| For me it's a 3 step process. 1. Make it, release it, drive 2,000 hits to the site, see conversions. If there are 0 conversions, then the idea is probably crap. If not, I try to optimize and drive another 2,000 hits to it. 2. If I get down to 1:200...then it's probably a good idea. The next step is to see if there is scale. A product that converts at 1:7 is not viable if the entire possible traffic is only 70 a month. 3. If I get a product that a) converts and b) has a lot of potential traffic, the next step is to see competition. If each click costs $5 and the first page of Google results for the relevant keywords is filled with high ranking websites...then I look at the profit margin to make sure I can afford to compete. Essentially this makes sure that the product can be both profitable and has scale. If there is low competition but no scale...it might still be a viable side project. Low competition = very easy to get to top of Google...so it might still be good for an extra $1-2K/mo with only a few hours spent a month on maintenance. |