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Did you ever wonder why we are denied financial education at school? Financial education which would be applicable in today’s everyday life, such as: how to file taxes, how to pay the lowest taxes, how to spend your money, how to invest your money?
Why do most of us choose to “sell” ourselves to a 9 to 5 job with the one life we got gifted in this world and agree to pay over 50% taxes?
I believe it’s because society taught us. The entire society is driven by this mindset and (the current one) will collapse if the majority chooses to do otherwise.
In school, we are programmed to learn a certain profession, and we are schooled by the rules of our national educational program.
I’m not saying school is a terrible place, nor is a 9 to 5 job. It’s a privilege. But if you feel like you’re not living up to your full potential, then this post is exactly for you.
You need to be able to pay your mortgage or rent, feed your kids or pay for your study, your car, your insurance, and the list goes on.
Most of the time, there’s no room for you to risk starting your own business. Robert Kyosaki, a best-selling author, refers to this phenomenon in his book “Rich dad, Poor Dad” as the “rat race” (highly recommend reading). Some of us are already stuck in the work loop, and some of you are about to get stuck.
It’s hard to get out of the rat race because we need certainty in life. And I get that. I have been there. That’s why I have spent countless hours searching and educating myself on how I could get out of that stupid rat wheel while not having to give up my current income and take unnecessary risks.
I created Nicheprodigy to show you my way, the path I took to escape.
I want you to leverage your knowledge and turn it into passive income. It’s as simple as that.
When you google “How to blog”, you will notice most of the results are pretty identical. They don’t show you how to actually build a money printing machine, they’ll only give you the basic steps to get started.
I bundled all the valuable information I gathered over the last few years and wrote it down in this blast of a blog post. For free.
I will not just show you how to start a blog, I will share my secret sauce. It’s tasty, I swear.
I will show you how to start your own business and invest in that business.
A business which you can run and maintain next to your current job or study, and which has the potential to replace the income of your job within no-time.
A business with no inventory.
A business that will cost no more than 50$ to set up.
A business which you can launch today.
A business that will earn you money by the end of next month.
A business with no risk.
Sounds too good to be true? Then stop reading, no one is stopping you but you.
What’s in it for me? You’ll find out down below. No, I’m not going to sell you anything and you don’t have to pay me any money. I’m going to teach you the same strategy.
Everything I share is free. It’s our golden rule.
Why starting a niche blog is the way to go in 2021
I’ll give you the 5 main reasons straight away:
- Blogging is scalable; your potential income is literally unlimited
- It requires minimal investment; you can start with less than $50. All you need is a laptop, an internet connection, and a decent pair of brains. It is risk-free.
- Your biggest investment in the beginning is time. I will also show you my method to save time once you’re up and running.
- You can easily combine it with a full-time job or study;
- The internet is not going away, in fact, digitalization is just getting started. There is still plenty of opportunities, simply by going niche.
That sounds great and all right?
Well, somewhere along the way, most of you will give up and get back to a comfortable 9 to 5 job. It’s sad but it’s a fact. Well actually, financially speaking it’s great, it means less competition for us entrepreneurs.
When I just started I’ve quit over a dozen times. But every single time I learned a little bit more. As long as you keep digging, you’ll stumble upon gold eventually.
Just don’t stop digging.
I am going to show you how you can earn passive income through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing? Yes, affiliate marketing. Sounds basic? Well, we’re not your everyday affiliate marketer.
I add affiliate links to my content which make me money every time someone converts after clicking the link. There’s no magic in that. It’s about driving a shitload of traffic to your website and getting a crazy high conversion rate after someone clicks your links.
I’m going to show you exactly how to do that.
Step 1: How to pick the right topic/niche
Let’s get started. This is the first but by FAR the most important step.
What do you want your website to be about? What is the competition like? Should you hire someone to build your website? Is your blog topic scalable? Should you start in your native language and focus on a single country, should you start in English, or should you do both?
Hold up.
Take your time.
When I started my first business I got way too excited. I wanted to start right away and couldn’t wait to get up and running fast enough. But it is very important to consider what your website is actually going to be about.
The truth is that most people get stuck in picking a niche. According to research, 95% of people that want to start a business don’t actually get it off the ground because they can’t seem to decide what’s good enough for them.
This problem is at the core of how our own business was created. We encountered this problem ourselves and filled that gap by creating ready-to-go websites for people so they do not have to go through this process themselves. However, I did not create this guide to sell you my websites in some sneaky way.
If you can think of a topic yourself and build your own stuff, that’s even better, and that’s exactly what I’m going to show you in this post.
