Hello Tory hackers welcome to this Podcast episode I’m really excited for This one and I think you will be too Because we are going to be doing Something that you guys really enjoy Which is taking real life examples of Websites and breaking down how they work In this episode we are going to be Taking blogs and websites that make more Than seven figures per year in revenue And do not use either affiliate Marketing or ads to make money I think It’s particularly interesting in the World where affiliate marketing is Becoming increasingly competitive and Ads could be taking a bit of a hit if There is a recession to think about Alternative business models and in General these are the best kind of Websites to give you ideas make you Brainstorm other ways to monetize your Website so I hope you enjoyed this let’s Get started Hey everyone welcome back to the Atari Hacker podcast in today’s episode we’re Actually going to be basing it off a Thread I’ve done on Twitter I’ve been Quite active on Twitter lately I’ve kind Of enjoyed it I like the quickly writing About the important stuff and not Putting all the flap that you need to Post in a in a blog post uh if you want To check it out you can actually follow Me on Twitter at girlbraten I tweet
Three times per week like very like big Threads and stuff and the rest of the Time is just comments on SEO Etc but We’re not here to talk about my Twitter We’re here to talk about seven figures Authority size but most importantly We’re going to be talking about sites That do not monetize with either ads or Affiliate and I think that is quite Interesting because in a world where Affiliate marketing is becoming more and More competitive and where if there was A recession coming which a lot of people Are talking about I can’t predict the Future but it’s possible uh if that was Coming ad rates would most likely take a Significant hit Um so it’s quite interesting to explore Other opportunities of sites that Monetize without affiliate and without Ads and that are making really good Money we’re talking seven figures for Prematurely examples we’re going to have In that podcast if you’ve seen us my Trade on Twitter actually we’re going to Be talking about different sites so you Should still like watch let’s listen to This podcast because they’re actually Not the same example so if you want more Examples of sites that do this uh you Should stay on and of course for this Podcast I am going to be joined by Mark How’s it going mark It’s going good I’m nice and cool right
Now by the Heatwave outside I I’m outraged a little bit like I wanna I wanna get some spans in the comments On YouTube because Mark has uh installed An AC in his office and he’s wearing a Sweater right now so in terms of climate Change I told him it’s not exactly the Best Calvin uh just you know for just For some context before I get canceled Um the the room here when we’re Recording videos or the podcast Um and everything’s shut down even when It’s like not super heat wave in in the UK I I have a thermometer thing here and It’s it’s over 30 degrees centigrade in The room uh when everything’s closed so It’s it’s kind of hot so I it was quite Necessary and I just got to install an Hour ago and I’m trying to figure out This temperature settings and it was too Cold so I put my jumper on and it’s hot Outside and don’t hate me you’re Forgiven for today but don’t don’t do it Again okay Um let’s start with the podcast I don’t Think people are here for that people Are complaining that we we like talk to Much about other stuff so let’s just Jump into this and I’m going to take the First example which is going to be the Pennyholder.com you may have heard of This site I first heard about this in 2016 when the founder did an interview On the mixer G podcast which is a pretty
Cool podcast it’s really like mostly About startups but sometimes you get Like websites that do interviews there And they tend to be quite Innovative It’s like he’s not gonna just interview Like a random athlete site unless They’re doing really really well And the penny holder had a very Interesting strategy in 2015 so it’s Been a while right uh they were making Seven they made 7.5 million dollars with The site and in 2016 they made 20 Million with the site uh if you check The organic traffic you will see that It’s been a bit of a roller coaster with The core updates so they went up since That interview and they went back down To now they’re like a little bit higher Than they were at the time of the Interview when they claimed to be making 20 million dollars in terms of organic Traffic but organic traffic is not the Only way these guys were making money Actually it’s quite interesting the way They were monetizing and I think that’s Why we should be focusing on right now On this site these guys were doing kind Of like old school native advertising so They were contacting Brands I in the Podcast he gave the example of Swagbucks For example so these are like surveys For making money Etc their personal Finance site so kind of makes sense that They work with these kind of websites
