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I am confused! In which direction to go?

by Bond1806
29 replies
I am a member of this web site for bit less than 2 months. And I found lots of valuable information here.
My story is similar like the the one most of you have. I am stuck in 9-5 job going nowhere and I would like to do something for my self. And earn more money so I can become financially independent. I work as an magazine art director for more than 15 years. I am expert at it. I know everything about making magazines. I used to work for Mens Health and Elle (our local Croatian editions). So thats my job and my expertise. But more on that later.

I almost finished my first ebook. It will be some 120 pages ebook about poker. It is not texas holdem book (cause market is saturated with texas holdem) and I am no good at holdem. Its about pot limit omaha. And I am really good at it, so I have written an ebook about it. There are not so many books about omaha on the market and the game is on the rise. I will publish it on Amazon, through my website and through affiliates (i hope).

But thats not the point of this post. Its just the start.
I wont to do some blogging. I am creative person, I can make it look good I can even write articles, take pictures, I have the know how. But I am not shore what to do?
To go with my passion and expertise or to do something I dont know anything about but it has huge audience and can make bigger money. I read here that lots of you people are working in niches that you knew nothing about when you started!
So, lets start!

"Gentlemans fine stuff" niche
For example: I have a passion for fine things. For example, i am a guy of taste and style. I am dressing well, I am polite, I have manners, I like fine wine, fine food, I have passion for oldtimer cars, I love to travel and so on...
My idea was to make a blog for gentleman. Not regular how to dress and what to wear kind of blog, but more of web magazine with articles about certain designers, bespoke tailoring, watch makers, trip reports, articles about wine and restaurants, how to treat your self at restaurant, how to treat a lady and so on. I know lots of stuff on these topics and I love it...

For example there are 2,5 million searches monthly on the topic of etiquette and some 40 000 - 70 000 in bespoke tailoring and tailored suits. Not bad numbers.
My main audience would be guys from their early 30's to early 50's. But my main concern is how to monetize this. I know it would take time till I grow an audience and it will take time till I can get some advertisers. I dont think I can sell some ebooks to this audience. Cause I wont be giving exact tips how to button a 3 piece suit. I can send them weekly offers from companies that are related to this topics, but how to get to them?
So, my main concern is how to monetize it?!

Magazine design niche
My second blog would be about, you guessed it, magazine design. On Google adWords Key tool I found that there are 250 000 monthly searches about magazine design. Thats fine number.
I can give a lot of valuable information to my readers. I can write ebooks, make videos, send them offers, do lots of stuff, even video coaching and so on. But there are so many tutorial based and "how to" web sites out there that it would be tough task to compete with them. And I also dont know how profitable this niche is?

Health (no-no) niche
I had an idea about making blogs in health niche about acne, eczema and dandruff. But I dont know anything about it and I dont wont to have some legal issues is something goes wrong. But health niche is where the money is. But as I said its thin ice and I dont want to hurt someone and i dont want to have any legal disputes.

I can write about fitness but there are so many fitness blogs out there that its not worth to fight with them. I know everything about TRX training, sand bag training, body weight training, nutrition and related stuff cause I work out for years. But I think fitness niche is so saturated that I dont see a point in competing with all of those blogs/sites.

Conclusion
As you can see I have ideas and I have a know how in some of them. But I dont want to spend 6 months working on something that eventually will not bring money to me. I am in need of money. Not right now, but I do have to start making some money really soon. I am not afraid of hard work but I do need to target that work in right direction.

This is whats puzzling me. To go in the direction of passion and expertise or to work on something completely different that is "guaranteed" that will pay off (i know that there are no guarantees in life and no instant formulas or magic success pills)

So, what do you think. From your experience what did work for you. And what do you think is there money in "gentleman's" and magazine design niche?

Sorry for the long post and occasional typo, and sorry if this is another "newbie wants all the answers on a plater post" but you have been great help to me and only you gals and guys can help me steer in the right direction.


thank you
#confused #direction
  • Profile picture of the author iceapplez
    Hey man - sounds like you have some great ideas.

    I like the genetleman's site idea best and the "health" one the worst, in my humble opinion. The reason being, just from the way you wrote your post, you seem most excited to go that route, and it can be an honest site you believe in and take pride in, and people will recognize this.


    What about having a few different major sections like you said, maybe a Reviews section where you review wines, liquors, restaurants, etc like you said in different categories - I think a great noir-esque theme could compliment this wonderfully - you could even have a blog section about your site to pull in more return visitors who enjoy reading your stuff, and include your own photos of stuff going on in your life (working in magazines, i'm sure you know what kind of pictures people love to see)

    I think your experience will really help you out here - many people would probably say take that experience and show it to people, they will be very interested in what you have to offer.

