Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
I have read many posts from people earning a 2nd income from their websites which interests me greatly ;)
I have been pondering the idea of creating a site with the intention of making an additional income for some time now and would really appreciate some advice regarding the type of site required.
What is the best kind of site for creating an income? Is it some kind of on-line business where products are sold or maybe a community site taking advantage of adverts?
Thanks in advance
Once you have done this and you have your own idea then come back and ask more specific questions and people will be very helpful.
Thanks for the reply, I already have an idea for a community forum and a product site. The problem I have is that my spare time would only allow me to give one site my full 100% and I am trying to decide on what would be the best option to take.
TJ
So, you look at the competition for both site ideas - how can you do it better, how will you make your site stand out from theirs, what are their sites/products lacking that you feel you can improve via your site/product, is there competition (good thing - it usually means theres money) or so many people with competing sites that you wouldn't be able to move if you were all packed into a sports arena (saturated)?
You also need to look at the demand for the field the community site or product would target. Do some keyword research and find out if these product areas will even get traffic, check out the bids on O and see if the terms are valuable to the advertisers - i.e. is there an interest and/or people looking for them.
I'd say do the research for both markets and then you can compare them and make a choice. And one doesn't have to be a "dead idea" - you never know, you could end up full time like many of the other people at WebmasterWorld and be able to re-visit the second idea at a later time. ;)
These are popular with people who live, work, and visit the area and there are advertising possibilities from local businesses.
Matt
Good luck
2) Make sure it is a topic big enough you wont outgrow
3) Take a look at the competition and try to find what they didnt do.. you need an angle, an undiscovered niche they havent touched upon.
Easy money, you think? Anything but. I'm up to three web sites and considering a fourth. It's a lot of work, using up much of my "spare" time after my day job. There's a lot of education involved. You have to know your market, both the products and customers. As you learn more about each, you begin to discover niches that are profitable, sometimes just for a short period of time. You learn when to get in and when to get out, if necessary. You have to be able to admit you made a mistake. I've redesigned whole sites to make them more easier to use, add more information, and make them more profitable. I've learned to do things far enough of ahead of time to be indexed in the search engines when the right time comes.
If you want to make money, you have to treat it like a business. That takes work, education, risks, and goals. If you have all that and are willing to be patient, it could work for you. Don't just think you're going to slap together a web site, put up some affiliate links, lay back, and watch the money roll in.
