I don't really do "motivational" threads but had something happen which set me to thinking about what is in my view one of the most important principles of making money on your own, try it and see what happens.
Last year I had a bunch of things go out of whack in my personal life, and had to shut down a lot of what I had going on or pending with work so that I could help handle things that were going on here. At the time of the big shut down I had been toying with a niche directory that I had planned on building as a basic framework then flipping at SitePoint or somewhere else for a couple of bucks just to get rid of it.
This was not a big priority, and at the time that it got mothballed and largely forgotten the site had a very basic, 1997-esque template, three pages of static directory listings, and two original (and imo quality) articles on the niche. On each of the directory listings -- and nowhere else -- was a "featured site" listing that linked to the top eBay seller in the niche. No sitemap, no promo work done, nothing -- absolutely nothing -- else.
So it came back around on rotation last week and I figured I'd just pop out the domain and x this one off. I ran through the stats and ... what the hell? the site in its current sorry form gets around ~500 uniques a month. Off of those uniques there have been 109 clickthroughs on the eBay banner, and on those clickthroughs there have been $16.00 and some change generated in commissions.
Now -- $16 isn't going to buy a lot of anything unless you're real into pennies. And 500 uniques a month is hardly a storm. But the traffic is consistent, and totally organic, and to have generated $16 on three sales from 109 clicks using the shittarded eBay aff program is just amazing to me, especially given the horrid state in which the site was left.
The moral is -- you just never know. You will never know if you don't try. If for some weird reason you're hanging out here and are not trying something, then please consider my sorry ass little directory site that is getting hundreds of uniques and a minor bit of commission and try something. No one should have to tell you that "analysis" is not real work, and "studying" is not real work, and "networking" is not real work. Work is work. Go get some work done.
Frank
Last year I had a bunch of things go out of whack in my personal life, and had to shut down a lot of what I had going on or pending with work so that I could help handle things that were going on here. At the time of the big shut down I had been toying with a niche directory that I had planned on building as a basic framework then flipping at SitePoint or somewhere else for a couple of bucks just to get rid of it.
This was not a big priority, and at the time that it got mothballed and largely forgotten the site had a very basic, 1997-esque template, three pages of static directory listings, and two original (and imo quality) articles on the niche. On each of the directory listings -- and nowhere else -- was a "featured site" listing that linked to the top eBay seller in the niche. No sitemap, no promo work done, nothing -- absolutely nothing -- else.
So it came back around on rotation last week and I figured I'd just pop out the domain and x this one off. I ran through the stats and ... what the hell? the site in its current sorry form gets around ~500 uniques a month. Off of those uniques there have been 109 clickthroughs on the eBay banner, and on those clickthroughs there have been $16.00 and some change generated in commissions.
Now -- $16 isn't going to buy a lot of anything unless you're real into pennies. And 500 uniques a month is hardly a storm. But the traffic is consistent, and totally organic, and to have generated $16 on three sales from 109 clicks using the shittarded eBay aff program is just amazing to me, especially given the horrid state in which the site was left.
The moral is -- you just never know. You will never know if you don't try. If for some weird reason you're hanging out here and are not trying something, then please consider my sorry ass little directory site that is getting hundreds of uniques and a minor bit of commission and try something. No one should have to tell you that "analysis" is not real work, and "studying" is not real work, and "networking" is not real work. Work is work. Go get some work done.
Frank
