Where the “Easy” Money is Now, Part 4…

July 9th, 2010 · 120 Comments

Hi guys,

If there’s one post you take from this series and really “digest” – it’s this one.

Because I’m completely exposing the exact process I’ve used - and currently use - to build up traffic networks and processes that are capable of generating enough leads that you’ll have trouble finding places to sell them all.

Now, just like the previous post regarding leadflow, this “master plan” is quite exhaustive and rather detailed – and you don’t have to do “everything” to get results. You can take the sum of its parts and apply it to your own strategy, or take bits here and there and sort of retro-fit things so that it adapts to your resources, your budget, and your “style”.

That’s the idea.

The other thing I should be clear about right now is that this is geared towards Entrepreneurs that want to use the web to build a highly leveraged & lucrative operation, aiming at 4+ figures a day in cash-flow.

It’s about building an empire in your vertical. Not just a conduit site or two, or posting a few articles on EzineArticles.

(An empire you can ideally sell for a nice 6 or 7 figure payday… hint.)

For those who “get it”, this is a million dollar business on a silver platter. For those who think this is too complex, or not “simple” enough, or otherwise too much work, well… sorry, but, this is for the big kids.

(And don’t worry, this won’t turn into another rant about the vast disparity in “hard work” when comparing starting up a highly profitable affiliate or lead-gen business with a traditional little retail store down the block).

Well, let’s get started then…

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In a Nutshell:

Plainly speaking we are talking about building one or two central authority sites ranging from 300 – 50,000 pages deep (where 99% of the content is database driven) in the vertical, with a “satellite” network of around 100 – 200 city specific mini-sites.

The authority sites are “real” sites. Sites you can slap on a business card and gab about at your local chamber of commerce meeting. (And sites you can confidently promote and not feel like a weiner with a “review site” when it comes time to build legitimate links.)

The city-specific sites are more like online brochures, at most about 4-5 pages deep. The idea is to almost “imitate” the classic Mom & Pop style of local site, with the slight difference being that ours actually CONVERT.

With the authority sites we are aiming for 2,000 – 10,000+ unique visitors a day, and all our traffic is driven with organic SEO (and completely whitehat linkbuilding). We want these sites to last.

With the city-specific sites, we aren’t so much aiming for “traffic” as much as leadflow. We’re looking for an average of 1-3 leads per day per city site – and obviously some cities will drive many leads a day while others will only generate a few a month. (Lead volume also depends on the type of lead/offer).

City-specific sites are promoted with organic SEO (using a mix of white-hat and gray-hat), as well as on Classifieds sites like Craigslist, Kijiji, BackPage, and so on. And there’s a very specific process for doing that, which is covered in detail below.

The end result is a system that generates hundreds of leads per day – ideally selling the majority of them on the spot through a network, a bulk buyer and perhaps a few direct clients. (I’ll let your imagination guide you in terms of what that looks like money-wise… hundreds of leads a day.)

And simultaneously, you’ve also built a “house list” of subscribers as part of your lead generation process (see the leadflow charts from Part 3 for reference). With the non-completers we send out a 7-day “sledgehammer” reminder campaign to get them to complete their form, and following that, the usual backend stuff, which is what the “completers” get from day one.

Now, let’s think about something…

Let’s say you make this your project for 2010 and you really nail it. By the time 2011 rolls around, you’ve got a massive authority site, a fairly good sized list (10,000+) and you’re well on your way with rolling out your city-sites. And let’s say you’re consistently generating 50 financial or insurance leads every day. Not unrealistic.

Question: What do you think a competitive player in that marketplace would pay for that kind of leadflow? (Think: Banks, Insurance Companies, etc.)

Answer: A lot more than 12 month’s revenue. We’re not talking about Adsense sites on Flippa, folks. This is a different realm.

So yes, as you can detect – the end goal (at least in my mind) is to sell your “empire” when you feel you’ve reached capacity and walk away with a big, fat pay-day that you could potentially retire on.

THAT is the business model in a nutshell.

Now let’s get specific, and talk about each segment in detail…

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Segment 1: The Authority Site:

As I’ve alluded to several times throughout these posts so far, the authority site is a directory at heart. And since a large part of its traffic draw is dependant on the geo-targeted content, we first of all need to cover content creation, content handling and content publishing.

a) CONTENT

Now, one thing I should make very clear is that even though the directory is really the main focus from a MARKETING perspective when it comes to the authority sites, with my own sites what I do is structure them so that your main page simply lists the directory one section of many – even though all the other “sections” or categories are only a few pages deep.

What this means is that we essentially build a really professional-looking, portal-style content site (about 30 – 50 articles, etc.), and then “add” the directory into it as just another section.

(A good example of this, which I have zero connection with and simply mention as a coincedential observation, is MortgageLoan.com – check out their overall site appearance at the home page level. You wouldn’t think that their “Professional Services” subsection is 10,000+ indexed pages deep. It just seems like an afterthought. Even though it likely accounts for a substantial chunk of their traffic.)

Why “hide” it?

Because the idea is to come across – both to users and spiders – as a site that’s built as a resource. And not a keyword farm – which, believe it or not, is actually a fine line, and one that honestly seems like it’s measured by PERCEPTION.

There’s major authority sites out there in stupidly-competitive markets (like stocks, for instance) where the big SEO players are nothing more than database-driven mashups that scrape RSS feeds and literally serve up zero unique content…

…and yet they get hordes of traffic because likely they were there “first” – and they simply look the part of an authoritative resource. (And not like an auto-blogging app spitting out a datafeed, which is very, very important).

For this reason, personally I do everything I possibly can to avoid looking like a scraper site, or an auto-blogging setup or otherwise anything less than a totally legitimate corporate authority site. This means professional design structure, user-focused navigation and unique content.

Avoid anything remotely “scraper-ish” like the plague. You’ll have a nice 6-month lifespan and then *kaput*, you’re de-indexed (ask me how I know). It’s a hamster wheel.

So what’s the solution – how do you pass the “genuine” filter?

Honestly, up until recently I’d actually just converted my “data” into straight HTML pages, and hired writers to create description snippets for each item. The problem with that method was that it’s limiting. Anything over 500+ pages and you’re looking at a LOT of individual html files to deal with.

And the reason why I didn’t go with one of the “directory builder” applications out there (some of which retrofit to be used with WordPress) is because most of them simply wouldn’t pass as a “real” site. They all have that scraper-style functionality and appearance.

But more importantly, nothing on the market right now is built to handle content the way I needed it to, while at the same time producing a site that looks (and IS) “real”. As in, standing the test of time, generating hordes of traffic for years to come.

So what I did is create my own framework for creating massive, authoritative directories that are built specifically for lead generation and affiliate marketing. It simulates natural growth, the sites build their own backlinks, and just like a Porsche – the whole thing is engineered solely for my own purposes…

…which is pulling down maximum results from any traffic volume.

This took half a year with a local team of skilled programmers. And the end result is absolutely awesome – in the right hands. (More on that later).

My script isn’t the “only” way or anything. But one thing I’ve noticed – and you can verify this for yourself just by doing some of your own SERPS research – is that all of the “real” sites like this that actually hold their positions and maintain a good percentage of their content as indexed in Google use their OWN content management systems to publish their database.

I have yet to find any viable, competing sites using “scraper” directory software or WP plugins in the SERPs in the geo-niches I’ve been targeting and monitoring. They either don’t index well, or they get canned. It has to be done right.

What about Unique Content… at 6 cents a “page”?

Unique content is essential, and there’s just no way around it.

Whether you’re buying or “scraping” your seed database, the only way to truly make it valuable is to add your OWN content (descriptions, etc.). And this is where we enter a whole new realm of content production.

Obviously, if you have a database of 10,000 insurance agents (or whatever), you can’t treat this like an article writing project. It’s a totally different animal – for us.

But not in other industry sectors. In fact, data entry and data processing has a HUGE presence in fields like medicine, law, public sector administration and so on. In fact, I couldn’t believe the amount of bids (and the bid prices!) I’d get on places like Elance, Freelancer.com and so on when I’d post a project requiring descriptions to be entered on each line of a x,xxx size database.

As mentioned, some providers had a flat rate as low as $6 per 100 entries.

Now, obviously – the quality of the content is going to directly correspond with the price. Here’s what I’ve found in terms of “value for money” in the data entry world, as it relates to what I needed accomplished (descriptions entered for local biz listings)….

$0.06 – $0.10 per entry is going to get you “copy/paste” snippets from the URL’s meta-description tag (if there’s a URL associated with the database row), or otherwise stuff that will barely pass as “unique” content. This will somewhat differentiate your content from being “duplicate”, which may be enough in some markets.

$0.10 – $0.30 per entry is going to get you brief, but unique descriptions about a sentence or two in length, along with some quality assurance in regards to the business listing’s address, phone numbers and other basic details.

