How to turn a profit?

[NLTech]

So, here at NLTech we run a website on Wordpress by the same name (plus a few more words like newsandreviews) and we have been at it for a few months, we want to go out into our own website hopefully NLTech.tech or NLTech.com or something like that, but we need 10k website views a month for Google Adsense to give us checks. Both the CEO and Manager of NLTech don't have money to put into it, so what are ways we could get money to do it? The CEO runs a small-time repair out of his Office and the Manager volunteers at Freegeek. 

Also how much would it be for a website designer to design something as well and clean as our site? We like working on Wordpress but the .wordpress.com isn't very fitting and neither is having such a long sub-domain name. 

The CEO also has a brand, to remain unnamed on here, that he would also like a site for. 

Any suggestions? 

BTW we have looked into podcasting, streaming (which we abandoned for NLTech) and a number of other things. Both of us don't have the strongest PCs but need something to get off the ground. Any suggestion for growing, its hard to advertise with no money. 

Below is our analytics. 
(EDIT : Anyone willing to write for us for free?)

[NinJake]

Well if the CEO has a brand and it's selling well. When you have the website for that brand, advertise NLTech on the site.

[Donny_Chen]

can you clarify the website?  I don't know which you guys own 

 

[mariushm]

NLTech.tech would be stupid

 

Stick with .com or .net ... and if i may suggest think of something less generic.  When i search nltech on google, i get loads of companies with similar names. You don't wanna start something that would become popular and then some other company would claim your domain name because it's too similar to theirs (or they own the .com and you have only the .net or something like that)

 

Then from your analytics you're basically just starting up... you gotta put the work , add content, with proper keywords so they will be indexed by search engines. The site is probably too young, you shouldn't even think about advertising on Adsense or through other services at this point.

 

For some niches, print is kinda dead, unless your content is really good. There's other established websites and with little content people won't come to your site or won't come again - for example for tech news there's Anandtech, Toms Hardware, Techpowerup and a bunch of other hardware review sites already that I know of - what would make your website more special than them, what's your trick, how would you make me bookmark your website or make me visit your site again?

 

Some websites work in some niches, like for example I check out Jonnyguru (but mostly their forum) because the people there do quality power supply reviews ... but it would be kinda hard for you to get into that because the hardware required for proper reviews is expensive and at least until you become a bit popular and well known, you'd have to actually buy the hardware that you review.

 

For some articles , you could have a sort of mix between written article and Youtube uploads (sort of like Gamers Nexus does it) ... that may allow you to get some ad revenue from basic ad impressions on your youtube videos and some people may stumble on your videos without even knowing about your website.

 

If you have quality you'll get subscribers and once you get subscribers you may be able to get into stuff like Patreon or maybe some live stream from time to time on Twitch, where you could make some money off donations or subscriptions etc etc

 

 

[DipperDolphin]

I have written a tech site for around 3 years, and it takes a while to grow. Mine is only just starting to support itself know. Use Amazon affiliate links, iTunes affiliate links, and Paypal donations. At the start, you'll need to support it out of your own pocket but if you keep writing great content eventually the views will start to pick up, as well as the income.

You could try a Patreon newsletter when the site grows bigger.

[NLTech]

1 hour ago, NinJake said:

Well if the CEO has a brand and it's selling well. When you have the website for that brand, advertise NLTech on the site.

The CEO's brand for now has just started in April as a YouTube channel

1 hour ago, Donny_Chen said:

can you clarify the website?  I don't know which you guys own 

 

NLTechNewsAndReviews.wordpress.com (very long URL)

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

NLTech.tech would be stupid

 

Stick with .com or .net ... and if i may suggest think of something less generic.  When i search nltech on google, i get loads of companies with similar names. You don't wanna start something that would become popular and then some other company would claim your domain name because it's too similar to theirs (or they own the .com and you have only the .net or something like that)

 

Then from your analytics you're basically just starting up... you gotta put the work , add content, with proper keywords so they will be indexed by search engines. The site is probably too young, you shouldn't even think about advertising on Adsense or through other services at this point.

