Online Success Story: Charlene Stackpole
http://www.pureskinblog.com

My name is Charlene Stackpole and I started my website approximately 2 years ago. Following the blogs of Lynn Terry and Jackie Lee, led me to training from Kim Roach, and several others. 

I set up a wordpress blog, having no internet experience and now have over 400 visitors per day from strictly organic traffic. My website  is still a work in progress as I continue to learn more and more marketing and SEO strategies…

1. When did you set up your website?

Fall of 2008

2. What gave you the idea for this particular niche & website?

In my forties and concerned about aging, I happened to find an all natural skin care product that took 10 years off the look of my skin and from there, I began to research all natural skin products. What I found out about everyday skin care and beauty products was shocking. I bought and read every book and magazine about the dangers of chemical ingredients in these products along with researching all natural skin care products.

There are thousands of effective natural beauty products on the market today not sold in stores and nobody knows about them. Another shocker. Natural skin products in most cases, will eliminate major skin issues such as eczema, psoriasis, acne, and repair aging skin. I felt the need to get this information out there to the public. These products change lives and I love to write about them!

3. Did you have any experience with online business prior to creating this website?

No, I did not which led to many online distractions and an overwhelming amount of misinformation.

4. What did you do for work prior to setting up an online business?

I worked as a store manager from the time I was 18 years old and no longer wanted to be a slave to retail hours.

5. How did you initially promote your website, and if different – how do you promote it now?

I have always relied strictly on organic traffic from the search engines using good, quality content both on my site and through article marketing.

6. Is your website profitable? Can you share some basic traffic & profit stats with us?

My site is profitable, making approximately $500 per month with 300-400 visitors a day. Not too bad considering I had no idea what I was doing. I am only affiliated with companies that I stand behind and products that I have used myself.

I can’t bring myself to use AdSense on my site because I don’t believe in them and find most to be ads for junk. I know that I am leaving money on the table however, I would much rather offer my visitors quality products that they wouldn’t find elsewhere.

7. What are your plans for the site going forward?

My site has huge potential as I am learning new information on how to improve it every single day. When I set up my blog, I knew very little about SEO and nothing about backlinks and sales pages, not to mention the most important step, and my next project, setting up an opt-in email campaign so that I may communicate with my readers on a regular basis. I will also work on getting more “targeted visitors.”

8. What ONE piece of advice would you give someone interested in starting their own niche site or blog?

Do not get distracted by subscribing to every internet marketing newsletter thinking that it may be the step that you need. You will get overwhelmed and lose focus on the project at hand. Unfortunately most internet marketing gurus are selling other people’s products and start their sales pitches exactly that way….”are you overwhelmed with information? This is what you need.”

The only thing you need is a step by step course on how to set up your blog, how to write for your blog and articles linking back to your blog, and of course small marketing tips from your favorite, sincere, experienced marketers. No automatic posting software, no rehashed articles, just good, unique, quality content that the search engines will love. Offer good information and write, write, write!

Charlene Stackpole
http://www.pureskinblog.com

-Thank you, Charlene and congratulations on your success!