$0.30 – $0.75 per entry is going to get you basically the same as above, but likely with better use of grammar and a bit more detail.

$0.75 – $1.50 per entry is going to get you fluent-English, short descriptions for each item.

$1.50 – $2.00 per entry is going to get you fluent-English, good-sized descriptions for each item (ideal for stuff you really want to get indexed well, or for databases with around 500 – 2000 entries)

There will be some variation, and those aren’t the Ten Commandments of data entry by any means, but that’s generally what I’ve found myself. (Your experiences will vary).

And from what I’ve dealt with so far, it takes the better part of a month for a database of around 10,000 items to be completed, with descriptions added, by one provider. (So if you can manage multiple people, than you can likely turn over a database in the 10K range in about a week or less).

So that’s how it’s done, folks – that’s how to build an absolutely massive authority site that won’t get pegged as a “thin affiliate” and duly penalized.

(Oh, and the reason why Google penalizes sites it considers to be “thin” database driven platforms is because DB-driven sites with tons of content get huge, huge traffic on the long-tail – which is awesome if you’re not seen as “thin”).

Okay, let’s take a breather from content production for a minute and talk about…

b) TRAFFIC

I think we all know the fundamentals of organic SEO, so I’ll just simply itemize my 3-stage process for rolling out these authority centers using white-hat link building…

Stage 1: Priming with Linkbait - In order to “prime” the authority site for an onslaught of future links, I first of all get some high-quality “foundation” links to begin with.

What I do as I’m creating the front-end content and the directory/database is I’ll simply feature a SINGLE unique function, contest or otherwise something actually interesting in the market directly on the home-page.

(Hint: Contests work great - and it’s easy to get other established sites involved if it’s related to their niche. Just offer something to their visitors in the $100 – $400 range as a prize. That’s a small “price” to pay in terms of the links you can obtain by doing so.)

Another option is to purchase a banner ad on a prominent, related site, but prior to purchasing negotiate a content-publishing deal as part of the ad (where they post an article that you produce, with a live URL in the byline). You’d be surprised how easy it is to request that as part of an advertising deal. (Which is often peanuts, anyway)

Anyway, aim to get 5 or 6 quality links like this while your (future) authority site is a one-page-wonder. It will really help to solidify your authority profile from day one – and your rankings.

Stage 2: Links Via Interaction - Become active as a frequent commenter on established sites/blogs in the niche – and actually contribute and get involved. Not only will this likely land you several opportunities to actually work with the site owners – but the links you can build on QUALITY sites like this are worth 100 “article directory” placements.

It’s the same with forums in the industry and so on. You’d be amazed at how much search engine weight these seem to carry WHEN the involvement is legitimate.

Finally, as your site comes together and the directory goes up – simply ask the other sites (who you might already be “friends” with) to link to you – or provide them with some great content that they can post, and then credit you as the source.

I know this doesn’t sound “groundbreaking”, but between Stages 1 & 2 you’ll have built a REAL link foundation that will be instantly recognizable as legitimate – immediately differentiating you from the thin-affiliates, scrapers and otherwise “small fries” in the market.

And lastly,

Stage 3: The Same Old Crap - Article submissions, directory submissions, more blog comments, press releases, RSS submissions, squidoo, zimbio, hubpages, etc.

You know the drill – and it does work. These types of links basically act as “oil changes” when it comes to SEO. They don’t have the “ranking horsepower” of direct links from quality sites, but they ensure that your rankings “keep running smoothly” by and large, because it gives your linking profile a good, natural spread of exposure.

Optionally, you can consider using LinkVana (or similar services) to add further, decent links in to the mix as well.

About every 6 – 8 months, repeat Stages 2 and 3, and you’ll hold your positions very well in the SERPs.

One thing you may have noticed is that I didn’t mention paying for links directly.

Why?

Simply because that’s a gray-hat move, and as a personal preference, I just simply avoid that with anything I consider an authority property. But for the city sites, it’s a different story…

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Segment 2: The City-Site Network:

Our “brochure” style city sites are an entirely different animal. Think of these sites as the “pawns” in your network that might only generate a lead a day (or a even a week) individually – but in numbers, these pawns can actually be the main source of your leadflow, and the quality of the leads you’ll generate will likely be higher and more relevant.

And remember – Google does give preference to a dedicated domain on a topic in competition with some deeply-buried subpage on a new authority site. So even though your directory (authority site) will be “competing” for the same city-level traffic, your network of pawns will simply be able to easily add more leads into your network, and reach traffic not otherwise tapped.

Now, one thing I should make very clear is that as a personal preference, I do NOT cross-link these sites with eachother, nor do I link back to my main authority site from them.

Each “city-site” is a standalone entity where the only connection to their “mothership” is the offer being touted. That is it. I do it this way simply because the methods we use to promote the city-sites aren’t as squeaky clean as with our authority sites.

(We’re squeaky clean on the legal end – obviously - but our backlinking methods are grayhat.)

Just like I did above with the authority sites – let’s talk about content first…

a) CONTENT

These sites are only 4-5 pages deep, and this is how it breaks down:

Home page - This is the “brochure” style offer, with the lead gen form and maybe 500 words describing the offer, specific to the residents of that city. I like to include a graphic of the city’s skyline to make it relevant and immediately recognizable with the user.

Explanatory Page - This is kind of like the “mission statement” of your site, as well as the outlook of whatever market you’re in as it pertains to that city. For example, if you’re driving real estate leads, you’d talk about the housing market in Boise Idaho (or wherever), mentioning recent news/events related to it on a local level. This will be about 1,000 words, and it will instantly establish your site as something relevant and “real” to the user.

“Recommended Services” Page(s) - Think “conduit method”, but locally, and not in the sense of a review. Choose the top 5 or so related services in your city and profile them. Use about 400 – 500 words to describe each business, and link to their website with a live dofollow link (and provide the contact details & address as well). You can list multiple profiles on one page, or a few per page, or one per page – whatever works best.

So in a sense, it’s a like a miniature scale of your authority directory site, except with 5 really detailed “entries” as opposed to 5,000+ snippets converted into a professional mashup. (And you may want to consider having it look like they’ve paid for a spot, and that other businesses can as well – so it looks like you’re a wannabe local portal…)

Contact/About Us Page - Keep content to a minimum on this page since it will be hard to “re-word” a page like this to be unique if your city site network spans 100+. Just list your site’s email address, and maybe mention that advertising inquiries can be sent to that address as well. (Consider using an image file or javascript to display all or some of your text on your contact page. Same goes for your privacy policy and disclaimer pages as well)

The idea here is to simulate a “local” attempt at making an info-portal. Even though the only “ads” you’ll ever run will be your own, most likely.

As mentioned, the leadgen offer is the primary focus on the home page, and you display your “teaser form” (or at least an ad featuring your leadgen offer) at the top-fold the other pages, except for the Contact, Privacy & Disclaimer pages.

Also, on every page (except contact, privacy, etc.), I install and use an “exit pop” script, which pushes the offer once more to exiting users.

For keyword targeting, it will vary (just use any of the kw tools to find out what’s searched in your city), but aim for a mid to somewhat high-competition keyword for the root domain (home) page.

Speaking of which… let’s talk about…

b) TRAFFIC

Let’s deal with the SEO side for starters.

For the city sites, as I mentioned, I like to go grayhat a bit.

The white-hat component includes using LinkVana (10 – 20 links), article & directory submissions, dofollow blog commenting, maybe a press release or two, and creating web 2.0 “linkwheels” with Squidoo, HubPages, Zimbio, WordPress.com, etc. I would also recommend plugging in an RSS feed aggregate submitter like Web Traffic Genius.

(By the way, there’s an excellent service out of the Phillipines that can handle all that kind of stuff as a package price that I highly recommend, but don’t really want to share. I’m sure anyone motivated enough can do some digging and discover it for themselves )

As for the gray-hat side?

Buying links directly from other sites on places like the DigitalPoint Link Sales forum (2 or 3 is all it takes). And you might also want to consider using 3WayLinks.net, although I haven’t done that yet with my city sites, namely because I think LinkVana works better anyway.

The idea here is to turn your city-site rollout into a push-button process. Build site, push the button, build site, push the button, etc.

Using this methodology and with an outsource solution in place, you should be able to roll out each “city site” for around $200 – $300 maximum, and probably far less if you trim the process down and only stick to the basics, which would be article/directory submissions and a few paid links – which don’t have to be expensive or from major sites.

(And you can definitely do this on the cheap, by the way – just adapt the linking structure here however you need to in order to fit your budget, etc.)

Aim to roll out about 4 city sites a month. And if you need to, just wait until the authority site is generating the cash to fund all these rollouts so you can scale with your operating capital.

You might be spending a lot of what you generate in profit the first 6 months to a year, but the end result will be a massive network of traffic – and that’s just with SEO.

