Well, it’s certainly been a while hasn’t it? I keep meaning to do a post for this blog but we are so busy with other things that I just never seem to have the time to get around to it, but I wanted to provide you with an update on what we are doing and how we are making money online these days.
In a nutshell, we no longer rely on Google Search to make us money….and I have to say I love that feeling. We don’t have to sit here and worry about what Matt Cutts and his team of engineers are thinking up next and when the next algorithm change might appear that could potentially kill our income in one fell swoop. Is Matt Cutts even still in charge of that team?…we have no idea because we don’t even bother to read about the latest Google updates anymore.
In the past, our problem with our online business was twofold. Firstly, we didn’t focus on building up our followers, however, there was good reason for this. The sites we were working on were product based and it’s not as easy to get people to sign up to a newsletter, or follow you on Twitter or Facebook when your topic is simply about a product.
Our second problem was that we didn’t diversify in the right way. Most of what we were working on relied on Google Search, and even though those things we were working on were all different, we still needed Google Search to get us the traffic to make them work. This was extremely dangerous. As many of you might remember, we were hit by one of the Google updates and it took a substantial portion of our income at the time.
We went about putting in long hours trying to fix up the sites to suit Google but by this time our heart just wasn’t in it. And then there was another update and at that point we decided that we had just had enough of it all. We realised that we no longer wanted to have to rely on Google Search to make money online. There had to be other ways.
Mind you, this really wasn’t a conscious choice at the time – it didn’t suddenly hit us that we should be working on something else. It kind of just developed when we started working on things that we enjoyed doing rather than just building another website on printer ink cartridges or lawn mowers or yet another product site on something we really had no interest in.
Working on topics we already had an interest in was the key for us. What this meant was that we once again began to enjoy getting up each day and getting straight on to the computer to work. In the past, we had always enjoyed the lifestyle of working from home but not necessarily the work involved in getting that lifestyle. When your days are spent writing articles and reviews on topics you have no interest in, it can after a while, create a bit of monotony and the work day can become a little dull. We certainly don’t have that problem anymore and it shows in the quality of the information we are providing on our websites. When you enjoy something and have an interest in it, you don’t mind doing the research in order to write an article or create a video.
So what are we doing now? Well a number of things but really our focus is to create followers that are really interested in what we offer, whether that be information or a product. We have always said that you need to provide value in order to succeed online – we learnt that early on as we didn’t do this at the very start and it showed. When you provide value to your audience they will follow you and want to stay in touch. This can be via an email list, YouTube subscribers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers and so on.
So essentially this is the process we follow…at least for one part of our business. This list is not necessarily in any particular order.
- Find a topic that you are really interested in and you know you will enjoy working on.
- Ensure there are products that you can promote that relate to that topic, whether they be affiliate based products or your own product or both.
- Create YouTube how-to videos based around that product. These need to be done regularly ie. once a week is ideal.
- Build a website for this topic and add content – how-to articles, reviews for products, the videos you have uploaded to YouTube etc.
- Build an email list with a product of some sort to entice your customers to sign up.
- Link to affiliate products from your website.
- Link to your website from YouTube – this is where most of your traffic will come from.
- Create your own product that relates to your topic.
- Create social networking accounts.
Essentially what we are doing is creating YouTube videos that are extremely helpful for our audience and bringing those viewers to our website. You can of course make money from the ad views on YouTube but in order to make a really good income from that you need a lot of subscribers and video views and that can take a while. So the money you make comes from getting people to your website, and getting them signed up to an email list, promoting affiliate products and selling your own product/s.
This is not a quick money making scheme. This is a solid business model that can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to start coming together. It isn’t new by any means but it feels right and we are building up followers of people who are really interested in what we have to provide. But most importantly, we are enjoying the process.
