Ever have a terrific idea that you think could really go places but you have no clue where or how to start making it happen? That’s where I’m at right now.
Some of you know of my idea for a new website. Obviously, I’ve played it close to the vest, not blabbing it all over town. I think, if done correctly, this site could be big. Really big. You know, build-up-a-user-base-for-a-few-years-then-sell-to-Google-for-a-few-mil sort of big. I read these news reports of facebook.com selling for a billion dollars… or youtube.com thinking they’re worth $2 billion. Granted, I don’t think my idea would be that big, but hell… you never know. I read how some sites generate outrageous revenue from Google AdSense. Will mine be that big… probably not, but again, who knows?
I’m facing a number of challenges. First, I have no clue how to get the ball rolling. What should I do to start? A Lawyer? Investors? Plug away in anonymity? I just don’t have any experience with such a thing. How do I protect myself and the idea? I don’t even know what I don’t know. I’m doubly screwed. Second, I’m a developer, but I don’t have anywhere near the amount of skill such an undertaking would require. I would obviously need a developer or two to work with… but how to find them? How to pay them? What do I need to know? Mistakes to avoid? Aaaiiiiggh!
I’m so stymied that I’m paralyzed into inaction. I really think I need to get moving on this. Who knows, maybe this is my key out of the corporate grind and into grinding for myself for a change. Why not me, right?
If anyone out there has created a business site… or even their own business… or perhaps acted as an investor in a fledgling idea has any words of advice, I would GLADLY take them. I’m begging for them. Hell, point me to some books. Some websites. Information of any sort and in any form!
Maybe I can be the next internet millionaire. (keep your fingers crossed)
When you make it big, just don’t forget about your wonderful, supportive big sister….. 🙂
Just what are you plotting there Mr J? Sounds like you’re gonna take over the www as we know it man! So with my little project, it started out as a one man show. Now I have a co-admin that runs IT/web stuff for his university, and a group of moderators that accept payment of hockey multimedia and keeping the site alive.
I’m not sure what the gig is, but I would start with word of mouth once it’s developed and on the www, and I know this sounds kinda sleazy, but with my site, I spammed the hell out of it on any forum that I could find that had to do with hockey…sometimes forums that had nothing to do with hockey would generate traffic. Get the site into the search engines asap, and from there, it takes time, unless you have a boatload of cash to really get things rolling quick. Once you start seeing a decent fan base visiting, hit Google Adsense for revenue, and then submit applications into other publishing companies like BurstMedia, Casale, Tribal Fusion, Valueclick…to name a few. This REALLY helps out with the overhead.
Depending on what you’re doing…if YouTube or Google Video could benefit your venture, USE THEM!! I recently plugged in some BBCode to embed their multimedia into forum posts, and I think it’s really gonna take things up a notch.
Anyway, let me know if I can help ya man. Good luck!
Jas