And they would essentially contract them To sponsor content and they will either Charge up impressions of the article Where they are the sponsor so visits Basically Or they would charge them per click on Like they would charge them a cost per Click the same way and that Network Would do that like you know like Google Or Facebook would do that if you were Buying ads right so they’re essentially Selling that and then they were creating These very well optimized and polish Pieces of content and they were actually Buying ads to articles Um but you’ve got to consider that this Was 2016 which means Facebook ads for Example were a lot cheaper than they are Today which questions a little bit the Business model I.E like the Profitability of this compared to what They must have been back then right but I went and I went I went digging right I Was like okay are they still running the Same way are they still doing the same Stuff Etc and they actually are if you Go in the Facebook ads Library so Actually all Facebook ads are public you Can Google like Facebook ads Library Make sure you cut your ad blocker Otherwise it doesn’t work and you can Put pretty much any Facebook page and You will see all the ads they’re running And when they launched the ads and the
Last ads I saw were launched this month Pretty much all last month something but Like very recently I walked very much on The same model where the ads are Promoting articles what was interesting Is that actually the articles that they Were promoting with the ads were not on Their main domain they actually made a Subdomain called Partners.thepanyholder.com where they Run their landing pages for Payless and Then the pennyholder.com actually runs Their like organic traffic type stuff And you see the layout is a bit Different they run lots of us because we Can see how many fans they have on their Facebook page and Instagram page which When you run as you you tend to gain Funds people like like your page Etc and They have 6.5 million fans on YouTube on Facebook and they have 195k on Instagram So it seems like they advertise quite a Lot more on Facebook but it’s it’s quite A lot and uh and it’s quite interesting To see that and when you open the Article so for example one article that I found from the RS was when money is Tied these seven resources will help Nearly everyone right and it’s quite Interesting because the layout and it Will put some screencast over this so That you guys can see but uh it’s Bare Bones they remove the navigation on top People can click on the new items or
Anything like that so you can’t escape Unlike main site there is no sidebar There is no nothing it’s just the Content it’s just like a headline a Featured image and some centered content Very narrow so it’s very easy to read With big text And each item is a sponsored item so for Example one is get to play Bingo and They promote a company called bingo cash Right and then after it’s like uh they Promote some like loan company in the Second item and then they took promote a Credit card company in a third one Etc So I guess you know they charge the rate To like all these companies one by one So like that this article has charges Like six companies per Impressions or Per click or maybe they change their Business model but they still seem to be Making a profit doing this because They’re actively running ads to this Creating new ads and uh and and it’s Quite interesting the way the ads work Because it looks like you know the way The Mashable Facebook page runs right It’s like a single line trying to be a Bit like a punch line and then just the Link to the article and as if it was an Organic share they’re not trying to be Very specific and again there’s almost There’s very little like related posts Etc at the bottom is just that so it is Quite interesting because you know many
Times we get that question of like oh Can I run uh paid ads for affiliate Marketing like lots of people that can Be bothered to wait for their site to Rank they can’t be bothered to uh Compete or anything they just wish they Could just trade money for Content Usually my answer is like you’re very Very unlikely to be successful unless The offer pays a lot of money Um but these guys are making it work Um they’re making you work not by Signing up on an affiliate networks Offer that they’re making it work by Shaking hands charging custom rates Charging more and building your brand That you know they allow that allows Themselves to charge more as well with The brands they work with because a Company like Swagbucks for example or This kind of like loan companies Etc They can’t go on Google and buy ads like The ad companies block them but they Don’t block the penny holder so they Kind of act as a Gateway for companies That would not necessarily be allowed to Directly advertise on these ad networks And they and they walk around by Spinning content that is allowed to be Advertised and they capture uh you know Lots of money for these very lucrative Companies so it’s a very very very very Interesting spin on building an Authority site and it works both for SEO
And for PPC I don’t know what you’re Saying Mark but I think it’s one of my Favorite examples of like a unique way Of running your site it’s very clever How they’re doing uh do you think are There any other Industries at the top of Your mind that that would work in Um yeah maybe maybe like sexual stuff Um like I’m not talking like porn sites I’m talking like 10 trash like you know stuff that Like people would classify as like semi Health but also would not be allowed on Ad networks so like I think of some People that I mentioned like people were Commenting oh you get you mentioned you Know someone in East Central and you Should think about it and you know we Went to this Mastermind and this couple Was running this company and and they’re Trying to run a legitimate company Around that topic but they are unable to Run Facebook ads and retargeting Etc and I think like a site that would spin Things as like Health topics Um like but like kind of like you know Like soft house topics and then kind of Include these things in there could Probably charge these kind of companies Uh these things you know um a maybe CBD As well would be a good news for that Like again like if you had a pseudo Health site that you know was soft Enough to be accepted in ads you know