We have a few YouTube channels in the works…for two of those channels, one has over 18,000 subscribers and the other, which is relatively new, has over 3000 and they are growing daily. These are all legitimate subscribers – we didn’t pay for any – they are all there because they like what we do and the information we provide. In fact, this applies to all of our social networking accounts and email lists. Although we may have paid for followers in the long distant past, we haven’t done that for a long time now so all of our current Youtube and social network accounts have legitimate followers.
And yes, of course I know that we are relying on Google yet again for traffic here but YouTube is a little less volatile than Google Search and so much easier to rank for if you know what you are doing. Plus, you don’t have to spend hours getting backlinks and writing articles. So while YouTube is working for us, we are building up our followers and our email lists.
So essentially that is where our main focus is at the moment.
If are interested in seeing what we are doing these days then here are two of our youtube channels :-
- www.youtube.com/user/alandacraft
- www.youtube.com/user/asmrhq
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Congrats on releasing yourselves from reliance on Google; of course, you are stilled essentially tied to Google as YT is owned by them… ;-)
I like your ideas of investing your time and energy into subjects that interest you. I agree that what you have created are real, sustainable businesses. May I ask what equipment and software do you use to create your videos?
Thanks in advance for your reply and best of luck in your business ventures.
David
Yep, still stuck with Google unfortunately but may as well make the most of them while we can. It is still a lot easier than having to spend hours on getting backlinks though.
The camera we use is a Canon Legria HFG30. I think that is branded as the Canon Vixia in the US. Great camera – I love it. And the software we use to edit the videos is Adobe Premiere Pro.
Link to camera here (aff link of course)
Nice to hear from you ladies again! I so can relate what you went through with your sites. My product based site also took a dive in the search engines in all the black and white animal Google updates and I felt like I was jumping through hoops of fire to try to win back those rankings. It never happened.
I too no longer focus on Google traffic. I now just use my site as a calling card for when I reach out to potential partners via email and offline.. Do a little social media here and there. And that’s it. I don’t have the time or energy to deal with Google.
I have just a trickle of traffic from Google and I just can’t worry about it anymore. It feels good to no longer be writing all those articles and guest posting and hoping and praying for backlinks.
Happy that you are finding a lot of success on YouTube! Take care.
We are kindred spirits. Your online business sounds exactly like ours but I think there are many of us out there doing exactly the same thing now. If you can survive without Google Search, that is the way to go.
Good to hear from you again and you’ve certainly done a complete makeover. I was absolutely mesmerised on the AMSR site as i heard never heard of that before. I can see that this is monetised for the stuff you use to make the videos and your products are on Amazon.
I also looked st the Alandacraft and see the list affiliate products which you promote
This would seem that you are now doing topic sites as opposed to specific product sites. Is that correct?
Have you now reduced your Amazon connection and instead just gone to something which you really like doing and have a great interest in such as Alandacraft.
Have you found the makeover much more profitable?
Finally, how many videos do you make for each individual product you promote.
Sorry for all the questions but I know that you walk the walk and actually do what you teach as opposed to the other 90% who can only talk the talk.
“This would seem that you are now doing topic sites as opposed to specific product sites. Is that correct?”
Yes that’s definitely correct. We no longer focus on product sites.
“Have you now reduced your Amazon connection and instead just gone to something which you really like doing and have a great interest in such as Alandacraft.”
We still use Amazon as anytime we promote a product in any way, we will just able always link to an Amazon product. So our connection with Amazon hasn’t been reduced in any way. All we have done really is move away from the product-based site to a topic based site that we have an interest in.
“Have you found the makeover much more profitable?”
I really don’t think there is much difference in the potential for income with this method. It can make as much as a product based site. The main difference though is that we really enjoy what we are doing.
“Finally, how many videos do you make for each individual product you promote.”
We don’t really make product based videos. Yes, we do reviews for products every now and then but really the majority of our videos are simply tutorials or how-to videos. I think if we simply had a YouTube channel full of product based videos, we wouldn’t have the number of subscribers that we have.
Hope that answers your questions, but happy to answer more if you have them.
