Lynn,
I’ve heard you talk a lot about niches and I believe you need to be in several niches to really earn a substantial income. (I’ve heard nearly every online marketer talk about ‘other’ niches and ‘pen names’, etc.
I guess my question is… how on earth do you stay up with (or become a market leader) in numerous niches?!? I have 3 and my head is spinning. I can’t imagine 10 or 100′s like Rosalind Gardner!
Advice?
Rob
Great question, Rob! True - trying to manage too many sites or blogs in multiple niches CAN make your head spin! It can be downright exhausting and discouraging, even.
I don't believe Rosalind Gardner is actually managing dozens or hundreds of niche affiliate sites. Of the small handful of sites I know about personally... she puts a lot into them.
I don't subscribe to the multiplier method myself, either. In fact, I rarely see it taught anymore at all - though it used to be quite popular to create as many sites as you could and put as little into them as possible - and just hope the math came out right.
100 sites x $10/day - or something like that.
There's a big difference between just "making money online" and actually "starting a successful online business" - I prefer the latter. 😉
There's no way under the sun I could manage 100 sites or blogs. Or want to, I should say. Seriously - you'd have to be super human, or have one heck of an outsourcing team! And while that's an option (having a team, I mean - I don't know many online business owners that actually have secret powers, lol)... I prefer to have more of a personal hand in my own websites.
I also like to keep my business as low maintenance and low risk as possible. I don't enjoy managing a huge team, or having that high an overhead.
Again, just my personal preference.
A Quick Peek At My Portfolio Of Sites & Projects...
That said, obviously I do work in several different niches - including a personal project with a pen name, under which I'm authoring a book.
I have three main sites that most people are aware of: ClickNewz (which you're reading now) as well as my Personal Video Blog and my Low Carb Diet Blog.
The vlog is more of a personal creative outlet, though I do intend to monetize in a variety of ways once it becomes more established. The low carb blog is a prime example of the type of "niche affiliate marketing" that I do for a living.
I have a small handful of other affiliate sites, most of which are on the back burner at the moment while I've been working through my security issues and recovering from the hacking experience (blech! lol).
While those niche affiliate sites still get traffic and generate revenue, they all need to be reworked - which I've decided to put on hold until the New Year.
So at the moment I'm only actively working on four projects. The 4th being a new site I'm about to launch that will be more hands-off, and managed by my assistant.
How To Manage Multiple Niches - Successfully
So how do I do it all? It boils down to focus, time management and self-motivation.
Not to say that I'm perfect, and always get everything done, because I'm not and I don't. 🙂 But there are some things you should know before you dive into multiple projects, or multiple sites in multiple niches...
First, Read: Take ONE Site From Start to Profit
This is the key. You start with ONE project and you build that business all the way to maximum profit potential. Yes, it's hard. Ask anyone in online business and they'll tell you how easy it is to get distracted by new ideas and end up with dozens of domains and projects. Which leaves you scattered, frustrated, and struggling to break even. Challenging as it is, you absolutely must stay on track. 😉
Read: Staying On Track – From Start to Profit
Once you get your business up and running, and in "maintenance mode" - meaning it is successful and profitable, and you can manage that online business in less than 10 hours a week - THEN you can consider starting new projects.
You'll go through the same process again, though. One project or website at a time, all the way to max profit potential and maintenance mode. Being in profit will put you in a position to outsource time consuming tasks and hire a full time assistant to help you manage & maintain your sites.
If you try doing it the other way around, you'll end up broke and frustrated. 😉
I like to work in "time blocks", setting aside a specific amount of time for each project or task as needed. Some things I work on once a week, some I do daily. And of course I outsource every task that I can to free myself up for the creative tasks in my business - those that require my voice or personality. Like writing this blog post. 😀
If you find yourself stressed with multiple projects, choose one and put the rest on the back burner for a spell. Work on that one project exclusively until you have a successful online business up and running. Then work down through your list of ideas/projects one at a time in the same manner.
I feel no shame about putting a few of my own sites on the back burner this year. In the end, being an entrepreneur is all about lifestyle design. And if you're head is spinning, you're not happy! So slow things down, prioritize your business ideas, pick one, and dive in with your blinders on.
Next, See: What it Takes to Become a Super Affiliate
Best,
About Lynn Terry
Hi Lynn,
I do agree – I do consult to quite a couple of businesses when it comes to social- and digital-marketing. And that is one of the first things that a lot of business owners don’t know, being social online takes a lot of time and effort. Never the less managing a couple of their sites for them as well, but reaping the rewards is definitely worth it. I would say that time management is one of the most important aspects of managing more than one niche site.
