Project DIY Niche Site – Gets Underway

I just wanted to give you an update on Project DIY Niche Site with my post tonight. This article series is going to monitor the progress as we either build a niche site from scratch OR find an underdeveloped existing site and transform it into a much improved version of itself.

The neat thing is that once we are done with it, I will give it away in a contest to a reader of the blog. Details haven’t been worked out on that part yet but follow along so you don’t miss out.

I started this series to try and combat the billions of make money blogs out there that claim they make all kinds of money yet never, ever and I mean EVER show you how they do it or what they do to earn it. Most of the Make Money blogs that I have seen do nothing but rehash what they read on John Chow or one of the other 2 billion make no money blogs out there.

I will never claim to know everything, I make my share of mistakes, I am still learning some things but I am good at others. The difference that I try to bring to the table is that I am more than willing to share what I know, whether that be good or bad will be for you to decide. I am just fed up with sites who talk about making money but don’t actually do it, or show anyone how they do it. All that said, let me update you on where we are so far.

I have begun perusing the forums to see if I can find a decent looking niche site that is underutilized. I have a number of forums that I visit, in fact I wrote an Eight Must Have Forums for Buying Websites article a month or so ago. My clear cut favorites are SitePoint, Digital Point and BizMp but I must warn you, it’s very difficult to find a “bargain” here due to the amount of competition there is out there. It’s a great place to sell but a tough place to buy.

I have also started searching for a suitable domain name that I may use for this project or another, who knows. I currently have my eye (and bid) on a sexy little 7 year old dot com domain in a moderately specialized niche that scores well for search terms and returns acceptable results. If you want to read how I Hunt the Perfect Niche Site and see what I look for when searching out niche sites.

I am not ready to reveal my domain yet, I need to win my auction first but in a future article I will share with you how to get a reasonably good idea whether AdSense will return an acceptable EPC for the niche site that you are considering. I would prefer to target niche sites that will return a strong EPC rather than a nickel a click. Clicks are too hard to come by to strive to earn a nickel, I want to see a dollar or two per click as the minimum to even consider it.

Some will continue to choose niches that they personally enjoy, but I have to tell you I think that’s a mistake. If you’re doing it for a hobby then by all means, pick a site that you have an interest in, but if you are doing it for money then pick sites that pay. Easy stuff.

I need to back myself up a bit, the niche site that I am considering currently is a site that doesn’t necessarily pay the highest EPC and it isn’t a “small” niche either. It should return close to a dollar per click and draws a lot of organic searches though. A bit of work and it could be a producer….if I get the domain then I will reveal my thoughts. It would be easier to take it from a broad topic site to a very targeted niche. We’ll see where it goes.

In the meantime, I am all ears as to what you guys would like to see for a site or if you have any questions about the articles I referenced earlier. One thing I am WIDE OPEN for and would WELCOME is suggestions on how I can hold a killer contest for this niche site.