Q. Please tell us a little about your background.

A. I have been interested in internet marketing for many years but, following my retirement at the age of 60, I have been able to devote more time to learning and becoming more active in this field.

Q. What made you decide to start a website in the field?

A. I have always been a keen gardener so, after some keyword research showed that there was a demand for this topic, it was my natural choice.

Q. What kind of research went into this niche area before building your website?

A. Because this is my first site I used Site Build It which is a complete
system which takes you through the whole process of choosing a niche, selecting keywords and building search engine optimised pages. The initial research involves choosing three subjects and then studying keywords to check demand and supply. Once you have made your final choice of niche topic, there is further keyword research to select the actual keywords that you will use on your site.

Q. How did you design and build your website?

A. Site Build It includes a set of site templates which you can alter to meet your own requirements.


Q. What software do you use to run your business?

A. Site Build It


Q. How does your website generate income?

A. The site is designed to sell products through affiliate programs and to generate advertising revenue using google adsense.

Q. How do you collect payments for your products or services?

A. Most of the affiliate programs are administered by Commission Junction or Linkshare who deal with all payments. Adsense revenue is paid by Google.

Q. What promotion methods do you use?

A. At present I am relying on search engine traffic but this takes time to develop so I am considering trying some pay per click advertising. I have written a number of articles and submiited them to article directories. I also have a blog attached to the site
http://www.garden-supplies-advisor.com/garden-supplies-news.html which is updated on a more-or-less daily basis.

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

A. So far I have just relied on free search engine traffic. I have tried using Google Adwords in the past for Clickbank products without success so am rather wary of this form of advertising.

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

A.  All the traffic comes from the search engines but a good proportion comes from my blog.

Q. What is your biggest challenge each month?

A. Because my site is taking its time to develop, I keep my eyes open for other opportunities and am involved in a number of other projects. My biggest challenge is to keep focused and take action rather than spend too much time researching other programs.

Q. What's the biggest mistake you've made since starting your business?

A. Spending too much time trying various MLM and similar programs rather than starting my own niche site.

Q. How has your lifestyle changed since you started your online business?

A. Since my site has yet to start producing any serious revenue I cannot claim any great change in lifestyle just yet.

Q. How has your SureFireWealth.com membership helped you with your online business?

A. I have only been a member of SureFireWealth for a short time but already I have benefitted greatly from all the information on the site.

Q. What would you say to someone looking to start a website in the same niche as you?

A. On reflection I feel that my site niche is a little too wide and I would advise anyone else interested in this area to choose a tighter niche, for example water gardening or growing bonsai trees.

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Thanks Hugh!