Milk your Cash Cows
One of the problems that I “suffer” from is a desire to always be doing something new. Whether this means launching a new forum, or focusing my attention on one of my smaller websites, I just enjoy mixing up what I do online. I think that we can all agree that doing the same thing can grow stale because even if you’re making a lot of money off of one particular website you may still get a little burned out. I know this is one reason why I start new websites; however, what you need to keep in check is the amount of time you devote to these new ideas.
Managing the time you spend on your portfolio of websites is crucial to your success. For those of us that aren’t making enough money online to quit our full time jobs this becomes even more important. As a part time web entrepreneur I recently realized that my focus on starting new websites had actually started to hinder my business because of the extra time, money, and effort that these projects take. I recently wrote about focusing on the big picture over at my blog where I talked about selling off one of my smaller websites that took a fair amount of time to set up that in the end didn’t even contribute much to my bottom line. Mistakes like this are costly and it’s so important to maintain a healthy balance between managing your existing websites and starting those new projects. You never want to take on more than you can handle and that’s why I will probably get rid of a few of my other small websites that take up my time so that I can focus on what matters most – my cash cows.
Your cash cows should be the primary focus when you get home from the day job. Everything else should be secondary. Now by no way am I telling you not to try out new ideas that you believe will be successful, but it should never come at the expense of your cash cows. Don’t take on too much if the rest of your websites will suffer from the extra time you now have to allocate to new ventures. I made the mistake of neglecting some of my cash cows so that I could focus on new projects and now I have to put in even more time to build them back up to their former glory. Don’t make the same mistake I did!
Another reason why you should always milk your cash cows first before moving on to anything else is because of the perks that come along with owning a larger website. Owning a large website allows you to gain entry into publisher programs that have strict traffic requirements. These top tier programs often pay out more than programs anyone can access and occasionally allow you to negotiate revenue share. If you take one thing from this post I ask that you please tend to the cows that provide you the most mooney before you even think about launching a new venture.
This post was guest blogged by me - Chris Guthrie! I write about blogging, managing online communities and making money online. If you liked this post subscribe to my full RSS feed.
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geez.. the font size are too small..and it is times new roman! BTW, good post.
This was my biggest problem, I had so many things on the go! Until I said thats it!
I am going to focus on my top earning website and dump all of my domain names. In fact I am selling all of my 20+ domains on Ebay right now, click on Mike and it will bring you to my auction. Thanks for this post, I now know that I am doing the right thing!
I suffer of the same “new-start” disease, as I own a decent-sized website and have developed something that I find unique and great.
The thing is I can’t focus my promotion on it, since I focus so much on my main, and making money with the new one is .. hard.
Don’t get into something new without having a stable income support from the old one.
Cheers,
Scorpiono
agree with you chriss, we have to focus on milk our cash cows.
nice post..
Great guest post
-Mike
Excellent advise, and something that I never seem to be able to remember.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep focused on what’s important when you get caught up in new ideas… thanks for the reminder!
Nice post!
Everyone likes cash cows but your right - balance is key. Enough new projects to keep you stimulated, but keeping focused on the big picture.
Thanks everyone, I’m glad you liked the post. I’ve really started to focus much more of my time on my top earners before I work on something new. In fact, I’ve sold a few more of my small websites since I wrote this guest post specifically so that I could free up more time to invest in my cash cows.
One of the worst things you can run out as a part time web publisher is time
.
Yah I just noticed the font size. I’m not sure why it’s so small lol.
Interesting post. I do think that it can be sad not focusing on your smaller websites so much but from a financial perspective it needs to be done.
I agree with the main point of the post but I also think that starting new ventures is never a wasted effort.
When inspiration strikes you need to jump on it. Buy the domain, write a quick outline for what the blog or website is going to be about and THEN let it sit if necessary. Waiting to build a new project could make you lose out on another money making opportunity.
Of the several sites that I run, I do spend most of my time on the sites that make the most money and have the highest traffic. Every couple of week though I will wake up in the middle of the night with an idea for an awesome domain name or an idea for a new venture and I have watched too many opportunities pass me by, not to do anything about it.
I say run rampant and get several projects moving at once. But don’t be stupid and let your money makers drop off the map.
It is still good if you have an established cash cow, having it ignored and come back at the end of the day to rebuild it as it will be much more easier compared to someone who jumps on every fads that he heard of, which at the end of the day, accomplish nothing.
@Online Empire
I also agree with the points you raised. I primarily wrote this post from the perspective of a part time web publisher. I work full time 40 hours a week, spend a fair amount of the day commuting and generally have a small amount of time to actually get work done.
I still am working on new websites here and there, but I make sure that the additional work load won’t pull me away from my already established and successful money makers.
I only need to earn $1000 a month so just quite my day job. I can make about $600 from my only cash cow so will have to focus on that every morning and then use the afternoon to grow my new projects.
I finish my day job in a week so can’t wait to get on with all my new ideas.
I feel that you’re talking about me in the first paragraph. That is my dilemma everyday. New ideas are bursting out but the day only has 24 hours.
For me it was about finding my passion. I had the shotgun approach for a while where I would start this venture or that but allow them to fizzle out because none of them were worth the effort when times got tough. As soon as I started putting the effort into what I loved, the money started coming.
I agree with everything you said there because if you don’t concentrate on one then you can’t make it quality. Alot of people i see go for quantity just thinking maybe that the site they are running right now is making them $15 a day from adsense .. so they go on and start 9 other sites to avg. $150 a day but thats not how it works…
They will learn as time goes