Notes from the workshop — case studies, growth data, and honest lessons from building and operating a portfolio of niche sites and tools.
The seventh site in the network just went live. TrueDriveCost is 11 free calculators that go past the sticker price — a True Cost to Own tool that totals depreciation, fuel, insurance, maintenance, interest, and fees per year, month, and mile, with every formula shown and every default sourced from AAA, the EIA, the FHWA, and the EPA.
Read moreBuilding in public means publishing the numbers. Six live sites, ~$237/month combined: RemodelCalculators carrying the network, a Journey-to-AdSense switch that lifted RPM, MeetBackdrops flat, FigureMoney breaking into search with a 9x impression ramp, and RightDumpster still at zero.
Read moreAn honest, operator-tested timeline for ranking a new site — the indexing lull, long-tail traction, and compounding phases — plus what actually speeds it up and what quietly slows you down. From someone who has launched seven sites from zero.
Read moreThe line between useful programmatic pages and doorway spam is real data per page. How FigureMoney generates a paycheck page for all 50 states plus D.C. off one dataset — and the five rules that keep a generated page set on the right side of that line.
Read moreOn a YMYL site a wrong number is a broken promise. The system I use to keep money sites correct at scale — one formula engine, one source of truth per constant, verifiable methodology, and a real author — and why that discipline is what earns E-E-A-T.
Read moreGenerative Engine Optimization in practice — how I set up a seven-site network to get cited by AI search: answer-first structure, verifiable sourcing, a unified author entity, and a build-time llms.txt plus self-updating sitemap.
Read moreWhy interactive calculators out-rank and out-convert articles in boring, high-intent niches — the intent match, the engagement signals, the defensibility, and how to build one that compounds.
Read moreAI prompts are the least defensible digital product there is — the whole internet gives them away. Here is how PromptDynamo was built to rank and convert anyway: role-based packs, a free-sample funnel, and one typed registry driving the store.
Read morePersonal finance is the hardest niche on the internet to rank and get ad-approved in. Here is how FigureMoney — a 42-calculator suite — was built to earn trust: show every formula, cite every source, and cover paycheck taxes state by state.
Read moreWhy I drew 225 original, labeled construction diagrams for RemodelCalculators — the EEAT case for original illustrations, and how each one doubles as a Pinterest distribution asset.
Read moreStraight-talk pricing for custom business websites in 2026 — from $500 starter sites to $15K+ tool-driven builds, with what you get at each tier.
Read moreTen questions that separate developers who build sites that perform from ones who just decorate — a practical hiring checklist for $3K–$20K custom builds.
Read moreHow MeetBackdrops turned a saturated stock-photo category into a productized service — and what its catalog-to-custom funnel teaches about productizing yours.
Read moreHow Applicant Tracking Systems actually read resumes, why most builders ignore them, and how WolfResume was architected schema-first for ATS-compliant output.
Read moreTen unglamorous fundamentals that move local businesses from page 3 to page 1 of Google — the checklist I run on every new client, in priority order.
Read moreHow RightDumpster was built — why dumpster sizing is harder than it looks, the weight-aware calculator, and how it converts cold search into rentals.
Read moreHow RemodelCalculators grew from a single drywall tool to a 146-calculator suite covering interior, exterior, and code-compliance estimation.
Read moreThe hidden costs of template builders for serious local businesses — performance ceilings, SEO limits, lock-in fees — and when custom actually saves money.
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