    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author Bond1806
      Originally Posted by iceapplez View Post

      What about having a few different major sections like you said, maybe a Reviews section where you review wines, liquors, restaurants, etc like you said in different categories - I think a great noir-esque theme could compliment this wonderfully - you could even have a blog section about your site to pull in more return visitors who enjoy reading your stuff, and include your own photos of stuff going on in your life (working in magazines, i'm sure you know what kind of pictures people love to see)

      I think your experience will really help you out here - many people would probably say take that experience and show it to people, they will be very interested in what you have to offer.

      Good luck!
      Yes I had that same ideas in my mind.
      But how to monetize it??? My thinking is that it will take at least 6 months till I have some decent readership and than I can go and search for possible advertisers. I cannot sell ebooks, videos, seminars.. I can only do advertising!
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      • Profile picture of the author Daniel Elss
        I am not entirely sure what a Magazine Art Director is or does, but when I see the word "Art" it makes me think "graphic design" possibly.
        And if that IS something you are good at then their are many possibilities for offering your services if that is something you would be interested in.
        With the explosion of the Kindlers out there, book covers have become in demand.
        Just take a look at some of these peoples websites and how much they charge, and from experience, they ARE busy and DO get the business, that is, if they are good .
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        • Profile picture of the author Bond1806
          Originally Posted by Daniel Elss View Post

          I am not entirely sure what a Magazine Art Director is or does, but when I see the word "Art" it makes me think "graphic design" possibly.
          hahahaha. Art director or creative director or design director is the second most important person in magazine/newspaper publishing business after editor. He is responsible for the look of the magazine. He runs a team of layout designers that design magazine in the style that the art director designed. He is THE man

          Originally Posted by Daniel Elss View Post

          And if that IS something you are good at then their are many possibilities for offering your services if that is something you would be interested in. With the explosion of the Kindlers out there, book covers have become in demand. Just take a look at some of these peoples websites and how much they charge, and from experience, they ARE busy and DO get the business, that is, if they are good .
          I do freelance on Elance for years now, but there is no money there. For example I cannot compete with the prices from some Bangladesh or Filipino designers. And competition is sooo huge. I did earn some money there but thats peanuts. And I dont wont to freelance any more. Too old for that stuff
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      • Profile picture of the author iceapplez
        Originally Posted by Bond1806 View Post

        Yes I had that same ideas in my mind.
        But how to monetize it??? My thinking is that it will take at least 6 months till I have some decent readership and than I can go and search for possible advertisers. I cannot sell ebooks, videos, seminars.. I can only do advertising!
        The best thing I can think of is Amazon Affiliates, it probably would take many months to get a decent readership but remember you should use Social Media as avenues of getting traffic, making things grow more quickly (and snowballing in time on each social media site, if you put the time in)

        Can you affiliate market for Amazon in your country? You could garner a readership in North America or wherever the buyers are and put amazon affiliate links at the bottom of all your reviews (and in the review text a few times)

        The reason this might work is you could build your subscriber list and send them fancy newsletters upselling these products - or, rank for some products on Google once you have an authority site - people may buy from your list, from google, or organic traffic that lands on the reviews page.

        Remember, if they go to amazon from any of your links and buy ANY product, you get a commission. I think it could add up when you have lots of traffic. As you said the biggest thing is it takes a lot of time to get a big readership.


        Some people would probably say promote Clickbank products, but I know next to nothing about how to implement those..
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        • Profile picture of the author Bond1806
          Originally Posted by iceapplez View Post

          Some people would probably say promote Clickbank products, but I know next to nothing about how to implement those..
          Amazon stuff idea is good. But about clickbank I dont think so. I dont think clickbank offers stuff related to my topics. They definitely dont sell fine wine
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          • Profile picture of the author Alex Mensah
            Originally Posted by Bond1806 View Post

            Amazon stuff idea is good. But about clickbank I dont think so. I dont think clickbank offers stuff related to my topics. They definitely dont sell fine wine
            you might have to check again lately clickbank has been opening up their site to lots of variety of different vendors and not just IM anymore.
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    • Profile picture of the author willay
      Hey man,

      So you need to figure out how big the markets are that you are passionate about and see if they will be lucrative enough for you. Three questions you should ask yourself when you're trying to pick a market are:

      1. Are they insanely passionate?
      2. Are they great in number?
      3. Are they easily reachable?

      Get a list of some of the top keywords for the markets you are looking at and go to the google keyword to and see how many searches they are getting a month. Thats one of the easiest things you can do.