 

For some niches, print is kinda dead, unless your content is really good. There's other established websites and with little content people won't come to your site or won't come again - for example for tech news there's Anandtech, Toms Hardware, Techpowerup and a bunch of other hardware review sites already that I know of - what would make your website more special than them, what's your trick, how would you make me bookmark your website or make me visit your site again?

 

Some websites work in some niches, like for example I check out Jonnyguru (but mostly their forum) because the people there do quality power supply reviews ... but it would be kinda hard for you to get into that because the hardware required for proper reviews is expensive and at least until you become a bit popular and well known, you'd have to actually buy the hardware that you review.

 

For some articles , you could have a sort of mix between written article and Youtube uploads (sort of like Gamers Nexus does it) ... that may allow you to get some ad revenue from basic ad impressions on your youtube videos and some people may stumble on your videos without even knowing about your website.

 

If you have quality you'll get subscribers and once you get subscribers you may be able to get into stuff like Patreon or maybe some live stream from time to time on Twitch, where you could make some money off donations or subscriptions etc etc

 

 

NL stands for the Founder (CEO) and Co-Founder's names.

And we plan to grow it out over the last quarter of 2017 hopefully hiring a volunteer writer by 2018. 

We did do streaming back in April but after missing it for a month, which we tried to do a WAN show type stream, we decided to settle NLTech, or at the time known as TechNewsForTheWorld. 

We also hope to settle a forum a bit like this, make a youtube and get a team of writers and editors by 2021. 

52 minutes ago, GiacomoLaw said:

I have written a tech site for around 3 years, and it takes a while to grow. Mine is only just starting to support itself know. Use Amazon affiliate links, iTunes affiliate links, and Paypal donations. At the start, you'll need to support it out of your own pocket but if you keep writing great content eventually the views will start to pick up, as well as the income.

You could try a Patreon newsletter when the site grows bigger.

This has been around since june/july, so I am not expecting much from it and don't want to get into adverts or money really. I just want money to put into it and this post is asking how we could get that. 

[NLTech]

57 minutes ago, GiacomoLaw said:

I have written a tech site for around 3 years, and it takes a while to grow. Mine is only just starting to support itself know. Use Amazon affiliate links, iTunes affiliate links, and Paypal donations. At the start, you'll need to support it out of your own pocket but if you keep writing great content eventually the views will start to pick up, as well as the income.

You could try a Patreon newsletter when the site grows bigger.

Also BTW nice site. 

[Donny_Chen]

Also a content writer / Marketing Director

for the company I'm working with.

 

 

but here are my thoughts. 

 

 

If you ever plan on going serious,  consider getting a .com domain.  I usually get a year worth via godaddy + private registar for about 20 bucks with a coupon code ( its always around).

 

Here are some pointers.

 

Your home page should be re-done.  As least imo,  I go to the website and the only hint that I have of what the website does is in the URL.  The only "landing" pages you have are in your articles.  You should have a central hub that brings everything together.  Consider having someone do your graphic work for you.  It looks like someone opened up MSPAINT and put a few pictures together using Arial Font.  Please stop using MsPaint and Arial font, its offensive to anyone who does this professionally lol

 

fix the format on this page

https://nltechnewsandreviews.wordpress.com/2017/09/16/is-an-iphone-5s-still-good/

 

Also check for grammar

"If you scour sites as hard as some do, you can probably get that under $300, same specs, same performance."  

These might be a bunch of little things,  but a lot of little things becomes a big thing.  Image and impression are important in writing.  Grammar errors that are acceptable in forums may not be in an article.  You don't want to give the impression that you're reading a high school essay.

 

With articles,  you can get away with some of the things they've told you not to do in school (like starting a sentence with the word but).  I've read through a few of your articles so far.  There needs to be some improvement. 

 

When writing articles,  consider making them longer and keeping the reader engaged somehow.  Include multimedia, from videos and pictures (don't forget to source).  Users spend more time on pages that have more content. 

