I’ve been looking into starting a first niche site and attempting to rank it on Google for some time now. It can be a great way to earn multiple streams of passive income.

I figure I ride the wave of excitement I have going for 3D Printing right now. It will give me a reason to learn everything there is about the industry and position myself to enter it if I wish. Eventually I will be able to create products or sell other peoples white label products. It would also be cool to establish a base of 3D printer reviews and a buyer’s guide and then email all the companies with commercial printers and see if I can’t get a couple free ones sent to me to try. At the very least I will learn a ton about creating a niche site and ranking on Google.

Choosing a site: http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/niche-site-duel-2-niche-selection-criteria/

I already know I want my site to be in 3D printing. It’s something I’m super interested in right now and I might be able to use it to get a job I’m looking at right now. It’s a local 3D printing company that is relatively new and could use some help on their social media strategy. I think I could use what I know to blow up their brand. Would be a great testing ground in an exciting industry. It would be fun. So onto the criteria for choosing a site.

Criteria 1: I must be able to add positive contribution to internet (add value)

I must be able to help people with my topic. I am currently in the market for 3D printers. I am going to try and build the site I wish I would have found when I was searching. It will be comprehensive. It will educate me on what 3D printing is and what’s important. It will also give me a good big picture understanding on what I can expect from different characteristics in the 3D printer that are available as well as an overviews of the different brands competing for the space.

Criteria 2: Niche should have Min. 3,000 Local Searches per month

This is an indicator of how much traffic I could expect at my site if I ranked in the first position of Google for that keyword.

3d printer reviews 5,400 High
cheap 3d printer 9,900 High
what is 3d printing 9,900 Medium

Whatis3dprintingnow.com is open. It’s hard to find an open domain. This one’s seems to target my keyword and allow me to stay on the leading edge as 3d printing grows. Google trends shows the keyword is growing rapidly so the website should get more powerful as time goes on.

Criteria 3: Is there room in the top 10 of google?

Determining this has been called an ‘art.’ Which to me, at this point, means it’s a crap shoot. I’ll best learn this ‘art’ by experience so I won’t give a lot of weight to this criteria until I have a better Idea of what’s going on. If I make a great site, it should rank.

When I search the keyword in Google I see not every site on front page is an exact keyword match. I also see YouTube videos. I feel if I make a great site and add cool videos I will be able to rank this keyword. If I really focus and deliver great content and market it brilliantly I don’t see how I won’t crush it. Time to buy the domain, host it and install word press.

I Google ‘godaddy domain coupon’ find a $1.49 cent domain coupon: ‘149scott’ and www.whatis3dprintingnow.com is mine for under $2. Since I already have an account with hostgator I change the godaddy name server on my new domain to the one specified by hostgator. This points the domain to my host.

I log into my hostgator cPannel. Domains > Addon Domains. Add domain. Solid.

Home> Software/Services > Fantastico De Luxe J QuickInstall > Blog Software > WordPress.

Now I’ll pick a theme. I found a forbes site with ‘best 2013 themes’ picked MesoColumn to try.

Install plugins: New statpress, pretty link, google xml sitemaps, tubepress, wordpress SEO by yoast.

Now I have a site. I’ll write my first post and begin tweaking the theme so the site feels like I want it to.

I Listen to Neil’s Patel’s SPI Podcast episode to learn some things. Learned so many things I’m listen to SPI #55 with Trevor Page about his website launch.

Possibly for 3d printing I could be doing a guide how to set up and print and then build a Nerf gun. Could sell packages I put together people can order, print the cover, assemble the package and shoot their friends. That would be cool and shareable. Something I wouldn’t mind ‘spamming’ hundreds of people with when I eventually commit to doing a ‘200 outreach’ where I hire someone on odesk.com to find 200 relevant sites, fb pages, twitter accounts, instagrams, pinterests, blogs with names and email addresses to send little custom messages with a value add for them to send to their audience.

I created a Facebook page (3D Printing Trends) and used it to liked every Facebook group about 3D printing I could find. As well as a couple on quadcopters, raspberry pi, robotics and artificial intelligence. Things I believe people who are interested in 3D printing will also be interested in. Things I am also Interested in :p I also added a couple 3D printing news feeds to my igoogle homepage. This should keep me on top of any news that hits the internet. My ear is on the train track.

I Explored some tools like https://bufferapp.com which gives you content you can auto share on your site. http://www.tweriod.com/ let you know when people are listening on twitter giving you the best times to post. http://twubs.com/ lets you search hashtags and follow conversations.

Clay Collins recommends in SPI 078 @ 29m to create a resource guide opt-in page. He gives resources to make it easy in the show notes. Opt-in pages confuse me currently but I feel this is something I should figure out. It’s on the list.

People love resources. They believe if they only had the tools the pros use they would get the same results the pros get. So as I become a ‘pro’ I will keep in mind resources I could share in a guide to use as a lead for my opt-in page. A LIST OF # FREE RESOURCES TO …help?… 3D Print(ers)(ing).

Opt-in page copy writing brainstorm:

Buyers guide: The top 5 3D printers of 2014 (including one that…)

Example: The only 3 pieces of exercise equipment you need in your home. Hint: They all weight less than 5 lbs. (counter intuitive drives options.)

The only 3 Printers you need to look at in 2014 – Hint: They all cost less than $1000.

The top 5 software programs to turn your idea into a 3D print. Hint: The 3 best ones are free

More posts to explore: http://www.nichesiteduel.com/frontpage/updates

Creating good content seems to be the key to creating a valuable site that ranks well. I’m going to attempt to write an article or two each day until I get to 20-30 posts. In this time I continue to learn about seo and marketing niche websites. I will also try to think of ways to create an info graphic or 3D Printer comparison chart and then make it look really nice by outsourcing an illustrator on dribbble.com. Then run a ‘200 outreach’ to see If I can’t get a good boost.

I’ll also look into teaching something on a webinar. Possibly I’ll start a podcast interviewing people in the industry about 3D printing. I’ll for sure do YouTube videos when my printer arrives and maybe I’ll run around the town visiting printers and use YouTube to review as many as I can get my hands on.

3d printed city

Bonus: 4 best places to find your favorite 3D Printed designs to save for when you or a friend gets a 3D printer.

Thingiverse.com – set up by makerbot this is probably the best resource with top rated designs laid out in a cute way. It gives you the ability to sort your favorite 3D Printed designs into different collections. I have a ‘things to make’ that I will be revisiting in a big way when my printer gets here in November.

bld3r.com is a Reddit style upvote/downvote system that lets you easily browse designs the community finds valuable.

3d.si.edu – Smithsonian museum gives you access to print some of their most treasured objects. Some really cool things you’ll be able to add to your collection.

youmagine.com – 3D printing community. Awesome layout and web designs. Easy to use, cool designs. They have a gimbal for me to mount my go pro on my quadcopter. That’s a win.