Like you know five remedies for Headaches and then you just throw CBD You know Um like you might be able to to spin That up and essentially throw these ads Like adds to these companies that uh That can advertise crypto I guess is Also one I guess you know like uh if you Do like I guess these uh Penny holder Guys they could do a lot of crypto stuff As well like crypto exchanges Etc would Probably pay them lots of money because They are limited in where they can Advertise I think this spin works really Well in Industries like when you can be That spin doctor or take this stuff that Is forbidden and put it on this ad Networks anyway you know it’s it’s Almost like they’re taking the like Influencer approach to promotion but Within the next framework yeah SEO and Ppcs they still do like they still do Still do us I think it’s a significant Part of what they do Um but I mean the site still gets like a Camera remember like 700k visits per Month something like that you know the SEO is making them good money you know Especially if they charge High rates and The thing as well I remember in the Podcast is they charge monthly for this So they can just write one really cool Basically landing page slash blog post And keep advertising it forever like you
Know seven things to do when money is Tight like you can you can advertise This forever you know Um and so if they charge like a CPM like Uh like per thousand visits or something They charge it they Advertiser or Something they can really just have These ongoing ad campaigns slash SEO Campaigns that give them recurring Revenue as well you know and uh and I Can see how they’re just trying to spin Winners and and just keep them going as Long as they can and maybe like have a Cycle of landing pages but it’s very Very interesting I think it’s a it’s a Company worth studying what is Interesting as well is they block you if You’re in Europe so I have I had to Trigger a CD I had to use a CDN Residency VPN sorry that’s something Else VPN to access uh to access the site So if you are in Europe or not in the US You’re actually blocked uh you need a VPN to access the site I guess you might Be able to access it through archive.org As well but very very cool play I think It’s possible for someone who is quite Skilled And I’m not sure they make as much money I first of all What they were quoting was Revenue Numbers and they have ad costs so There’s a question on like the Profitability of the company
Um and I’m because that rates have Increased I’m not sure I’m not sure the Sponsorship fees have increased as much Of as ad rates have increased so they Might have been squished a bit on the Profit so I still expect this to be a Seven figure profit per year company but I wouldn’t necessarily I would not Necessarily accept expect it to be an Eight figure per year profit company you Know but I think this I think this is a Direction we’ll start seeing a lot more Big sites like this take Um in when they’re trying to monetize More Um and and well they’ll have they’ll be Essentially changing the rankings of the Items on the page or adding things in Um and having you know a Wholesales team Of people who are are going to be Pushing that out there and there’s maybe You know like questions over how ethical Is that or or whatever but I mean it’s It’s happening already and I I can see That there’s a lot of money to be made Here Um so it’s because of that it’s more Likely to continue yeah and but like I Really like that I mean if you check the Links it will stay like it will say like Affiliate but a lot of these are custom Deals like it’s going through their own Uh tracking domains so it’s like they Call it affiliate but like it’s their
Tracking sub IDs Etc uh but they’ve run That through like a very Advanced Tracking thing I’m sure they have like a Strong technical back end as well they Probably have devs that like have built Like a dashboard for advertisers you Know so that they can log in and see the Stats of the campaign they’re paying for It feels like an ad Network you know Um but it’s uh yeah I think it’s not an Easy one to pull out I think if like if You wanted to start a site like that Um I think it would be a tricky one I Think I’d say Niche selection is really Important really big niches where people Can’t advertise directly or is difficult Or they get banned or something like This Um And uh and probably I would want to Build some relationships before I jump Into the project like before I even do It I’d be like hey I’ve been I’ve built Websites before I want to build Something like this but in the whatever In this like Studio Health Niche uh I Like your company I’d like you to become An Advertiser uh you know give me like Just something a bit better than your Affiliate right and then we can work Closely together you can have your word On the content or something in exchange Like something where you like give Something in the exchange like build a
