Day 4 -- Investigate and Plan Monetization Options

SBI! Modules Used Today -- Brainstorm It!, Search It!, Monetization HQ

You're almost ready to finalize a domain name and then start building! You have identified your best Site Concept. You have brainstormed it extensively, and then pruned & sorted your keywords into a 3-TIER blueprint. Today...

Your DAY 4 goal is to fully investigate and plan the monetization models for your upcoming site.

The M Comes Last

Do you know the #1 mistake that most small business people commit while starting their online businesses?

Almost everyone chooses and focuses on the M way too soon.

Almost everyone? Many SBIers, of course, have a pre-existing business. They want to use SBI! to leverage that business. So it's natural to choose that as their primary monetization vehicle.

For example, if you want to grow your local dentist practice or sell your Java programming skills to a world-wide audience, you're going to do well. An SBI! site will grow your existing local business substantially.

Even if your business is local, don't completely "assume the M." Keep your eyes open for other Monetization possibilities. One SBIer had a local asphalt-sealing business. Now he sells asphalt-sealing kits around the world thanks to SBI!.

Other people decide, before writing the first word of their sites, that they want to, for example, "do eBay" or generate leads for their MLM product or sell their own e-book from their site, and/or in other locations such as ClickBank's Marketplace.

These are all great ideas, but...

It's too early to have decided upon "the" way to monetize.

The M Comes Last, Yes... But Think About It Now

Even if you think you know exactly how you will monetize (and that might change as you proceed), don't lock yourself into one monetization model. Why leave money on the table?

Make every visitor to your Web site contribute to your bottom line. If they don't want to buy something, they'll submit a lead via a form. Or they'll click on a Google ad. Or they'll click on a contextual affiliate text link that recommends the product of a related merchant (weave affiliate links naturally and smoothly into your content).

You don't have to sell anything to customers if this does not interest you. Some of the most successful SBIers create pure "information" sites. They are "infopreneurs." They do not have a product or service to sell. They monetize traffic several ways.

Before proceeding to name your domain, tell your Site Concept to "Show me the money!"If your Site Concept is right, you will build an extremely profitable SBI! site.

Your two basic goals are...

1) Investigate and assure yourself that this Site Concept can indeed make substantial profits. Of course, not every monetization model has to start immediately. But the potential must be there! It would be depressing to find out that your particular Site Concept has very little "monetizability" after you've spent months building informative, creative Content!

2) Lay out your plan for the Monetization Mix. Which one will be your primary income stream? How and when will you lay out the others? Which others? You may need to adjust the Site Concept, fine-tuning its approach, according to the Monetization Mix you develop now.

So plan M now. Fulfill it later.

All set? Let's do the plan.

Step 1 - Do a preliminary check of your theme's profitability.

Your first step is to do an initial "M" assessment by checking the AdSense-earning potential of your Master Keyword List. AdSense is an excellent low-maintenance way for just about every SBI! site to "prime the monetization pump" and gain some confidence.

With the help of the Google Traffic (and CPC) Estimator tool, used by Advertisers to see how much ads will cost them, you can get an indication of the demand for your Site Concept and how well it can be monetized by Google AdSense.

This action will help you determine whether you should keep going forward with this Site Concept (due to good AdSense potential), or go back to DAY 3 for further refinements (due to low AdSense potential)... or even return to DAY 2 to select a different concept.

Click here for the "M" assessment tool and follow the step-by-step directions outlined in a mini tutorial (which includes helpful screenshots).

Step 2 - Research the Monetization HQ, identifying best-fit monetization models.

Review potential monetization models (presented below). Consider each one carefully. Depending on your particular niche and business intentions, some will apply to you. Some won't. Tailor your choice of monetization models according to your time constraints and priorities.

The key is to never be dependent on any one income source. "All your eggs in one basket" is a high-risk strategy. By diversifying, your revenues increase, your business is more stable, and YOU are in charge of your business destiny.

For example, a visitor may not be interested in hiring your professional travel service... yet. But she might click on a Google ad. Or buy your e-book or DVD. Or submit a form to take a cruise (for which you earn a commission). And so on.

Think of it this way... if you don't monetize a visitor one way, convert her into dollars another way!

Ready? Let's get started on your monetization plan/blueprint...

1) Print a copy of the Monetization Planning worksheet, a great way to organize your research.

2) Review the monetization models below, and make notes about those that might fit your Site Concept...

• AdSense
• Infopreneur
• Hard Goods Creators/Sellers
• Affiliate Businesses
• Service Businesses
• Local Offline Businesses
• Referrers/Finders
• Web Professionals
• Net Auction Sellers
• MLM/Network Marketing
• E-goods Creators/Sellers
• Sales and Rental Agents
• Existing E-businesses
• AdSense/Other Ad Strategies
• PREselling SBI!

