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How to Earn Money Writing a Weekend Website Nick Usborne FreelanceWritingSuccess.com - Mar 3, 2009

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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

There is a simple, direct and dependable way to make an income from the Web. I'm talking about writing and creating your own information site. This is a reliable way to make some extra income because it taps into what people really want when they open their browser -- helpful, relevant information.

Example: CoffeeDectective.com

As an example, take a look at CoffeeDetective.com. That's my weekend hobby site. I love coffee and write the site to help others learn about gourmet coffee and how to make it.

There is nothing sophisticated about the site. No fancy design. No leading-edge functionality. It's just an ordinary looking website. In truth, it looks quite amateur in many ways. This ordinary website, on a topic as mundane as coffee, earns me between $2,500 and $6,000 a month, depending on the time of year.

It doesn't replace my income. It's a hobby. But it makes enough money for me to take it seriously. Best of all, this is an income I can depend on. I can't get downsized or fired from my own website. And, unlike my retirement investments, this site won't punish me with a sudden downturn in value.

In fact, as I continue to write content for the site, week after week, the revenues it produces increase. Little by little. Finally, this isn't even work. This is a hobby. I enjoy it. It's just a part-time thing I do at the weekend, when I have time.

The Desire for Useful Information

What's the big secret here? There is no secret. The success of the site taps into a rock-solid foundation of the web: the desire for useful information.

Millions of people search for information about coffee online. They may want to buy some coffee, or read reviews of coffee makers, or simply ask a question about how to make coffee. So I built a site that contains useful and helpful information.

Search Engines Reward Quality Content

I didn't have an e-mail list of coffee lovers to launch my site to. Nor did I have any fancy joint venture partners. Instead, I tapped into another fundamental of the web: Google and the other major search engines reward quality content with plenty of visitors.

So when I wrote the site I made sure that I addressed the topics that people were searching for. Classic SEO.

Simple Business Model

The simplicity of the model I adopted makes this exact same opportunity available to anyone with a browser. The price of entry is negligible. $10 for a domain name and a few dollars a month for hosting. I don't advertise. I don't pay for traffic in any way. But I still get over a thousand unique visitors coming to my site each day. And that number is steadily growing.

Of course, I'm not alone. Tens of thousands of people do the exact same thing. They create a quality site on a topic they feel passionate about. They build their traffic. They find ways to monetize that traffic. Many people spend more on their sites and make a lot more money from them than I do. Others spend less time, and earn less. But the one thing we all have in common is an income derived from a solid model that isn't going to go out of fashion or disappear.

In future articles in this series I'll take you under the hood of this business model and show you how to choose a viable topic, write compelling content and then make money from the traffic you attract. It's simple. It's dependable. And it's profitable.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Nick Usborne is an author, copywriter and coach -- and the publisher of the NickUsborne.com website for writers and copywriters. You can learn more about how to write your own money-making website at www.nickusborne.com/writing-websites.htm