In my first income report, I mentioned that I’ve been blogging for the last 18 months. But I’ve not been taking it seriously.
I write inconsistently and about what I like. I suppose this blog is more of a hobby. A side project rather than a blog designed to make money, as reflected in the earnings in the income report.
But did you know that Content Publishing/Blogging is a serious business?
A lot of blogs make nothing, others make good money. And some at the extreme end of the spectrum make six figures per month.
What I want to achieve
I want to build a website in a completely random market and make money.
More specifically, I want to:
- Make at least £3,000 per month within 9 months from it.
- Outsource as much possible including the content creation, design, etc.
- Invest as little as possible in terms of money.
I know what you’re thinking: ‘You’re being lazy.’
Here’s the thing, I’m not. I’m just being realistic. From my experience of running this blog, I know creating a website from scratch takes a lot of time, effort and energy.
Plus I’m not good at writing. And because I’ll be choosing a random niche, my knowledge will likely to be limited. There are other people out there who are better than me. Why not use them?
Besides I want to create an online business that will eventually be independent of me.
Anyway, does my goal sound easy? I suppose we’ll find out because I’m going to be documenting every step of the process.
What is the difference between a blog, niche site and an authority website?
First, let’s look at the differences between a blog, a niche site and an authority website to see which type I want to create.
Old-fashion blog
A blog is a space where you write about anything you want and when you want. It’s like an online journal/diary, except you have ‘posts’ instead.
A raw blog is personal and is written with passion. The voice of the content is consistent throughout. In other words, the blogger is the only writer.
Another key feature of old-fashioned blogging is that the publisher has no intentions of making money.
Niche website
A niche site is basically a blog but more focused. And built around one’s passion, hobby or interest. Like a blog, a true niche site has only one writer: the owner of the site.
Unlike old-fashion bloggers, niche site bloggers build a blog with the intention of making money. They do the majority of work involved, but some do hire writers for help.
Example of a niche site
A site helping people live better lives through the principles of stoicism philosophy. This site is currently a good example of a niche site. But it will become an authority site in the future.
Ryan Holiday, the best selling author of the Obstacle is the Way, has established trust and authority with his audience. People visit the Daily Stoic for stoicism applied to modern living.
Ryan noticed a gap in the self-help niche. Then he started the process of making stoicism philosophy available to the general public.
The site makes money mainly from Amazon Associate as well as sales of physical and digital products.
Authority website
An authority website is similar to a niche site but a lot bigger, more professional, and more brand focused. The brand is instead the face of the website.
Authority sites are real businesses with one goal in mind: to make money. They produce quality content consistently. And have employees in all areas from content creation to accounting.
Although authority sites are bigger than niche sites, they achieve consistency, credibility, and personality through branding. How? Because they do everything in line with the brand’s persona.
Example of an authority website
The Wirecutter is a massive general authority site. The site helps people make better buying decisions. It achieves this by thoroughly testing and then reviewing products.
The Wirecutter established itself as a trusted source for many shoppers in the market for products in a range of categories including electronics, gadget, and consumer goods. It achieved this over several years of consistent publishing.
As a business based on affiliate marketing, the Wirecutter makes money through programmes like Amazon Associate. The New York Times recently bought the Wirecutter for $30 million dollars. That’s insane.
Authority website process
Now that I know the differences between the different types of websites, I want to build an authority website.
And the most important steps to follow when building an authority website are:
- Find a niche/market
- Create a website
- Write a content plan
- Have SEO in mind
- Have a monetisation plan
- Get promoting
I will be going through each step in different episodes. But first let’s go through:
- Why I want to build an authority website
- The basic skills I will need to succeed
Why I want to build an authority website
If this is your first time visiting my blog, I primarily make most of my money from selling goods on Amazon via FBA. I first started with selling used books in February 2017 from almost zero.
Now I mainly resell established products that I source from distributors and brands directly. I also source and sell my own branded products that I import from China.
You should definitely consider selling on Amazon. But be mindful that Amazon is in control and it can suspend at any time. I know this because it recent suspended my Amazon business. Which was doing £130,000 in revenue.
What did I learn? Well, this experience has made aware of the importance of having multiple income streams
I want to build another online business because I don’t want to be dependent on one source of income.
I suppose what I’m saying is that you need to understand why you want to build an income-generating blog. Being aware of your reasons and motivations will help you achieve your goals quicker.
Authority website model is very appealing
Here are some other reasons why I want to build an authority website:
- No inventory. Although you can sell physical goods on an authority site, you will have no inventory to deal with. Information is the main commodity.
- You’re building a brand. Building a brand is essential for establishing trust, authority and gaining more influence.
- Not too dependent on Google. Because authority blogs are branded and built on quality content that can be trusted. Other sites will link to your website naturally.
- More commercially viable. Unlike niche sites, authority sites are more formal. Which means you can add more revenue streams without harming your reputation.
- It can be scaled. An authority site has its own identity, meaning you can pump out a lot more content.
- It can become passive later. This is what I love the most about this model: it requires a lot of work now but not so much as time goes on.
What it will take to be successful
Selling physical products on marketplaces like Amazon is simple and straightforward. Why? In Amazon’s case, because they provide the traffic and will even fulfill your orders for a fee.
All you have to do is find in-demand products to sell, list them and watch the sales. You will see results right of the bat.
With blogs, however, it takes a lot longer to start seeing results. I will need to be patient and publish high-quality content regularly.
In fact, It can take anywhere from three to nine months for a site to start doing well. Of course, that’s assuming the site is optimised and rich with quality content, say about 50 to 100 articles.
Aside from patience, here are other basic skills I will need to build an authority website that will generate a stable income:
- Some interest in the market/niche of my website. You will, however, need to have a real interest in your blog topic if you’ll be doing all the writing.
- Know how to outsource. Or at least learn how to outsource.
- Basic project management skills. As I will be outsourcing the content creation aspect, I will need to able to manage writers and create systems.
- Awareness. I know it will take time before I start seeing results. So I will need to be motivated and self-disciplined
Conclusion
Phew. That was a long introduction. But at least now I know what an authority site is and what I will have to do to succeed in building one.
Aside from this blog, I’ve never built a proper website before. So as you can imagine, I am anxious.
But at the same time, I’m super excited because I will be learning a lot. I’m looking forward to seeing my site gaining traction and earning some dollars.
I also know, however, that it will take a lot of hard work and patience. And although I want to fast track the whole process, I have to keep in mind that this a marathon, not a sprint.
What next
In the next episode, I will be starting niche/market research.
Here are the things on the to-do list:
- Research different niches/markets and find one with high enough demand.
- Choose some initial markets.
- Do competitor analysis. Find a niche that’s underserved, one that has low supply but high demand.
- Come up with a name and start the branding process.