Bit of a portfolio of people who would Do that and then eventually like maybe Start with just a few landing pages even Like start with the paid side of things And eventually build the site Um but I think I think that’s that’s a Big money play and I think the selling This kind of site is probably quite Profitable as well like the the exit I Think they exited for uh like I can’t Remember but it’s like eight or nine Figures something like this like it was It was high you know Um so it’s it’s it’s a cool example do You want to jump on the next one yeah so The next one is a Digitaldjtips.com dr66 sites about 60 000 organic traffic Um which is a lot smaller and a lot Um you know less of a high profit Niche Than the previous example Um but they have 30 000 students or Customers and 163 countries And the way they monetize now is through Courses through info products and when People want to learn how to become a DJ Or play their friends birthday party or Whatever they have a course on how to do That there are many courses on how to do That and I I really like the the model They’ve built up here around the site Because the the the founder the the the Owner is or was a a DJ not you know Super famous a-lister or anything like
That but he really knows the topic right Very well this isn’t a marketer that’s Come in and tried to build a site around It this is a a guy who knows a lot about The industry who’s learned to become a Marketer along the way I think he’s done A a really good job of it Um so I was sort of working and by the Way I’m actually one of their customers I learned to do this a a long time ago As you can see from the jingle of the Podcast yeah exactly yeah yeah don’t Don’t do it anymore but uh I will say Like fantastic course Um very good at teaching the the topic And what is quite a difficult thing to Figure out for for beginners Um and and I think yeah there’s a lot of Value created there now they do a couple Of interesting things they don’t just Have one course they have many different Courses so they they have their core Like complete course as they as they Call it but there’s many kind of like Specialized things you can add on to That so if you want to know how to make Like little edits or get into production Or whatever they have a an extra you Know 200 course here and there and that And I know from being in their Community A lot of their members are buying a lot Of different products from them so That’s kind of how they’re increasing Their their revenue that way
Furthermore they’ve taken a book out of Masterclass.com and they’ve started Partnering with real you know A-list Celebrity DJs not celebrities just Actual DJ A-list DJs like Jazzy Jeff Laid back Luke Um you know real whatever people Jazzy Jeff uh is the guy that uh was a DJ with uh Will Smith Um and he won like you know some a bunch Of awards and stuff in the past Laidback Luke plays at like all the big festivals Around the world it’s like millions of Fans and stuff so they’ve actually come And produced uh courses and they have Some kind of rev share model I don’t Know exactly what it is but the benefit Here is that you get access to these DJs Social networks right when they’re when They’re selling the courses they’re Promoting it and you know doing all Sorts of ads and promotion to their the Existing network of millions of people In some some cases So that gives you a big chance to sell a Lot of courses to a lot of people and All you need to provide well no you need To provide but you need to kind of like Coordinate it and make sure it’s good And and kind of do a lot of the Promotion and marketing stuff yourself Which they are amazing at by the way So they use you familiar with Jeff Walker’s product launch launch formula
Like the the multiple video Um thing that that you do before before A launch where you sort of like building Up the engagement and stuff Um he does uh the guy from digital DJ Tips Phil morse’s name he goes to like One of the biggest nightclubs in the World and like he’s in the booth and He’s like talking with the sound Engineers and their whole angle is you Can you can use Um either your laptop to DJ or you know Some some Uh less sophisticated Um DJ mixer than what they have in in These clubs and he’s talking to the Engineer and says yeah you know we have And they’re mentioning some some names Like A-list DJs come in all the time and And you know use this setup or that Setup and they’re kind of saying oh yeah It’s okay to do this but you know There’s some difficulties here’s how to Do it here’s how our course can can go And solve it and it just uh you know Reeks of authenticity and just like all Right this guy really knows what he’s He’s talking about so how do they make Money how does it what’s the business Model and everything The business model is that they get Traffic through SEO and ads either Direct Um you know Facebook ads Google ads or
They’re doing this partnership with the The DJs they’re doing the courses with Uh and then they they sell the courses There’s a big email funnel that you go On and they have lead magnets tripwires Um lower priced kind of 39 products Leading up to the 297 197 product Leading up to the 500 product and and Then they try and sell you multiple Multiple products from there Um yeah it’s just fascinating Interestingly they started on ClickBank Uh in the in the early days they had uh I think 47 product Um there don’t do that anymore but it Just goes to show you the ClickBank Anymore Yeah it just just goes to show you that You know you you kind of get get started From anywhere Um yeah what makes Yeah what what makes it what makes it Interesting though is they’re also kind Of in the affiliate game just a little Bit Um so they they rank for you know best DJ mixers for x or y whatever the the Situation is but they’re also they’re Not that great at it because they have They still have the year in their URLs So like best DJ mixers of 2022 and so Each year they produce a new one whereas They should I think remove that date From the URL and just update the article
