Every now and then someone puts together a couple of
obvious thoughts, packages them with a snappy name and
captures the imagination of the world.
Virtual Real Estate (VRE) is just such a case.
John Reese—a "guru's guru" famous for his obsession
with testing—did just that in 2006. And not only is the
idea snappy and smart, it's also available to anyone and
everyone with time and patience. John claims to make
hundreds of thousands with the idea and given his
reputation, I believe him, but, I'm equally sure everyone
can make something. The size of the "something" is in your
hands.
So what is the idea?
VRE is really a web page filled with content and optimized
through keywords, on which Google AdSense or the Yahoo
Publisher Network (YPN) advertisements are placed. The
Google, etc. ads are, of course, made automatically
appropriate to the content. So if you're writing about
buying a golf club, ads for golf clubs will appear. Every
time someone clicks on an ad, the page owner gets a little
shot of income.
A single web page is, naturally, not going to bring in much
—even if someone finds it. So the trick of VRE is to
create sites containing hundreds or thousands of pages, (or
networks of inter-linked mini-sites); hence, the need for
time and patience. The bigger the site, the more attractive
it is to the search engines that will gobble up such a
feast of content, and, over time it will be well served
with "free traffic."
That's the concept, and it works because it goes "with the flow" of the Internet.
*It satisfies what has emerged as the internet's primary
purpose—providing information.
*It lines up with the philosophies of the search engines—content.
*And it uses a tool that the search engines depend on for
their core profitability—AdSense and YPN. Brilliant!
So who is doing VRE?
Well, VRE practitioners fall into two groups—the
"force-feeders" and the "organic farmers."
The Force Feeders
The Force Feeders want to set up passive money engines
that will chug along, providing a stream of cash. This is
how they do it.
Step One — They select a theme that meets the following
criteria:
• Keywords associated with the theme that have a high bid
price in Google AdWords. This means a high pay-out in
Google AdSense and YPN.
• Those keywords attract a high number of searches, partly
why they are high priced.
• The keywords have low competition in the search results;
not many other web pages are ranking in the search engines
for these terms.
Step Two — They publish a page (or massive collection of
pages) with "keyword optimized" content derived from the
web itself through automated feeds and copying articles,
etc. They may even make the content dynamic, and even more
attractive to the engines.
Step Three — They place Google or Yahoo ads and flesh it all
out with affiliate links.
They now have a site that attracts high-paying,
high-search, low-competition keywords and gets lots of
people looking at its pages (traffic), lots of people
finding its pages (targeted customers), and thereby solid
Google AdSense, etc. revenue.
Great so far?
But (there is always is a but!) the side effect of these
sites is the creation of massive duplication of content
across the web. This clutters up the search engines, and
they really don't like it! This has led to a backlash from
Google that (as so often happens on the web) cramps the
effectiveness of this program for those coming in after the
first wave.
The Organic Farmer
I've focused on the word "organic," because this player
believes success in life (and web business) comes
ultimately by sticking with the natural flow, compared with
the "force feeder," who (like his real-world farming
counterpoint) tries to accelerate and warp natural growth
processes.
Here's how the organic folks do it…
Step One — The organic farmers start inside themselves,
looking for something they have a passion for. Building a
huge site takes a lot of effort and persistence—you'd
better love it.
Step Two — They build an ever-expanding site or network of
sites filled with "keyword optimized" pages full of
"original content" that will attract searchers in their
niche by working with the search engines—thereby avoiding
the search engine blockers. Naturally, every page is
populated with Google, Yahoo, and affiliate links.
Step Three — They promote traffic to the site(s) by
recycling the original content as articles, viral books, etc.
that they spread across the web. They may even promote in
other ways, but articles, etc. give a strong, long term push.
Step Four — They re-purpose their content into other digital
assets, such as special reports, ebooks, etc., and sell them
through the site, but also through other channels, such as
Amazon.
Step Five — They make sure the site captures an email list,
so creating yet another long-term digital asset.
Which are you?
The force feeders are part of the "instant passive income"
crowd that fills the web. They may not get-rich-quick with
VRE (it takes time to mature), but they aim to get rich
without continuing effort. And this is fine.
The organics are fascinated by their passion, and that comes
through in their persistence and in the quality of their
content. They may also get wealthy, and they will have fun
doing it.
Both are viable strategies. Which one you choose depends on
your personality and strategic philosophy.
©2006, Michael Kay
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Michael Kay edits the "Insights Letter" and "The
Home-Based Business Review." These are Free publications
stuffed with ideas, access to resources and free gifts.
Subscribe now—and get your free gift with the first
issue. Find out more about VRE and subscribe at
http://www.hbbresearch.com/VRE_special_report.html