Time management is definitely key. And outsourcing - or at the very least, out-tasking - is pretty much required to maintain a high profile in multiple niches. There's no way I could run my multiple sites without the help of my assistant and other people I hire for the odd task here and there! 😉
Great article Lynn. I am so glad that I decided to pour myself into a site rather than half-heartedly throwing up lots of them I care nothing about. I would have been bored and long gone. I also have to say I am glad I was led to you earlier this year. Now I can really start developing into a business! Thanks for all your help and advice! Best thing I've done in the past two years!
Thank you Marge! I've so enjoyed working with you on your goals AND getting to know you. 😉 And I agree with you. It's much more fun to start and run a successful online business than just chase around "ways to make money online". 🙂
I love the differentiation between " just "making money online" and actually "starting a successful online business"" this is something I took way to long to realise, after getting distracted by loads of new ideas and never seeing any of them through. I cut out a lot of them and it's made me feel better, but I feel like the battle to stay focused is something that I will always have as an entrepreneur like you mentioned.
Focus, Time Management, Motivation - they are all hot topics for entrepreneurs. We tend to be FULL of ideas and enthusiasm! 😀 It really does take a lot of self discipline, and patience!, to see a project through from start to profit. But it is so worth it!
Lynn - your posts just get better and better or is it 'when the student is willing the teacher appears? I found this really useful and encouraging.
I'm with Marge here too - doing something that you are interested in makes it much easier to sustain the momentum in the long run.
Thank you Caroline 😀
The beauty of the internet is that it's so easy to start a business however the there is always the temptation to try something new because it may be a better or easier way to make money than your current one. After several years none of the projects you started became profitable because your time was so divided.
The key is to keep it simple by focusing on a few projects (or one if a few is too much) by working on them frequently and consistently with passion and patience. Be like the tortoise.. take slow and steady steps towards towards your goal.
Exactly. And being consistent is one of the keys to success. You can't get it all done in a day. And NO project is more profitable - unless you actually finish it. LOL. What has worked well for me in over 15 years in business is to get up every day and do *something* to grow my business that day. Every day.
For some reason (based upon the amount of revenue you make) I *assumed* you had a large number of sites (e.g., 100's). How many sites do you maintain to make 6-figures? (I'm not asking for the site URLs: just an approximate number.)
You can earn a six figure income with ONE website or business. That said, I have probably close to a dozen projects - several of which I have on the back burner at the moment as I mentioned in my post (due to hacking & health issues earlier this year).
Some of those projects are related and in the same niche as others. Some of the sites are broad niches spanning hundreds of pages that target long tail keyword phrases.
I used to own 400+ domains, which was nuts. For the last few years I have been keeping my total number of sites/projects at "under a dozen" - which is manageable for me in maintenance mode and with outsourcing. I only kept those ideas/sites/projects that I enjoy most of course. 😉
Definitely a post we all need to take to heart, even as difficult as it is to restrain ourselves from buying new domains or spreading ourselves too thin dabbling in too many niches (my downfall, I'm afraid). So here's what I hope is an appropriate followup question Lynn.
From start to maximum profit....how will we know when we reach maximum profit. Are there markers to watch for? Is there a Maximum Profit Gauge Checklist or so something to download? LOL
Or do we just stop when we've butted our head against the proverbial online tree trunk so long that no more apples fall to the ground?
Good question Sherie, I ask myself the same question. When do you know you've done all you can do with a niche site and it's time to move on? if there were a checklist of troubleshooting techniques to make sure you've done all you can do, that would be ideal.
These two links should prove helpful in answering those questions:
http://www.clicknewz.com/2399/one-site-start-to-profit/
http://www.clicknewz.com/2098/staying-on-track/
"Your work is not finished until you've targeted *every* keyword phrase related to your topic, AND you have a Top 3 ranking for each of them." 😉
WOW! That means we ALL have plenty more work to do I'm sure 🙂
But the problem is spending all of the time and investment only to discover you're barking up the wrong tree...
I have problems with being motivated enough to find the time to stay focused. I have downloaded multiple productivity systems, blocked off times to do work, but then I start doubting what I am doing or lose my motivation because I lose interest in the topic too quickly. I usually don't share a whole lot of personal stuff but know that there have to be other people for whom those big three topics still remain a mystery on how to implement successfully.
Great article! Or, I mean it looks like a great article, judging from the first few paragraphs. You see, right now I'm in the middle of - oh I don't know - something like 10 projects. And not only that, I've got another ten all planned out (well, at least step one is planned out - and I mean COMPLETELY planned out).
Yep, I'm a busy person (truthfully, I like to think of myself as a "future billionaire," it helps keep me motivated when it comes to thinking up revenue-generating projects). I can't be expected to read each and every interesting, well-written, and insightful article I come across... Can I?
Well, I'd love to comment more, but I just thought up with a really great idea for a new product: it's a link-wheel building WordPress plugin that'll let you dominate page-one of Google. You are going to be so famous when people realize that I came up with this idea while commenting on your blog!