If you would’ve started a website in 2010 it wouldn’t have mattered which topic you chose, as long as you would write a shitload of content you would probably rank on the first page of google (99% of your organic website traffic will come from google page 1). When was the last time you visited google page 2? Exactly. It’s a dead man’s grave.
In 2021, things get more competitive. There are billions of sites out there. Google’s algorithm which determines the position of a website in their search engines focuses more on quality content than ever to distinguish all these websites. They display the most relevant websites to the search query in the top results of their search engine.
That’s why I want you to focus on a niche. Starting with a niche is going to grant you authority. We want Google’s recognition. To succeed, you need to produce high-quality content about a niche topic. As a general rule, the more you write about a specific topic, the better you will rank for that topic.
Once you have published a decent amount of posts about a certain topic, you can move on to the next topic related to your niche.
But don’t forget, you have to build shit people actually want to read. You will attract people that love your content and will come back to your website, which will result in a loyal audience.
So the first thing I want you to do is to ask yourself: What am I good at which most people don’t? Have you been practicing speed skating (a great niche by the way) for 10 years? Then you probably know a hell of a lot about it. That’s worth money.
I’ll give you an example.
Take a speed skating practitioner, let’s call him Paul.
Paul wants to know about the best speed skates available for beginners so he goes to Google and types: “best speed skates for beginners”.
Well, it turns out you created a blog website focused on the speed skating niche. You also happen to have written a blog titled: Top 5 Best Speed Skates for Beginners.
It ranked on the first page of Google because Google’s algorithm recognized you deliver quality and relevant content to speed skating, and Google sees your website has authority in regards to speed skating because your entire website is filled with high-quality blogs about speed skating.
This sounds easy, and it is easy, but only when you write content that’s going to add value to someone’s life.
I use a detailed internal linking strategy to drive traffic towards my “money-making” blog posts like the one you “wrote” for Paul and thanks to that I rank them even better in Google. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it all later.
Back to Paul.
Through your experience in speed skating, you know exactly what Paul needs, and within your blog, you give Paul excellent recommendations. Paul clicks the speed skates you recommended as #1 because according to you it’s the best quality in regards to the price and Paul believes you, because the material he consumes makes sense and he realizes it’s coming from an experienced practitioner.
In other words, what’s important is that you choose a topic that fits you or something you like reading and could write about.
At a later point in time, you can start outsourcing your content creation, but even then, you’ll still have to think of (recent) subjects and topics for your writers which are relevant to your audience. You’re going to earn money by providing value.
Now the most crucial part, there is almost no such thing as going too niche, unless you have a secret passion for purple paper clips.
All jokes aside. Even for the speed skating example, you could go more in-depth in that niche. In case there are already a lot of speed skating sites out there producing high-quality content, start analyzing those websites and look for a content gap: Are they just focusing on beginners? Or experts? For children? Or adults? Or are they just focusing on a single language? Find the gap.
Once you have written a decent amount of posts about your topic you can expand and cover other topics related to your niche and increase your reach.
Before you choose your niche topic, I highly recommend reading Step 2 below, in which I will show you how you just made money from Paul. It can definitely help you decide which topic is best for your new blog website.
Step 2: The highest-earning monetization method for your blog
Let me introduce you to the world of affiliate marketing.
The link you recommended to Paul in the example in step 1, for the best speed skates, contained your unique referral link to Amazon, giving you a commission of 8% on Paul’s entire Amazon order if he places an order within 90 days (!) since clicking your link.
Yes, not just 8% on the speed skates. Also on the laptop, Paul acquired for his new study which he included in his order.
While being on your site, Paul also got confronted with banner ads through Google AdSense. Google paid you for Paul’s impression of the banner displayed on your site.
You just made money twice by writing about awesome speed skates. If you actually like speed skates, that sounds like heaven on earth. At least, for me it does. You earned income through something you’re passionate about.
The highest-earning monetization method for your blog is affiliate marketing. Once you start to hit scale and bring in a good amount of visitors, you can earn additional income by displaying Google ads.
Now the best part, once your blog post about the best speed skates is online, that blog is not going away. You do not need to write that blog again. That blog will bring in traffic for the rest of your life.
All you need to do is update your blog post and make it relevant again once they release some new awesome speed skates to maintain your google position. But by that time you will already have someone to edit your posts for you if you don’t feel like it.
Thought of something yet what you’re good at? Great. If you haven’t, take your time. It’s never too late to master a new skill, or if you find a topic you’re passionate about within our marketplace, then you can get yourself a perfect headstart.