Now let’s talk about getting HOT leads for less than you ever imagined – and without waiting months for the search engines to do their thing…

Using Classified Ad Sites to Generate HOT Leads for $0.00

You could literally just do this and forget about the SEO side for your city sites altogether and you’d still make a killing. In fact, for many of you, this is probably the best way to fund your offsite SEO (maybe even for your authority site rollout as well).

You remember “Rick the Realtor”?

This is virtually all the guy did to generate his own leads, and it obviously worked pretty well for him.

The process is twofold:

1) Ad Posting, and

2) Relevent Responding

The main sites are Craigslist, Kijiji and BackPage – but don’t forget that a lot of cities have their “own” sort of network that might actually get more usage than CL. For example here in Victoria it’s UsedVictoria.com, which gets a lot more traffic than its corresponding city section on CL.

Many cities have “community” sites like that – so it’s something to look for as you roll out each of your city-site domains.

(And those are the sites where posting and responding is easily done – unlike craigslist, which you have to watch yourself or risk getting banned).

Posting ads is very straightforward – and it’s where the city sites come in REALLY handy. We simply craft a unique ad for every different city and post it up in the relevent category about once per week. There are myriad of services out there to accomodate this on the cheap, by the way. We’re talking $0.50 to $1.00 per ad post, and it’s all done manually.

The ad is short and targeted – and written like a short email.

“If need help consolidating your debt load into one, managable payment – talk to us! You’ll be amazed at how much you can save, and you won’t have to juggle high-interest credit cards anymore just to get through the month.

Just send me a quick email, or submit your details on our site at: http://BobsCitySite.com

Thanks

Bob Brown
BobsCitySite.com”

And since we’re actually using different domains (and ads) for each city – and because the lead generation is actually going to companies that can help these people – it’s completely legit.

In some cities you can generate 10+ leads a day like this, for FREE. That alone can be a full-time income, right there.

Or at the very least – use it to fund your SEO “empire”.

Now let’s talk about responding to ads…

If you haven’t already seen this for yourself – you’ll be amazed. Just open up craigslist in a big city, and go to the “Services” section and take a look at the following categories:

* Financial

* Legal

* Real Estate

Now, even just using your browser’s Edit >> Find feature, search for the word “need”.

You’ll likely see anywhere from 2 – 10 direct requests from people actively seeking services and posting for help. And if their request matches the kind of lead you’re seeking, you can literally contact these people and hook them up with your vendors.

I would use an email like this:

“Hi George

Just responding to your request on Craigslist, re: private business loan for $50K.

I can’t guarantee anything, but I may be able to connect you with a lender that does private deals like this.

I’ll need to send you a simple application to fill out (don’t worry, it’s brief), which basically gives them a financial snapshot of yourself and more information about the loan. And there’s no credit check necessary.

So if you’re interested, please let me know and I’ll send that your way.

Thanks

Bob Brown
BobsCitySite.com”

And when George emails back, just send him to the long-form leadgen section of your site and explain that the lenders will try to work with him if they can.

Yes, this is more involved than just blasting George with a link – but it’s also far more effective, and it’s actually helpful. You just need to make sure that you’re only contacting people that are potentially viable customers for your vendors, to the best of your knowledge.

I’d only recommend recruiting leads like this if you’re selling the lead for $60+ a pop, otherwise it’s not something you can feasibly outsource.

But again – this is what we call “found money” folks. You can easily find 5 – 10 quality leads a day like this yourself, and God knows how many when you start scaling on the outsourcing side. (And again, do the math. 5 leads @ $50 a lead… $250/day)

Now, if you want to seriously get into the recruitment end of things, you’ll probably want to check out some of the “lead finding” solutions out there that can run sitewide searches spanning multiple cities for keywords like “need”.

The one I use is called Leads Alert Pro (but I don’t use their emailing functions – I just use it to locate potential leads).

I know this sounds like a lot to do – but even if you just do a FRACTION of this stuff with your city sites, you are looking at generating some staggering lead-flow and revenue in a very short period of time.

In fact, using your network of city sites in conjunction with the classified sites alone can make you a fortune – just like it does for “Rick”.

And as I’m writing this, I am honestly questioning my judgment on whether I should be releasing all this stuff publicly, and that’s not tongue-in-cheek. Anyone who’s motivated can literally run with this segment right now and start generating leads (and likely a full-time income) within a month.

Hopefully some people actually apply this and make good on it… rather than complain about “how hard it is”. It’s low-hanging fruit, plain and simple.

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Whew!

We’ve covered alot in this series so far.

So that’s what I’ve been up to this past year – and I’ve spent the vast majority of it developing the framework for rolling out the authority sites in particular, since that’s a key factor in turning this into a long-term revenue stream, and a business that can potentially be sold for a 7, or maybe even 8 figure price tag.

Well, this concludes the 4-Part exposition on the “Local Angle” and lead-gen business. And hopefully it’s opened your eyes to a whole new world of profit, traffic sources and possibly even mindset when it comes to this business.

So What’s Next?

Well, you can probably guess what’s “next”.

Hint: It’s a video of this process in action – showcasing my actual framework for doing all of this – and I’ll build a LIVE, 30,000+ page site right in front of you.

A site that will grow “naturally” over time, build its own backlinks as it grows, a site that is completely professional and will stand the test of time…

…and a site built on a platform that only a FEW marketers will ever get to use.

Prepare to be amazed…

-Chris

Tags: General Marketing Stuff

120 responses so far ↓

1 Mikael Rieck // Jul 9, 2010 at 4:55 am

Hi Chris, Are you still updating the post? It seems like a lot is left out from what you mentioned in part 3?

Thanks,
Mikael
2 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:14 am

It’s in progress, Mikael.

I’m updating it as I complete each major section (mostly because sometimes WP screws up my “draft saves”).

It’s in the wee hours here anyway, so I figured it wouldn’t mess up too many people

Cheers

-Chris
3 Paul S // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:25 am

Chris

You really do over-deliver on your promises, which is a sound strategy worthy of imitation.

Thank you for your tireless and unselfish contributions.

Paul.
4 John // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:02 am

Quick question Chris

You say there will be one main quality site in the “vertical”. Let’s take for example mortgage loans (like mortgageloan.com – the example you gave).

Why would someone link to your site when:

1. There already are established, trusted authority sites in this vertical (why would anyone even bother with you?)

2. The ideal people to link to you will be people in the same market – eg. mortgage loans, and if they have authority sites (you wouldn’t ask them for a link otherwise) they obviously have figured out ways to make money with these sites… so – they are pretty much your competitors. Why would a competitor link to you?

We can take review sites if that would make my example easier. You create a review site – who is your ideal authority link partner – someone who also happens to have a review site – but your are in fact competitors in the same market and with the same traffic source – SEO.

Thanks Chris and if you can answer especially #2 that would be awesome!
5 John // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:05 am

Also one little addition to the questions.

In the beginning your authority site will not have any really valuable content so this is another obstacle I can’t overcome in my head.

Thanks.
6 Jonathan Boettcher // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:53 am

Great stuff Chris.. keep it coming!! I’ll check back in a few hours for Segment 2 =)
7 Martin // Jul 9, 2010 at 11:03 am

Hi Chris,

Great stuff. Keep good work!

I have a 2 question

1. What about another country then USA? I mean some european country and city?
2. Can i do this with Affiliate Genie?

all the best
8 Bob // Jul 9, 2010 at 11:43 am

Chris- Don’t let a couple of people with no patience get you discouraged. They are by far the exception. Most of us appreciate the information you have provided for free… however much of it you do or don’t provide. Whether you buy or don’t buy a product at the end and whether you do or don’t use this model in your own business, just knowing what top notch marketers are doing is invaluable information, let alone witnessing a master go through the thought process. Thanks again.
9 Jeremy // Jul 9, 2010 at 1:46 pm

@John–

I won’t speak for Chris, but here is an example of how you can get “other” authority sites to link to you.

1. Guest post in a related blog: Sticking with your mortgage loan example, you could write a high quality article for a personal finance blog (e.g. thesimpledollar.com; getrichslowly.org; manvsdebt.com, etc.) about mortgages with a link in your bio back to your site. Those PF blogs have huge authority (thesimpledollar is a pagerank 6, for example), and a *real* link from them is worth a zillion generic directory submissions by some Indian link farm.

This technique requires that you really study those blogs, know their style, and write something HIGH QUALITY–this probably can’t be outsourced unless you’re willing to spend a couple hundred (yes, hundred) dollars on an article by a real writer who will do real research. Even that would probably be worth it if you are serious about your site.

2. Guest post/article/get interviewed by the general media. Sticking with the mortgage loan example, get yourself interviewed or quoted in the finance section of a main stream website’s site, such as the finance section of a local newspaper. With of course, a link to your authority site. This will require talking on the phone (OH GAWD NO! scream the internet introverts…hahaha) with a reporter or at least some personal emails back and forth. But it can be done. Local newspaper’s websites have high PR and can send linkjuice your way.