 

Consider doing different types of multimedia too -- like youtube.

Consider doing social media.

Consider a different name,  the internet is FLOODED with NLTech.  Its going to be difficult to compete with that SEO and keyword,  nothing to long.

 

wanting two people in a web name might be tough,  as mentioned in a previous poster something like 

tomshardware

 

NLTech can be something else like NicksTechReviews.  Heck, look at Linus' website.  Linustechtips.com.  Short, sweet, gets to the point and builds off his brand.

 

Lastly,  getting a volunteer writer to produce quality content is going to be extremely difficult.  Usually,  the more experienced writers who produce quality over quantity is going to ask for some kind of compensation.  Its usually best to have someone internal do this.

 

Edited September 25, 2017 by Donny_Chen
you try typing this with cake in the other hand.

[NLTech]

2 minutes ago, Donny_Chen said:

 

If you ever plan on going serious,  consider getting a .com domain.  I usually get a year worth via godaddy + private registar for about 20 bucks with a coupon code ( its always around). 

 

 

Here are some pointers.

 

Your home page should be re-done.  As least imo,  I go to the website and the only hint that I have of what the website does is in the URL.  The only "landing" pages you have are in your articles.  You should have a central hub that brings everything together.  Consider having someone do your graphic work for you.  It looks like someone opened up MSPAINT and put a few pictures together using Arial Font.  Please stop using MsPaint and Arial font.

 

fix the format on this page

https://nltechnewsandreviews.wordpress.com/2017/09/16/is-an-iphone-5s-still-good/

 

Also check for grammar

"If you scour sites as hard as some do, you can probably get that under $300, same specs, same performance."

 

With articles,  you can get away with some of the things they've told you not to do in school (like starting a sentence with the word but).  I've read through a few of your articles so far.  There needs to be some improvement. 

 

When writing articles,  consider making them longer and keeping the reader engaged somehow.  Include multimedia, from videos and pictures (don't forget to source).  Users spend more time on pages that have more content. 

 

Consider doing different types of multimedia too -- like youtube.

Consider doing social media.

Consider a different name,  the internet is FLOODED with NLTech.  Its going to be difficult to compete with that SEO and keyword,  nothing to long.

 

wanting two people in a web name might be tough,  as mentioned in a previous poster something like 

tomshardware

 

NLTech can be something else like NicksTechReviews.  Heck, look at Linus' website.  Linustechtips.com.  Short, sweet, gets to the point and builds off his brand.

 

 

 

Its Nathan & Lucas tech, we do have SocialMedia, a facebook page, an instagram page, a twitter page, and most recently a LTT page. Both me and my friend write, so there are variations. the CEO wrote the 4 and 5s articles, the iPad Air article and a few more like the 1st chromebook article and the Macbook article. We are going to try to hire 2 new writers onto the team (rn its just the CEO and Manager writing) before we start onto YouTube (we also need editing and filming equipment) The Arial Font is by the Manager for the thumbnails, he makes them. And both the CEO and Manager have access over one account for the site, which means they have their disagreements on the design, but I will report this to both the CEO and Manager by 4:30. 

[DipperDolphin]

2 hours ago, NLTech said:

money to put into it and this post is asking how we could get that. 

I started off free using Blogger, then when I got money I started to get a premium domain, hosting etc.

[Yoinkerman]

What about squarespace?

[NLTech]

6 minutes ago, Yoinkerman said:

What about squarespace?

Square space we still need money for...

[Clockwork_princess]

You need money to make money.

 

Once your old enough to have a job or have a service you can supply or a good you can sell you probably won't make money.

 

Do chores for your parents or neghibors for money.

 

On GoDaddy a dominant is like $15 a year plus $6 for the security option (so people can't Google your site then get your IP and name and shit) 

 

And for a webhost to host your own website is like $50 a year.

 

I just like to code my own websites so I use GoDaddy. They allow you to do that 

[NLTech]

2 minutes ago, Clockwork_princess said:

You need money to make money.

 

Once your old enough to have a job or have a service you can supply or a good you can sell you probably won't make money.

