Flexibility Is Freedom

In this episode, I talk about how I've finished the niche research stage and picked out my top two niche ideas. I grabbed suitable domain names yesterday and am drawing up the plans for both websites.

This time around, I will be building a v1.0 first and testing it via Google Adwords in a "fishing campaign". I got this idea from Kyle Roof's on-page course where he discusses the benefits of a fishing campaign:

1. Validate the Actual Search Volume for a Keyword

2. Identify Secondary / Adjacent Keywords (use "Broad Match" in Adwords)

3. Validate whether Users actually convert on your webpages (if they don't convert, you don't make money)

4. Use the insights as feedback to improve your page design, page layout, call-to-action's, etc. (I plan to use heatmaps and session recordings as well to isolate what's working or not working on my webpages).

Once I have sufficient data from Adwords (might take 1-2 months for enough clicks/impressions), I will be able to validate whether my niche will actually make me money and what a realistic ROI might be. In other words, comparing how well does my content converts ($ in) to how many I need to spend to create content (writers, VAs, my own time) and get it ranked (links, on-page optimization, software costs, etc.)

In this week's episode, I talk about my recent research into two particular (and very different) niches: Pets and VPNs.

When judging the viability of a niche for a beginner website, I ask myself the following questions:

1) What's the trend in Demand? (industry growth rate, consumer adoption)

2) How competitive is it to get TARGETED traffic from Google? (SEO metrics, domain authority)

3) How profitable are the primary and secondary monetization routes? (affiliate programs, Amazon Associates, display ads, other)

4) Are there any "role model" competitors that we can copy and emulate? (low DR competitors winning on SERPs, competitors that take a more "creative" angle to approach the topic, etc.)

In this special podcast, I talk about my last 5 years, from graduating and starting a full-time job at a major pension plan, to deciding to leave my job and become an entrepreneur, to building my business and learning from others, and more. 

Overall, I feel immensely grateful to have the opportunities that I've had and I remain both excited and optimistic for the future, as I continue to chart the waters of passive income entrepreneurship.

In this episode, I discuss a few methods that I'm currently using to approach niche research:

1. Google Trends + Keyword Research (with Ahrefs or another SEO tool)

2. Browse Flippa sales (and other auction marketplaces)

3. Browse affiliate networks like ShareASale, Skimlinks, Rakuten, CJ, etc.

I also discuss various software tools that I've started to incorporate into my technology stack for building multiple websites:

1. Oxygen Builder: an all-in-one design tool that replaces your theme and helps you build beautiful webpages with a drag-and-drop editor

2. Niches$$: an interesting tool that uses GPT-3 (generative pre-trained transformer) from OpenAI to generate natural language text outputs based on a 400-character input (a "prompt" for the AI to work with).

3. BiQ: a full-suite SEO tool with the potential to be a entry-level replacement for Ahrefs or SEMRush in 2-3 years. Currently offers keyword research, on-page optimization, and rank tracking, but no backlink database yet (it's on their roadmap).

4. Optinly: a pop-up maker with customizable templates/design and conditional logic. An excellent value compared to OptinMonster and other popup makers that start at $20-$30/month (seriously, for a pop-up?)

5. Webtotem: a security plugin that includes a WAF (web application firewall) and malware scanner. An excellent value as well compared to WordFence or Sucuri premium plugins which cost $100+ per year per website.

6. AhoyTeam: a business process management tool for documenting SOPs (standard operating practices) in one place and automating processes like sending email reminders to your team members. I think this will help me scale my business as I add VAs and other staff in the future.

7. Analyzz (Not mentioned on the podcast): a Google Analytics alternative to track visitor data. While I plan to keep GA tracking code installed, Analyzz offers the ability to produce heatmaps and session recordings for optimizing the UX. An excellent value when compared to HotJar.

A real quick episode this week (missed last week's due to a hand injury). I talk about a business opportunity, discuss my learnings/perspective on trying to rank in the health/beauty industry, and some of the things I'm doing in my personal life.

Cheers,

Tom

In this special podcast, I talk about the mental health side of running your own business, my thoughts on what "stress" is, comparing the types of stress you may experience in a corporate vs. entrepreneurial setting, and some of the things that help me get through a particularly difficult obstacle.

Week 3 of 2021 already? In this short episode, I talk about:

- What a typical week looks like: it really depends on your priorities and plan, but this week was a mix of producing a guest post, optimizing content, tweaking the website from a technical standpoint (design/plugins), and searching for link building prospects

- Setting up authorship: I tried many "author box" plugins this week, finally settled on Molongui, a great looking one with rich features. I believe having a clear author box and link to the author bio page (called "author archive page" in Wordpress) may help with "E.A.T." that many SEOs think Google cares deeply about, ever since the Medic Update in 2018

I'll talk to you in the next episode!

Only 15 days in and 2021 is starting to feel like the new normal. Will we ever get out of lockdown? (doesn't feel like it right now, sadly)

In this second episode, I talk about:

- Securing professionals in your field to write for you (most successful method was via Reddit forums)

- Creating unique/creative content to attract backlinks from bloggers, influencers, and webmasters (ideally, without paying them)

- A powerful on-page SEO tool on Appsumo right now: Market Muse (direct competitor to Frase.io) - I stacked 5 codes for it

- Continuing to add guest posts via agencies (SEOButler). I'll also be testing other agencies soon (LinkGraph, etc.)

- Status of disavow file in late December 2020: still haven't seen any traffic recovery yet. I've updated my disavow file with ~500 toxic domains (spammy websites, content/image scrappers, coupon websites, foreign language or foreign TLD, etc.). Hoping to see some movement in Feb 2021.

That's it for this week - have a great weekend and talk to you next week!

For more information, you can read my income reports from the last 2.5 years on www.flexibilityisfreedom.com, and I publish a new one every month!

2020 is finally over and like many people, I love starting over with a fresh plate.

For this first week (and my first podcast episode), I talk about:

- What the F is F podcast is all about (hint: it's in the name!!)

- 100% FREE ways to do SEO research using browser extensions from Ubersuggest, Keyword Surfer, Keywords Everywhere, Moz, LinkResearchTools, Majestic, and SimilarWeb

- Updating your content to reflect a new calendar year (but also with any relevant changes in your industry/products)

- How my backlink strategy worked out last year (exclusively using link building agencies like SEOButler)

- As well as my plans for the next few weeks: 1) reach out to professionals in my field to find contributors and guest writers, 2) scale up link building with help from more outreach-based agencies like LinkGraph, 3) run a manual email outreach campaign using creative content like quizzes and visual content like infographics to get people's attention and build a link, mention, or share

For more information, you can read my income reports from the last 2.5 years on www.flexibilityisfreedom.com, and I publish a new one every month!