3. Put on your thinking cap and figure out some other methods.

Freebie time is over
10 Stan // Jul 9, 2010 at 2:04 pm

Thanks for all the hard work Chris. Your common sense and practical insights are appreciated.
11 Easy2Please // Jul 9, 2010 at 2:39 pm

Thanks, Chris!

Scary about database for us who know nothing about it other than the bit in WP.

I had hoped you’d include where to find a neat ready made script that builds a site similar to mortgageloan.com outside the elances of cyberspace.

A click on mortgageloan.com article even converts it to a pdf article… very impressed apart from the site not looking crappy as you said!

Maybe somebody else here knows where to find a site building script that delivers like that…
please help us out.

The mortgageloan article source code has something about Drupal which I know nothing about.

FYI: I bought a $400 Adsense site scrapper once that never produced anything close to its hype!
12 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 3:48 pm

Easy2Please… you should read the last paragraph a little more closely…

-Chris
13 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 4:09 pm

@Bob (#8) – Thanks man… really appreciate that.

I know that’s the “silent voice” of the majority who read this type of stuff. Or so I would hope.

Either way, that’s definitely my intended audience.

Thanks again

-Chris
14 Razer // Jul 9, 2010 at 4:32 pm

Hi Chris,

Your killing me with the drip fed content

How much for the tools that you plan to sell…

I want to get started now

Razer
15 faye // Jul 9, 2010 at 4:46 pm

I was wondering about this type of deal and was looking for a step by step process. I like this idea for city mininiches.
16 Simeon // Jul 9, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Chris,

As always, you rock
Thanks so much for delivering so much quality information to us!

Simeon
17 PJ // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:07 pm

I know a lot of people in the domain industry who do this (usually on super high quality domains, like ‘MortgageLoan.com’ mentioned by Chris), and trust me, this thing rocks out like anything.

Six figures is easy money with this method, if you can pull it off. Moreover, you can actually be proud of stuff like this and can finally start telling your friends and family what you do online, something you can’t do if your main source of income is a site called ‘BuyHarleyDavidsonMotorcycleBoots.com”
18 bruce // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:11 pm

I am a fan of Chris’s work and in fact own several of his products, However, for those of you have posted detailed, insightful comments & questions don’t expect that type of response. I have an issue with Chris and his Support systems. Very recently I asked to simple questions regarding his Affiliate Genie software and all I got was the run around the first time and then no response the 2nd time. It makes a person think twice about the advice you get from people online and their ability to hide from the tougher questions and scrutiny.
19 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:15 pm

Bruce,

That’s a ticket that obviously didn’t get sent my way, or otherwise was accidentally marked as complete by my staff or my business partner.

You can email me directly at chris@chrisrempel.com

As for the blog comments – this isn’t a support forum. It’s a blog.

I answer comments when I get a chance, and I usually choose comments that represent common questions so that my responses are more relevant.

-Chris
20 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:16 pm

As for “hiding from scrutiny” – seriously dude?

Take a look at my track record on this blog. I take on every “issue” that comes my way head on.

-Chris
21 Michael // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:16 pm

Chris you are rocking and I am looking forward to see how you get it rollin

Michael
22 Steve // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:26 pm

“…and a site built on a platform that only a FEW marketers will ever get to use.

Prepare to be amazed…”

Hey Chris… great stuff, but more importantly, very unique highest quality stuff, as we’ve learned to expect from you.

So my ONE question…. When ??

Thanks, Steve (repeat CR product buyer : )
23 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:27 pm

@PJ, you’ve got me grinning dude

“I’m the owner of a little startup called BuyHarleyDavidsonBoots.com – have you heard of it?”

Ha!

Classic. That’s hilarious man.

-Chris
24 learn how to draw caricatures // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:30 pm

Hey Chris,

I am asking you “How” for the 6 months to Kaput scraper site?

Greg
25 Mike // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:31 pm

Hey,

I thought part 4 was going to talk about building a cheap database quick.

What happened?
26 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:31 pm

Hey Steve,

Won’t be long dude. We’re adding a bunch of stuff to the UI (user interface) as we speak to polish things a bit, but the demo vid should be out in a few days.

Also, I’ll get into a lot more detail later on, but people who get in on this will actually be able to see the networks we are rolling out (and we’ll be requiring NDA’s to be signed prior to using this as well).

Cheers

-Chris
27 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:37 pm

@Greg:

Because I’ve used various data-feed and CSV mashup scripts and without unique content, they will eventually drop off the SERPs.

Most of my test sites dropped off after about 3-4 months, and one actually trucked along for over a year.

Some didn’t even get indexed.

Using dupe data and using scraper mashup scripts is a hamster-wheel strategy. It requires a constant introduction of new sites into the network, which is a losing game if you ask me.

That’s how I know.

With my authority sites though, I’ve always put in the effort and made them not only unique, but clearly professional. I have yet to see an authority site drop out, and most have maintained their peak traffic for over 2 years.

-Chris
28 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:38 pm

@Mike – it does.

Did you read it all the way through?

-Chris
29 Ray // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:40 pm

Chris,

Great stuff!. How are all the sites being hosted? I’m assuming that all the city sites in the same state can be hosted on the same ip? Or do you just spread them out randomly?
30 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:43 pm

Hi Ray,

The city sites can be hosted on the same IP, since we’re not using them as a link network, and they won’t be interlinking.

If you already have multiple hosts/IP’s you can certainly spread them out a bit, but it’s not a big deal IMHO.

Cheers,

-Chris
31 RACNicole // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:51 pm

Hi Chris, this is Nicole from vWorker.com (formerly known as Rentacoder.com). Like Elance and Freelancer, vWorker provides access to a wide variety of workers.

As you probably already know, success at these types of sites strongly depends on the services they provide, but the services available at Elance and Freelancer could limit that success. Consider the following:

1. Workers on both Elance and Freelancer cannot place more than set amount of bids a month unless they pay a subscription fee. This not only reduces the number of qualified workers, it can additionally raise your costs since workers often pass their expenses onto you.

2. Elance charges $66.66 or $133.33 for each arbitration, which may make it too expensive to be a legitimate option on your project. And its mandatory pre-arbitration processes allow an abusive worker to stall the start of arbitration (consequently preventing you from accessing your money for *weeks*… 21 business days in fact).

Freelancer limits arbitration to projects with milestone payments of more than $30. If your project has milestones less than that, you don’t have access to arbitration even though your situation may warrant it. Moreover, Freelancer’s mandatory pre-arbitration processes let abusive workers stall the *start* of arbitration (and prevent you from accessing your money) for weeks as well.

You can learn more about Elance and Freelancer through this link: http://www.vWorker.com/RentACoder/DotNet/misc/CompetitorInformation/WhyRentACoder_ForBuyers.aspx

If you have any questions, please let me know. You can also call in to talk to a facilitator 7 days a week, or email us.
32 Gabe // Jul 9, 2010 at 5:57 pm

This is some of the top notch info that I needed to help me along in my affiliate marketing endeavors. I am amazed to see that I am actually starting to do the right things for getting traffic. Thanks for the honesty. New affiliates should take notes.
33 CRAIG // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:08 pm

I like this post, and Chris obviously put a lot of time into it. I’m growing tired of the CPA market. Although it makes me a living, you have to stay on top of the daily changing offers. It seems like (in my case anyway) that once you rank a product specific keyword at #1, the offer goes away and you are back at square one. CPA longevity sucks. For all the work I and my team do, we need logevity.
34 Scott Million // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:11 pm

This will change lives, dude. Never encountered any free (or paid) info that was this generous… I’ve been looking for a legit authority site expansion model, and the best part, there’s like what… ZERO keyword research involved? Bravo, man.
35 Jorge R // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:27 pm

Chris,
This is big game IM. It takes things to a whole new level. From the looks of it, a sizable investment is required to add content to both the authority site and the city sites. How much do you think is needed?
Cheers,
Jorge R.
36 Part Tme Work Dallas TX // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:31 pm

Chris, when I read your 1st 2 post I didn’t waste any time I already have 4 city sites that I built.

I really do look forward to your obvious product release of your authority site building script.

One thing that would be super helpful to me (maybe others) is how can we tell if a keyword “really” has the kind of traffic Google’s tool says?

I search in phrase and lets say it says this should get 14,800 month. I’m at #2 lets say and get 300 uniques a month, yeah right!
it should be 4,484 uniques a month by Google’s own traffic per serps rank number thingy I saw once.

If you know the riddle of steel then please help us oh mighty Chrom.
OP
37 Stew Kelly // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:38 pm

Hey Chris,
Wow, this is great. Thanks for divulging this information.

I went and checked out the site you recommended, and with your kind of tweaking this will be huge.