So all of the links you know build up Over multiple years to one page and I Think they would do a little bit better If they so do we contact them maybe I don’t want to beat those guys that’s Like hey you should totally do this with Your ass it’s like sounds like you’re Trying to sell something but if you’re An SEO agency that’s maybe uh an in you Can get with them Um if you if you want to do some do some Work for them but I I kind of had a Question for you on this so given how Embedded they are in this community in This industry do you think it’s Realistic that someone who’s not uh DJ With 20 years experience and loads of Friends in in the industry could come in And build a site around this and compete With them Uh yeah it is so the thing is like these Guys are like really really good and we Take years for someone to catch up on Their level but the way people make Purchase decisions is not like you know It’s you know there’s a in academies Like there’s like this perfect Market Theory where like every agent knows About everything in the market and it’s Perfectly transparent and you can make The perfect purchase decision well the Way people make purchase decisions real Life is really not like that it’s Actually based on access someone who’s a
Beginner doesn’t know who is bigger not Big in the industry and if you can catch Them before they they know this guy you Can probably sell up your product so It’s like the the same way like a lot of Like influencers sell like overpriced Products that you can find for half the Price on Amazon for example like that Stuff that first access uh to people who Have a need before they actually Evaluate the market and many people make Purchase decisions without evaluating The market just on like emotions it’s Something I usually depends on the price I size a few hundred bucks per for the Course I think it’s yeah I think you can but I Think at some point you’re gonna be kept You know like you can get started you Can get access to stuff but eventually Like you will it’s going to be very Difficult to get the people who do Evaluate the market but if you are Really really good at like that traffic Is good or not like how is the SEO is It’s not so good yeah Yeah but it’s a small Niche right and I Think they’re they’re kind of like the Dominant player in it okay I mean it Really depends on like what the openings Are in terms of SEO and something but Like I really think that someone who’s Really good on like Tick Tock for Example or like Instagram like one of
These platforms where these guys are not Um could probably like yeah could Probably launch a product because it’s Really like Catch people in the funnel build a hype And sell within three four five six days Of you uh like hyping them up and so as Long as they don’t run across that guy Then they will probably consider yours Seriously you know Um so it’s possible but then the plateau Will hit you once you have a exhausted All the the cheap tricks you can do at The beginning basically so then after That it’s like I wouldn’t enter that Niche if I didn’t have a plan to catch Up eventually but I think you could Enter as an info marketer even against People like that provided you know it Shows you something decent you know it Also shows you that if you can handle The marketing side of things then there Are A-list DJs out there willing to Partner with you and you know you There’s nothing stopping you from Approaching Um other DJs and producing courses with Them and kind of borrowing your Authenticity that way yeah I mean that I Would just interview them like I would Maybe do like a podcast type thing like Interview them uh maybe like try to get Sets as well like or like just like you Know like obviously you need some music
As well if you’re doing that kind of Niche so it’s like uh I don’t know guest Sets or something like I would try to Just build a platform that gets uh Attraction so that people want to be There so that they can be seen and Eventually uh eventually just partner With people like I’m thinking of like Entrepreneur on fire right uh he came in The market Nobody knew who Johnny Dumas was right And then eventually just for Interviewing people he became quite well Known he became the biggest business Podcast on YouTube because he did daily Interviews like he grinded it And uh and that borrowed Authority from Interviewing people just actually Allowed him to release his own products Uh business products um and to be frank He had built like a pretty impressive Business with entrepreneur on fire but Uh but that is the example of like Borrowed authorities through interviews And I think uh I think that’s one way to Enter these kind of niches actually it’s Not the only way but that’s one way All right should we move on to the next One yeah and the next one is actually Another uh course one that I picked I Didn’t realize you you would pick that One but I picked uh iPhone Photographyschool.com uh so these guys Teach you how to take great photos with
Your iPhone and honestly it’s not that Difficult point and shoot usually and That’s it but but you can actually go Quite deep into the settings and uh they Teach you normal photography just for an Audience that has an iPhone and it’s Quite powerful because you’ll be like Wow that’s really Niche just for like One phone type right that’s like very Very Niche but I actually checked before That podcast and This 1.2 billion active IPhones right now so it’s actually a Very like a very decent sized niche While feeling extremely focused in the Approach so people like oh that’s Exactly for me I have an iPhone it’s for IPhone it’s not like if you are doing This for Android there’d be like Multiple models multiple camera apps Etc Will be much more difficult than for This and it’s really like quite powerful The site is really nice and the video Content is really really good you can Check them out on YouTube Etc and the Business model is simple I mean they get Traffic from Google they get 250k Traffic for keywords like how to Transfer photos from your iPhone to your PC and things like this they have Pop-ups sidebars and anovarticle call to Actions that offer you a free lead Magnet which is a 14 minute really well Produced video as well like same quality As their YouTube stuff
