Google Sniper Update

Ah, so my update wasn’t as quick as I expected. Not to worry, because it’s not the material in the Google Sniper manual or the work involved that caused the delay. I have gotten one site up and am working on another.

Here’s the breakdown.

Yes, I think the material in the Google Sniper is worth the $67.

Yes, I got my refund for the upsell product that I decided wasn’t something I could use. :) That made me happy. The refund was prompt and without question. I really appreciated that.

The manual (possibly) makes a few inflated claims but I really think the underlying methods make very good sense. I do expect to make some money from these sites. Now, whether that’s the $200+ per month the Google Sniper sales page claims, or the $50+ per month I’m hoping for, or the $5 per month that would mean the sites are “profitable” albeit along the lines of a below minimum wage job—now that’s another question that I don’t yet have an answer for!

That said, I’m not lowering my criteria. I’m following along with the manual as closely as possible.

There is one small issue I take with the Google Sniper course and that’s the suggestion that I create a character to go along with my website if it’s a market that I don’t fit into. I take exception to that, on an ethical/moral basis, and I have decided that anything like that will be off limits for me. That’s my line, and it’s one I don’t want to cross.

Let me note that I’m not talking about the simple process of taking on a pseudonym. I’ve done that many times—I’ve been writing fiction for years and I do not use “Lynn” as either of my author names. Pseudonyms are useful for protecting your privacy, and frankly, I suggest you use one whenever you put yourself “out there”. The world really is full of crazy people. BUT I do not think that gives anyone the moral right to lie to others just to make a sale. Pseudonyms are just names. They do not determine who you are inside.

The thing is, I’m willing to give it a test of 20 sites. Heck, I’ve still got 22 sites of my own and 3 that I built with a friend (and that’s not counting the freebie sites I built back when I first started building websites—think geocities/weebly). What’s 20 more? ;) The good news is that the other 22 + 3 make enough money to pay for their domains, my hosting package, and the new 20 domains I’ll be testing. Not much will be left over, but anything worth doing has a little risk associated with it!

I’m thinking about starting a section where I keep a log of income from the Sniper sites. I haven’t decided yet, but I’ve probably got a few days. :) (Yes, that was a touch of sarcasm. I don’t expect miracles here.)

Here’s what I think will happen.

These are my numbers vs. the numbers in the Google Sniper book, which I’m not bothering to show here because I’m just not confident that they’re really accurate—at least not in my experience—yet. ;)

This is what I expect* will happen. This isn’t what I’m hoping for or working toward, by any means.

$5 Affiliate Commission x 10 Sales per Month = $50 per Site/Month

20 Sniper Sites x 50% Failure Rate = 10 Profitable Sniper Sites

10 Sites x $50 = $500 Total Monthly (from 20 initial sites)

The truth is, this isn’t a lot of money from a pretty large time investment. Despite the claims of 2 hour sites, these sites take a minimum of 4 – 6 hours each when you add in all the details.

Also, that doesn’t include the time it takes to become really familiar with the market and topic.

All said, I don’t think most people could put up a quality site, complete, in less than one day of solid work, and you can’t do it all in one go. Your content is very important to the Google Sniper system, and there are certain things that you have to spread out over time, so when it’s all said and done, the really devoted Sniper could spend a week developing 5 sites, starting on Monday and tying up all the loose ends on Friday. Heck, I might even give it a go myself in a few weeks just to see if it’s possible.

Let me reiterate though, this would be a lot of work and it’s unlikely anyone could do 5 sites a week working only in the evenings, unless you just don’t have a normal life to lead!

If my numbers work out as expected, the Google Sniper method might not be a viable way to earn an income online. However, if my numbers do turn out to be conservative (and here’s to hoping they do), then things might look a whole lot better than they appear here. Only time (and lots of work) will tell.

 

*There’s good research out there that identifies expectations with unhappiness. Expecting things leads to disappointment. Hoping for things doesn’t. So I don’t expect too much, but I hope for everything!