Can’t wait to learn more about your system. Thanks again!
38 Shawn Buterbaugh // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:40 pm

If i have a authority site for example http://www.realestate.com it is not mine only an example should my city site be a new domain name or something like http://www.realestate.com/Denver
39 Nick Brighton // Jul 9, 2010 at 6:51 pm

Chris, first of all… thank you.

I don’t think some earlier commenters appreciate what you’re giving away for nothing here. The concept is beautiful and genius.

However, may I ask a couple of easy questions:

1. The city sites… are they just totally stand-alone domains with an inbound link from the authority site, and other sites as part of the SEO process?

2. The city sites… are you going to show an example of what they consist of (along with your video on the authority site)?

3. The city sites… you say “pick a domain with a high searched relevant keyword for your city/niche…” but in a lot of cases, usual Keyword tools aren’t gonna have enough data for smaller cities. How important is the keyword in the domain and in the keyword targeting across the city site?

Sorry for all the questions, but I’m sure these are issues others might be wondering about too.

(the reason I ask is also because I want to build out a handful of city sites first, make some coin and reinvest into the authority site with the profits – just like you mentioned towards the end)

Thanks again Chris, I really appreciate your value and generosity. You’re ahead of the game dude.
40 Razer // Jul 9, 2010 at 7:21 pm

Hi Chris,

How well is this platform working in generating leads to membership sites (providing conent on “How to…” type niches where your looking at <$50/mth)?

I've got a custom bicycle info biz that I want to increase membership growth.

or

does this platform really work best when you generate leads for 'high ticket' products and services only as you have detailed.
41 Easy2Please // Jul 9, 2010 at 7:22 pm

Thanks for “found money”, Chris!

I’m off to find me some before your launch.

P.S. : #11 was posted before “So What’s Next?”
appeared.
42 Ziah J // Jul 9, 2010 at 8:05 pm

I just want to say something here to everyone. You will never find another Affiliate Marketer (can I call you this Chris?) that hands you such amazing ideas for free. I’ve been following this blog since December. And Chris separates himself from the guru’s by being genuine and helping people out and not asking them for a dime in return. I’ve not met a more generous person online (personal experience). Chris and his guys have been pestered to death by me, and still help me out…they want to hire someone to kill me I am sure. Do not hesitate to jump all over this people. If you don’t you will miss out.

P.S. I was not paid or bribed for leaving this comment =D
43 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 8:06 pm

Hey guys, thanks for all the comments and questions – I am heading out for a quick bite and then I’ll be back in the office to answer them.

Cheers

-Chris
44 Allen // Jul 9, 2010 at 8:06 pm

Chris,

Excellent stuff! Thanks for laying out the content.

I have a lead-gen business built on paid advertising and will take a good look at implementing this as a complement.

Allen
45 Kamran Chowdhury // Jul 9, 2010 at 8:35 pm

Hey Chris,
Are you planning to sell your CMS script? And if you do, wouldnt that make this a little less effective SEO wise?
btw, Thanks for the great method. You really are one of the few out-of-box thinker when it comes to online business.

Kamran
46 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 9:42 pm

@Jorge, #35

I would actually say not that much, because you can simply scale your growth as revenues come in. You don’t “have” to build an authority site, nor do you “have” to create a network of city-sites.

But to answer the question, I usually end up spending a few grand (basically all on outsourcing) for each authority site for the initial content load and linking rollout.

Normally I make that back in a few months time, and the site just grows from there.

Now that I think about it, I actually don’t think I’ve ever rolled out an authority site that hasn’t turned a profit.

Anyway, for the city sites, there’s really only 3-4 real pages of content, so we’re looking at maybe $50 for the content of each “city site” (outsourced, or you can just write it yourself), and the linking for each site would range anywhere from $50 – $250 outsourced.

Again, with the city sites all that stuff is easily done by yourself if you so desire.

(And the classified ad sites can easily fund that initially, along with your other expenses for the authority site).

So yes, if you had to do everything at once (authority site + 100 or more city sites + linkbuilding) you’d be looking at a major outlay. Not to mention a management nightmare.

This is why I think it’s important to pace it and let your revenues fund your scaling.

If you roll out 4 – 5 city sites a month while your authority site gains traction, by the 3rd month in (and about 12 – 15 city sites currently rolled out) you’d probably already have the cashflow just to let everything self-fund.

The KEY is to grow at a pace that works for you.

In my early days I’d do virtually everything myself – but it still worked, and I still got results. Then I used that money to fund things for further growth.

Cheers

-Chris
47 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 9:48 pm

@OP, re: #36

Google’s “estimates” range from heinous exaggerations to grossly underestimated.

It’s like a box of chocolates – one never knows what a search position will truly bring.

I’ve been surprised as much as I’ve been underwhelmed. For this reason, I honestly just stick to the basics of keyword research and focus on what I feel are the best targets based on competition behaviour and common sense.

Because there’s honestly no real way to know.

The best course of action is to consider Google’s (or WordTracker’s, or anybody’s) numbers as a “comparitive value”.

Or points.

And like most points systems, it’s often hard to gage what it all means.

Except that some keywords have more demand than others – and when you see a consistent pattern of demand AND advertiser aggressiveness… then you’ve got a winner.

Beyond that, yeah – it’s a crapshoot.

-Chris
48 Alex // Jul 9, 2010 at 9:50 pm

Thanks Chris for the great information,awesome post!
49 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 9:54 pm

@Shawn, #38:

Though I’ve sort of “collectively” answered your question spanning the 4 part series, I can certainly see how this might be confusing.

Essentially we do both.

The authority site acts as a comprehensive directory on a national scale, while our “city sites” act as a more direct presence on a local scale.

We do both simply to get more traffic and win more spots in the longtail of search – thereby driving more leads.

The city-sites also make it a lot easier to leverage classified sites to drive very targeted leads (without having to solely depend on Google’s algorithms for traffic).

Cheers,

-Chris
50 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 9:58 pm

@Nick, #39

1. City sites are standalone, yes – but I strongly recommend that you do NOT link to them from your authority site, and neither should your city-sites link back to the authority site.

Keep them seperate and “orphaned” in a sense.

2. Examples are coming

3. The keyword in the domain name is often a help, but don’t let it be a holdup, either. It’s not going to make or break your SEO results whatsoever. (And if it does, then you’re not driving enough linkjuice anyway).

My upcoming video “tour” of this business model will likely fill in a lot of the blanks

Thanks!

-Chris
51 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:01 pm

@Razer, #40

The authority-site strategy works very well for scaling traffic for any relevant offer.

If you’re thinking of databasing all the bike shops and then building a nationwide directory – you’ll definitely be getting the right kind of traffic.

The “city site” strategies (and classified sites) on the other hand are really more suited to leadgen, and not traditional affiliate marketing – or in your case, membership services.

Cheers,

-Chris
52 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:02 pm

@Kamran, #45

We are limiting access and pricing it accordingly so that it will literally only be feasible for people ready to build substantial sites.

Thanks!

-Chris
53 snugla // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:11 pm

Chris. WOW!! In one single move, you have single-handedly re-written the definition of: “Moving The Free Line”.

I am sure certain unnamed IM “Gurus” now officially hate your guts. But your loyal followers and customers (and the massive increase of both which are sure to come, as a result of this masterpiece) will hereafter and forever hold you up as the gold-standard of IM.

I for one (and I know many here will agree with me) will measure every other marketer in this niche, from this day forward, by the new standards you have single-handedly set.

I now have a new paradigm to determine when or if I will open my wallet to any other IM “Gurus”.

From this day forward, my mantra will be: “You want my money? Then show me your Rempel”.
54 snugla // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:18 pm

Since the authority site and the city sites live on different planets, so to speak…what is the primary value (and income sources) for the authority site? Is it also lead gen; advertising; affiliate offers; something else; or all of the above??

Since the authority site is the “big drink of water”, I want to be completely clear of where the short and mid-term payoff comes from.
55 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:20 pm

Thanks snugla

I tried to really lay it all out on this one

-Chris
56 Greg // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:21 pm

Looking forward to the video, as I can’t understand the relationship of the Authority Site and the City Sites as helping each other if there is no linking?

So both can act and profit independently of each other?
57 admin // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:22 pm

Re: Purpose of Authority Site vs. City sites

It’s honestly just traffic volume.

The authority site is the showpiece and will collect the most traffic, and usually the most revenue as well.

But the city-sites give us a major advantage with the Classified ads, and they’ll draw in “extra” leads not otherwise gathered.

It’s a way of really dominating the niche.

Cheers,

-Chris
58 Stan // Jul 9, 2010 at 10:55 pm

Just want to echo what Ziah J said. I like people who practice what they preach. I just went back and re-read Chris’s Nov. blog 3 Symptoms. Chris is “Mr. Truthful”.
59 Nick Brighton // Jul 9, 2010 at 11:23 pm

Sorry Chris, I swear this will be the last question (as it’s keeping me awake…)

You say this:

———————-

“Recommended Services” Page(s) – Think “conduit method”, but locally, and not in the sense of a review. Choose the top 5 or so related services in your city and profile them. Use about 400 – 500 words to describe each business, and link to their website with a live dofollow link (and provide the contact details & address as well).