And then at the end they will promote You an 80 of course uh that is you know It’s it’s I always love when I look at That website because the cell is always Ending tonight you know it’s one of These sites where like uh it’s like Every day just results for like uh There’s only 24 hours left and I think I Think it makes sense because I given the Audience that they have they probably Like Cycles through lots of people and This you know from product sales like The sales happen when you do product Launch like the last 24 hours are like Usually like half your sales it’s like You know your conversion rate 3x in the Last so 24 hours so they just capitalize On all that fresh traffic that comes Constantly on their site put them in Basically the optimal point of the Funnel every single day and try to Convert them as fast as possible because The offer is only 99 so It’s it’s first it’s like impulse Purchase you like if you if you see the Quality of their stuff you’re like okay Only 99 bucks to learn from this guys It’s like a lot of people who do that uh And that works very well they also run Lots and lots of Facebook ads uh most of Their Facebook ads are also angled Around that like ending two night sales 80 of cell uh and uh and I mean I know For a fact that they make millions
Because they’ve been on TV and so like In uh Foreign In Latvia they’ve been on TV and they’ve Been interviewed and so on and we know Some of the founders uh so we know for a Fact that they’ve done really well with Their business and uh and if you want to Learn an info product funnel of a Business that doesn’t run as doesn’t run Affiliates still makes millions mostly Blogging and making videos that is a Really good one to look at so I really Like them On them No other than just it’s a very very well Executed info business and yeah you Should also subscribe to their email List if you want to learn email Marketing they’re doing it very well too Yeah even their their Facebook ads as Well like they have a really nice Balance of providing a lot of value and Actually showing you how to take better Photos while also selling their their Products as well yeah so if you want to Learn this is a good like if you want to Learn how to do these things like these Are really good examples like throw These sites in hrefs look at their top Pages throw these sites in Facebook ads Library see what they’re running so opt Into the email stuff read the emails Click on the link see what landing pages
They send you to Etc like it’s the best School to learn how to do this kind of Marketing and honestly this this one is Replicable by lots of people not exactly That Niche but like something similar It’s it’s quite replicable all right so The next one is uh scotscheapflights.com Um I love the name yeah so this was Started in 2016 as a as a travel blog by Surprise surprise Scott Um it’s now a dr73 site it’s half a Million monthly visitors according to Ahrefs and I found a re not a review an Interview where in 2018 uh they had 600 000 subscribers and were making three Million dollars a year in annual Recurring Revenue Um so I now figured out that they have 2 Million subscribers in 2022 so if the Number ratio numbers hold the same then They’re making about 10 million dollars Recurring per year Their product uh the way they make their Money is by they have a subscription Service where you can get flight deals Um cheap flights flight alerts things Like that now it’s a really interesting Industry airfare pricing because pricing Is somewhat opaque it’s not like you Have a fixed price to go from A to B it Changes every day throughout the day Depending on which airline depending on Which where you connect all of that Stuff it’s always changing so that
Airlines can hopefully from their point Of view charge you what you’re willing To pay but this CR this situation it Creates a lot of opportunity because There are better cheaper option places To to fly through or destinations to go If you’re aware of what they are but Because no one or most individuals don’t Have the time to trawl through loads of Different routing options and fair rules And all sorts of technicalities is that They go on behind the scenes they just Go to Google Flights or sky scanner and Put in where they want to go and maybe If they’re a little bit more advanced We’ll put in you know a region or where Can I go this weekend the darks and Things like that but what what they’ve Done is they have a team of people Scouring through all these different Tools like expert flyer and ITA Matrix Which allow you to search Airline Inventory they have they understand what Prices normally are for certain routes So they can see cheap deals come up and They have I’m sure they have people on Places like fly or talk where people are Always sharing you know airfares and and Things like that so it’s just they’ve Kind of created a really nice user Interface for this kind of like under Not underground but just it reminds me Of of of kind of like an IRC Channel or Some or something where you would you’d