Remember to think "outside the box" -- use your Monetization Planning worksheet, and mix 'n match the monetization models to suit your site topic. You are not limited to only one monetization model.

Step 3 - Explore the SBI! Monetization Forums.

DAY 4 has its own forum, Planning Your Monetization Mix. Jump in and join the discussions. Don't be shy -- ask questions. (And remember... help others, too.) To spot new monetization ideas...

The Monetizing (DAY 10) forums, including the supplementary Other Monetization Models forum, frequently come up with great new ideas, too. One important thought about the forums...

Return more to the community than you get out of it. You may be learning about how to triple AdSense income from a fellow SBIer, but you now know enough about brainstorming to help someone else in the BI! forum. There are always threads open where you can "pay it forward."

Step 4 - Use Search It!.

Search It! is another useful way to assess monetization potential...

http://searchit.sitesell.com/

Step 5 - Use a very special Brainstorm It! tool... Site Info Notepads.

Now for some high-octane power!

Site Info is a column of Notepad icons in your MKL.

To get Site Info for any particular keyword, click on the Notepad icon in the Site Info column for the keyword in that row.

The Site Info Notepads in your MKL give you in-depth, competitive information for each keyword. It also enables you to evaluate and develop Monetization options and strategies.

Like any powerful tool, use it where it counts most...

• your Site Concept keyword (ex. "anguilla"), and for
• relatively high-Demand/high-Profitability, specific keywords that are most likely to be "monetizable" (ex. "anguilla villas" and "anguilla real estate").

How To Use Site Info To Assess Competition

A site that publishes content in a niche like yours is a serious competitor if...

• its Alexa rankings is within the top 100,000
• it has lots of inbound links from all three major engines (1,000 inbound links at Yahoo! and Windows Live, 100 at Google)
• it has many top Google PR sites linking to it
• it tends to be related to excellent other sites.

Let's look at the three links in more detail...

The Show link for Inbound Links opens a new browser window that delivers a Web page that shows you all Google, Yahoo! Search and Windows Live Search inbound links to the domain of each URL. This is tremendous information. It tells you much about the link popularity of the site across all three engines.

The Find Top Google PR Sites link for each of the Top 10 sites shows you the highest PR sites that link to it. If the Top 10 site is a competitor and has lots of high PR (5 or more) sites linking to it, that's strong.

Assess the quality of the Related Sites by evaluating their Alexa rankings and Inbound Links. Consider lots of high-quality Related Sites to mean that the Top 10 site "lives" in an excellent neighborhood.

A few serious competitors is no reason to back down. There is lots of room in this world for more than one excellent site in any given niche. Establishing your VPP and unique voice will go a long way towards differentiating you and your site.

Of course, if you find too many super-strong competitors for your Site Concept keyword and other high-potential ones, you might want to reconsider your Site Concept! Avoiding mistakes is part of the power of great research.

On the other hand, these sites are showing you the "Content and Monetization" footprints on the path to success. Learn from strong competition, borrowing/customizing good techniques and ideas, and perhaps approaching matters from a different angle.

"What else do I do with Site Info?"

Site Info has so many useful applications. You will find...

• merchant sites that will buy advertising from you, or content sites that will sell you advertising.
• "Content competitors." Learn from the good ones (ex., study their content, which affiliate programs they have chosen, etc.) and then... do it better and do it differently (more on this in the Make Your Content PREsell! e-book, DAY 5). And remember... there is lots of room for several great sites in a niche.
• potential value (link) exchanges. These are content sites that are complementary to yours, not competitive.
• high quality forums. Look for opportunities to build your Brand of One by posting great content... do NOT sell!
• even uncover super-affiliates of sites selling similar products or services to yours.

  Be prepared to be amazed. Open your mind. Spend time on Site Info. There is a lot of data there -- your job is to turn data into usable information.

  Important:

  Add ideas/thoughts/comments into each Site Info Notepad as soon as you find an opportunity/get an idea, or you'll forget. Borrow the best from your competition! Enter great ideas for Content and Monetization.

  (Keep your Notepads organized... put monetization ideas into the Monetization Notepad, etc.)

  And here's where that Contact link comes in handy...

  The Contact link displays contact information for each site. Try contacting the Administrative Contact if you spot a potential advertiser or future affiliate (those who link to your competition will link to you, in the future). This is often the phone number and e-mail address of the key person who makes decisions!

  Step 6 - "Finalize" your Monetization Mix.

  Take your time as you review and think about the wide variety of possible monetization models of your choice... the possibilities are endless. Now is the time to think about what potential income streams (i.e., how you monetize your traffic) would "fit" with your Site Concept. Remember the goal?...