Great to read of your journey, because you have presented it in a genuine way and not trying to create a false impression; so many in the IM space do unfortunately. Times are changing, and lots more people are coming online, I hear over 2 billion are set to become new internet users. This means that in a couple of years nearly the entire population of the planet will be online – this is a colossal opportunity for us all if we go about it right. I think you are setting a cool example, and delivering a good message-keep it authentic and you won’t go wrong. This is the path I strive to take and I look forward to being able to help folks along the way.
Cheers and all the best
Michael
I think you hit the nail on the head with your last comment…”and I look forward to helping folks along the way”. I really believe that if you make that your primary focus, you really can’t go wrong. The more value you provide, the more you will get back.
I’m glad yall are still hanging in there and it was so nice to see a post on here again! I missed you guys!!
Hey Cathy! Nice to see a familiar face. Hope all is going well with you.
Hi Paula and Wanda,
I have wondered what you guys were doing, I have been in touch with James, big on podcasts now as I’m sure you know.
Glad you have found something that you are passionate about, work becomes a pleasure when one is passionate about it. I am working on coming back from 2 websites back to one.
I still enjoy it
Best…..Pete :)
Another familiar face. Great to see that you are still working online Pete.
Cutting back to one website is a great way to go. I love focusing on just one site. I honestly don’t know how we managed when we were working on 20 or so different sites. You really can’t give them the attention they deserve and it shows.
I did see the emails for James’ podcasting course come through. We are podcasting ourselves and I really love it. Though not too sure about the monetisation part of it yet.
Like others have said, great to hear from you again!
I, too, stopped worrying about Google. I figured that if I got the word out in a variety of ways, it would do me more good than anything. Not to mention, no more worrying about what Google was doing or how it was making decisions. Especially since those decisions are unlikely to ever be in my favor.
The cool thing about the timing of your post is that I’m starting a new venture and this was exactly what I needed to hear. Helps to know I’m not the only one who thinks this way!
That’s awesome Amy. Glad to hear this post helped you in some way.
I like how you said that Googles decisions are unlikely to be in your favour. That pretty much sums it up really. Each update usually means a lot of work to fix a website and continually trying to keep it all working according to Google gets old really quick.
I think Google Search is becoming less relevant these days when there are so many other avenues for traffic – YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and so on.
Its great to read success story like yours where you both have managed to wean your business off Google traffic and still make money and succeed online.
I too have tried in vain to keep up with the Google animals updating left right and center, but every-time I get somewhere Google reaches elsewhere. Currently my majority traffic comes in through email and YouTube.
Any tips about how to get more views & subscribers for my YouTube account? Your accounts have some impressive figures. Currently I’m creating ‘How -to’ video’s around a affiliate product.
Keywords are extremely important when it comes to ranking in YouTube. Spend time determining what keywords you want to rank for and use those in your title, description and keyword tags. Absolutely critical that you do this if you haven’t already.
Also, and this is obvious really, make sure your videos are the best they can be…at least in terms of information provided. People won’t subscribe if you don’t have anything worthwhile to say.
Thanks for the honesty so that helps as far as being able to trust someone online. 99 percent one cannot.
It has been frustrating to say the least. I guess I have worked on my website slowly so I was not hit like most I guess but making money is miniscule to say the least.
I think I don’t have right topic but I hooked up with the social networks so I think that has helped…not yet done u tube yet though. Looks like the spiders legs have to go everywhere unfortunately
Questions for you..
-Should we still be posting articles regularly on the blog I assume, every week?? I did not see it mentioned.
-Is backlinking dead?
Yes, definitely write regular articles. Weekly is the minimum really. If you only have one website then I would be writing 2 or 3 posts a week.
And I don’t think backlinking is dead. Google still needs backlinks to determine the authority of a site. The thing is though that not all backlinks are created equal. Google wants to see backlinks that relate to the site. So if your site is about dogs and you have backlinks from a craft site, a cookware site and a window treatments site, it’s not going to think all that much of those backlinks. So when looking for backlinks you need to find sites that are related.