Most niche site operators stall at one site. Jamie I.F. built a portfolio that earns over $450,000 per year in just a few years. The gap is not hustle. It is systems: niche selection, portfolio logic, and a conversion framework he applies to every buying guide.
We had Jamie on Seeking Profit as the show’s first guest. He walked through his path from university SEO work to a multi-site portfolio, plus the SPEAR framework he uses to improve affiliate content conversion and organic traffic.
Updated 2026.
From Side Hustle to Six-Figure Portfolio
Jamie has always had an eye for online business, going back to when he was a teenager. Before niche sites, he tried a clothing brand on Instagram and a non-profit business incubator. Fun fact: the non-profit’s name is where the I.F. in his Twitter handle came from.
It was during university that he first saw what proper search engine optimization (SEO) could do for a business.
The SEO apprenticeship
During his third year, Jamie took part in what British students call a “year in industry,” similar to internships in the U.S. He worked for a small but established media company publishing content online.
The company did not focus on SEO. Most traffic came through the homepage, and his bosses wanted traffic to land on top pages directly. Jamie started researching SEO, running tests, and seeing results in real time. On an established brand, small changes had big impacts.
After that year, he bounced through a few more projects before putting what he learned into his own niche site.
The first site
Jamie started his first niche site for the same reason many of us did: a side hustle that might earn “beer-money” income. He did not know it would someday generate tens of thousands of dollars per month.
It took eight months to reach job-replacement income, about $4,000 per month for Jamie. Then, in April 2020, Amazon cut commission rates, and he had to build back to that level again.
He was living at home, so financial pressure was lighter than for many site builders. Still, like most successful bloggers, he put in thousands of hours alone in a dark room typing until the site worked.
Scaling to $450k+/Year
One profitable niche site is hard. A portfolio at $450k+/year is harder. Here is how Jamie got there, and what operators can take from the timeline.
Milestones and complacency
Jamie’s first site hit job-replacement income in eight months, which is fast. He attributes that to a lucrative niche he got lucky picking.
It took four years to reach his current level of success. One reason bloggers stall below six figures is complacency. The niche you choose matters a lot. For operators evaluating new verticals, our guide on high-ticket affiliate marketing covers what makes a niche worth the content investment.
Building a portfolio
Jamie said repeatedly that luck shaped his first site. He started a blog about a passion, planning to monetize with ads. He had no idea it was one of the hottest niches for high-ticket affiliate marketing.
When he expanded, he focused on niches with high-ticket affiliate offers, workable competition, and topics he could write about at an expert level.
Building your second site should take about a tenth of the time as your first. On site one, you try things, make mistakes, fix them, and learn. On site two, you leverage that knowledge. Additional sites are not guaranteed winners, but you should not repeat the same lessons.
Luck still matters. You can follow best practices and write great content but pick a terrible niche. Google may not rank you above established publishers. A major media company can take over the SERPs for your highest-value keywords. A robust portfolio is one way to protect yourself when luck turns.
The SPEAR Framework for Affiliate Content
During the interview, Jamie broke down SPEAR: the system he uses to improve conversion rate and organic traffic on buying guides. For operators who want the tactical layer behind this framework, our post on how to write content for affiliate marketing pairs well with what follows.
Search intent
Search intent is the most important factor in targeted affiliate content. Think about what is going through a person’s head when they search your target keyword, then deliver something that assists their situation.
Jamie’s example: “best vacuums for kitchens.” That searcher has a specific need. If your list could be copied and pasted into any other vacuum article, it does not match search intent well enough.
Pain points
Position your product as the solution to a reader’s problem. Jamie’s tip: it is more powerful to convey the downsides of missing out on something than the upsides of acquiring something.
For the kitchen vacuum example, talk about crumbs sticking to the bottom of your feet without one. That beats telling people a vacuum will leave floors clean. Without a personal example tied to the human experience, a clean floor is essentially worthless.
Expertise
Google has put heavy focus on ranking content from sites that prove expertise on a topic. At the post level, show readers actual insight into why they should choose a certain product.
Best case: you picked a niche where you are a real expert and can outrank competitors with lived knowledge. If you are not a “real-life” expert, use stats-as-support (SAS) to back factual claims. It helps readers and signals legitimacy to Google.
Jamie’s tip: you can use ChatGPT to gather SAS for buying guides quickly.
Audience
Audience is related to search intent, but it is how you break up buying guide choices. Never offer more buying options than audience segments, or you confuse people.
For the vacuum example: a budget pick, one for people with kids, one for tile floors, one for wood, a lightweight option. Think of each person who searches your keyword and provide a buying option just for them.
You may also direct people to a better list. Someone searching “best vacuums for kitchens” who works in a restaurant might need commercial vacuums instead. Links to supporting content after your guide can convert readers who would otherwise leave without a solution.
Rapport
Build rapport. Make readers like you. Jamie tells writers to be friendly, comfortable experts: connect with readers and write with enough confidence that they trust your product opinions.
Writing with an almost flippant amount of confidence, assuming what you say is correct because you said it, lets readers trust your recommendations and focus on the personality of your writing.
We are in this industry to make money and gain financial independence. It does not hurt to make people happy at the same time. Helping people is what affiliate marketing is about.
Rapid Fire: U.K. SEOs, Cannibalization, and AI
Andrew and Emil asked Jamie questions that did not fit the main arc. A few highlights worth keeping.
Why U.K. SEOs show up everywhere
Emil asked why British SEOs seem so prevalent on niche-site Twitter. Jamie pointed to two factors. First, British operators write in native English, including American English, which gives them an edge outside the U.S. Second, lower cost of living and salaries in the U.K. incentivize companies to hire there.
Keyword cannibalization
After reviewing Lasso’s blog, Jamie found articles ranking for the same search terms. Andrew asked why.
Jamie said many queries that used to be separate are now combined in the same results. Articles on “Affiliate Marketing Types” and “Affiliate Marketing Examples” once targeted different SERPs. Now they overlap. If cannibalization is hurting your site, combine the two articles as best you can and use anything you remove to start new posts.
ChatGPT and SPEAR
Beyond SAS, Jamie uses ChatGPT for comparison tables. If readers reach the end of a buying guide without choosing, the post may be wrong for them, or they could not decide. A comparison table helps fence-sitters. Ask the AI to compare primary product features, then paste the table into your article.
If you use Lasso, ChatGPT is a strong way to decide which key factors belong in your Comparison Tables. Our guide on how to write product comparison posts covers the structure; SPEAR tells you what to put in each row.
Jamie on the Lasso Team
Jamie joined Lasso at the end of 2022 to head marketing. He has already had a massive impact on our content marketing strategy.
When Andrew asked why he would step away from his niche sites to work for Lasso, Jamie said:
“To do a wider array of things and to be a part of something larger and more three-dimensional is such an awesome opportunity. Especially when it comes with affiliate marketing and such a talented team.”
You can follow Jamie on Twitter or at Increasing.com.
For Operators Building at Scale
Jamie’s path shows the pattern we see across successful portfolios: one lucky or well-chosen niche funds the learning curve, then systems (SPEAR, comparison tables, audience segmentation) compound conversion on traffic you already earn.
Before you publish net-new buying guides, run an Opportunities Scan on content that already ranks. Most operators find product mentions sitting unmonetized on URLs that already get traffic. Fixing those placements is often the fastest path to higher earnings.
At Lasso, we built the link and display infrastructure so you can focus on content instead of manual HTML and missed monetization. See how Lasso fits your stack. Get started with Lasso and run an Opportunities Scan on the pages you already have live.
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