The Interview

1. Where do you live?

The Hague, The Netherlands

2. When did you start creating content?

I started my first website back in December 2018.

3. Are you a full-time Creator?

Yes, I have been doing this full-time for about 2 years now.

4. What was the “Click” that made you decide you can make full-time money online.

The moment I started earning more than $100 a month, I knew that this was something with lots of potential.

I then set myself a goal; If I reach $1000 a month in the next 12 months, I’d quit my studies and go full-time web publishing for one year. I got to the $1000 a month in about 5 months instead of 12 months, so that really showed me what was possible.

And since I was still living with my parents, I had zero overhead costs so I could go full time, even with $1000 a month.

Over the years, it turned out to be one of my best decisions so far!

5. How many niche sites have you created?

7 websites and 1 YouTube channel.

6. How many are you still running now?

I’m still runnning the YouTube channel, as well as all 7 sites

7. Have you sold any sites or online businesses? And what was the ROI like?

I have not yet sold any sites, but I do plan on selling some in the near future.

8. How many sites or online businesses have failed or not gotten going?

Out of the 7 sites I currently own, I’d say none of them flat out failed, but 2 have shown a much longer sandbox period. I do also have 1 site that used to do 250.000 pageviews per month, but lost about 80-90% of its traffic after a Core Update.

9. How much are you earning each month?

• $1,001 – $5,000

10. What are your current streams of revenue?

• Affiliate Sales
• Display Ads

11. What are your Top 3 on-page SEO strategies?

1) Always think to yourself: ‘what is the reader looking for’. The searcher’s intent is incredibly important, so I always focus on that.

2) Work on capturing the snippets by providing short and precise answers.

3) Incorporate some personal stories (these stories shouldn’t be the majority of the article though), as I feel like this builds some rapport and makes for an easier and nicer to read article.

12. What’s the biggest issue(s) that you’re facing today?

I struggled with indexing issues on one site, but got that fixed. I’m currently looking to onboard more writers, but that’s going a little slower than I would have liked.

Also, I probably spread myself too thin. I manage 7 sites with a lack of writers to keep them up. Currently working on consolidating so that I can focus on just a few promising sites.

13. What tool(s) do you rely on the most?

I typically don’t use that many tools, but Keyword Chef is a great help.

14. What has been the biggest mistake you made?

Not diversifying. I used to have one large site that was responsible for all the income. When that site got hit by an update, I not only lost 80% of my traffic, but also 80% of my income.

Nowadays, I like to have several sites that earn me my money instead of just one large site.

15. What has been the best decision you’ve made?

Not giving up. I was super tempted to give up after that core update crash, but I didn’t and I now have several sites in the pipeline that are looking promising.

It’s also easy to give up during the ghost town phase, where it feels like you’re writing for absolutely no one. Not giving up is the key in this business I think.

16. What’s one thing that you felt accelerated your journey the most?

Being consistent. Consistency is key. Get up every day and try to write, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Get something done and all of that will compound in the future.

17. What’s your 12 month goal?

Get into the high 4-figure or low 5-figure monthly income.

18. How do you stay up to date on the SEO, affiliate marketing, display ad, and other news?

I primarily watch other YouTube channels and participate in forums.

19. What do you eat or drink for fuel to keep going?

Coffee. Lots of coffee. Also, I like my fruits 🙂

20. Where can people follow you?

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JasperPieterse/ 
• Personal Blog: https://jasperpieterse.com/

BONUS: Anything else you’d like to share that can help others?

Stay consistent and keep giving it your all and the odds will be in your favor!