KHALID

I’ve been working hard with Trout.co.uk and publishing six times per week, which is costing me quite a bit every month. However, “nothing ventured nothing gained” and I’m slowly seeing the site reach milestones.

First it was getting some good positions for long tail terms, then it was hitting 1,000 unique visitors and now it is creeping through the SERPs to reach page one (for “trout” and hopefully “trout fishing” in the future). Slowly but surely the strategy in place is coming together and hopefully when the new season commences (March 2010) I’ll begin seeing returns.

I’m still in contact with a number of manufacturers and distributors but they seem to be dragging their heels; either they are not interested or they are waiting to see how much the site has progressed after X amount of months before making an offer to back us.

Aside from that I’ve sold one or two smaller sites as part of my ongoing long term strategy and I’m always keeping my eyes open for a bargain.

Good luck with your pursuits,

Khalid.

I’ve mentioned on numbers occassions (1,2,3) that “putting all your eggs in one basket” was not a wise move. But what if the opportunity held great potential and lucrative returns…?

My recent acquisition of Trout.co.uk has led me to recruit five writers, two of which are respected community figures. Together, Trout.co.uk gets 20 or more posts per month (five per week) and visitor numbers shot up 80% from month 1 to month 2.

I’ve pursuing advertisers, manufacturers, distributors and such to back the site in a bid to create the largest trout fishing websites in the UK. The challenge is a great one, but the potential and rewards far outweigh the risk.

The site is costly to run and currently draining my funds so I’ve decided to offload one or two mini-sites to ensure I’ve got liquidity available at all times. But this means letting go of some profitable sites and placing my eggs in one basket.

Having had a considerable amount of time to think about it, my move is risky but the potential for Trout.co.uk to become a huge angling website is there. I’ve got 101 ideas in my head to offer a fantastic user experience whilst also ensuring revenue is generated without diluting the quality of the content.

Do you think I’ve made the right move?

Good luck with your pursuits,

Khalid.

September was a fantastic month for business, with me seeing my pressure washer, dental insurance and roofing materials websites hit page 1 and me selling a joint venture website to an end user! Here’s a breakdown of my earnings…

• Sale of one joint venture website: £8,000 / 2 = £4,000
• Google Adsense : £15.06
• Silvertap Affiliate: £120
• Amazon Affiliate Sales: £7.83

Total: £4142.89 = $6,607.54

This brings my daily earnings to: $220.25

Good luck with your pursuits,

Khalid.

I’m pleased to announce that I have completed the aims set out in my 2009 – 2010 business strategy and now prematurely moving onto 2010′s aim. In short, it is to make my first large investment, which I have already done with the acquisition of Trout.co.uk.

Whilst this domain was not a huge investment, it did cost in the low end of four figures and has the potential to become a large investment. I really enjoy trout fishing and I’m extremely excited at the thought of combining a hobby with a passion to succeed.

I have enough cash reserves to bankroll the site’s current expenditure for 6 months and have small investments I intend to sell that will continue it for another 6, should the site require it. I will not be looking to make a return for 6-12 months which I think is honest and fair.

Good luck with your pursuits,

Khalid.