The development of domains into mini-web sites is often belittled but the potential earning power of mini-sites is attracting more interest these days. Though mini-site development is not a major part of my strategy, I do set up clusters of mini-sites from time to time. I wanted to share some of my experiences with this strategy.
Earning potential
Saving small amounts of money regularly can build up into significant amounts over time. This penny pinching approach is similar to a mini-site strategy. The key is to have a model that can be replicated over and over.
If you build 10 mini-sites a year to average $5 a day income per web site for 5 years, you are looking at
- Year 1 $18,250
- Year 2 $36,500
- Year 3 $54,750
- Year 4 $73,000
- Year 5 $91,250
This is about a mini-site a month with time for vacations etc. Even if we drop this to $1 a day, you are looking at $18,250 in the fifth year.
Characteristics of a good mini-site strategy
- Franchise thinking
- Evergreen content
- Low maintenance
- Relatively dependable income stream
So lets go through each one of these.
Franchise thinking
Franchises are built around a detailed plan of how a business should run and they effectively clone that business plan down to the smallest details again and again. Mini-sites should be handled the same way at least within each business sector.
This templating allows quick implementation with minimal design variations. Images can be swapped in and out of the template design to suit.
Evergreen content
I am a great believer in evergreen content. This is content that does not easily go out of fashion or become outdated. For example, information on how to change a tire or how to boil an egg really will not need updating and so once written needs no maintenance. This saves an enormous amount of work and allows you to increase the number of web sites without overburdening yourself.
Low maintenance
Evergreen content contributes to low maintenance but other factors play into this also. Using a script or content management system is essential to handle large numbers of web sites.
- Upgrading the software can become very burdensome if it has to be done one by one.
- Cost of licenses for multi-site development and costs of upgrades to software can be significant.
- Reducing the number of hosts you use will also help save time and money.
Dependable income stream
There are multiple ways to generate income from mini-sites including affiliate marketing, ppc or lead generation. The important thing is that you do not want to be micromanaging your ad inventory to ensure reliable income. Finding a good revenue model should be one of the first items to check off your list before starting mini-sites
Of course I am assuming that all sites will continue to perform at a consistent level to calculate the income.
I hope I have given you an idea about the mini-site business model and that when designed intelligently, it can be a valuable, scalable, relatively passive income source.
One of the biggest issues people have with mini-sites is whether to use templates or content management systems. Next time, I will weight in with my views on that old chestnut.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post. Mini sites sure are hot right now. I wonder how they will adapt with future changes in search engines though? It seems to me that the search engines are not going to want these little 5-10 pages sites, built soley for adsense, to be a big part of the results they provide.
Troy,
Good question and let me answer that in a blog post rather than here because I think there needs to be some important distinctions made.
Enjoyed your post.
Because I virtually have no experience in building out domains/developing my own domains, it would be helpful to me if you would share some of your personal examples. i.e. What domains of yours have been developed into mini-sites?
Look forward to learning more about your experiences.
Hi Leigh Ann,
Here is an example I have used before. It is still being developed but I think its a good example. It has the potential to be larger but its content is evergreen (should not have to be changed much over time) and addresses the concepts people need to know when searching for information about bone thinning.
http://bonethinning.com/
If you are interested in how I put it together, let me know and I will blog about its construction.