Building the Ultimate Resource: Taking a Niche Site and Actually Making it Useful

In my last post, I shared an email I received from Google about my Adsense account.

I wasn’t banned (luckily), but I was given a warning and 3 days to make changes…”or else”.

My violation and reason for the warning, “format mimicking”, seemed to totally contradict some advice that Google was giving to it’s Adsense publishers.

This is why I ended my last post with:

“All I know is, I would not let Google babysit my kids.”

In other words, I wouldn’t rely on Google to be the sole provider of income for my business.

Any business that does is on thin ice.

My security guard training niche site: on thin ice.

Although the Adsense income has been good (consistently between $1200-$2000 per month over the last year), I’ve always known that this site could do bigger and better things.

Most sites can.

There are a few signs that support this thought about my security guard training site:

I’m consistently seeing people using the integrated job board. Not just via page views, but people actually getting hooked up with new jobs. I’ve even had a couple of emails from people saying thanks, which is totally awesome.I get emails every day from people who are looking for more specific information about security guard training in their local area, beyond the information I currently have on the site.At the moment, there’s no real ‘ultimate resource’ for this industry.

Bottom line – there’s a hole in this market that needs to be filled.

Although I’m ranking #1 for a lot of the top keywords in the field, my site is still purely informational and doesn’t do much beyond just tell people what they should do or how to do it.

I recently tried to get away from Adsense a little with private banner ads, but that was a mediocre attempt at earning a little more money, and nothing more.

I need to start building the ultimate resource: the “go-to site” everyone talks about and shares when anything about that niche comes up in conversation.

That’s when monetization options go way beyond pay-per-click advertising.

So how do I build the “ultimate resource” for security guard training? Here’s what I’m thinking:

In addition to the state specific information I have to become an unarmed and armed security guard, I should also include:

A directory of all the security guard training companies in the U.S., searchable by zip code to make it easier for people to find not only how to train, but where to train too.A store for all the gear a security guard would need.A library of security guard training tips, both for those looking to get a job and those who are already working in the field.Information about other types of security guard training practices, such as baton training, pepper spray training, etc.A forum or community aspect for support, questions, and answers.Up to date news in the industry published on the site.Expansion into other countries, such as Canada, the UK, etc.

An actual in-brand certified training course would be ideal, of course, however there’s the issue that each state in the U.S. (and territory in Canada) has a different set of security guard training requirements, so a one-size-fits all course, even at the entry level, would be difficult to create and manage (and get approved).

This is a lot to take on, but that’s what would take this site to the next level.

Monetizing the directory and tapping into the actual companies that are training new security guards might be where the gold is, it’s just a matter of how that should be done.

I have a few options:

Have companies pay a small monthly fee to be included in the directory. A company does not show up in the zip search results unless they have paid a small monthly fee. The recurring income would be sweet (even with just 1 company per state!), however it would take a lot of convincing to have companies pay upfront for something like this, I feel.Include companies on the directory for free, but charge for a premium position, monthly, at the top of the directory in designated zip code ranges.Include companies on the directory for free, but setup an affiliate program or pay-per-lead offer for specific companies.

The affiliate program / pay-per-lead option seems to be the most attractive to me because companies wouldn’t have to pay unless they got sales and/or leads, depending on the model, and I wouldn’t be “capped” here either.

The more people I send through – the more money would come in.

Well, that would be the plan once all systems are up and running.

To help me figure out how this might work, I did some research and came across some helpful information on Shoemoney.com about Schoemaker’s experience with local affiliate marketing.

The content written almost 4 years ago, but it very much still applies today.

Local affiliate marketing is getting paid to send leads to local companies such as car dealers, dentists, doctors, etc. – all companies that don’t usually have an online affiliate program but know how much a lead is worth to them – and many of those companies are willing to pay for those leads.

Shoemoney’s strategy is to drive leads to these companies by running targeted PPC (pay-per-click) ads on Facebook to a landing page where  they either call that company using a special number that keeps track (i.e. CallRail.com) or he just collects those leads and sends those to designated companies in batches each week for a price.

Other times he’ll direct people to companies with a special coupon code connected to his name to keep track as well.

Very, very interesting stuff right there – and it almost makes me want to try local affiliate marketing here in San Diego, or even the town I live in within San Diego (since there’s less competition) but…I have to stay focused, lol.

I think collecting leads or possibly even using special phone numbers to track calls would be an option for my niche site, and I don’t even have to do PPC because I have the site and keyword rankings to drive traffic already.

That said, if it works with the natural traffic I already have, maybe I could give it a boost with paid advertising too.

Hmm…

There’s big opportunity here, and I’m willing to give it a shot.

My mindset has changed:

Forget about the mini niche sites and start thinking about building the ultimate resource for a niche.

