I am very interested in the ppc and affiliate programs talked about in this forum. I have been doing nothing but research in my spare time in the last week. But I am starting to think that it is a little to late to make some money in this sort of thing. It seems no matter what niche I am interested in, the web is over-saturated. I believe I know the answer, but I would like your opinion. What do you think would generate the most income, one site with quality content and a few ads... or a couple of sites with affiliate programs and ppc ads?
The straightforward answer is both - and neither. People have success with every business model imaginable online. And oversaturation is a myth. For every person who says a niche is oversaturated, there's another who just launched a site and is making money from that very market. A niche is never oversaturated if you can bring a unique voice/insight to the table. One of my favorite examples is golf. There are hundreds of different golf books. And yet if someone has a new superstar swing technique that shows novices how to break 70 in a week or less, buyers are going to eat it up. Whereas a person trying to sell a golf course directory isn't going to have much luck. It's all in how you approach a busy niche. My personal synopsis on the question you asked is that you build longevity and credibility by focusing on one site. Developing an authoritative site gives you a captive audience. As an authority, you recommend a product, your fans buy the product. You want to sell advertising, you have the status and the audience to do so. It's such an excellent strategy for long-term profits. On the flip side, becoming an authority also requires you to have a unique written voice. It's not enough to have 50 keyword enhanced articles. True authority sites are written for real readers. That's where their superhero powers lie. But that's just my opinion!
My opinion: with the right niche-theme it's possible to make a good working site, witch is making good money. The web is over-saturated with mainstream stuff, go and find something special.
If you bring people what they want, you can earn good money. So you have to spend the time to think about what people interest in, and take action. That sounds simple, but it's another thing to do it.
Regardless, you will need good content just to attract visitors unless you are going to just use adwords to bring them to an affiliate site. So basically, if you want to get anywhere you are going to need a site that is interesting and will attract people.
My best advice... don't expect any results over night. The folks making the good money on these boards have put years of hard work in during their "free" time to get to where they are. Don't expect to do any less. This industry is not a get rich quick though it may seem that way from some folks point of view. Good luck!
You may think the market is saturated, however there are more interests in online advertising (PPC and affiliate programs) which lead to more advertisers and therefore the need for more publishing (via websites). If there's no niche you're interested in, try exploring other means of earning money online. It's much easier if you're doing a topic/thing that you like
Competition simply means you have to work harder and produce a better product. I think we are just at the beginning of real money making opportunities on the net. Fortunes are being built every day both online and offline in "saturated markets".