Podcast Summary: The Side Hustle Show – Episode 693

Title: Renting Out Websites? How to Build Recurring Revenue with Simple, Local Sites
Host: Nick Loper
Guest: John Michael, founder of Town Rank SEO
Date: August 28, 2025

Overview

In this episode, Nick Loper sits down with John Michael, a Side Hustle Show listener and founder of Town Rank SEO, to explore the fast-growing business model of “website rentals” or “rank-and-rent.” The conversation dives into how John builds simple, niche, local websites, gets them ranking on Google, and rents them to local businesses for recurring monthly revenue—leveraging the untapped potential of digital real estate. The episode is a soup-to-nuts walkthrough: niche and city selection, website creation, SEO strategy, finding tenants, pricing, and the bonus side hustle that grew out of the core model.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin Story & Getting to First Revenue

• John started his website rental journey in February of this year, inspired by earlier Side Hustle Show episodes (with Luke Vanderveer and Meow) on the same topic.
• First Revenue: About 2.5 months in, from a lead in the “gravel driveway” niche in California.
  [01:14]

  “It took me about two and a half months before I saw anything coming in, and that was real exciting—somebody actually… writing a check.” (John, 01:14)

2. How the Business Model Works

• Lead Generation: Build and rank a local service website targeting a specific niche. Funnel requests via call tracking (using CallRail) to the site owner or a business partner.
• Outreach: Early on, John qualifies and tests relationships with contractors before handing leads directly to them.
• Getting Out of the Middle: Once a relationship is established and the site produces consistent leads, he routes all calls/messages to the business owner for a monthly “rental” fee.
  [03:45]

  “Hopefully you want to rent them out the site—just kind of get out of the middle and direct all those calls to them.” (John, 03:36)

3. Finding & Qualifying Niche + Business Partners

• Niche Selection:
  • Assess population size (ideally 40,000 to 400,000 people) and look for “just enough” competition.
  • Evaluate Google Maps rankings: How many reviews do top businesses have? Are there contenders lacking a website?
  • Ensure there are businesses in the area that need leads but don't dominate the space or have strong web presences.
• Finding Tenants:
  • Engage in local Facebook groups, search Craigslist, and analyze businesses’ Google My Business profiles for indicators of demand and online presence. [06:38, 07:18]

  “I find a lot of my people that I'm going to work with in Facebook groups... just start looking at people that are kind of advertising their services and I'll look at their website, see what it's like…” (John, 06:38)

• Outreach Pitch:
  • Offer real leads, discuss their appetite for growth, and validate their reputation. [12:46]

  “If you don't have any business owner to partner with, it's really not going to matter. Or if there’s not really a demand in that area, you’re not going to…it’s not going to be fruitful.” (John, 13:02)

4. Website Creation & SEO Essentials

• Domain Strategy: City + Niche format (e.g., BostonGravelDriveways.com) for highest relevance.
• Site Build: Focus on four pillars:
  • Site Design: Fast loading, mobile optimization, technical solidity.
  • Content: Thorough, FAQ-rich, answering all likely customer questions.
  • Citations: Listings on directories—using services like Citations Babe for volume and uniqueness.
  • Backlinks: Competitive link acquisition and natural anchor text diversity.
• Google My Business: Necessary for local rankings, but now involves challenging video and postcard verification—sometimes requiring local business partners.
• Content Management:
  • Regular updates (2–3 articles/month) to maintain freshness and relevance. [34:58]

  “We want to add two to three articles on it per month just to kind of keep it at the top of Google's radar.” (John, 34:58)

• AI in Content:
  • Use AI for drafts with tailored prompts and then humanize/refine to maintain quality and uniqueness.

5. Pricing & Monetization

• Lead Value: Varies by niche and deal size; for high-ticket jobs (e.g., $20K gravel driveway), a 5–10% cut or comparable fee.
• Site Rental Fees: John started with $300/month, moved to $500, and then $1,000/month as confidence, results, and demand grew. [33:36]

  “The first one, believe it or not, was actually $300. I just wanted to get something on the books. Then we went from $500 and then we went to $1,000.” (John, 33:36)

• Portfolio: 10 sites built, 3–4 monetized after 5–6 months, rest in progress.

