| Is it possible to turn your hobby website into a | | | | - Find online publications (blogs and websites) related to |
| livelihood? Can you actually earn a living from | | | | your hobby topic and submit articles to those as well, in |
| something that interests you? Sure you can, and I'll | | | | exchange for a link to your site. |
| show you how in this article. | | | | - Focus on building a great web resource before trying |
| For the last few years, I have made a comfortable | | | | to make money from it. Revenue comes with traffic, |
| living through a network of hobby-related websites | | | | and the best way to grow your traffic levels it to have |
| that are mostly educational in scope. When combined, | | | | a great site to begin with. |
| the revenue produced by these sites covers most of | | | | - When you are ready, implement different |
| my expenses, such as mortgage, car payment, | | | | monetization techniques in order to make money from |
| groceries, vacations, etc. | | | | the website. These techniques include (but are |
| Now I don't say all this to boast, but only to get your | | | | certainly not limited to) Google's AdSense program for |
| attention. If you are taking the time to read this article, | | | | publishers, affiliate programs such as Commission |
| then you and I have something in common. We both | | | | Junction, selling e-books online, etc. Try new things on a |
| have an interest in publishing websites around topics | | | | regular basis. |
| that interest us -- and we both have the desire to earn | | | | - Combine multiple revenue streams. Experiment with |
| a living while doing so! | | | | the ones listed above (and others) to find out what |
| How to Make Money From Your Site | | | | works best for your audience. Then seek to add extra |
| So without further ado, here is everything I wish I knew | | | | revenue sources. It's a concept of layers. |
| five years ago, when I began building hobby websites | | | | - Be flexible. Focus your energy on those efforts that |
| for fun and profit. Here is your list of timesaving and | | | | produce the best results. Some techniques will be |
| profit-boosting tips and techniques. | | | | profitable, and others will not. The important thing is to |
| - Choose topics that interest you. You'll need passion | | | | learn something from everything you do. |
| to grow your websites over time, but you won't get | | | | - When your website is built (phase one, at least), send |
| passion from a topic that bores you. | | | | a press release out through the online PR sites. Write |
| - Before writing articles and web pages, do a thorough | | | | the release to your intended reader / audience, and |
| round of keyword / key phrase research. Build your | | | | explain the usefulness and uniqueness of your hobby |
| content around phrases and topics that people are | | | | site. |
| actually searching. WordTracker has a free version of | | | | - After sending your press release, you should also tap |
| their tool you can use to get started. | | | | into blog networks to promote your site. Make a list of |
| - At first, you will probably write most of the content | | | | popular blogs within your subject / niche area, and |
| yourself. But as your website begins to make money | | | | contact the authors to share the new (and extremely |
| you can outsource some of the writing through | | | | useful) online resource you've created. |
| freelance services such as Elance. | | | | - When your first site is up and running (and making |
| - Map out the structure / organization of your websites | | | | money consistently), start the next one. It's rare to |
| before building them. Plan for expansion and flexibility | | | | make a living from just one hobby / information |
| down the road. It will prevent future headaches and | | | | website. I personally publish a dozen. One of them is |
| redesigns. | | | | getting close to being a livelihood by itself, but it's nice |
| - Resource pages (such as glossaries, tutorials, and | | | | to have the others for extra "cushion." |
| subject guides) typically attract a lot of citations and | | | | - Set clear goals for your website. Examples: I want to |
| links from other webmasters, and therefore have | | | | have X number of articles by month #2. I want to |
| traffic-building potential. They take time to create, but | | | | have 200 visitors per day by month #3. And so on. |
| they are worth the effort. | | | | Sometimes you'll hit your goals, sometimes you'll |
| - Be extremely thorough and "encyclopedic" with your | | | | exceed them, and other times you'll fall short. But you |
| content. The more in-depth and useful your website is, | | | | need something to aim for. |
| the more people will visit it (and revisit, and recommend | | | | - Create a schedule of tasks to help you reach those |
| it to others, and link to it, etc.). | | | | goals we talked about above. Examples: One hour of |
| - Begin a link-building program to steadily increase the | | | | content creation each day. Thirty minutes of SEO |
| number of websites that link to yours, which will in turn | | | | work each day. One press release distributed each |
| increase your search engine ranking. Start by | | | | month. And so on. Your goals will dictate your |
| submitting your site to appropriate web directories. | | | | schedule. |
| - Repurpose your content. Create an alternate version | | | | Conclusion and Summary |
| of each article you write and publish it online through | | | | I'm sure you already have the desire to earn a living |
| article distribution sites. Each article you distribute should | | | | with hobby websites. Otherwise you wouldn't be |
| have a link back to your own site for traffic-building | | | | reading this article. So let me close simply by offering |
| purposes. | | | | you a little motivation. |