Websites and marketing ยท Independent digital venture
Building and operating ShopHappens
An affiliate content site I have owned, built, and operated since 2007, helping people make sense of online shopping.
- Organization
- ShopHappens.com
- Role
- Founder and operator
- Years
- Since 2007
- Site
- shophappens.com
Nearly two decades of owning and running an independent online business.
Overview
ShopHappens is an affiliate content site I founded in 2007 and still operate. It helps people make sense of online shopping and the digital marketing tactics that work against them.
Challenge
Running an independent online publication for nearly two decades means the ground keeps moving. Affiliate programs, search, social platforms, web technology, and shopping habits have all changed several times over, and the site has had to change with them.
My role
Everything. I built the site, write and manage the content, maintain the affiliate relationships, and make the decisions about what the business should be as the landscape shifts.
Approach
I treat it the way I treat any operation: keep the structure simple enough to maintain alone, pay attention to what readers actually need, and rebuild when the old approach stops working rather than patching indefinitely. The site has been through multiple rebrands and pivots for exactly that reason.
Outcome
A long-running independent digital venture that I have owned and operated end to end since 2007, and a practical education in online publishing, affiliate marketing, and keeping a website alive through years of change.