6. Unexpected Side Hustle: Local SEO Services

• Organic Upsell: Cold outreach for website rentals led to requests for local SEO consulting.
• Service Offerings: Optimizing Google Business Profiles, ongoing content/posting, reputation management, new website builds.
• Pricing: Early clients at $500/month for ongoing SEO management; plans to raise as demand grows. [40:33]

  “We charged $500 a month, and we're getting to where we can definitely charge a little bit more...We want people limited for the long term.” (John, 40:33)

7. Key Tools & Tech Stack

• CallRail: Call tracking and lead routing.
• Citations Babe: Unique citation-building for local SEO.
• Majestic: Backlink and site trust assessment.
• ChatGPT: Article and citation draft generation.
• SEMRush/Ahrefs: Keyword and niche research.

8. Lessons Learned & Mindset

• Consistency and Patience:
  • “Be consistent. And don’t be afraid to fail...just consistently putting in the work...the results will take care of themselves.” (John, 44:57)
• Stacking Up:
  • Manage additional sites with only incremental time required; process is scalable past initial learning curve.
• Next Steps:
  • Grow the portfolio to 10–20 rental sites on autopilot, continue agency side-hustle, and build an asset for generational wealth.

Memorable Quotes

• [01:14]

  “It took me about two and a half months before I saw anything coming in, and that was real exciting—somebody actually… writing a check.” — John

• [08:23]

  “I like to ask for 10% [of project value per lead] and maybe back it up to 5%...I don’t want it to be so overwhelming that they don’t want to work with me anymore. There’s a real sweet spot.” — John

• [12:46]

  “If you don’t have any business owner to partner with, it’s really not going to matter...or if there’s not really a demand in that area, you’re not going to…it’s not going to be fruitful.” — John

• [34:58]

  “We want to add two to three articles on it per month just to kind of keep it at the top of Google’s radar.” — John

• [44:57]

  “Be consistent. Consistent. And don’t be afraid to fail.” — John

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:00 – Introduction and episode theme
• 01:14 – John’s start, first niche and first revenue
• 03:45 – Explaining the website rental model, intake, and automation
• 06:38 – Outreach: Finding and vetting local businesses
• 08:05 – Valuing leads and initial negotiation with business owners
• 10:29 – Niche/market research and selection criteria
• 18:11 – Portfolio update: Number of sites, monetization progress
• 20:19 – Website setup: Domain, content, citations, backlinks
• 24:25 – Citations and tools used (Citations Babe)
• 25:47 – Backlinks: Acquisition strategies and anchor text
• 31:12 – Tips for handling sales conversations and “selling” leads
• 33:36 – Pricing: How much to charge for rental
• 34:58 – Content management and keeping sites fresh
• 35:45 – Use of AI and division of labor (wife as partner)
• 36:52 – Tools: CallRail, Citations Babe, ChatGPT, SEMRush, Majestic
• 37:24 – Accidental agency/SEO side business development
• 40:33 – Local SEO retainer pricing, philosophy on client retention
• 41:11 – Scaling and full-time potential
• 42:45 – Mindset: Advice to beginners and importance of steady progress
• 44:15 – Long-term vision for portfolio and generational asset
• 44:57 – John’s top tip for listeners

Final Takeaways

Website rentals—niche local lead-gen sites monetized by “renting” to business owners—represent an accessible, scalable, and incredibly margin-friendly side hustle. John Michael detailed every step of the process, including how you can parlay these skills into an accidental agency business serving local businesses hungry for online visibility. The formula is simple but requires patience, research, consistent effort, and relationship-building. As John shared, focus on one step at a time and keep adding value—both for Google and for your business clients.

Action step for listeners:
Grab Nick’s curated list of 50 rank-and-rent niches from the show notes and start your own research!

Guest Links:

• TownRankSEO.com
• Free listener bonus: 50 Rank-and-Rent Niche Ideas (see show notes)

Referenced Episodes:

• Luke Vanderveer (Ep. 448)
• Meow Rios (Ep. 597)

“Be consistent. And don’t be afraid to fail.” — John Michael, [44:57]