Have to be really difficult to find all This information but if you want to you Can you know find stuff back in the day But what they’ve done now is they’ve Made a really nice user interface you Can just pay a monthly an annual fee Become a member put in where you want to Fly to or where your base and they’ll Send you deals that are relevant to you According to your criteria and by the Scott’s own admission what they do isn’t Particularly complex In one of his interviews he he says that It’s you know five percent kind of Proprietary knowledge and and process But 95 is just leg work from their their Team you know everyday searching Searching for opportunities and bringing Some them to you Uh so yeah They make a ton of money 10 million but And that’s all recurring Revenue as well Which is just just but you know what Really interest me with this site is That they’re not particularly High Authority like dr73 for the travel Niche Is not insane like it’s it’s good but Like you know they’re against TripAdvisor they’re against like Agoda Expedia like it’s it’s not easy to make Your own spot and they’re doing well With SEO traffic like they’re punching Above punching above their weight They’re ranking for how to find cheap
Flights like that is a really high value Keyword business class versus first Class they have some info stuff like can You bring food on a plane cheapest Places to fly in Europe that’s actually Very high I find cheap flights as well They ranked number one Etc like it’s Really good Um so it’s like I think it’s a really Like if you want to learn SEO same like Put this on your watch list because These guys are killing it with content And it’s very very impressive in such a Competitiveness as a dr7 is recite to Get this much traffic And and I’m sure it brings lots and lots Of subscribers to them another thing That was interesting that you didn’t Know it in a business model is that you Know there is a paid newsletter that People pay for but there’s also a free Tier to their newsletter and I signed up For it And uh and they actually run a bunch of Sponsorships on these as well so they Monetize you as a subscriber even on the Free tier so their blog content gets Them free subscribers mostly I’m sure Like people don’t just sign up right Away but these people are monetized and If you upgrade which there is a call to Action for that in every single email You you make them even more money so the Funnel is really really tight as well
Like that acquisition through content to Free subscribers you give them really Good value like it’s made for you just Like a worse version of the paid thing And then you’re monetized anyway like That and and ads on emails they’re Expensive like it’s some of the most Expensive as you can buy actually it Costs a lot Um and then and then on top of that they Just upsell people through all these Daily emails they send so they send lots Of emails to the list that they want These emails they open them and at the Same time they upsell them through that So it’s really really tight the way it’s Built and I find like this plus the SEO Is a really really cool company to look At and if you want an example of like a Successful newsletter company that is it You know like that’s the perfect model Right here I think they also have a couple really Interesting link building tactics which They’ve been they’ve been deploying so Have you ever played Wordle Yes I have actually yeah okay so I Haven’t what is it so it’s basically Like you I think it’s six letters the New York Times runs this right so it’s Like six or seven letters and you just Like what you have to type uh the word You think is going to be and then if you Guessed a letter that is in the world it
Shows in green if you guessed a letter That at the right place and if it’s not At the right place but the letter is in The world it’s in yellow And then if it’s not in the world it’s In Gray so and you only have like five Tries or something like one two three Six I’m seeing so you can try six times So you need to be thinking quite a lot You need to use like common use letters In your first tries and so on like uh You can so tactics around this is cool Basically it’s a highly addictive kind Of words guessing game kind of thing Letter guessing game whatever Um so what they’ve done is they’ve Created air portal Okay instead of Wordle Airport Yeah So you know how airports have these Three-letter codes like JFK and and all That well they’ve they’ve basically made Wordle but with three letters for air Airport codes and yeah they got a bunch Of links from it from like time out Traveler Yahoo Um I don’t know the tiger Spiegel the German newspaper I probably butchered That pronunciation but uh you know very Very simple tool probably cost you know A couple K to make or something uh but Like almost 200 tier one links from from There so I really like these kind of Like small tools as a way of getting
Getting these links yeah I mean I think I wouldn’t do this now because I think The the hype for water was like a few Months ago like you know it surf on the Hype right it’s like if you did that Today you’d probably get five links and You’d be a bit disappointed Yeah so it’s like uh but like if these Are the right time which it seems like They did given the leaks that they got Uh very very smart like it’s a very good Example of like newsjacking Trend Jacking uh falling building actually so I like it Um anything else to say about them nope Okay so let’s jump on to the last one The last one is going to be uh the first Podcast I’ve done for story hacker as Well like the first ever episode I Interviewed the founder of nerd Fitness Uh which is a fitness blog for sci-fi Like initially it was very much Star Wars Star Wars themed but now they kind Of expanded on that there’s four notes Basically so it’s like you know like When you when they do a workout plan for You you have to choose your class you Get some XP you level up like you know It’s it’s they have a member area with That kind of stuff there’s a free and a Paid level Etc Uh again they do pretty well in search They’re doing 538k search traffic it’s a Really old site like it’s been around