      But as a general rule if you want to build a big business in one market..you want to pick a market related to health, wealth or relationships and thats pretty much it.

      If you find the market you're passionate about is big enough though.. I would for sure go with that because you will enjoy your work more. You can always go into other big markets later.

      Cheers,

      Will
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      • Profile picture of the author Bond1806
        Originally Posted by willay View Post

        Get a list of some of the top keywords for the markets you are looking at and go to the google keyword to and see how many searches they are getting a month. Thats one of the easiest things you can do.
        I did that. And the results are posted in my first post at the top (i know its long, sorry).
        Magazine design has some 250 000 monthly searches. This is big number. I was reading here on this forum that everything above 50 000 is good number.
        And there are 2,5 million searches monthly on the topic of etiquette and some 40 000 - 70 000 in bespoke tailoring and tailored suits. Not bad numbers! Right?
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    Maybe you should be in analysis niche.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bond1806
      Originally Posted by travlinguy View Post

      Maybe you should be in analysis niche.
      You are pulling my leg, right ?!
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      • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
        Originally Posted by Bond1806 View Post

        You are pulling my leg, right ?!
        Yes and no. I mean, you seem to have a flare for evaluating details. That can be pretty valuable if you know how to cash it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Bond1806
    Hahahaha, yeah right, I do have a busy brain. And thats not always a good thing. Thinking too much is not the best always.
    ANd if I knew how to cash it I would be next Donald Trump

    You seem like experienced man (judging from your picture), do you have some answers to my problems?
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    • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
      Originally Posted by Bond1806 View Post

      Hahahaha, yeah right, I do have a busy brain. And thats not always a good thing. Thinking too much is not the best always.
      ANd if I knew how to cash it I would be next Donald Trump

      You seem like experienced man (judging from your picture), do you have some answers to my problems?
      My picture, huh? Yikes.

      Pick the thing you feel most passionate about and then jump in. Start with a blog. Offer lots of great content. Write it yourself, use syndicated and curated content, videos with permission... There are lots of ways to get great content without paying a lot or writing it yourself. And please, don't buy into the nonsense that Google will penalize you for this or that or the other. That's silly. Besides, if you do things as I'm suggesting your traffic will come primarily from sources other than SEs. It's okay to optimize your site for the search engines but it's crazy the way some get completely obsessed with it.

      Capture email addresses. Create a valuable report and offer it to people who subscribe to your list. Become the authority on your market, or at least one of the authorities. Stay with it. People will come to your blog/site to get the content. This is called building business relationships. Most here aren't interested in that. But that's what it takes to be successful.

      After you've got people coming to your site for great free content, knowing you put out the best stuff, they'll buy from you. It's pretty simple, actually.

      It doesn't happen over night and that's why most won't do it. But if you do it right it won't take forever either.
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  • Profile picture of the author jbsmith
    Great ideas - what I would do is tackle the "Upscale Gentleman's niche" but in a way different than you may be originally thinking.

    I would tackle it by creating niche blogs (start with 1) around REAL STUFF that upscale gentelman care about - in other words target, target, target... Here are some examples:

    1. An online blog on fine wines - Gary Vaynerchuck (Check out wine library TV) created milllions with a wine blog aimed at mainstream, you could do the same for upper class.

    2. Cigars - I know someone else who has done very well with this niche

    3. Travel - private jets, adventure vacations, luxury cars, high-end resorts, etc... could all be tackled around a high-end travel blog

    4. Clothes - target very specific brands/types of high-end clothes, shoes, suits, ties, etc...

    I would start with one of these, gain traffic, try and get them to subscribe to your blog and perhaps an email list where you let them know when you release new updates...over time you can either expand your network of blogs or begin to mix elements of other niches in with the original niche.

    The good part of this approach is these are laser-focused targeted around specific desires/traffic and have monetization possibilities (affiliate marketing, information, services, etc...)

    Jeff
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  • Profile picture of the author Bond1806
    @Travlinguy: Thank you for your insight. Its much appreciated. I am gonna write my own content. At least 90% of it. I think everything will fall in its place when I set it up and when it starts rolling.

    @ Jeff: Thank you Jeff. Your insight is also much appreciated. Content wise I was thinking in the same direction. But I would gather all those topics into one blog. And yes I do plan to make it "upscale". Not some Banana Republic/Gap clothes articles. More in a Sawile Row direction.
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    • Profile picture of the author serryjw
      Sawile Row
      .. S/B SAVILE ROW
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  • Profile picture of the author Meozyn
    I would definitely go for the blog about how to go creating your own magazine, I know a lot of people would be interested in it, and having so much experience you can provide real value and have potential to become a real authority. Plus, it wouldn't be hard to market, you could do video tutorials, ebooks, amazon affiliate for magazine editing software and so on.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fredbou
    Originally Posted by Bond1806 View Post


    . And what do you think is there money in "gentleman's" and magazine design niche?

    thank you
    Being a "gentleman" myself, I think it's a great idea that you have.

