Q. Please tell us a little about your background.
Been working online from home since 1997, originally with a team of Toronto programmers and site developers in the Knowledge Management arena. In 2003 I quit freelancing and starting working on building my own sites. In 2004 I teamed up with Dr. Joe Vitale and co-wrote The Stampede Secret, plus others.

Q. What made you decide to start a website in the field?
It was a natural progression of working online. To develop sites for markets that I enjoyed and had a strong personal interest in.

Q. What kind of research went into this niche area before building your website?
The site actually started with a public domain book and grew from there. I knew that birding and bird watching was a large market, and I've never intended on dominating it (because that would be too much like hard work), but because it was an interest the project is fun to have a 'piece of the pie'.

Q. How did you design and build your website?
Microsoft Front Page and Corel Draw. Two programs that I own and once taught in a classroom environment (that was another life - pre-web).

Q. What software do you use to run your business?
The list of software and services is too long to mention. From keyword research to payment processors, to spreadsheets and site design. It's extensive, but only because I'm a bit of a geek and enjoy mucking in all aspects of my business.

Q. How does your website generate income?
eBay affiliate sales mostly, some Amazon associate sales and ebook sales as well. I started out with Adsense but quickly moved away from that as advertising money in this niche is very low and not worth losing traffic over. There are still a few dusty corners of the site that show Adsense however.

Q. How do you collect payments for your products or services?
ClickBank and Commission Junction send me checks every month.

Q. What promotion methods do you use?
None. Other than my birding blog RSS Feed is being used on other sites for content. Everything else is just search engine traffic.

Q. Which method has proven to give you the best sales results?
Search engine optimization.

Q. Which method of traffic generation has proven to be the best for you?
Same as above.

Q. What is your biggest challenge each month?
This site really is just a hobby that I don't work on much so it's never a challenge. I guess if I was going to go all out and try to dominate the market, content would be my biggest challenge. In the meantime, if I'm studying something about the niche on a personal level I'll blog about it.

Q. What's the biggest mistake you've made since starting your business?
Google Adsense! Losing my traffic for .04 cents a click is stupid. I did that for the first 5-6 months of this site's launch.

Q. How has your lifestyle changed since you started your online business?
My lifestyle is forever changing, but this website hasn't made a huge difference to my lifestyle.

Q. How has your SureFireWealth.com membership helped you with your online business?
I love checking in here to see what's new, grab the new scripts and play with them, and check out other marketer's products. It's been a good way to see whose stuff I wouldn't pay money for and whose stuff I would without question.

Q. What would you say to someone looking to start a website in the same niche as you?
Make sure you have a love for it. Birds are pretty boring unless you enjoy the hobby.

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Thanks!

Jeremy Gislason
Webmaster
SureFireWealth.com