Online Success Story:
Jill Green
http://panicfreeme.com
Panic Free Me is an anxiety self help blog that shows people how to stop panic attacks and get their life back.
1. When did you set up your website?
I registered the domain and set the blog up right around Christmas 2009. I wanted to start the blog as a gift to myself to mark my progress with my recovery from anxiety and panic attacks. So it is a little over a year and a half old...
2. What gave you the idea for this particular niche & website?
The idea came from my own personal suffering with anxiety. I have spent tons of money over the years on doctors and therapists and all kinds of things that didn't really amount to much as far as making me better.
What did help was reaching out and connecting with others who were going through the same thing. Anxiety can be incredibly isolating and I often felt I was the only person in the world going through it. So the advent of the internet was a real blessing to me. I found a lot of help and support on forums back in the day.
What I found most interesting about my anxiety recovery is that once I made the decision to seriously do something about it, I created room for real healing. It really is a personal choice. That's why my blog’s title is anxiety self help- no one can make me better but me 🙂 My hope is that other anxiety sufferers will come to this realization as well.
I consider myself a recovering anxious person- I still get anxiety from time to time, but it no longer rules my life.
I also wanted to blog about anxiety to take away the shame I carried around with me trying to cover it up for so many years. I used to think I was insane or mentally ill - this is one of the hallmarks of living with anxiety.
Today I know I am just your average, every day, sensitive person with a habit of having adrenaline rushes from time to time, lol. I'm no different than anyone else. And I want all anxiety suffers to feel this way and know they can get better too. 🙂
3. Did you have any experience with online business prior to creating this website?
Yes. I have an ecommerce website since 2006, but blogging was completely new to me.
4. What did you do for work prior to setting up an online business?
I am a registered nurse and a public school teacher.
5. How did you initially promote your website, and if different – how do you promote it now?
I used the methods Lynn teaches such as optimizing posts for long tail keyword phrases, getting one way inbound links, and of course creating good content. I have an email list that grows little by little. I recently started taking Twitter and Facebook a little more seriously and I've been guest blogging too.
6. Is your website profitable? Can you share some basic traffic & profit stats with us?
Yes it is (finally!). It's not anything huge but I make a around $200-$300 per month on affiliate sales. I had 4,942 absolute unique visitors last month.
7. What are your plans for the site going forward?
To be more social.
Recently I stopped focusing so much technical stuff like link building, SEO , trying to find the perfect theme, etc. ( I still do this stuff, but I'm not obsessed with it like before). I shifted my focus more on creating connections with real people. I even turned off the pop up on my blog so people wouldn’t feel I was some disconnected robot.
I am finding the blog to be much more rewarding now that I spend quality time interacting with my readers. I get unsolicited comments and emails from readers telling me something I shared helped them and nothing feels better than that.
8. What ONE piece of advice would you give someone interested in starting their own niche site or blog?
I’m sure it's been said before, but try to trust the process and be patient. Patience is not my strong suit and now that I am helping people and making some money in the process, I'm really glad I hung in there.
Jill Green
http://PanicFreeMe.com
-Thank you, Jill and congratulations on your success!
About Lynn Terry
Hi Jill,
Yes, thanks for your inspirational story, AND for hanging in there!
Regards
Catherine
Thanks Catherine!
I like your site and the fact it's based on your direct experience. I believe that's why you're building a solid audience. Unfortunately, anxiety disorders don't always cure, which requires ongoing maintenance, but that results in ongoing readers working on improving day-by-day.
You chose a great niche; the market is large and you can expand into related niches promoting health and wellness.
Hi Peter,
Well I do agree. What I try to teach my readers is that while anxiety may ebb and flow, they can learn effective skills that will help them when the going gets tough.
I have to give you kudos for doing the needful re anxiety and getting yourself grounded in who you are. Slowing down the pace of life has helped me too.
I was diagnosed with "anxiety neurosis" when I was about 18, scared of everything, that I wasn't "enough," etc. etc, years of therapy, costly mistakes, bad choices due to fear. I'm sure you know how paralyzing anxiety is!
Like you, now I'm fine & rarely get awful anxiety attacks anymore & am getting better and better at self-management, as are you. Thx for sharing your story...!
Skipper Holmes
So glad to hear you are doing well Skipper. Yes I know how paralyzing anxiety can be. Once we realize that we are in large part responsible for our recovery (self-management), that's when real healing can begin 🙂
Hey, Jill:
Great story! I have been to your blog many times, lots of good articles there. Congrats on building a great site and providing useful content for your readers in a niche that is quite sensitive.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Missy
Thank you Missy! ((Hugs))
Nice idea you had, Jill, and i'm sure it's actually helping a lot of people. Doing something that i like and also has a positive influence on people is one of my dreams, but i still have a long way to get there.
You've done a great job with your blog, and you've just earned a new reader.
Well you take it one day at a time, right Dave? Thank you for the kind compliment, and I'm thrilled to have you as a new reader 🙂
Thats a great inspirational story for all the people out there starting out or trying to build up a loyal user base on their site.
Good luck for the future.
Thank you Matt. It is based on Lynn's recommendation to blog about something you are passionate about. And I think it's a great way to turn something "negative" into something positive.
I believe that every person in life has solution in himself.You have done a great job for yourself and it is lesson for others.
I believe that too, Khan.
Your choice towards long tail keywords is right.These keywords are easy to optimize.There is no science is SEO.It demands only consistency and frequency.
It doesn't matter that your site is profitable or not. In your case I think the best way you profited was by opening up yourself and writing about your anxiety. It is something you can be very proud of.