Step 3: Setting up your own blog website with WordPress for minimal cost
Costs: $2.75 a month
Let’s get your website online.
First, you will need to think of a decent name for your website and then translate that into an available domain name. Such as nicheprodigy.com.
We’re not aiming to build a brand like McDonald’s, we just need a simple URL that people actually remember and matches the content when they see your URL in Google results.
For the speed skate example I gave earlier, I would go for something like speedskating.com because it’s telling your user in the URL what your website is about. However, it’s 2020, almost any general domain name is taken, just like speedskating.com, so let’s go more niche here: beginnerspeedskating.com, speedskatingexpert.com, indoorspeedskating.com, and so on.
Try to think of something clever and short, and something that a reader can remember once you convert them to a loyal fan because your blog is so freaking awesome.
To claim the domain name and host your website including your domain we need a hosting provider.
You only need a small cheap hosting package since you’re just starting out. That’s why we’re going for a shared hosting plan. This effectively splits costs between other users, so your monthly bill will be low, and you won’t be needing more server space in the beginning anyway. You can always upgrade whenever you want.
I could sit here and cover 20 hosting providers for you, but through my own experience, I learned that all the big ones offer the same value since the majority is owned by the same company (Bluehost).
If we weigh that against cost, go for HostGator. They have been hosting the majority of my websites for more than 5 years and during that time I have never had to contact their customer support. When you get hosting with HostGator, they’ll also give you your domain name for free for a year. That’s perfect because we need the domain name anyway. Starting out, the hosting and domain name will cost you only $2.75 a month.
We made a simple step-by-step guide below to claim your domain name and get your website up and running when you host through HostGator. The brilliant thing is, instead of having to download WordPress and upload it yourself, HostGator automated all those tasks for you. You’re only a few clicks away from getting your website live. No technical skills are needed.
If you have a bigger budget or already have a website bringing in a ton of visitors, go for dedicated hosting with WPEngine as your hosting provider. Read our review and how to host your website with WPEngine in our blog post here.
When it comes to finding the best hosting provider for your new blog website, Hostgator will be able to meet your needs for the lowest costs.
3.1 Selecting a hosting package and registering your domain
Step 1: To host your website with HostGator, first head over to their pricing plan page. Choose the plan that fits your business best. When I just started, I went for the Hatchling plan. It’s the cheapest and it covers all your needs in the beginning.
Step 2: After choosing the plan, you’ll be asked to enter your information. You will also have the option to add your domain name here. Simply enter the domain name you wish your website will point to. If you’re going international, ALWAYS go for .com because it’s bringing along the most authority.
Step 3: Complete the steps, enter your payment information and your website should be live within a couple of minutes.
Want to claim a local (national) domain name? Then choose GoDaddy as your hosting provider.
3.2 Installing WordPress on your host
Now with your domain name and hosting set up, we can install WordPress. With a tool called cPanel, we can automatically install WordPress on your server. Thanks to HostGator, this software tool is already installed.
Step 1: All you have to do is log in to your server via your control panel (you should have been provided with a login link along with your username and password when you signed up).
Step 2: Once logged in, locate a tool called ‘Softaculous Apps Installer’ and click it.
Step 3: Select WordPress and enter the website details that are required. Next, hit ‘Install’.
Once the installer is finished, you’re done. WordPress is now installed on your brand new blog website.
3.3 Accessing your WordPress dashboard
To access the back-end of your website in the future, also referred to as your WordPress dashboard, simply write your domain name and add /wp-admin. For example, if your domain name is chocolatebakingschool.com, write chocolatebakingschool.com/wp-admin and you will be provided with the login screen as shown in the image below. To login, enter the login details that were provided to you in step 3.1.2.
Step 4: Picking the right theme: WPAstra
Costs: Free or one-time $69
Let’s pick a theme. I’ve used dozens of themes myself, both paid and free themes, and let me tell you straight away that it’s not necessary to invest heavily in a theme when you’re just starting.
There are plenty of cheap ones out there on Themeforest, but also very decent free ones. I would recommend getting the Astra theme.
It’s a great overall theme that allows you to go multiple directions with your website and it has an excellent modern pre-built blog layout (which is all we need). I use the MINI AGENCY plan for this website because it includes extra addons for Elementor for free (worth $69), which will come in handy at the next step. But it is not a necessity.
If you’re on a low budget there’s no problem getting the FREE plan or the PRO plan, you can always choose to upgrade later.