    I read that many, many rich gentlemen make online purchases, so if you had some really amazing affiliate products you could do well.

    OFFICIAL ROLEX WEBSITE - Timeless Luxury Watches
    fragrances, clothing, how about Ferrari and Lamborghini, can u become an affiliate for them?


    A good WP magazine theme that is responsive, so gentlemen can shop from their mobile phone or iPad/tablet and you're all ready to go!
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    • Profile picture of the author Bond1806
      Originally Posted by Fredbou View Post

      Being a "gentleman" myself, I think it's a great idea that you have.

      I read that many, many rich gentlemen make online purchases, so if you had some really amazing affiliate products you could do well.

      OFFICIAL ROLEX WEBSITE - Timeless Luxury Watches
      fragrances, clothing, how about Ferrari and Lamborghini, can u become an affiliate for them?


      A good WP magazine theme that is responsive, so gentlemen can shop from their mobile phone or iPad/tablet and you're all ready to go!
      Thats what I had in mind. To become affiliate and send them weekly emails with offers from these prestigious brands.
      Oh, and btw you can become my first subscriber
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    Your best direction is... ONE.
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    .


    .

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  • Profile picture of the author debbiecarter
    I agree with WillR, you have some great ideas, but it sounds as if you might be trying to foro out in too many different directions all at once.

    Start of with ONE thing and focus on that, as you're expertise is magazine design, I would be tempted to start with that, and as Meozyn has suggested create your own products (video tutorials, PDF blueprint/reports ebooks etc) that you can promote vía your blog, and integrate an affiliate programe on your blog, enabling others to sell for you, that's when things really start to go viral, and of course then you can offer your product on here as a WSO.
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  • Profile picture of the author brentb
    Follow this advice and you are almost guaranteed to succeed:

    1. Pick something and Focus on ONE THING!

    2. Take Action!

    3. Learn from every failure.

    4. Repeat.

    One day, #3 will just be success!
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    • Profile picture of the author JRP
      Originally Posted by brentb View Post

      Follow this advice and you are almost guaranteed to succeed:

      1. Pick something and Focus on ONE THING!

      2. Take Action!

      3. Learn from every failure.

      4. Repeat.

      One day, #3 will just be success!

      Agree 100%
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    You should work based on what you know and on what you like because you won't manage to keep writing about the same things if you will enter in a field you ignore and you dislike.

    You have to make a smart combination and define what can make you more money from everything you know and like and prepare a smart business plan before taking action.

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  • Profile picture of the author aarthielumalai
    Go for the niche you are most passionate about. I know that some people say you need to go for niches that have the most money in it, but think of this. Would you like to research and write articles or any form of content every day on a niche you have absolutely no interest in?

    Blogs are personal reflections of you and your interests, so go for a niche you would love to write content for. A niche where research won't feel like research.

    There is money in almost any niche, you just have to get creative with your monetization techniques.

    Look at other blogs or websites in your niche and see how they've monetized their sites, and try to model it.

    If you don't like any of the affiliate or monetization programs in your niche, then why don't you sell your own products once you build an audience? You could build a list and then sell them your products, maybe E-books or a membership site.
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  • Profile picture of the author kinyash
    That choice should come from you. take some time and reflect and see which of the above niches above you would be most comfortable working with. Bottom line is all can work but you have to choose one that motivates you to work on it even when things are tough.
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  • Profile picture of the author jayhmarketing
    Hey Bond,

    I can tell that we are alike. Many talents... Very creative. Very Very analytical.... But Only very focused for short periods of time. Right so far? Keep reading....

    Don't go full steam into any of these if you know you're just going to lay it down for something else in about 2 - 3 months TOPS!

    You need to focus on things which you could accomplish within short time frames, using your talents and know-how, and cash out. Just rinse and REPEAT that! Someday, that long term business idea will come, but, until then, if you want to make money online... you should build niche adsense sites, generate traffic using several angles, and then sell off to the highest bidder at flippa.com

    I know, I know, or just sell your ideas as a consultant like I do! CHa CHiNG!

    P.S.: Good Luck Buddy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary Ning Lo
    Go number 1..

    Looks like you're passionate about the topic and would be able to blog, create videos, post in forums in that niche.

    Cheers,

    Gary
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