4 Reasons Why I Love Writing My Own Money-Making Websites
By Nick Usborne

A few years ago I decided to try my hand at creating a website that would make me some extra money.

My idea was simply to create an informational site that would make money through people clicking on ads and other money-making links.

I didn’t want to “go into business” and have to source and ship products, or deal with customers. I just wanted to write informative pages, and make some money with ads.

The site I created is about coffee.

Now … I’m not a coffee professional, and have never worked in the coffee business.

I just like coffee.

I just wanted to write about something that interested me, and see if I could make some money along the way.

Well, the site has been up for almost 5 years. It now gets over 3,000 visitors a day. And this month it looks like the site will be making me about $6,000. (November and December are strong months for me, with all the holiday gift buying. In the Spring and Summer the revenues will dip a bit. Coffee is surprisingly seasonal!)

Sounds good, right?

Let me take you through 4 specific reasons why I like this way of earning additional income so much.

1. It’s never boring or a J-O-B, because I chose a topic I like writing about.

   I specifically chose a topic I would enjoy writing about. I was already busy during the day writing as a freelancer for various clients. After a day of writing “business stuff” I wanted my own website to be focused on “fun stuff.”

   It was an important decision, because I soon found out that for a site like this to succeed, you need to keep adding new pages, indefinitely.

   If I were having to write all those new pages about something I wasn’t interested in, I would probably have given up years ago, and the site wouldn’t be making me the kind of income it does today.

   In short, I enjoy the time I spend working on my site.

   And what could be better than that – making good money while enjoying yourself at the same time?

2. I work at my own pace, and earn passive income.

   This was really important for me. I was busy with my full-time work. I didn’t need a new project that would demand my attention, or involve dealing with other people’s deadlines or instructions.

   I wanted something that I could work at on my own pace. If I needed to take a break for a few days, or even a few weeks, I wanted my site to be able to get along without me, and still generate income.

   Well, that’s exactly how it is.

   I’m the boss of my coffee site. It isn’t the boss of me.

   I work on it a few times a week, because I want to. But if I need to take a break, that’s fine too.

   Best of all, when I take a vacation, my site continues to make me money. This is wonderful for me, because when working as a freelancer, I only make money when I’m working.

   For years I would get anxious about taking vacations, because the moment I left my desk, I would stop earning.

   Now, with my money-making websites, I can take a vacation and know that money is still flowing into my bank.

   My long-term plan is to be able to retire in a few years and have my websites as a constant and growing source of retirement income.

3. It’s not only a source of monthly income, it’s also an asset.

   Imagine you had a million dollars to invest in the stock market.

   If you invested wisely, and chose stocks which yielded dividends, you would receive a check a few times a year, and watch your asset grow.

   That’s a nice place to be. The trouble is, most of us don’t have a million dollars sitting around.

   But we do have some time.

   Imagine each hour you spend on a money-making website being the equivalent of a 100 dollars invested.

   You’re not investing cash, you’re investing time.

   After a year or two, you could be in the same position as I’m in. My “investment” pays me a very nice dividend, every month.

   But is it also an asset, with value? Sure it is. A while ago someone got in touch with me and was interested in buying it. We didn’t talk for long, because I didn’t want to sell. But I do know he was willing to pay me close to $125,000 for the site.

   Think about that for a moment. Pick a topic you enjoy writing about, spend time working on it only when you want to, make money each month, and end up with an asset you can sell.

   How does that sound?

4. There is no ceiling. I can make this as big as I want.

   I’m still working on my website part-time. For most of the year, I put in maybe an hour or two a week. Every now and again, I put in a burst of extra time and work on it for maybe a couple of hours a day.

   But here’s the thing … there is no limit.

   There is no limit to how large I can make the site. As for its maximum income potential, I’m nowhere close.

   A website isn’t like a store, or a catalog, with limited dimensions or pages.

   I can keep writing new pages for my site. Maybe up to 1,000 pages. Or 5,000. Or 10,000. In short, I can make it as big as I like.

   And the bigger I make it, the more visitors it will attract, and the more money it will make.

   And then one day, maybe, I’ll say yes to a buyer for a big, fat cash payment. I probably won’t, but I’ll always have that option.

To summarize

This may all sound too good to be true. You might be wondering what the catch is.

Well, if there is a catch, it’s this …

It takes some time and effort. You won’t be making thousands of dollars a month within the first year. (If you do, you’ll be doing better than I did!)

You have to be patient and keep working. And you have to write really useful and interesting pages. You have to create a website that people want to come back to, and want to tell their friend about.

When you start out, don’t have huge, short-term expectations.

Just pick a topic you enjoy, be smart about how you write and promote your site … and success will come.

And when you do start making money, it will be the best kind of income you have ever had – passive income.

Keep writing about a topic you enjoy, and watch that passive income grow.