For a long time search Fitness I didn’t Check how long it is but like more than 10 years like I’m pretty sure Um but it they’ve gone through a lot Like it started as like a personal blog Like when when personal blogging was Very very Prime uh this Steve clam guy Was just showing people how to work out With like you know a gallon of milk and Stuff like that so that it was basically Copied before kovid Um And uh but now it became like a Full-blown company and and I’m telling You he’s doing quite well as well when I See the pictures of their conference and So on uh they have kind of like multiple Levels of monetization so first they Have 3D magnets so if you go on any Article you will see that there’s like Lead magnet call to actions like Everywhere like on the sidebar in the Middle of the article at the bottom Etc And they’re pushing really hard for These Um and then after they have a free like Membership level that people can sign up With like this XP system level up Etc I Told you about and they kind of have They call it nerd Fitness Prime so I Don’t know where that came from but uh Very inspired uh and that gives you Workout videos workout plans nutrition Plans yoga workouts disco like a Discord
And Facebook groups recipes basically an Info product for like getting in shape Right and it’s pretty cheap it’s 39 per Quarter or 99 per year so I like that Because he’s probably capturing lots of People on that price point like people Feel like he’s you see going for like The Netflix kind of like subscription Plan types in like you know it’s going For that price point of like people Throw the subscription in and never Cancel type thing Um that’s pretty cool and then now he Recently launched coaching so he hired Her Fitness coaches like he doesn’t do It himself he just like pays some Coaches uh that you can and then they Just get assigned to you they and then They kind of like customize everything You do so they make you your own workout Plans they have your nutrition they you Can send them videos of you walking out And they check your forms and or Something give you feedback they text You motivation you have to send them Like what you eat and stuff like that All of that right and he made these say 197 per month subscription and they’re Pushing this really hard on the side Which tells me I don’t know their Numbers but it tells me they’re probably Doing quite well with this It’s quite smart together with the 99 a Year type thing like you can see how
Like people can distribute themselves Across the multiple uh levels of Fitness But overall like again this is run very Very much like a proper Product Company They don’t run as they don’t run Affiliates they just capture your email Send you quality content upsell you to The cheap subscription and upsell you to The coaching they actually have a quiz For the coaching as well so you can put What you’re interested in and they match You with the right coach and they show You the picture of the coach Etc so that You kind of invest yourself in that uh Before you actually buy and so on Um again that that level of company Achievable by most people listening to This podcast and this is uh I I like a Lot what they’re doing they’re not like They’ve been stagnant in SEO for a while But they they’re doing good like 530k Traffic is kind of decent especially Given how well monetized the site is so Overall I am uh pretty impressed with That site I’m pretty impressed with Where the two kids given that they just Started as like a random blog with uh Any uh any direction so that’s pretty Much it anything you want to say on them Nope nope yeah okay well well that was The five examples of size that make Millions per year do not use affiliate Do not use that I hope we deliver on That promise and you want to say
Something Uh yeah so we’re running a link building Survey at the moment where uh we’re Basically doing a huge article on Authority hacker we’re gonna collect a Load of data on how people are link Building link building Trends in 2022 And Beyond uh so we’d really like your Guys’s help to if you have a couple Minutes to spare just fill it in quickly So there’ll be a link at the uh in in The show notes or can we make some kind Of URL for that I don’t know Authorityhacker.com survey Um if you just go go there that will Redirect you to the the survey form and You can you can fill it in in there and Uh for a lucky person who uh we pick out Randomly who who fills in the survey Um you can also win a free consultation With Gail and myself so if you want us To help you with your SEO or anything Else then uh yeah you can you can win That as well someone on the Facebook Group photo hacker who suggested 30 Minutes of how’s it going mark That’s not a problem we’ll post that on YouTube as well if someone goes for that Uh anyway thank you for listening to the Podcast please don’t forget to subscribe Like if you’re on YouTube comment if You’re on YouTube it really helps us if You enjoy these kind of more actionable Podcasts let us know uh I am doing
Threads on Twitter that are in the same Vibe above that podcast this is actually Inspired by one of them so if you want To check that out go on at girl Breton Pretty easy uh and I’ll see you there Thank you for listening and we’ll see You in two weeks bye [Music] Foreign