AP 0238: How Can I Monetize My Site?

AskPat 238 Episode Transcript

Pat Flynn: What's up everybody? Pat Flynn here, and welcome to Episode 238 of AskPat. Thank you so much for joining me today. Before we get to today's question from E.J., I do want to thank today's sponsor, which is FreshBooks.com, the super-easy to use cloud accounting solution that I wish I used when I got started instead of using Excel, and punching things in manually, and making it hard for myself come tax season.

FreshBooks.com is super easy to use, has actually an award winning mobile app so you can check on the go, and they make invoicing your clients, and students, and anybody else you're billing super easy and professional, so you can focus more on what you need to do for your business, and not trying to fix everything that you wish you had done before, like me. Go ahead and get onto GetFreshBooks.com and enter “AskPat” in the “How did you hear about us?” section for a seven-day free trial. Again, GetFreshBooks.com, and enter “AskPat.”

Awesome. Let's get to today's question from E.J.

E.J.: Hey Pat. I've got a niche website that's ranking number one in Google, but there aren't any affiliated offers to monetize the website with. What are your suggestions? The domain name is CubicleTent.com.

Pat Flynn: Hey E.J. What's up? Thank you so much for the question. I checked out your site, and Cubicle Tent is pretty interesting actually, and I could see why you would think there's no super high specialized products, and why would there be any affiliate products for in and around that space anyway? It's sort of like, for those of you out there who are listening to this on the go, you don't have access to a computer, a Cubicle Tent is almost what it sounds like. It's like roofing for your cubicle. You're in a cubicle space, and it's a way for you to decorate your cubicle by actually putting a roof over it, and so you're in your own tented little space. It might make it a little bit more fun. It's sort of like décor, but also semi-functional. It keeps a lot of the glare out, maybe some of the other people you don't want out, and . . . in your office area. Anyway, that's what it is for those of you who are listening.

Now, how do you find affiliate products if there are none in existence, or what do you do? The first thing I would say is, if there are no products that you could promote as an affiliate, then that's a great opportunity for you to create your own products. You are creating this highly specialized physical product. What are some other physical products that might go along with this? I would start with upsells or things that could upgrade the standard cubicle tent, or the standard product, to the next level. Maybe there's some additions to it, or maybe some certain designs, or other things you can add into it. Maybe vents, or maybe, I don't know, different colors, or maybe one that is polarized or has windows, or maybe . . . I don't know. There's a whole bunch of other things you could do to add onto the same product, or reshape the same product to be able to then add additional products to your product line, to potentially upsell, and do things like that, and also cater to a wider audience who might not the standard version and be willing to pay more for a higher level version.

This is something you see on Kickstarter all the time. When they have a product, and it reaches a certain goal level, and there's still days left in the pledging process, they have what they call . . . Gosh, what do they call it? The stretch goals. And then they start adding more features to it. “Oh, it does this now,” or, “If we reach this dollar amount, it'll do this now.” Think about it like that. What are some other things you could do to the same physical product that you could then sell better, more expensive, and more profitable versions of?

The second thing I would think about is . . . I would say that in every niche, there are affiliate products. You just have to think about it, and you have to think about who your target audience is. These people who are using these cubicle tents, they work in an office, and so what other things would they want to put in their cubicle area? They're obviously going to be spending a little bit of time there, in their little decorative tent area. What are some other things they could do in that office space? There might be some storage, really cool fun storage things that they could put in there as well, that you might connect with on Amazon.com as an affiliate and then sell through there. You get a commission every time somebody goes through that link and purchases not only that, but everything else they purchase in their cart. Maybe there's other websites that you can go to. Did you know that you can actually become an affiliate for Target? Yeah. That's sort of the strategy I recommended, and I found out when Amazon started discontinuing the associates program in different states, based off of the whole tax thing, or sales tax thing, you could become an affiliate for other sites like Target, and I'm sure there might be some things there that might go appropriately for the people who are also using this type of product as well.

Not just think about the product, but think about who is using this product, and what else they might want. You need to think out of the box a little bit, or excuse me, out of the tent. I should have said out of the cubicle, but that . . . It's too late now, and I'm already recording. Anyway, that's how I would think about it. If you're in a specialized niche out there, think about who your audience is, but also think about what you could do to potentially upgrade the product that you already have. If you're manufacturing these yourself, might time to create a second version, a souped-up version, that people would eventually pay more for. There's going to be a number of people in your audience who are into this stuff, who will want the higher version. They're going to want the most expensive, most . . . The newest model out there, and the one with all the spiffy features on it. That's how I would approach it.

E.J., very interesting question, and I thank you for it. Good luck to you and everything you have going on. I really appreciate it. An AskPat t-shirt is going to be headed your way, so just look out for an email from my assistant very soon, who's going to collect your information so we can get that sent to you right away. If you have a question, for those of you listening, if you have a question you'd like potentially featured here on the show, all you have to do is head on over to AskPat.com. You can ask right there, on that page, using any mic that you have. We just want to hear your voice. I'd love to hear your question. We're getting dozens of questions every day, so I can't answer them all, but if yours is featured, you get a free AskPat t-shirt which is super awesome. A lot of people have been sending in AskPat shirts too, which is pretty cool. Also, if you have a suggestion for E.J. in this particular topic, if you have a number one ranking site but there seems to be no affiliate offers to recommend with it, what would you do? Use the hash tag #AskPat238. This is for episode 238. Again, #AskPat238 and offer some suggestions to E.J. What would you do, or how would you help E.J. out? Super sweet. Thank you so much for your time today.

Again, I want to thank FreshBooks.com for sponsoring this particular episode. They are awesome. They are a software that I use to help me keep track of my accounting, and all that good stuff, so that come tax season, it's really easy for you or your CPA to put everything together for you. One click to check to see how your business is doing, what needs work. Like I said, it's something I wish I got connected with sooner. If you'd like to give it a free trial for seven days and try out FreshBooks for free for seven days, go to GetFreshBooks.com and enter “AskPat” in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Again, that's GetFreshBooks.com, and enter “AskPat” in the “How did you hear about us?” section. Awesome.

Finally, the quote today is from Harriet Beecher Stowe, and she says, “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

Cheers, take care, and I'll see you all in the next episode of AskPat.