———————–

But surely, by linking out to recommended services related to the market, that means your mini city sites will be leaking leads to the service providers instead of collecting/capturing them for resale to the lead buyer?
60 Sakana // Jul 10, 2010 at 1:34 am

good stuff…looking forward to the vid and launch date.
61 Daniel // Jul 10, 2010 at 2:54 am

This is good stuff, Chris. I understand it a lot more now I have a better overview of what is involved, though I’m still going to have to adapt things to suit my current budget etc…

Thanks again,

Daniel
62 admin // Jul 10, 2010 at 4:35 am

Hi Nick,

In actual fact those business listings will bring the leads to US, because it’s ultra-targeted content (with highly relevant keyword targeting as a result).

Just think of it as the conduit method, albeit on a local scale.

We’re not “recommending” them so much as simply using their profiles as content. Remember that the lead gen offer is featured front and center on every page, top-fold.

(And with exit pops)

That’s where the conversions happen.

And moreover, any potential “lead bleed” is more than compensated because those business listings are what drive highly targeted traffic in the first place.

Cheers

-Chris
63 mikekim2455 // Jul 10, 2010 at 5:41 am

Chris,

These four posts that you have put up could not have come at a better time for me. I have been struggling for a little over a year to create a legitimate, consistent income online. Recently, while doing some keyword research, I came across some local keyword phrases within a niche I’m operating in that blew my mind. It was a eureka moment for me. However, I wasn’t quite sure that what I was seeing was as exciting as I believed it to be – until your posts backed it up for me. Simply put, thank you.

Two quick questions:

1) What about creating the authority site/directory to operate on the state level while creating the city sites to operate on the city level? There are some great state based searches that are not very competitive at all.

2) Why not monetize the process of creating the directory by charging local businesses to be part of it? have you found that the process is too difficult and time consuming?
64 John // Jul 10, 2010 at 6:02 am

This is really great stuff. Definitely one of the best posts I’ve ever read. It sounds like you’re going to but please be sure to cover the “building” part of this for those of us who are a little less savvy with the tech side. The integration of the lead gen form is my biggest question .

Thanks again for such great stuff.
65 John // Jul 10, 2010 at 6:16 am

OK. Chris one more – I know you’ll hate me for it but hate me later

I actually feel very comfortable with the idea of an authority site – it makes sense.

I also get the city-sites…

But the classifieds approach is a little confusing. I mean the general “lead” markets are basically just a bunch so if you’re already responding to people on these classifieds sites such as craigslist and the leadgen offers are pretty much the same (from the same companies, etc) then doesn’t that overcrowd them too quickly?

I mean we could very well become a 100 people emailing the same people with the same offer?

Does that make sense… I’ll try to explain it better if it doesn’t.

Thanks!
66 Brittany Andrews // Jul 10, 2010 at 7:07 am

Chris,

Can this strategy work on CPA offers in which you make commissions instead of being paid for leads?
67 Brittany Andrews // Jul 10, 2010 at 7:36 am

Sorry for this second question so quick on the heels of the last one but are you going to explain why Google Maps/10 Box are really not competition?
68 Paul // Jul 10, 2010 at 10:48 am

Chris,

CL requires phone verification if you want to post multiple ads in multiple cities. How you get away for that?

Paul
69 Shawn Buterbaugh // Jul 10, 2010 at 11:36 am

Do we need directory software to implement this awesome technique
70 My Wealthy Affiliate Bonus // Jul 10, 2010 at 11:36 am

Great stuff Chris

That’s a bluperint which seperates the Affiliate Marketer from the big guy’s.

If you have time and some funds to persue this strategy I highly recommend to do so.

Google turns more and more “local” and traditional Affiliate Marketing will become harder over times.

G.
71 admin // Jul 10, 2010 at 12:27 pm

re: Google Maps results.

Yes, for *some* keywords this is an issue, but regardless, you’ll still get traffic.

The idea isn’t to “rank #1″ for the target keyword. The idea is for each city-site to draw some highly targeted traffic and convert about a lead a day. That’s it.

Not to mention, the Classifieds posting/recruiting will more than make up for it anyway.

———————————–

Re: Craigslist posting in multiple cities.

There are many services that specialize in this exact dilemma. Also, as I mentioned – most cities have their “own” classified site that usually gets as much attention and traffic as CL.

You could do this strategy and do very well with it without even using Craigslist.

————————————–

Re: Recruitment – Yes, I agree that there is limited space to “work” with this method, but the fact of the matter is that the only way to really turn an ROI with the strategy is to have a direct connection to a vendor buying high-value leads.

The “spammer” crowd won’t have the acumen to set up something like that, and the “do the minimum” affiliate crowd will just blast them links (and get themselves banned, likely).

The only way to do this is to actually filter the potential “recruits” and genuinely help people by sending them a direct, unique message that acknowledges their specific situation, which few marketers will be willing to do.

It’s like saying “what if everyone builds an authority site with unique content”?

Well… very few people can follow through on stuff like that.

That’s why it’s not particularly worrying.

However – that said, like I mentioned at the very beginning…

…fortune will favor the swift with this overall strategy.

Get in, build your empire, let it reach max capacity in about a 1-2 year timeframe and then sell the whole operation for a crap-load of cash.

(Do it right and you could probably retire from this one move).

-Chris
72 Rishi // Jul 10, 2010 at 12:51 pm

Chris this is an awesome series, let me know if some coaching or something else u are offering for setting this up correctly, I am keenly interested.
73 Dan // Jul 10, 2010 at 1:28 pm

Hi Chris,

Just a couple questions:

1. Will your program provide more in-depth training on all the concepts and strategies, or is the core component of your program just the “site builder”?

2. Just an idea, but we could even dominate the local markets even easier if we could get a top spot in the google maps listing, in addition to the regular organic results. If I’m not mistaken, I believe you can have listings in both. Imagine having #1 listing in Google Maps + #1 listing in organic results.

I’m not sure how Google Maps listings work, but I think it has something to do with reviews on your company. But some of the top sites in local market google maps results only have like 1-3 reviews. With a little grey hat, I’m sure we could manufacture our own reviews to help further dominate with the google maps. And perhaps ranking high in google maps correlates to higher rankings in organic search as well?
74 Curt // Jul 10, 2010 at 3:02 pm

Hi Chris…

First of all, thanks for sharing this valuable information.

You have actually provided a real BUSINESS BLUEPRINT for Free!

I can understand the different components that you’ve layed-out. While the specific details are left out, outsourcing is the key in your business model. (and as you have hinted, you’re going to offer a solution)

To be successful in any business, trying to do this all by your self will not reap the benefits.
You’ve got to have a plan and resources, ie your suppliers (outsourcing and funding).

What I like about your post is that you’ve actually provided most of the how to’s.

As most of us who have had even a little taste of building a website, creating content and driving traffic and I hate to admit how much I’ve invested in lots of programs…Your post brings together all the tips and tricks I’ve learned and now I have a solid foundation to put this into action.

I can’t wait to eventually sell one on these puppies!
75 andy // Jul 10, 2010 at 4:45 pm

Hi Chris,
Awesome content. My head’s buzzin’.

Had an idea for an authority site but it seems there are already a couple such sites.

Should I leave well alone, or is this a good sign?
76 Nick Brighton // Jul 10, 2010 at 5:21 pm

I’m baaaack. Already dipped my feet in with some research Chris, and although I have no doubts in your core strategy, there’s something which I’m not so sure is as “easy” as you may be implying…

And that would be scraping leads from Classified sites. Maybe I’m doing something wrong, but I spent all yesterday and today hammering away at large cities here in the UK, on Craigslist and more targeted independant sites…

…and not a single sniff of anyone searching for services.

I was searching for the obvious vertices like loans, mortgages, property etc.

As I say, I’m sure the main concept will rock for free targeted leads from the SERPS…

…but boostrapping through classified ads? Hmmm, the jury is out for me on that one.

Maybe it takes a few weeks of hammering and tapping, and trying a sh##tload of different markets to strike gold.

And maybe I was just unlucky for the two days I tried searching.

Who knows. But thanks for the info anyway, I’m definitely going to move towards lead gen from now on.
77 RebeccaH // Jul 10, 2010 at 11:59 pm

I had been working with an internet consultant who hired me to do business development work finding businesses interested in developing authority sites. The income some authority sites generate after a year is phenomenal but this guy really put together a IT swat team to develop one for mid-to high five figures. So I am interesting learning how Chris’ system works.
78 georgec3 // Jul 11, 2010 at 5:59 am

You can find CL phone verified accounts for sale on Digital Point.