No need to thank me. This is what I do.
I run SEO campaigns for my clients and I've got a few niche sites myself. I was thinking to build about 100 or them, but it is very clear that this would require a lot of effort and time that I don't have at my disposal. The solution would be either to outsource the projects, as you mention in the article, or to focus on the ones that bring in real profit. Dumping the failed / less profitable projects is OK, and recognizing that they have failed without delay is crucial.
Hello Lynn,
Thanks for a great insightful article. I am still reading through a lot of your posts and am sure have lots to learn.
One question I have regarding this post - when you say you put some sites/projects on the back burner, do you actually take them down? Or do you just not update them frequently. Which is better? Shutting down a site or keeping it live?
Thanks for your advice!
I love the way your expressed your views between " just "making money online" and actually "starting a successful online business". I'm very much impressed with your article. I'm going through your various post to gain more knowledge.
Thanks Lynn, I too am so glad to have found you and love working with you. I'm glad to be working on just one site right now even though I have two others that need my attention but I am not going off in that direction yet. I want this site I'm working on to be in "maintenance mode" first. I'm getting there, doing a little bit every day with your help.
Thanks so much for the great advice!
Tina
Great article Lynn. I am so glad that I decided to pour myself into a site rather than half-heartedly throwing up lots of them I care nothing about. I would have been bored and long gone. I also have to say I am glad I was led to you earlier this year. Now I can really start developing into a business! Thanks for all your help and advice! Best thing I've done in the past two years!
Thanks Lynn, as many before me have said the differentiation between starting an online business and making money online is a big one! I too have been guilty of starting something and dropping it to move onto something else "more exciting", ad infinitum. In some ways it is not all bad though - after time left to age, some of those projects probably weren't worth the effort anyway!
I concur! It's very difficult and tiring having a ton of niche sites - even if you outsource. Laser focus on one or two are much more controllable, enjoyable and rewarding. I actually learned this lesson the hard way. If you get one site up and it is making money and has great content - then maybe move on and add another.
Selling both digital and physical products for commission online is my business, affiliate marketing. That's the business I'm developing and 100 sites x $10 a day/site x 30 days/month = $30,000/month. I can live very well and happily on $30,000/month. With that money it would be easy to buy articles and/or PLR to create monthly posts which can be done by outsourcing. My "team" consists of 1 or 2 well trained people that would do the article writing and backlinking. Training them to attend and become involved in niche forums would be my job.
With this team in place, and of course it would take time to do all this, the business would be hands free for me. My work then consists of monitoring the stats, finding new niches, and supervising the "team".
I think this a viable business model and it irks me when I see you saying "just making money online" as if it is somehow a pejorative approach to marketing. Perhaps when you talk "making a quick buck" you're referring to MFAs (made for Adsense) sites that were all the rage a couple of years ago, but making small niche sites with well researched and written content is not that hard to do.
I do agree that taking a site from start to max profit is how one should build a site, but once built one has to wait for the rankings to show up (2 weeks to a month more or less). In that interval is when a new site can be researched and started with content written.
Once the first 10 sites are showing profits, I then begin to acquire the tools that will allow the process to accelerate. Tools like the JiffyArticles.com for article writing can be used by the "team" to write many articles and site posts, Linkvana for backlinking, article distribution services like Submit Your Article or Unique Article Wizard and many others that make managing 100 sites relatively easy.
I also disagree that one should "NEVER" build a site around a single product. If a product does go away after you built and ranked your site, so what. You've already made back your initial investment and perhaps ( likely) a lot more so just let it go and find another product.
p.s. I hope you health issues have been successfully resolved.
Whoa! My first reaction to that new comment is nice of him to hope that your "health issues" have been resolved while poking a sharp stick in your eye... funny how it really doesn't make me want to consider his opinions further huh?
Consider that he is talking in concept ("would be" etc) while I am speaking from 15+ years hands-on experience. 🙂
Bob: you are welcome to disagree and be "irked", and to use any model you please. This is simply my blog - with my experience and my opinion. Best of luck to you!
I wish we could give a "thumbs up" or down to particular comments! LOL
I see, Lynn, that you are using a new comment system, can I ask what it is? Thx!
Thanks for the post again Lynn..
I was once asked a question (quite recently). Why do you think you are failing online. My reply was" Because I am chopping at the forest and hoping that a Tree will fall down".
Of course to quote Lynn: "Which leaves you scattered, frustrated, and struggling to break even".
I am not using block methods to get through one project to drive it to completion. And I am now beginning to realize why I could have been dodging Starting One Project To Completion. Because Its exhausting. It demands real thinking. That's a concept. Thinking. creating funnels and such.
I am though, getting more done and the other projects or other trees in the forest are now a PLAN, or to do list But they all fall under number 2. Secondary.
Thanks again for the post, this helps me stay focused on one thing. Thanks.