Think about the ways that you can turn your site into the ultimate resource. Even just one thing you can do to make it better than it already is can make a huge different – possibly a feature or benefit that no one else in your niche has.

Lastly, what are your thoughts about this new direction?

I’d love to hear your comments below.

Tagged as: ultimate resource

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Building the Ultimate Resource: Taking a Niche Site and Actually Making it Useful

In my last post, I shared an email I received from Google about my Adsense account.

I wasn’t banned (luckily), but I was given a warning and 3 days to make changes…”or else”.

My violation and reason for the warning, “format mimicking”, seemed to totally contradict some advice that Google was giving to it’s Adsense publishers.

This is why I ended my last post with:

“All I know is, I would not let Google babysit my kids.”

In other words, I wouldn’t rely on Google to be the sole provider of income for my business.

Any business that does is on thin ice.

My security guard training niche site: on thin ice.

Although the Adsense income has been good (consistently between $1200-$2000 per month over the last year), I’ve always known that this site could do bigger and better things.

Most sites can.

There are a few signs that support this thought about my security guard training site:

I’m consistently seeing people using the integrated job board. Not just via page views, but people actually getting hooked up with new jobs. I’ve even had a couple of emails from people saying thanks, which is totally awesome.I get emails every day from people who are looking for more specific information about security guard training in their local area, beyond the information I currently have on the site.At the moment, there’s no real ‘ultimate resource’ for this industry.

Bottom line – there’s a hole in this market that needs to be filled.

Although I’m ranking #1 for a lot of the top keywords in the field, my site is still purely informational and doesn’t do much beyond just tell people what they should do or how to do it.

I recently tried to get away from Adsense a little with private banner ads, but that was a mediocre attempt at earning a little more money, and nothing more.

I need to start building the ultimate resource: the “go-to site” everyone talks about and shares when anything about that niche comes up in conversation.

That’s when monetization options go way beyond pay-per-click advertising.

So how do I build the “ultimate resource” for security guard training? Here’s what I’m thinking:

In addition to the state specific information I have to become an unarmed and armed security guard, I should also include:

A directory of all the security guard training companies in the U.S., searchable by zip code to make it easier for people to find not only how to train, but where to train too.A store for all the gear a security guard would need.A library of security guard training tips, both for those looking to get a job and those who are already working in the field.Information about other types of security guard training practices, such as baton training, pepper spray training, etc.A forum or community aspect for support, questions, and answers.Up to date news in the industry published on the site.Expansion into other countries, such as Canada, the UK, etc.

An actual in-brand certified training course would be ideal, of course, however there’s the issue that each state in the U.S. (and territory in Canada) has a different set of security guard training requirements, so a one-size-fits all course, even at the entry level, would be difficult to create and manage (and get approved).

This is a lot to take on, but that’s what would take this site to the next level.

Monetizing the directory and tapping into the actual companies that are training new security guards might be where the gold is, it’s just a matter of how that should be done.

I have a few options:

Have companies pay a small monthly fee to be included in the directory. A company does not show up in the zip search results unless they have paid a small monthly fee. The recurring income would be sweet (even with just 1 company per state!), however it would take a lot of convincing to have companies pay upfront for something like this, I feel.Include companies on the directory for free, but charge for a premium position, monthly, at the top of the directory in designated zip code ranges.Include companies on the directory for free, but setup an affiliate program or pay-per-lead offer for specific companies.

The affiliate program / pay-per-lead option seems to be the most attractive to me because companies wouldn’t have to pay unless they got sales and/or leads, depending on the model, and I wouldn’t be “capped” here either.

The more people I send through – the more money would come in.

Well, that would be the plan once all systems are up and running.

To help me figure out how this might work, I did some research and came across some helpful information on Shoemoney.com about Schoemaker’s experience with local affiliate marketing.

The content written almost 4 years ago, but it very much still applies today.

Local affiliate marketing is getting paid to send leads to local companies such as car dealers, dentists, doctors, etc. – all companies that don’t usually have an online affiliate program but know how much a lead is worth to them – and many of those companies are willing to pay for those leads.

Shoemoney’s strategy is to drive leads to these companies by running targeted PPC (pay-per-click) ads on Facebook to a landing page where  they either call that company using a special number that keeps track (i.e. CallRail.com) or he just collects those leads and sends those to designated companies in batches each week for a price.

Other times he’ll direct people to companies with a special coupon code connected to his name to keep track as well.

Very, very interesting stuff right there – and it almost makes me want to try local affiliate marketing here in San Diego, or even the town I live in within San Diego (since there’s less competition) but…I have to stay focused, lol.

I think collecting leads or possibly even using special phone numbers to track calls would be an option for my niche site, and I don’t even have to do PPC because I have the site and keyword rankings to drive traffic already.