TIP: Let me save you some money in case you want to go for the paid version of the theme. There’s no need to pay for a lifetime license, just pay for the theme annually and cancel your subscription right away. You will still get support and updates for the coming year, and you can keep using the theme afterward. All you lose after a year is support and updates. Simply decide after a year what you want to do.
WPAstra is the theme I went for in the beginning. Its optimization for SEO, responsiveness, and customization possibilities are high-tier. And to top it off, they also offer a free plan!
4.1 Installing the free version of WPAstra
Step 1: To install the FREE version of Astra Theme, simply head over to their website, and hit the download button in the top menu. You will be directed to the pricing page. Scroll a bit down and you will find the option to download the theme for free. Click the link to download the theme.
Step 2: Now login to the back-end of your website and head over to “Appearance” → “Themes”. Click the “Add new” button and upload the .ZIP file you downloaded in step 1.
Step 3: All you have to do now is activate your theme by pressing the “Activate” button on your theme page.
4.2 Activating the paid version of WPAstra (optional)
Step 1: First follow the steps above in 4.1 to install the free version of the Astra theme.
Step 2: Head over to the Astra pricing plan page, choose your desired plan, and complete the payment.
Step 3: Click “My Account” → “Downloads” in the top menu bar on the WPAstra website and login to your Astra account (you should have created a username and password when you signed up).
Step 4: Once logged in, hover over “Account” in the top menu, and click “Licenses”. Copy the license code of the WPAstra version you bought.
Step 5: Head over to your WordPress dashboard. Click “Appearance” → “Astra Options” in the sidebar. In the top right you will find a field (see image below) where you will be able to paste your license code. Simply click “Activate”. You will now be able to download the “PRO” features of the WPAstra theme, they will be available for download on the same page you have activated your license on.
Step 5: Installing your Page Builder: Elementor
Costs: Free or one-time $49
The final thing we need is a page builder. We do not want to code our entire website, it will cost way too much time because you need to focus on producing content. For the last few years, I have been working with Elementor.
Elementor is currently being used by over 5 million+ WordPress websites. In my opinion, it is by far the best page builder out there right now.
The entire website you’re looking at right now is built by 1 single person, me, yes the one who wrote this post. Elementor allows me to customize basically anything I want.
You don’t need to build some crazy login portal and store user data in a super-secure way (I’m pretty sure even that’s possible with Elementor), all you need is a high-quality proven page builder for building a blog website.
In case you need something really custom, use Google or simply ask me or other niche prodigies in the Nicheprodigy community group. You will get your answer.
Elementor is the page builder you want to use if you’re going to build a blog yourself and lack coding skills. You can simply drag and drop elements and create a stunning website with WordPress. All optimized for SEO.
5.1 Installing the free version of Elementor
Step 1: Head over to your WordPress Dashboard and click “Plugins”, and “Add New”.
Step 2: In the search box, write “Elementor”.
Step 3: “Elementor Page Builder” will come up. Click “Install now”.
5.2 Activating the paid version of Elementor (optional)
Now, if you went for the MINI AGENCY plan with the Astra theme in step 4, there’s no need to buy Elementor PRO, because most of the PRO features will become available with the ‘ultimate’ addon plugin you received for free when acquiring the MINI agency plan.
If you haven’t bought the MINI AGENCY plan and went for the free theme instead, I would highly suggest getting Elementor PRO, because it will unlock a lot of customization possibilities for your blog. This will save you loads of effort trying to custom code certain features in your blog. For example, it will allow you to make an awesome table of contents like the one at the top of this blog with just a few clicks.
Step 1: First follow the steps above in 5.1 to install the free version of Elementor.
Step 2: Head over to the Elementor pricing plan page, choose your desired plan, and complete the payment.
Step 3: Now, go to my.elementor.com and login with the details you received in the email after your purchase.
Step 4: After having logged in, you will find yourself on the “My Account” page. To download Elementor Pro, click the download icon in the top right corner (next to your account name). Save the ZIP file to your computer.
Step 5: Head over to your WordPress Dashboard, click “Plugins”, “Add new”. Choose the ZIP file you downloaded, click install, and activate.
Step 6: You should get a message in your WordPress dashboard to activate your license key. Locate your Elementor plugin in your WordPress Dashboard and click “License”. Click Connect & Activate. You should now be redirected to a login field. Login to your Elementor account and your license will be activated automatically.
Step 6: The best way to produce blog content and drive traffic to your website
6.1 How to rank your content at Google page #1
95% of my website traffic comes from my blogs that rank on the front page of google. It’s all about getting on that first page. We need to produce relevant content that people like to read and is search engine friendly.
