One of the most important tips I am able to personally offer from first hand experience is the importance of never placing all your eggs in one basket. By this I mean that if you have supplementary options available which have little hindrance and impact on your current interests whether they be revenue e.t.c. then it is best to look into diversifying so that these complement the current interests and minimalises the chance of jeopardising anything negatively.

The following example, which I experienced, will apply to many people reading this and I hope the tip of not placing all your eggs in one basket will help many avoid making the same mistakes I experienced.

In 2005, I had a site which was generating good money via Google AdSense and receiving thousands of unique visitors daily. This trend continued for some time but then due to numerous factors which included search engine positioning changes, rising competitor site popularity and even laziness on my part with regards to the frequency of new content on the site, the traffic and ultimately the revenue fell. 

The site, which was generating enough revenue to make a comfortable living from, fell sharply over the course of a few weeks and this provided me with a massive wake-up call that I should never take anything for granted as minor changes could have huge consequences.

In hindsight, there is so much that could have been done differently to minimalise the effects I experienced. I have outlined some tips which I hope you may find useful.

- One Site or Multiple Sites?

From my experience it is more stable to run multiple sites over one site as the additional sites provide forms of backup in the event of changes in the nature of traffic to a particular site which ultimately has an effect on the revenue. The caveat to this is to not run so many sites that it has an adverse effect on the quality of the sites as it is necessary to find an optimal balance of the number of sites.

- One Revenue Source or Multiple Revenue Sources?

In 2005, I relied solely upon Google AdSense for revenue and a key lesson I learnt (the hard way) was that depending on one revenue source adds an unnecessary element of risk. Ideally, using multiple revenue sources provides greater revenue but, in reality, one sole revenue source may generate greater rewards financially. The key is to find a balance of using multiple revenue sources with revenue being as close to, if not greater, than a single source over multiple sites. In the event that the use of multiple revenue sources has a huge negative impact on revenue over multiple sites, it may be a requirement to only use one revenue source but have a plan B in place in the event that this source fails.

- Maximise the opportunities at your disposal

One mistake I made was to not utilise the opportunities available at my disposal during the peaks in traffic I was receiving. I could have created related sites at the time and, using ad space/mailing lists available to me, expanded with very little impact on the current project. This horizontal diversification would minimalise the risks involved of relying solely upon a single site.

- Diversify

As mentioned above it is advisable to diversify to minimalise the risks involved. This may be horizontally in similar sites or vertical diversification which goes beyond horizontal diversification and protects against market and/or economic changes which is highly advisable given the recent economic state.

- Innovation

Be sure to constantly strive to keep your site innovative and keep your target audience interested so they return to your site. Your users will always choose the more innovative site so if your competitor has a more advanced site it is highly likely you will lose many users to your competitor. It is imperative to always be the leader and not the follower.

- Avoid complacency

When you meet your targets it is all too easy to become complacent and lose focus. It is imperative to remain constantly motivated as a lack of commitment and dedication could see all the benefits of your hard work diminish rapidly.

The above are a few tips which outline the importance of never placing all your eggs in one basket.