In August of 2010 I was challenged by a friend to build my very first niche site from scratch. Within 73 days, I was able to take it to #1 in Google for my target keyword and earning almost $700 per month. You can check it out for yourself at securityguardtraininghq.com.

The site is currently earning well over $1200 per month, it ranks #1 in Google for several other important related keywords and has already received 2 buyout offers at $10,000.00 and $15,000.00, which I declined.

The experiment was documented, in detail, here on the blog right from the start. I revealed everything about the entire process for you, including how I came up with my ideas, the niche I selected, the domain I created, how I built an SEO optimized website, how I drove traffic to the site and how I earn money from it.

Here are the links to all of the Niche Site Duel posts:

• Niche Site Duel 001: I’ve Been Challenged, and I Accept!
• Niche Site Duel 002: Finding a Profitable Niche – My Process Revealed
• Oops. The Niche I Selected is Bad, and Here’s Why
• Niche Site Duel 003: How to Setup a Niche Site – Before You Add Content
• Niche Site Duel 004: My Content Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 005: My Backlinking Boo Boo
• Niche Site Duel 006: My Backlinking Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 007: Ranking and Traffic (and Earnings!) Update
• Niche Site Duel 008: My Monetization Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 009: I’m On The First Page of Google!
• Niche Site Duel 010: I’m Ranked Number One in Google!
• Niche Site Duel 011: THE Backlinking Strategy That Works
• Niche Site Duel 012: An Experiment and Income Update
• Niche Site Duel 013: CPA Promotions, Private Advertising, Job Board and Income Report
• Niche Site Duel 014: My 275% Increase in Adsense Revenue
• Niche Site Duel 015: Niche Site Earnings and Directory Listing Update

Since this initial experiment, I’ve created several other niche sites that are all on the first page of Google and earning an income as well. Many other people have joined in on the fun and you can check out their sites here on the Niche Site Duel Hub.

You might be interesting in building a niche site because:

1. It’s relatively cheap to setup. There are paid products and services that you can use to speed things up, but the only required fee is for your domain and hosting account, which is usually between $4.95 and $6.95 per month depending on the host you choose.
2. It’s relatively easy to setup. Anyone with some time can setup a niche site. A lot of work needs to be done, but it’s actually not that complicated. 
   
3. It’s relatively quicker to provide results. Nothing will make money for you overnight, but niche sites are relatively quicker as far as traffic generation and income – especially compared to blogging which can take years to build an audience with.
4. It can be very passive. You can get to a point where you can set up your niche site and have it run virtually on autopilot while you collect earnings and start up a new site, if you wish. Like I said, it takes a lot of work to get to this point, but if done correctly, it can be a fantastic form of passive income. Many people have built niche site empires, with 10, 20 or even 30 of these sites working for them automatically.

You might NOT be interested in building a niche site because:

1. It’s not a push-button money maker. I want to keep drilling it into your head that there is work involved and you will not see immediate returns for that work. It takes time to not only set everything up, but for Google to find your content, rank your site and traffic to start coming in as well.
2. Earnings are generally more limited. With a niche site, you’re focused on a narrow group of people in a relatively larger market. Although you can expand and turn your niche site into more of an authority site, it doesn’t always happen and you find that after a certain point, you reach a limit as far as potential daily income. Luckily, things can be totally automated and you can have time to create more sites and expand your portfolio even more, if you wish.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do. Again, if you’re interested in learning exactly how I built a website that earns $1200.00 per month from scratch in less than a year, feel free to read the content below:

• Niche Site Duel 001: I’ve Been Challenged, and I Accept!
• Niche Site Duel 002: Finding a Profitable Niche – My Process Revealed
• Oops. The Niche I Selected is Bad, and Here’s Why
• Niche Site Duel 003: How to Setup a Niche Site – Before You Add Content
• Niche Site Duel 004: My Content Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 005: My Backlinking Boo Boo
• Niche Site Duel 006: My Backlinking Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 007: Ranking and Traffic (and Earnings!) Update
• Niche Site Duel 008: My Monetization Strategy
• Niche Site Duel 009: I’m On The First Page of Google!
• Niche Site Duel 010: I’m Ranked Number One in Google!
• Niche Site Duel 011: THE Backlinking Strategy That Works
• Niche Site Duel 012: An Experiment and Income Update
• Niche Site Duel 013: CPA Promotions, Private Advertising, Job Board and Income Report
• Niche Site Duel 014: My 275% Increase in Adsense Revenue
• Niche Site Duel 015: Niche Site Earnings and Directory Listing Update