Niche site profits Course – Jon Dykstra

DOING THINGS THE HARD WAY

You know what sucks? Starting website after website that end up going nowhere. I’ve been there myself, confused and overwhelmed at the fact that I did everything right and things didn’t work.

I had a 9-5 job and started a blog to promote the business. It got some traction and I ended up quitting my job to try to do this on my own. Just like everyone online, I tried to do the affiliate thing and never made any amount worth writing home about. I failed. Hard. I was about to call it quits when I thought: “What if I turn ads on this thing? I wonder what would happen?”

The very next day, I made $176 and never looked back. Looking back at my experience, it’s easy to see why I was never successful until then. Putting it bluntly: Making it as an affiliate is way harder than you think and there’s a few reasons why.

1️⃣ It is very competitive

First thing is, everyone is doing it, making the affiliate game competitive, even for some long tail terms. Sometimes the whole page is 100% affiliate!

It gets worse, some sharp SEOs have partnerships with huge brands like Forbes, Britannica, even CNN. Since there’s only so many “Best XYZ” keywords to go around, it doesn’t take long before they start to eat your lunch. With endless resources, teams of writers and an unbeatable domain, there’s usually nothing you can do when they set their eyes on your keywords.

2️⃣ Google doesn’t like you much

That’s why going after non-competitive niches is a good idea, but in practice, Google isn’t particularly fond of affiliate sites. That’s why you can do all the right things, and yet never rank. And don’t get me started with algorithm updates, it’s always a bloodbath (Losses of 80-100%) in affiliate circles. Only those with teams and funds tend to survive.

3️⃣ It is time consuming

Creating the content isn’t fun either. Coming up with a list is easy but only 30% of the work. Laying out the tables, grabbing the affiliate links and adding all of those images is pretty complex and time consuming, especially when you are just starting and doing everything yourself.

4️⃣ Feast & Famine cycle

Even if you actually succeed (some do!) there’s the inconsistency you have to deal with. It’s a feast and famine cycle. One day you make $500 and weeks can pass by and you make $0, so this not for the faint hearted.

All of the results are affiliate pages with very strong domains

For the record, I do not hate the affiliate game, it makes up 7-14% of what I take home every month (on top of my ads income). It’s just that it’s way harder than you think it is. If you are looking for the simplest way to earn income online, it’s with my Fatstacks formula. You earn like clockwork and the best part is, it’s way simpler (and more fun) than you think it is.