Just like I mentioned in my previous post, I will in this post be examining the defining moments in the process of creating a website [Bloggst] that was sold for $3,000 in less than three months. Let me start by saying that in no way do I feel that I’ve accomplished something unique and amazingly huge with what I’ve done, so you can save the “wow you suck I sold a one month old website for fifty-billion dollars” comments. As I even mentioned in my previous point, from a business-perspective I probably made the wrong decision in selling the site at this point. I simply believe that people out there will find it interesting to see how an average guy with no special skills is able to make a bit of extra money on the side of school and work by building websites. Because that is most certainly true, if I can do it, you can do it too!

The first thing you should note is that even though the site had been online for less than three months at the point of the sale, I didn’t actually do it in less than three months. In terms of work hours, I would say that I probably spent more time preparing the site for the launch, than I did working on the site after the launch. I had a quite intesive month right before the launch where I worked several hours every day on getting everything ready.

You don’t have to be unique, but it doesn’t hurt!

Something that is often claimed when it comes to creating websites, is that to have any chances of any success you have to be unique. This isn’t true. What is true however is that you can’t duplicate something else and expect people to use it. The main vision behind Bloggst is that there didn’t exist a single decent forum for bloggers out there that I could find, and thus I wanted to provide one. Now it still has a way to go before it can be claimed to be a true gathering place for bloggers, in terms of size that is. Those members who have already signed up and actively participated have expressed that the reason they joined Bloggst is because they weren’t already part of something similar.

So you see, while the concept of an online forum isn’t unique, and while there already exists forums for bloggers out there, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for a new player on the field. You just have to identify something that you know you can do better than what’s already done, and you will have something to build on. I will still continue to be an active member over at Bloggst, and even today when I did some small modifications here at my blog, I had to venture over there to find some information that helped me achieve what I wanted. That was the vision I had for it, and that is what it’s doing so far, and hopefully will continue to do in the future.

If you’re building a forum, treat active members like family!

Now this is important. To any online community where user generated content is what drives it, you need to treat the members that actually participate as good as you possibly can. Get in touch with them, help them if can, form relationship. This is what keeps them coming back and contributing, and it is what can separate a community from sudden death or prosperity. And if you need more incentive, I’ll just mention that by doing this, you can get to know a lot of new, awesome people, and perhaps even form new, unlikely friendships that you can carry with you long after your community is taken off of your hands.

Build links!

I addressed the importancy of building links in a previous article (The Power of Link Building), but I can not stress it enough. I am not much of an SEO, but I know that if you want to make a website valuable, you can never get enough links. This will increase your rankings (Google PR, Alexa, Technorati and what not), and these are things that potential buyers of online real estate investigate thoroughly before they consider a purchase.

Build your network!

While we’re on the topic of building, I would also like to mention the importance of building your network of contacts. During the time I’ve spent working with Bloggst, I’ve gotten to know a large bunch of new people, and many of them have helped me, a lot. Some have helped me with suggestions on how to improve the site (thanks Gerald), others have helped me with coding and troubleshooting (Menguzar, before going MIA), some have been sources of inspiration (Matt is one cool guy), some have just given me great links (Deb with her N and g), and some with being the top poster on the forum (Yes, you Malin). There have been several other people as well, but I would like to single out Maki from Dosh Dosh. I don’t remember exactly how we got in touch, but he showed me ways of promoting a website that has been invaluable for me these past couple of months, and I owe him for it. He really knows his stuff, so if you’re serious about making money online, I would definitely recommend that you keep tabs on his blog.

I would say that if you want to have any chances of seeing any sort of success with your online ventures, the most important thing you can do is realize that building a network is the number one key to success. Not only in direct benefits, but the indirect benefits of getting your name out there among the people that can potentially visit your website, and tapping in to the pool of knowledge that your contacts are likely to have far surpasses everything else you can spend your time on.

Pick the right niche at the right time

Blogging is possibly one of the hottest buzzwords online these days, and sites where user generated content flourishes is also the thing that matters these days. It’s no secret that an equivalent of Bloggst, but in another niche, for instance video games, would not have been nearly as interesting to potential buyers. I’m not going to claim that this was a very concious decision from my end, because to be honest I got a bit lucky. I just happen to be a fan of forums, and I was fascinated by blogging, and thus I ended up creating what I did. It goes to show though, that if you’re concious about choosing the right niches and methods of execution at the right time, you can see a far more lucrative return on your investments than you would otherwise.

Work hard and persistently

Even when the going gets tough. It’s during the uphill battles than things go up, so when things aren’t looking too bright, just bite your teeth together and work even harder. The positive results will surprise you accordingly. I would even go as far as to say don’t quit where I did, because if you continue where I left off, you could well be headed for far greater things than what I ended up with!

That’s it. I apologize if any of you expected a ten step formula that shows you how to make some thousands of dollars with little to no effort in less than three months. This post is more about sharing what I think was the defining factors that resulted in me making a fair amount of money from what’s really just a hobby to me, as opposed to it becoming another tomb on the cemetary of dead online projects. And like I said, I’m not special. I’m not a coder by any means (if else echo this var is all greek to me), and I’m not much of a designer either. I’m just a guy who enjoys writing and occasionally puts together a website made mostly from premade scripts, adds a little twist to the mix, and tries to make it work.

And with the danger of repeating myself, if I can do it, surely you can too if you set your mind to it! So what are you waiting for? Get out there and put your ideas to work, enjoy it, and if you’re lucky like me, there might be a bit of financial gain in it for you in return! I know I will continue to do things that I enjoy online. While I’ve decided that building full-fledged websites that require a lot of maintenance might not be for me, that doesn’t mean I won’t be active. I will be writing on my blog, because I enjoy it. I will probably be starting a new topical blog in not too long, because I enjoy it. And I will continue to do all the other things that I enjoy online, just because I enjoy it. If there’s money to be made from it, awesome, but if there isn’t, I still won’t hang my head in shame, because I’ve been spending my time doing something I enjoy, and that’s important.