Late 2008 I referenced Bluehat’s infamous SEO Empire post and although much of this is a bit controversial, there is one rule the author mentioned that I absolutely must follow from now on. In fact, it is the only New Years resolution that I have for my business for 2009 til infinity. For within this one mandate is contained the secret to maintaining a solid foundation in the business of making money online.
And that rule is:
Every site must pay its own rent!
This may sound a bit too simplistic warranting the biggest “Duh” in internet marketing history, but really think about it. How many would-be netrepreneurs are properly adhering to this…how many sites get started only to never see the light of day…how many sites gain a whole lot of hype to get you there only to find it’s currently down…or even worse how many sites actually start out with great high quality content that’s been steadily helping you for a while only to shut down all of a sudden for no apparent reason?
Nine times out of ten you can bet those particular site owners were not following the Rule.
To start off, the rent I’m speaking of is the cost to have your site hosted on the internet. You can design websites all day long, but it cannot be seen on the World Wide web unless you rent a spot ;ie, lease some virtual real estate. Now I know that some have heard you can get your own server and basically “host” yourself, but even then the servers must be rented or leased. There will be some type of monthly fee which can sometimes be paid at a quarterly or yearly rate and that fee must be paid or else your site will magically disappear.
Hosting fees vary with different hosting companies, but the average price you’ll see is just under $10 a month. Therefore, your site has to generate at least $10 a month in order to stay in business. This $10 MUST come in regardless of what else is going on. It can come in from ad revenues, gratuity tips, affiliate commissions, etc. But however it comes in it must come in effortlessly and consistently…it has to be part of your recurring income.
For example: If you use the “tipping jar” concept with even a small readership following your site should be accomplish $10 bucks a month easily. Simply install a widget like the LinkShowOff widget you see on this site and set the tips from $2 to $5. In exchange for this gratuity the widget allows the tipper to display a link or message of their choosing on your site for a specified amount of time. At $2 to $5 a tip with about 5 to 10 spots your site should always be able to pay its own rent :)
Please remember to use these funds only for your hosting and NOT for anything else like advertising, new $99 premium WordPress themes, blunts, beer, etc. so that even if you run into a month where there were no tips you’ll still have some left over from previous months.
If you have to pay your own hosting by using revenue from another site you operate or from a slave driving back breaking job or by borrowing the money, then that’s called IRRESPONSIBLE because you’re merely passing the buck along to your other resources. If your site simply caN’T make the required monthly hosting fee then that’s called INCOMPETANCE!
Having guests visit your house at just about the same time your lights get cut off is extremely embarrassing…believe me I know from personal experience – which those of you who’ve tried to visit this site around New Years can bear witness to 
…so follow the Commandment explained throughout this post for every blog/site you run or intend to run and you will always be in business. Of course, this site graciously welcomes any gratuity tips you leave and will reciprocate with a link proudly displaying your chosen message.
More ways for keeping your site’s lights on will be discussed in future posts so stay tuned by subscribing and share this post with as many site owners as you know by using one of the “sharing options” below.
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16 users commented in " Keeping Your Site’s Lights On "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a Trackback January 8th, 2009 at 5:39 amThis is so true and is so close to real live business it’s not funny. I am always getting in trouble with the company I am franchised to because I will not call on small outlets. When they come up with, but you are driving right by, I tell them that ‘every outlet must pay their own way.’ If the amount of products they buy does not cover my cost for stopping, why on earth would I bother.
Sire´s last blog post..Blogging, It’s Not All About Money!
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I couldn’t agree more and I’ve been there and done that. I didn’t follow that rule on a few websites I started when initially starting on the internet. You can say that these websites are somewhat dormant at this stage of the game and don’t receive much love. I realized that the time I took to make these sites I was wasting time and could be using it towards sites that actually bring in the money.
[Reply]
Caleb
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January 14th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
Frank: that sucks the most…taking the time to build a site that makes no money. Learning the basics of gaining traffic and monetizing a site are most important because with this knowledge you can sell anything online ;)
Sire: Is there any way you could give those smaller outlets another way to buy so as to make it a bit easier on you :?:
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[...] we’ve been talking about ways for keeping your site’s lights on. We first focused on scratching each others backs and using it only for your web hosting and [...]
Really a good post. Commentluv is used on almost all new wordpress sites but blogger still bugs me. Keep up the good work.
Jacques´s last blog post..Social Bookmarking Software For Losers?
[Reply]
Caleb
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January 30th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Blogger now allows CommentLuv Jacques…goto the CommentLuv site to find out more.
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Great post. I used to blog ‘rent-free’ over at Blogger before I moved to my own hosted accounts. Even after I moved, I gave myself a deadline of making the blog earn its keep within six months. Fortunately, it earned its keep in half the time and now has earned more!
Foong´s last blog post..Time sure do flies and my earn money online efforts
[Reply]
Caleb
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February 2nd, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Way to go Foong…much success to you
I’ll definitely be stopping by your site on a regular basis…
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Could you stop wasting the electricity though? Haha, I just really wanted to say that. Nice. Great Work!
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I totally agree on hosting your own site and paying the rent. However, it should be noted that most of the times the lights are “out” is because many people choose the wrong hosting company. Choosing the right hosting company will save you a lot of headaches in the future.
For now, my lights remain hosted on Blogger.com. I do have an own domain which I think should be rule number 1, before “paying rent”:)
BTW, Caleb… I see too much buzz about “taking my blog to the next level”. What do you think people mean when they say this?
diTesco´s last blog post..Commenting 101 – A Power Sometimes Ignored
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April 25th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
You are doing an excellent job considering that fact alone you’re using Blogger’s free hosting – talk about “working smarter not harder
”
I didn’t even realize you were on Blogger even after all the content I’ve read from you?!?!
Perhaps this is what ppl mean by “taking it to another level”…but then again if it’s working to brand you along with the fact you’ve climbed to PR3 plus all the quality guest bloggers you’ve attracted, then keep on doing what works
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I agree with you, keeping the lights on, keeps your visitors and subscribers updated and informed of your activities and what your site has to offer. Great post! :)
Franck Silvestre´s last blog post..Protected: Getting Started For New Affiliates
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