The Interview

1. Where do you live?

I am from Pakistan but one of the reasons I chose to make living on the internet is my sheer passion for not living in one place (be geographically free).

I wander around with a laptop in search of peace & quiet and strong wifi signals.

2. When did you start creating content?

I have been in the online business since 2016 but I started creating written content with SEO in mind in mid-2020 when everyone was locked inside in eternal quarantine.

3. Are you a full-time Creator?

I have 2 other businesses (an ecom brand & a design agency) along with my content business so, not exactly full time. But recently I have been realising that true freedom (financial, geographical & time) can only be achieved with content business and that’s what I am working towards.

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

It was not a sudden “click” but more of a gradual realization that a lot of traditional careers will cease to exist or lose importance sometime in the future.

In a decade or two, I can imagine most people working for themselves as freelance specialists in their fields and the internet is the perfect tool to enable that.

Once I realized this, I quit my corporate job and went full-time online.

5. How many niche sites have you created?

I have two online businesses (an ecom brand & a design agency). I also have 2 niche content sites that I am very excited about. In the coming months and years, I am looking forward to selling my other businesses and focusing solely on building a portfolio of content sites under the umbrella of a media company. I think that would be cool.

6. How many are you still running now?

Currently running two sites.

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

No, I haven’t exited any business yet.

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

A LOT.

9. How much are you earning each month?

• $5,001 – $10,000

10. What are your current streams of revenue?

• Affiliate Sales
• Display Ads
• eCommerce
• Software (SaaS)

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

1. Writing sub-headings for google

2. Using a lot of keyword variations in-content

3. Internal linking of related posts to build topical authority

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

My biggest issue is scaling. I haven’t found much success with writers yet, so I am currently writing all my articles. Though I love doing that because I have expertise in both my niches, but it has definitely slowed down my publishing frequency.

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

• Ahrefs
• Grammarly (I am not a native writer)
• Canva
• Low Fruits
• Jasper (formally Jarvis)
• Google Spreadsheets

14. What has been the biggest mistake you made?

Wasting time and resources on subpar content that didn’t make a dime.

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

Adapting “display ads first” approach and writing helpful info articles instead of writing “best x for y” commercial articles geared at affiliate commissions.

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

I gradually got better at keyword research and that helped my traffic to grow exponentially. Learned a lot from all the amazing people on SEO Twitter that helped me polish my skills.

17. What’s your 12 month goal?

My goal for the next 12 months is to publish 250-300 well-written articles. Since I can’t control the outcome (like make this much money or get this much traffic) I usually set goals in terms of input than output. It has served me well over the years.

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

My main source of information tip is Twitter. I also watch a few selected youtube channels including Income school.

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

Tea. Every working hour.

20. Where can people follow you?

I am very active on Twitter. You can find me via my Twitter handle @ahmed_SEO_.