which usually restricts how many sites you can run under one hosting account. This is where templates probably fare much better.
Caroline, I appreciate the kind words but really it was just me adding my $0.02 to your well written posting.
Several of the hosts I use (like Dot5 & HostGator) allow multiple domain hosting, and with that comes multiple MySQL databases as well, so that isn’t really a drawback to me.
My only advice for anyone doing this would be to limit the number of sites you run from a single hosting account to no more than 10. That’s regardless of whether they’re WordPress or templates based though.
More than that might cause some drains on the resources which lead to slow page loads and so on, but still at 10 sites per account when you’re paying less than $10 monthly for the account it comes out to under a dollar per month for hosting.
I agree with caroline that mysql it’s a drawback. Not to mention if your site gets lots of traffic. Consumes too many resources.
Mysql is becoming more main stream and hosting accounts are upgrading so the mysql is really no longer an issue. Niche mini website blogging is a real powerhouse idea whos time has come.
Thanks for the tips and ideas on niche marketing with wordpress for mini sites
Great post. I built 10 niche sites and wasn’t able to get any of them to rank for much of anything. I was very careful in my keyword selection. I wasn’t sure what I was doing wrong.
I spoke to a couple of well known SEO experts and both told me the same thing. They told me to look at my the other sites ranking for my keywords and how many pages they had indexed versus how many pages I had indexed. My site had 12 articles and most of the sites I was competing against had 50 – 100.
From my own experience, I’m really surprised you have done well with small sites. Have you put a lot of work into link building?
To me the KEY to success of a minisite with WP is the links you can develop with other sites in your niche. After all, search engine positioning CANNOT happen without links!
Using trackback and commenting (not spamming) on other WP blogs, and allowing them to do the same on yours (using ‘follow’ tags) is the way to create the well-connected niche, and that is the key to true riches.
I think this may be hard with 70 blogs, but would work with maybe 10 blogs, making more money each. Somehow I don’t think one can develop thoughful links and posts with too many subjects Just my 2 cents.
I’ve heard a few things criticizing this guide and after checking it out myself, I can’t say some of them weren’t true. Still, it seems like a fairly good newbie guide.
That’s a best article which really harmonize mine well. I agree with caroline that mysql it’s a disadvantage. Not to mention if your site gets lots of traffic. Consumes too many resources. Thanks for the tips and ideas on niche marketing with wordpress for mini sites……
this post will help many newbies. guarranted. And also this gives us a brief idea about the facts that were unknown to us.
Yeah choosing a niche is very important in today’s market. The more specific the better!
If you have to install Wordpress for each mini-site, that could take some serious time. I think it would be quicker and easier to create a new mini-site in HTML by modifying a current mini-site.
However, with Wordpress MU (or another multi-domain content management system), you can quickly create hundreds or thousands of sites. Then all you have to do is login and add content to the pages.
See, having a website isn’t going to help your business at all if it doesn’t show up extremely high in Google’s search results. Anytime a person searches for something on Google, Google will return a page with the top ten websites they consider most relevant to the search term. The average person who’s looking for a carpet cleaner in Kalamazoo, or a wedding photographer in Boise, isn’t going to dig through pages and pages of Google’s search results. Furthermore, when someone does a Google search for a local business, if your website isn’t on that first page of results, the odds are very high that they’re NOT going to click on your website to see what you have to offer.
@Minnesota Attorney, I’m with you on the time factor. In fact we’ve both just commented on another posting about mini-sites where I address that.
I think WordPress is a good tool if you’re only building a few mini-sites and with the hopes of one of those being a gem you can develop later into a large site.
For just mini-site building I think it’s probably overkill unless you have no HTML or coding skills at all, in which case WordPress is an easy and effective solution for getting something good online fast.
@small business websites, I completely disagree with your implication that Google is the only search engine that matters. I know a lot of folks think that, but I’ve got several sites which Google doesn’t like at all, but they rank well in Yahoo and MSN and earn me good money every month.
In-fact, one of my oldest eCommerce sites was dropped completely by Google last year, yet I still earn between $200 and $300 monthly from it all on organic traffic from the other search engines.
You’re right that getting to the top of search results is critical, but they don’t have to be the top of Google’s results to be profitable.
Great info. I’m doing something similar on my Bluehost account.
Thanks, great article.
I think the key really is getting free traffic from the search engines
Definitely rince and repeat because the emphasis is small niche sites. And I don’t think a couple are going to get anyone off the employee list
Hello Scott
I read your post after reading Caroline’s ebook and watching her videos explaining how easy it was to use wordpress.
I’m another believer in minisites as your are targeting a particular phrase which is what the searcher want details about.
Thanks
Mally
I have gone down the geo – business route. I live in the UK in a city called Hull and have around 63 mini sites setup that i am to start with adding local businesses.
e.g.
hulladvertising.com
hullbathrooms.co.uk
hullbeds.co.uk
hullbikes.co.uk
hullbuild.co.uk
hullboom.co.uk
hullcaterers.co.uk
hullcitykits.co.uk
hullcleaning.co.uk
hulldesign.co.uk
hulldoors.co.uk
hulldriving.co.uk
hullelectrical.co.uk
hullescorts.net
hullexport.co.uk
hullfloorings.co.uk
hullfurniture.co.uk
hullhaulages.co.uk
hullheating.co.uk
hulljewelers.co.uk
hullkitchens.com
hulllimos.co.uk
hulloffice.co.uk
hullphoto.co.uk
hullplumbing.co.uk
hullprint.co.uk
hullprinting.co.uk
hullrecovery.co.uk
hullremovals.co.uk
hullroofing.co.uk
hullsecurity.co.uk
hullsites.co.uk
hullskips.co.uk
hullstorage.co.uk
hulltyres.co.uk
hullvision.co.uk
hullwindows.co.uk
hullholidays.co.uk
hulldance.co.uk
hullgyms.co.uk
hullphotography.co.uk
hulltickets.co.uk
hullfootball.co.uk
hullfencing.co.uk
hullnetworking.co.uk
hullhottubs.co.uk
hulllighting.co.uk
hullcleaners.co.uk
hullemployment.co.uk
hull-weddings.co.uk
hullopticians.co.uk
hullplummers.co.uk
hullpictures.co.uk
hullphotos.co.uk
hullelectricians.co.uk
hullaccommodation.net
hull-blinds.co.uk
hullgirls.co.uk
hull-florists.co.uk
hull-jobs.co.uk
Once i have a few dozen on each i will then start an useful articles page. I have used the same template for each and have set it so categories added in a post creates the menu at the top to speed things up. No pages need creating apart from the home page.
I am using adsense and from my first month achieved $34 from all 63 not much but its growing.
I will then approach the companies armed with good key phrases results and offer them better placements at a cost.
Hope this inspires people to maybe try geo niche domains.
Andy
[...] Niche Mini Sites and WordPress OBannons Leap Posted by root 4 hours ago (http://www.obannonsleap.com) Thoughts on using wordpress for niche mini sites okay the most important thing i want to comment about is step 7 in caroline description quoted above but here are the basic reasons i 39 ve always supported this model so strongly there no earnings ceiling Discuss | Bury | News | Niche Mini Sites and WordPress OBannons Leap [...]
[...] Niche Mini Sites and WordPress OBannons Leap Posted by root 8 hours ago (http://www.obannonsleap.com) Thoughts on using wordpress for niche mini sites okay the most important thing i want to comment about is step 7 in caroline description quoted above but here are the basic reasons i 39 ve always supported this model so strongly there no earnings ceiling Discuss | Bury | News | Niche Mini Sites and WordPress OBannons Leap [...]