  Make every visitor to your Web site contribute to your bottom line.

  You're getting to the end of Day 4, and I want to remind you when you finish this day, go to the Monetization HQ and do your research - remember to "think outside the box", and use your worksheet to determine your possible options for monetization.

  By doing some "future" thinking now, you will know if your present choice of a Site Concept will allow for more than one profitable opportunity. And you'll get an idea of how profitable it can be. Don't box yourself into a corner before you even get started!

  Never be dependent on any one income source. "All your eggs in one basket" is a high-risk strategy. By diversifying, your revenues increase, your business is more stable, and you are in charge of your business destiny.

  When Do You Monetize?

  Not right now. You are merely assessing "monetization viability and possibilities" of your site concept. As a general rule of thumb, do not monetize before you...

  • have at least 30 pages
  • are accepted into two or more directories (ex., niche directories, Open Directory Project), or have at least a few quality, relevant in-pointing links (directory or not)
  • have started to receive a steady stream of visitors (at least 20 per day).

  Pace your monetization implementation. And, while you may be planning five different Monetization models, add them one at a time, weeks or months apart. Assess each one. And more importantly, after you introduce your first income-generator, during the early weeks, even months after that...

  Focus on building more targeted traffic for your primary monetizer. Then when you are ready, plug your next "visitor-to-dollar converter" into your site.

  Multiple income opportunities should never be introduced at the expense of your main business, or at the expense of building great content.

  Let's repeat...

  Before you can effectively monetize your site, you must have a solid traffic base. Why? Because...

  No traffic = No income.

  You may be thinking... "Hey, I don't want to miss out on any potential income. I want to build a commercial site right from the start!"

  Mistake. Big mistake.

  Do not be in a rush to monetize your site. Traffic-building (and lots of it) comes before Monetization. Do not over-commercialize your site and do not commercialize it at the beginning. Keep these two important points in mind...

  1. By providing great content, you PREsell your reader, increasing your click through to your income source and your Conversion Rate. That is not going to happen if your site is just one big pile of links. Both the Search Engines and surfers will ignore you.

     Think of PREselling as building your "Brand of One"... whether the "one" is you personally or your small business company name.

  2. You can get into directories more easily if your site is "pure content" when you apply. It is OK to add a "Contact Me" form (gently, in good taste) early, in order to monetize a service you sell. But affiliate links will hurt directory applications. Google ads may, too.

  "Directories" are not the same as "Search Engines." Every URL in a directory (ex., Open Directory Project) is reviewed by a human editor BEFORE it is listed. There is a limit, of course, to the number of pages that humans can process, so directories have far fewer URLs in them. But the pages are all of good quality.

  There are numerous "niche or themed" directories. We will cover how to submit and be accepted into directories later. The importance of directories as a direct source of traffic is near-zero -- but they can be a valuable link for building your "link popularity" (more on this at the right time).

  It can take anywhere from 4-8 weeks for the directories (and Search Engines) to pick up, list, and start driving traffic to your site. So traffic only begins in 2-3 months. Stay non-commercial during that time. That means...

  If you add two quality pages to your site per day, it only takes 15 days to have enough content to be ready to apply to the directories. It will take one month if you build one page per day.

  Once you have built 30+ terrific pages, have developed a few high-quality, relevant, non-directory inbound links and once traffic is starting to grow (20+ visitors per day), you will start integrating your monetization options into your site -- no point in waiting, just for a directory.

  Moving Forward...

  Evaluate your Site Concept. Does it offer good monetization possibilities? If not, review/improve your monetization plan right now, before proceeding to DAY 5.

  Or go back to DAY 3 and brainstorm more high-profit keywords. A "branch-brainstorm" (of an interesting General Keyword) may be just what your business needs. Grow and fine-tune your Content Blueprint.

  Or go back to DAY 2 and develop one of your other two Site Concepts. Drastic? Not at all...

  After all, if you don't see now how you can make money with your site (assuming this is a business and not a hobby), what's the point? Now that you've done the process, you can repeat it for a different Site Concept in less than an hour.

  On the other hand...

  If your planned Monetization Mix does have solid income potential, you are ready to complete your plans for your site and to choose a domain name that accommodates your exciting vision of the future.

  You have come a long way since choosing your theme on DAY 2. You've fully brainstormed your Site Concept and developed your "Site Content Blueprint." And you have now assessed your monetization options, investigated the competition in more

  (Site Info Notepad), and "finalized" your potential Monetization Mix.

  If you have any doubts about your Site Concept at this point, and if other possible Site Concepts are still niggling at the back of your mind, try running it all through Niche Choose It! one last time.

  Once you are 100% sure...