You have most likely heard about the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Today, Google’s algorithm is so advanced it reads all your content that will be published to the internet like a superhuman that has mastered all thinkable subjects in the world.
This superhuman assesses your content and ranks it based on how relevant it is to the searcher’s query phrase.
At the same time, the superhuman peeks over the shoulder of all the readers that you have landed on your page and asks itself questions like the following: How well does the article answer the searcher’s question? Does the searcher stay on the article for a longer period of time? Is the article well-structured? Are other websites referring to the article? Does the article have the right keyword density? Any spelling mistakes?
Write your content like you’re being assessed for your finals by Google’s superhuman algorithm. You need to produce high-quality content that adds value to someone’s life.
There’s A LOT to consider when it comes to SEO for content writing, we suggest using this post by SEO-expert Brian Dean from Backlinko as a free source to get educated on this subject. They explain exactly what you need to take into account when you’re going to start writing your content.
6.2 How to produce content like a BEAST *my secret sauce*
Sorry for the hype in the title right there, but this final part is the most vital component to successfully grow your niche blog.
If you’ve come this far in this blog post, you might have concluded that starting a niche blog might just actually be something for you, but there’s one little hurdle: You’re going to need loads of time to write all of the valuable content. Or you suck at writing, that’s also possible.
Don’t worry.
Let me introduce to you: FIVERR. Freelance marketplace for businesses.
This website is loaded with smart students and professionals trying to earn a little extra money next to their study and job. It’s also loaded with people trying to make a quick buck by delivering low-quality services.
My best investment was the time I spent to find my ideal content writers.
They will be the fuel of your content machine.
I’m not saying you can’t start a blog without content writers. Quite the opposite. But once you’ve written a few blog posts yourself and are ready to hit scale, it’s time to outsource your content creation and expand your website at a higher magnitude.
Fiverr doesn’t just allow you to outsource your content creation, you will find all sorts of freelancers there who will be able to cover all the skills you lack.
Want a fancy professional design? Fiverr.
Need something custom-coded on your WordPress site? Fiverr.
Want someone to build you awesome infographics? Fiverr.
Need someone to make your breakfast in the morning? Fiverr. Oh wait, that would be Tinder.
This is going to be your #1 time saver. If you need specific skills to solve a problem, Fiverr is the place to be.
The #1 mistake I made which I don’t want you to make
When I just started I managed to get 5000 visitors a month within 4 months to a website about sustainable household items with only 3 blog posts.
Can you imagine my excitement? I was ready to make some $.
The 3 blog posts offered a simple solution to an everyday problem such as: “How to fix smelly laundry”, and “In which container should I put my washing powder?”
The posts didn’t contain affiliate links themselves, however, that was not an issue at all, because I direct this traffic with internal linking towards one of my money-making blogs: “The top 10 best sustainable washing machines”. But once I landed my visitors on my money-making blog, the visitors did not convert at all. They did not click my links.
Terrible rookie mistake. I failed to put myself in my visitor’s shoes.
I realized the audience I attracted with these posts had zero to none “buy-intent”.
In other words, they’re not ready to spend money. They’re not going to buy a new sustainable dishwasher or washing machine when they’re just looking for a simple fix for their short-term problem. Always realize in what stage a visitor lands on your blog and funnel them towards conversion.
My objective on the blog post that landed them should have been to convince them to purchase a simple tool to fix their problem and at the same time direct them towards a post that would explain to them the amount of money they could save and contribute to the environment when they would acquire sustainable household equipment such as a washing machine.
Put yourself in your visitor’s shoes. Visualize their “online” journey and funnel them correctly through your website.
Offer content on your post that matches exactly with the phase of their online search journey in an attempt to send them to the next phase in their journey on your website.
Don’t throw in the towel only because your conversion rate is lacking. Try to zoom out and look at the bigger picture when your visitors fail to convert.
Final note
That’s my journey in a nutshell, and now you have the opportunity to do the same. It’s all up to you. Well…
Not entirely.
I’m still here to assist. Send an e-mail to my e-mail address and I will personally answer your questions within 1 business day. No basic customer support replies are guaranteed. It’s about adding value, remember?
Want to get involved with people which are also growing a niche blog?
Join the nicheprodigy community.
In our group chat, we share the progress we make, and where you can get quality support since we all use the same tools and programs. Most likely someone from our community already experienced the same issue as you. Our senior practitioners and I are always available!
That’s it. It’s time to stop running in that stupid rat wheel. It’s time to convert your knowledge into passive income. It’s time to achieve financial freedom.