 

Do chores for your parents or neghibors for money.

 

On GoDaddy a dominant is like $15 a year plus $6 for the security option (so people can't Google your site then get your IP and name and shit) 

 

And for a webhost to host your own website is like $50 a year.

 

I just like to code my own websites so I use GoDaddy. They allow you to do that 

Awesome, I had a post looking for people to help but it could stay up.

Do you do websites for other people?

[Volbet]

I was going to write this in your thread where you asked for writers, but I'll say it here since it's also relevant to general audience building. 

 

You seriously need to up the quality of the articles of your site. As harsh as it may sound there's really no reason to visit your site since you aren't offering anything I can't find on other websites. 

Quality usually leads to quality, so you need to lead by example. If I was a serious writer, that was willing to do some volunteer work, then why would I chose to volunteer for a website that comes off as pretty amateurish?

 

For example, your review of IOS 11 is only 1.383 characters long. That's shorter than most of my weekly homework, and I'm pretty infamous for being short and concise in my writing.

Not to toot my own horn, but I recently wrote a one-page review of a musical album for a local webzine. That review ended up being 8.686 characters long and my editor was worried that my review would be too short and that I would have left out something important. 

A piece of software like IOS 11 is infinitely more intricate and complex than a 50 min. musical album, so you should be able to make a review that's longer than 1.383 characters. 

It would also help if you proof read the articles before posting them. 

While the writing and grammar isn't atrocious, the mistakes does make the site look unprofessional. 

 

I am aware that you're probably limited in how much data you can upload to the site, but some kind of multimedia would really help. 

Pictures, videos, graphs, etc. all help the reader gain a better comprehension of what's written.

Show them, don't tell them as the old saying go. 

[Clockwork_princess]

44 minutes ago, NLTech said:

Awesome, I had a post looking for people to help but it could stay up.

Do you do websites for other people?

I have a webhost I have rented out before 

[Clockwork_princess]

May need to proof read too 

 

 

Spoiler

Let’s start off with what’s in the kit, it’s made out of a durable fabric that should last a long time. After unlatching the velcro, it folds out like a something. 

 

[NLTech]

1 hour ago, Clockwork_princess said:

May need to proof read too 

 

 

  Hide contents

Let’s start off with what’s in the kit, it’s made out of a durable fabric that should last a long time. After unlatching the velcro, it folds out like a something. 

 

The CEO and Manager do vary alot in writing style, if you read one of each's articles, you can probably tell who wrote which. 

[MorganO]

this is super bugging me the iphone 5s is metal and glass accents (source i owned one)

[NLTech]

Just now, KOMTechAndGaming said:

this is super bugging me the iphone 5s is metal and glass accents (source i owned one)

For me using it at the time even now I use it, Apple calls it a satin feel, but I think it feels like really cheap aluminium at best. Still comfortable to hold. 

[MorganO]

Just now, NathanNLTech said:

Thank you for the heads up. I usually don't read our own articles so this kind of thing slips through. The mistake will be corrected.

 

Nathan M

Vice President

thank you, afaik the fram for the 5s is the same as the 5 and SE 

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

The only real issue I have with the name is that "NL" is the common abbreviation for the Netherlands. 

Most people will assume you're a Dutch site and nobody likes the Dutch.   

 

That abbreviation is the reason why the net is littered with sites that have NL in the name regardless of whether they have a .nl domain or not.  Personally I'd consider changing the name to LNTech or something similar while you still can. 

[Arika]

On 10/1/2017 at 4:59 PM, NathanNLTech said:

But your feedback is appreciated none the less.

Quote

This dude can go fuck himself for all i care

how professional of you /s and not the kind of thing you should have made public regardless of being a start up or not

 

 

 

 

[Guest]

What do you guys write? I would help possibly. I'm sort of young though.

[NLTech]

1 minute ago, Abyss Gaming said:

What do you guys write? I would help possibly. I'm sort of young though.

The CEO and Manager are 13 & 14, so age isnt a matter, we write about tech..