November 2018

By:

Tom

Updated:

December 1, 2018

Welcome to another monthly review at Flexibility is Freedom!

I've decided to break this post into two sections:

UPDATE: Part 1 is now a separate blog post.

Part 2: Business Update

This month, I decided to broaden the scope of my niche website.

My original idea was to focus on acne scars.

However, after additional research, I've realized that this may be too narrow.

There's a real risk of quickly outgrowing this topic.

So I decided to expand my scope to skincare disorders (including acne, scars, eczema, etc.) but start off with acne scars.

Here are the key reasons for this decision:

A niche-specific domain name (like acnescarsanswers.com or finallymelasmafree.com) can boost SEO for your particular topic but limits growth potential outside that topic
Narrow niche sites tend to have a high concentration of traffic in 1-2 pages. This makes the business vulnerable to huge traffic swings when rankings change.

Here's an example from performanceskin.com:

Note how 75% of traffic comes from just one page on this website!

My final reasons are:

Clickthrough Rate: I worry that people who don't have acne scars will be less likely to click on my website
Exit Options: if I decide to sell my website, it'd be worth more as a skincare website with growth potential compared to a super niche site

I've created a new website called The Derm Detective.

It will focus on science-based treatments for common skin disorders including acne, acne scars, hyperpigmentation, keratosis pilaris, eczema, etc.

So far, I've completed the branding and design, and have written 7 round-up review articles.

At this point, I'm almost 6 months into my passive income journey.

While it did take me some time to learn the ropes and make a few pivots, I feel very confident about the prospects for this website.

In December and January, I will:

The 1-year goal for June 2019 remains the same and I've added one new goal:

To Flexibility and Freedom,

Tom