Building My First Rank and Rent Asset in Public

Why the rank and rent business model?

In this journey, I will document all my progress in building my first rank and rent asset.

The rank and rent business model is alluring to me for the following reasons:

You own the final asset, i.e. the website
It is easy to rank locally on Google if you know what you are doing.
It plays to my strengths as a web developer, web designer, SEO and writer.
Attaining a monthly return of a couple of hundred dollars in a couple of months is possible
Clients can come and go quickly. (The client can be less bound to the lead-generating asset).
Once an asset is set, you can create new assets.
The skills to hit new market success are compounded with experience.

For Rent sign on a beach umbrella with a beach and ocean in the background

The Blueprint

Below are the blog articles, each containing a piece of the entire process of constructing my first rank and rent.

Blueprint with a wooden ruler on top, showing architectural plans

The Action Plan

Rank and Rent Part 1.1 Finding a City and Niche

This blog discusses my general requirements for picking a city and niche for my rank and rent.

One requirement is to choose a city with a population between 100 and 300 K. The requirement for the niche is to pick one with a decent volume (100 to 1000 search queries per month).

For the niche, the requirement is to pick one with a decent volume (100 to 1000 search queries per month).

To find the niche, you can either: Use Ubersuggest and search for the city name, listing all the most common queries people were making containing the city name. From there, you can pick an associated niche for the city. When looking for the niche, I ensure the keyword pertains to the country and language I want my website to appear in the SERPs.

The second method is using chat GPT to list the possible main niches. From there, you can do more keyword research and find the best associate city for that particular niche.

By the end of this blog, you will clearly understand the thinking process I went through when choosing my niche and city for my rank and rent business.

Rank and Rent Part 1.2 Mistakes and What I Learned

This blog goes through all the mistakes and things I learned building my first rank and rent website.

Rank and Rent Part 2 Finding a Potential Client

At this stage, I pre-sell the asset before building it. To do so, I researched on Google and directories of all the local businesses that could be interested in renting out the asset.

I first call those who seem unoptimized for an online position. I make my pitch and keep track of whether or not they are sold on the idea.

I keep a database of what we speak of, whether they are bought in, and their contact information. I give them direct access to my contact information.

I then make a follow-up email thanking them and will contact them once the asset is finished.

step 1 If no client is found during this step, I return to step 1 and change the city and/or niche combination until I find potential clients.

The reason for pre-selling the asset is to avoid spending time, money and effort on a website without market demand.

City skyline at sunset with a tall skyscraper and a road leading into the distance

Mahdi Furry