Anyone know of a good economical service that can do the email/response/pre-post/filter stuff?

I (half)remember a report about a window glass repair business that had multi/multi lisings in G-maps so that they were seen as near to anyone with broken windows – spam mapping.

looking forwards to rest of content!!!
79 jeremy123 // Jul 11, 2010 at 7:07 am

Chris,

how many words of content should the business listings be for the serps, at least 100 per page,

or will there be more than one business listing per page.

thanks
80 Matt // Jul 11, 2010 at 8:36 am

Chris

Dude..this is killer information! I had to chime in as someone who has just been fortunate enough to find your blog.

I am have already been building an impressive system to deliver leads to various industries but this takes things to another level.

I’m not sure how your opening up your product to the market…limited time…or hand selecting…I’m officially throwing every hat I own into the ring as being interested in working with you

Keep it up
Happy Trails
Matt
81 Sarah // Jul 11, 2010 at 9:47 am

Chris,

I have quite enjoyed following your series here. Keith Baxter’s blog sent me to you. His has really good stuff too, so I knew yours had to be good. I wasn’t disappointed. Thank you very much!

(Actually, this isn’t the first time I’ve heard of you, since I have been on one of your lists for over four years now!)

A couple of questions:

Have you ever used Mechanical Turks for your unique descriptions? Gets it done amazingly fast, though you do have to have a competent person checking and approving them all.

Are you saying you wouldn’t recommend something like Keith Baxter’s Stealth Traffic wp plugin or any autoblogging solution in order to drive links/traffic to the city sites?

I’m also testing the use of wp robot 3 and rss rebound in order to take my own articles on a variety of article directories and feed them onto my own “small” sites, with keywords swapped out automatically.

Also, instead of using Linkvana, some of these autoblogging solutions allow us to use our own network of wpmu blogs, posting our own content for links back, but on a mass scale.

Any comments on strategies like those, or any autoblogging solution?

MOST IMPORTANTLY: I’m willing to sign an NDA, but I want to be careful. I am already building a nationwide network in five different niches. Three are related to each other, and the other two are related to each other. (I have a feeling that my domain registration bill may be similar to yours.)

So, when we sign an NDA, we won’t have to give up our niches if they are the same, will we?

Again, thank you.

Sarah
82 Ciaran // Jul 11, 2010 at 11:59 am

Hi Chris

Thanks for the posts, great content well said.

Looking forward to seeing your CRM/directory script/offer sequencer product (I’m guessing).

Regarding the script will you provide more technical and commercial detail on the advantages of it over existing php scripts. Why google friendlier?

Also future updates/level of support?

Apologies if I’m preempting your next post.

C
83 andy // Jul 11, 2010 at 5:48 pm

I echo what Nick just said. In the UK the classified site approach seems a non starter. Even London’s sites don’t approach the users that are on Used Victoria.com…..and the rest of the cities and large towns just don’t have anyone using these sites.

Luv the whole concept but is there a way round this in the UK?
84 Ken // Jul 11, 2010 at 6:14 pm

Great stuff Chris! I love where you are going with this!
85 Randy // Jul 11, 2010 at 7:11 pm

Chris, I would love to think I could do something like this and afford to do something like this. But as new to affiliate marketing and still trying to make a living online can you suggest a low scale of this BEFORE your plan? I know you say if we are not willing to work hard at it, but I am willing just not sure I got what it takes (right now) for the largest scale. Can this just be done (for lesser income of course) on a local bases only two start? What can we expect financially if so?
86 Hil // Jul 12, 2010 at 1:26 am

Nick Brighton 76

I did the same thing here in the land of Oz for city of Sydney population 6 million odd.

Search “need” for Finance and Real Estate.

Results = NOTHING

Did it for City of Melbourne population 4 million odd.

Results = NOTHING
87 Trevor // Jul 12, 2010 at 10:28 am

To those of you making comments mentioning/complaining about how some of the parts of this post don’t apply to your city, wake up…

This stuff works you guys. I have a small site network for storage units in one major city that I built in under a week that still pulls in leads after a year.

Thank You for making these posts Chris. You have given me a good reminder of the easy cash I’ve been stepping over this last year.

You can bet I’ll be spending much more time on my local sites this year and next.

Thanks Again
88 admin // Jul 12, 2010 at 2:43 pm

@Trevor, ahh… the voice of experience vs. the voice of endless speculation and “research”.

Thanks for chiming in.

@Hil, Nick, etc.

Re: “Can’t Find Leads…”

I found 9 viable leads right now in the SF Bay Area Financial section searching “need” in-title.

No, there might not at every given moment be viable requests in every city in the world. That’s why you create MULTIPLE city sites.

And it’s not like that’s your only source of leads. Those sections are 95% geared towards consumers and 5% from consumer to supplier. That’s a”gravy” tactic.

Plus, if you used Lead Alert Pro like I mentioned, you can easily source hundreds of nationwide leads every week by searching the whole of Craigslist instantly.

Now, for international cities, they probably don’t use Craigslist all that much.

Looking at Sydney’s section for example, there’s hardly even a post a day in the financial category.

In SF Bay on the other hand, there was about 100+ posts per day.

Now guys, honestly – can’t you see the opportunity here?

(Hint: Source leads from the busy cities, and POST ADS in the less active cities since you’ll have almost no competition.)

Anyway, look for the next post, which will be videos demonstrating examples and a demo of the “Mako”… which has been in development for almost half a year.

-Chris
89 Warren // Jul 12, 2010 at 4:26 pm

Hi Chris

Great info.
This might sound like a bit of a ‘dumb’ question, but how do you suggest to automatically monetize the selling of the leads?
90 faye // Jul 12, 2010 at 4:28 pm

I am really anxious to see the videos!
91 Dan // Jul 12, 2010 at 7:04 pm

Chris, this is really solid info. I can’t wait to check out the videos!
92 Luke // Jul 13, 2010 at 8:43 am

I cannot believe the sh*t you give away for free! I just cannot believe it.

I know every word you say is true because it’s the SAME base principle that you’ve taught for years. You shared it in the Conduit site guide, and again in the Affiliate Genie materials…

A second point.

Your products (and free blog posts) are very high value because you give EXAMPLES, of real sites. You provided 2 for Conduit sites – WP and html, 3 PRE-SALE for Affiliate Genie.

How much easier is it to visualize a concept when it’s laid out in a visible shape? Versus when it’s just described as a theory?

How many people are doing that? Even when you buy their products at $47 are they showing examples? Ever heard this before: “sorry but we can’t show you our real sites, you might just go and copy it”.

I don’t know if people understand that having examples gives you a much greater chance of being able to do what the person is teaching.

Anyway, I’m appreciative of what you’re doing. I’m actually not going to do CPA stuff for now. I’m going for Affiliate sites in the style you teach, then Product Creation in the near term.

Some of the information you give here could be “de-scaled” for Conduit/Affiliate work.

Thank you.

Oh, btw, I gave you grief for sending the general newsletter email to your AG/Affiliate Intel buyers list. I think you deserved that .

PS: I dreamt out data entry sites for some time. I generated my 3 Conduit sites from an outsourced Excel file, Webmerge and a template. I didn’t scale it – I was managing many affiliate links and product images which I didn’t see as scalable. Still makes passive income to this day though…
93 Luke // Jul 13, 2010 at 8:47 am

(Just kidding of course about the newsletter thing). Appreciative.

Off to do work now.
94 Paul // Jul 13, 2010 at 1:42 pm

Chris, Still to this day you offer more usable, relative content for fre-e then most paid courses!!

THANKS!!
95 Keith | Earn Passive Income At Home // Jul 13, 2010 at 3:53 pm

Thanks for the extremely detailed breakdown of your process Chris.

It certainly seems like a system guaranteed to work, unlike many others touted these days. A significant amount of effort required, but with phenomenal potential reward in the end.

Thanks again!
Keith
96 Chris // Jul 13, 2010 at 5:15 pm

Hey Chris,

Great stuff as usual. I’ve been on the ride since 2007 and your Lazy Marketer guide. Keep up the good work.

I’ve started working on a few directories and was wondering about a couple things.

Do you include any images of your businesses? If so, do you just scrape g-maps?

Right now I don’t have any images and the site’s looking a little plain. I obviously don’t want it too flashy, but I think it needs something to spice it up a bit. Thoughts?

Oh, and I found a freelance service to provide business descriptions for 7 cents a pop!
97 Thomas // Jul 14, 2010 at 6:07 am

Hope you have a payment plan!
98 Tom // Jul 14, 2010 at 9:56 am

Hi Chris,

Lead Alert Pro says it is “sold out”. Do you know of any other similar type programs?

Thanks,

Tom
99 Tanksalot // Jul 14, 2010 at 10:28 am

Hi Chris,
I can see the thinking behind it… It should work the first question is what the heck are you going to use to drive it?

