It’s all fun and games…. You know the rest of the line.
As affiliate marketers, everything we see is a potential affiliate website. I don’t know about you guys and gals, but I see opportunity everywhere I look. To the point where it drives my wife completely nuts.
Because everything is a possible website. I can be listening in on a cooking show she’s watching and my mind is picking out keywords and phrases that might be good ideas for new sites and topics. Or when I go to the mall and see new items and new technology. They’re everywhere I tell ya!
But to tell the truth, not all of them are good ideas. Not all of them have a viable business plan when it comes down to thinking it through.
To combat the urges to jump into a brand new website development every time I think I’ve got a good idea, I’ve had to make myself live by some rules.
Primarily, a cooling off period. No domain registrations, no site development, nothing, for at least 48 hours. Even if at the moment I think it’s going to be the hottest thing since sliced bread.
Because I think a lot of things are the hottest thing since sliced bread. Fairly often. Often enough that if I jumped into every new idea that popped into my head, I’d never actually get any affiliate websites built.
In this 48 hour cooling off period, I allow myself to do a little homework. First, I want to know if there is a market. So the first thing I do is consult some traffic tools to see what kind of search volume may already exist for the term or phrase.
Second, I look and see if I can find companies with affiliate programs that I can make money from the traffic generated by any sites built around the terms.
Then I look at the competition. As honestly as possible. How easy is it going to be for me to take the term in the search engines? What is the investment going to be as far as time and money to get there? How long do I estimate that it’s going to take to get there?
Then, and only if it’s viable, do I start looking for keyword related domain names to work with the project. Mind you, I’m still not registering, I’m just looking.
Because all of this usually happens within the first 24 hours, and there’s a super long 24 more to wait before deciding that this project is worth adding to the mix. There are many on my plate already. At any given time we’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 domains in line for development. That’s 50 websites that need to be built. That’s 50 that need to be maintained and monetized.
That’s a lot.
So it’s got to be a real winner to get on that list.
But it keeps me from owning domains that are never going to get developed if I follow my rules. It also helps me make rational decisions when deciding on a new niche or project. If I keep a clear head, I sometimes end up with a real winner.