Niche Site Challenge - Let's Get Started!

Okay - first of all I have to say that I'm encouraged and excited at the response we've got so far! I think this is going to be a lot of fun, and hopefully we will all learn a lot and make some money.

I'm no authority on niche sites so I will be learning right along side everyone else who's part of the challenge.

The goal will be to follow the process that Pat Flynn outlined at nichesiteduel.com and supplemented as needed as we go from other applicable sources.

Here is what I'm thinking regarding the rules. I really don't think that we need to have many.

1. First, let's follow Pat's lead in that there will be no paid advertising to generate traffic. I think it would unfairly skew the results in favor of those who had the deeper pockets needed to do that, and that's not the point of the challenge. So no Adwords, Facebook PPC or any other kinds of advertising.
2. Second, I think it would be good to start from scratch. I know a couple people may have sites already up and running (I know I do) that are attempting the same thing. However, let's all start on even ground and work from discovering a topic that we can create content for and begin at the beginning. Again, it will help to keep from skewing results.
3. Third, if you're absolutely crushing it, please be very vocal about what you're doing that's working. Be prepared to get in to details about how your techniques are working so we all can immitate them. There will be others who may be struggling and will be able to get a great deal of help from the methods you use that are being successful.
4. Fourth, respect the desire of others who may want to keep their topic confidential. I don't personally mind if you share your topic, but know that doing so will likely skew your results.
5. Fifth, when it comes time to talk about sharing different premium tools you're using and you have an affiliate relationship with that tool, disclose it, and be open about it.
6. Sixth, milestones will post weekly. I think this is the most manageable and reasonable way to accomplish things as most of us have other responsibilities that we have to address too.
7. Seventh, use this challenge as opportunity to create content for your regular blog. I plan on doing it, I will talk about it on my podcast this week, and will keep all my posts about my site at nichesitechallenge.com in addition to what I talk about here.

Anything anyone would like to add that I may have missed?

I think this is enough to get started, so let's jump in!