Regards

Tanksalot
100 Stuart // Jul 14, 2010 at 3:49 pm

Have you tried this with an existing authority site?

If so what was the result?

I am a little reluctant to go from a 500 page authority site of 10 years standing, and then add in 20,000 pages from a database.

Even if you add in two unique lines on each page, that seems like a sure fire way to have Google de-index the whole site.

Have you tried it?
101 admin // Jul 14, 2010 at 4:20 pm

@Stuart (98) – No, I haven’t. The directory sites I’ve rolled out were basically (or quickly became) directories from inception.

I honestly don’t know what the result would be if you added 20,000+ pages to a 10 year authority site.

What I DO know, though, is that there’s a lot of sites out there spanning multiple verticals that essentially do the exact same thing.

Think of all the software directories, etc.

It really more or less comes down to whether your site is established or not, and how the data is displayed.

Using a hacked version of wordpress or an MFA scraper mashup is obvious.

But even with the same data, done correctly it can be a viable part of a “proper” site (ie. Yelp.com, MerchantCircle.com, and even the LexisNexis initative Lawyers.com)

So the question is more about WHY you are doing this – that’s the only indicator I can really seem to think of.

If it’s for a professional, “real” site as a way of adding visitor value, then it’s legitimate site content.

If it’s just a mashup using a WP retrofit, that’s obvious and I don’t believe it will stand the test of time.

What I would do is, like LexisNexis, I’d dedicate a seperate domain to your databased content as a “satellite” of your authority site.

Cheers

-Chris
102 admin // Jul 14, 2010 at 4:21 pm

…and to clarify, that is for existing, aged authority sites that you don’t want to risk.

-Chris
103 admin // Jul 14, 2010 at 4:22 pm

@Chris (96) and Tanksalot (97) -

You will see shortly

-Chris
104 Matt // Jul 15, 2010 at 9:22 am

Please don’t open the offer until Monday. I’m roughing it this weekend and don’t want to miss out!
105 Rob // Jul 15, 2010 at 4:32 pm

Hey Chris

I’ve maybe found a scipt which can do the trick:

http://www.edirectory.com

I’ve no connections to the site, but could you take a look at it from your point of view.
I have to say it’s pretty expensive……

Greets
106 Chris // Jul 16, 2010 at 11:23 am

@Rob,

This is a different Chris btw

I’ve seen that script in action and it is very powerful, but very expensive as you’ve mentioned.

A more affordable option is the DirectoryPress wordpress template found here:

http://bit.ly/9XTe7R

I’ve been experimenting with it to see if I can overcome Chris’ warnings about using WP for an authority site like this. I’m looking at a redesigned interface to take any sort of ‘scraper’ look out of it.

BUT, I’m sure Chris will be dropping his own script/CMS for purchasing customers which I’m sure will fit the needs of a site like this exactly. But as he’s said, it’s very limited. If you don’t get in on it, try one of the two options above.
107 admin // Jul 16, 2010 at 1:06 pm

Hey guys,

As you’ve guessed, yes I have developed my own CMS specific for this purpose.

A colleague of mine emailed me about it, asking what the difference was between current offerings.

This is a part of my response, which addresses a few of the comments above as well:

—————————————

“Yes, we’ve surveyed all of the comp.

WF Review, DirectoryPress, EZ Empire Builder, eDirectory, Focal PowerSeek, PHPYellow, etc.

None of them have the functionality I needed. Ours is as robust as a CMS like what Yelp or MerchantCircle uses, with the exception that we have things like category-specific ad tracking and split-testing, exit/onload popups hardwired in, along with a host of other things.

Not to mention, all the WP driven platforms just can’t produce what I would call a “real” directory. All the sites I’ve seen using them very much like like the standard MFA setup, and the WP backbone is quite a bit more limiting when it comes to trying to code in stuff like data modification, creating writer accounts with access to the data, etc.

Of the WP retrofits, EZ Empire is the closest to a viable competitor, but it’s not a professional solution and is something I’d only use to build throwaway sites for the purpose of list-building (or “competing” with my real sites, on a different server just to pick up some extra traffic).

The other scripts didn’t have the ability to “self-grow”, and it would take a lot of code-busting to get them to a point where your site would get away from the “yet another DMOZ clone” type of setup.

The bottom line is that I constructed this for myself since I didn’t feel like using what was available, as it was too limiting.

My demo vid is going up on the blog soon, and it will showcase exactly what this thing does to set it miles above.”
108 Whistler // Jul 19, 2010 at 10:19 am

Enough Already, when is the video coming out!? There should be a new FTC law about keeping people in suspense like this!

Or at least a message from the Surgeon General: Warning, Reading this post will cause you to loose sleep and keep you drooling until the next post is released! CONSUME AT OWN RISK

Great post as usual, and one of the best free series I have seen in awhile!
109 Jeremy // Jul 19, 2010 at 3:47 pm

Any Updates?
110 Shawn // Jul 19, 2010 at 8:26 pm

Can you let us know if the release is this week? Interested to see your process in video…
-Shawn
111 andy // Jul 20, 2010 at 7:28 am

Yikes,

Been waitng for the vid with anticipation for what seems an eternity. Now I’m away for a week with no internet access!!! Chris, don’t do this to me!

Hope I don’t miss out on a limited sale whilst I’m away. Please don’t say it’s a first come first serve offer and then post it tomorrow. That would be a disaster.

Also is your CMS compatible with other systems such as Joomla or would you not recommend using Joomla at all for the main directory site?

Andy
112 Paul Graham // Jul 20, 2010 at 8:41 am

Probably the single most impressive (and useful) series of blog posts I’ve ever read — in 15 years online!
113 Michael Stanton // Jul 20, 2010 at 2:10 pm

Hi Chris

Been following your posts on Read It Later on my iPhone, you have got me in the habit of sync’ing as I chase an update on this post! Don’t keep us hanging too long dude!

I’m interested for myself, I keen to take on a big project and I have a business partner who lives for creating big content sites; I’ve got him excited about your CMS!

Finally, will you be running an Affiliate program? I know you are keeping it limited but I know my list would enjoy this.

Regards,
Michael
114 snugla // Jul 21, 2010 at 10:31 am

Day 31…and counting. Hopefully, there will be a “faithful waiter” discount when this is finally available.
115 George // Jul 22, 2010 at 1:38 am

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your awesome sharing.
Serious people like you are my only chance
to stop being an eternal newbie.
Looking forward to your offer.

G.
116 George // Jul 22, 2010 at 3:12 am

Hi Chris,

I am after reading again the 4 posts and didn’t
understand a crucial item:
Why do you call yourself “The Lazy Marketer”.

G.
117 Lalu // Jul 26, 2010 at 7:58 am

Hi Chris,
I’ve following you for more than a year, I always find great content and ideas flows. I even try to catch you up in Bali when you mention in your email few weeks ago just want to say hello and offer you to visit my place just few minutes from Bali just to add your travel experience in my home country.

I have been experimenting a directory site using some of the method mention above such as EZ Builder and as you said there are some limitations. At the moment I am trying to improve with with a spiner for content generation.

I have dream to have authority directory site like you said as an asset for me to grow as a business that can generate long term income especially to fund my foundation who work for disadvantage people in my place.

And now you come with this idea and its like a dream come true. I hope that I can afford what you will offer.

Is this directory site can be only effective for US base cities or US base target leads or it can be also effective for international cities?

As a non-US citizen and residence, am I eligible to run this type of directory site who target US leads?

Thank you for your great info and your generosity to make this kind of business model available for us.

Keep up the good work

Lalu
118 Janet // Aug 26, 2010 at 12:47 am

Holy costly, Batman!
100 – 200 city sites.

$200 – $300 each (or far less…)

So . . . $20,000 — $60,000

Crazy times! Do you really think this is suited to your list? Not for me, even if the potential is huge.
119 admin // Aug 28, 2010 at 10:57 am

Janet

You build one site at a time. This is something that you do over the course of a long-term campaign, and you do it with positive cash-flow.

$20,000 – $60,000 is *nothing* if each city-site is earning $10K a year or whatever.

You build your authority site and maybe one or two city-sites, and you get the process rolling.

Build links, wait for the traffic (and revenue) to start building up, and with that EXISTING cash-flow, invest a bunch of it back into producing more and more city sites.

Now, regarding costs…

I have a few revenue properties (real estate). So far I’ve spent – let’s see… about $1.05 Million (that number includes the mortgages as well, but about 20% of that I put down) on properties in the past few years.

Wanna guess how much they produce in NET monthly profit?

Maybe $1500, combined, on a good month. Yes, they cash-flow positively (usually) and the idea is equity, but still – that’s a real-world perspective.

So I’d say laying out $60K on a business that’s generating potentially 5-6 figures a month is not a bad deal.

Thanks

-Chris
120 Janet // Aug 30, 2010 at 10:18 am

Okay…. good points. Thanks for the reply!

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