That said, if it works with the natural traffic I already have, maybe I could give it a boost with paid advertising too.

Hmm…

There’s big opportunity here, and I’m willing to give it a shot.

My mindset has changed:

Forget about the mini niche sites and start thinking about building the ultimate resource for a niche.

Think about the ways that you can turn your site into the ultimate resource. Even just one thing you can do to make it better than it already is can make a huge different – possibly a feature or benefit that no one else in your niche has.

Lastly, what are your thoughts about this new direction?

I’d love to hear your comments below.

Tagged as: ultimate resource

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Actually, Google’s Project Glass Concept Video Is Possible [Opinion]

Google recently released a concept video for their Project Glass, and the media world has jumped on it as the next revolution in computing, while some are doubting the technical aspects of it. Today I’d like to take a closer look at the technical feasibility of these real-life Google Goggles; what we know; and why this concept video should perhaps be taken with a grain of salt. I won’t be getting into ethics, or why these might be the best thing since slice bread.

Bear in mind I’m certainly no expert on the topic, but I’ve done a good bit of research and would like to present two possibilities.

First, here’s the concept video in full, for those of you who haven’t seen it.

And while we’re on it, here’s Tom Scott’s hilarious take on the matter:

The main issue with the concept video is the way it implies a display could be overlayed upon the users entire field of vision. However, this is quite unlikely with current LCD technologies.  Wired asked some industry experts, and they all say the same thing – the product images we’ve seen, and the capabilities of current technology suggest that what is portrayed in the video is unlikely. Or is it?

You should know first that simply making a pair of glasses with transparent LCD screens for eyepieces wouldn’t work because our eyes are biologically incapable of focusing on them. If the screens were about 10cm away (try it with your phone), you could theoretically shift focus between the screens and the real world distant object, but it would be painful to use and impractical. A solution is needed that allows them to both be closer to your eye (as in, in a pair of glasses) and focused to infinity so that the image is clear no matter where you look.

What most industry experts are assuming therefore is that the glasses use some form of miniature AMOLED or LCD display, combined with some optics to allow the output to be displayed at infinite focus. This is the method currently employed by existing commercial products, such as these ski goggles:

However, this method only allows a display to occupy a small part of your field of vision, but certainly not all of it.

Looking at both the recent product images:

And the photograph from Robert Scoble:

We can say that this method is certainly a possibility – a small screen, off to the corner of your vision. If this is the method Google has chosen, then we can safely say that what is portrayed in the concept video is impossible – the glasses simply wouldn’t be capable of placing something in the center of your field of vision.

However, this isn’t the only way it could be achieved. To overcome the problem of having to actually focus on an image, it is possible instead to simply beam the image directly onto our retina – a so called Virtual Retinal Display - bypassing the need for a screen altogether. In this scenario, a small laser projector would be needed, again consistent with what we’ve seen so far. Though rare, Japanese manufacturer Brother (using technology based on their knowledge of laser and inkjet printers!) did in fact demonstrate a working prototype called AirScouter back in late 2010, in which a 16 inch screen was perceived by projecting the image directly onto the wearer’s retina, whilst still allowing the background to be viewed. This video explains:

Notice that toward the end of the video, they even demonstrate Augmented Reality directions by proposing a cellphone connection, remarkably similar to the Project Glass concept.

Once the display is sorted, the rest is trivial.

Mobile data connections are fast enough nowadays to provide fairly instant and data-rich feedback on locations and objects.

Cameras are tiny and one could easily be embedded into the frame of the ‘glasses’, transmitting images for recognition purposes as the Google Goggles application currently does in Android phones.

A CPU and battery – I suspect these would be too bulky to fit on the frame with current technology, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect to users to carry the bulk of the device somewhere else on their person. I’m not suggesting the glasses link together with a separate Android phone, but phone-like functionality was in the concept and this would be one way to solve the bulk issue. Either way, there’s no technological barrier.

If I’m completely honest, I began researching this article as a total skeptic – sure that the whole field of vision display portrayed in the concept video was nonsense, and aiming to debunk it. However, I’m now convinced that crucially by using a retinal projection system, this could actually be a reality. The technology is there – it was there a year ago –  and Google has enough research cash to make this into a viable, commercial product – combined with their immense database of information for Augmented Reality applications.

What is it that makes me so convinced it isn’t just a transparent mini-screen? This photograph from Thomas Hawke, taken at a recent Dining in the Dark charity event –  which clearly shows it’s more like a block of glass – a lens – which would be used to refract a projected image.

You know the excitement an Apple fanboy gets when it’s time for another keynote? Right now, I’m feeling that for you Google – please don’t let me down.

Comments are welcome, but there are more articles to come on the topic so let’s keep the conversation purely on the side of technical feasibility if possible.

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