Zvi Grauer
Can't win for losing
Ever wonder if it is possible to start an innovative web business without either programming skills or deep pockets? Here is a recent email exchange that demonstrates the problem we face. I edited the text for brevity, clarity, identities and intellectual property protection. Hopefully, the message still comes through clearly.T. I hear you are looking for help on a project. ZG: I want to create a location based social networking site. Think WAYN.com without the bloat. The team will share any income from the site, but it is an exciting project, even without the money. T: Social networks require investing a LOT of money (at least $ 7 figures). My employees are not going to receive knowledge as payment. ZG: I disagree about the cost. I want a simple tool for users to share their locations, just a few PHP pages and MySQL tables for starters. Maybe a student or a programmer with time on his hands can help.T: We can post on the faculty monthly, but I don't think it'll work. PHP and MySQL are not early courses, and even in advanced studies are not covered enough.ZG: Heck, even I can write PHP code that can read and write from MySQL database. It can not be that hard for a programmer trained in C or Java and SQL basics.T: No, that's not so simple. A partial project is closer to nothing than to something. This is a medium project needing at least 4 experienced programmers, full time, one month, for a 70% prototype. Launching the site will need a paid clicks campaign, $10 000 minimum, just to measure results. And the project has to be designed, developed, launched and marketed in less than a year - otherwise it will be copied by anyone with the right resources and the whole effort will go to waste.ZG: What you say makes sense. I think if we want to put so much into this site, we should write a business plan, and try to get seed money. Of course, now this is a business, not a hobby site any more.
So there it is. Globalization, the fast product life cycle, and the low barrier to entry combine to work against you. A good idea without financial backing can be easily copied (embraced) and extended, using relatively cheap labor (outsourced programming) around the globe, and relatively (for an established business or one supported by a VC) inexepsively blow you out of the water.
Oh well, raisecapital.com, here I come!
My hobby site, of which I am NOT writing here, is www.words2u.net.
Good (Free) Help is Hard to Find
Let me start with my specific problem. I want to let users of my PmWiki based web site (www.words2u.net) search a GPS coordinate database, and view the results on a map in a different window or tab. This involves generating queries to MySQL database from a PHP form, taking the resulting data set, and invoking dynamic calls to Google Maps server, using the Google Maps API. Obviously, this demands a good technical understanding of the Google Maps API, as well as PHP (and possibly Javascript or Ajax) programming.Since I am not a programmer, I posted at several Linux and Open Source Software (OSS) user groups for people interested in working on the project (no upfront pay, share in any future profits), and also checked with coders I know.
Of several hundred people I contacted, I got one possible contact. Folks wanted to use their language of choice (perl, java, ruby). Or they lost interest when they learned there is no pay upfront. People were busy at work, or would rather rewrite a puzzle solver for free. Why is that a big deal? Because it means that free OSS based web sites are, and will continue to be, driven by coders and techies. As a (non-IT) technical person I know that enginners' interests are frequently very different from those of their customers, and products they create are more often then not hard sells.
For programs and sites to be successful, input from sales, marketing and product development, is needed as well. This is why the most popular Linux distributions are from commercial outfits (Ubuntu, Fedora and OpenSuse are supported by Canonical, RedHat and Novelle, respectively). It is also the reason that while Microsoft sells and gives away tools that allow non-programmers to develop applications quickly and easily, Linux/BSD tools have higher learning curves and are harder to use (even if they are superior in many other ways). The same is true for databases, collaboration suites, and other applications, which are easy to use and well supported with manuals, books, and training programs.
Until OSS developers join people with end-user perspective, the penetration of OSS-based technologies will be limited, and commercial products will continue to rule the marketplace. I hope the day soon comes when OSS focus turns to creating tools for dummies, with documentation to match, so folks like me can create all they want without large cash outlays.
Pandering
If you follow my blogs, you already know I have a personal web site, www.words2u.net, which I am trying to coax into making money. Sadly, this personal site is not that appealing to people other than myself, and this limits its earning potential.
The site is harassing me, its owner and designer, to pander to the perceived taste of my anticipated public, and is demanding changes. It tells me this is marketing, not pandering. Either way, once I decided the site has to earn its keep, it has taken a life of its own, and wants to go places without me.For example, my blog (blog.words2u.net). Originally a platform to vent, rant and rave, it has become politically correct (or rather, non-politically correct), because strong opinions might offend people. Now the blog is G-rated, and I have very little to say to it. Then there is the site design. Until today, the side bar, the navigational tool common to the whole site, was equally divided between my content and PmWiki's links. Content is diffuse - tracks include walks, short car rides and long trips; points of interest include malls, parks, dining spots, and so on. Only bus routes is a tight group (note: I have recently started adding categories such as 'stores' and 'miscellaneous' to the side bar).
The home page spends valuable real estate to explain the site structure, because of its lack of intuitive segmentation and its use of Wiki links and GPS terminology (a GPS device captures tracks and points of interest). In order to be more appealing, it must relate to things that interest my presumed public.
Which leads to another question - who should the site target? Tourists? Costa Ricans? Should I try and reach a particular demographic?
To target locals, I have to use Spanish, which, considering my mastery of that beautiful language, is a bad idea. So for now, it has to be English speakers - tourists, expatriates, and educated natives. Further segmentation will have to wait till later.So what is a tourist, visitor or foreign resident be looking for in a web site? To find out, I looked at Fodors and Lonely Planet web sites, and print guides, as well as a bunch of sites from and about Costa Rica. I am going to pay them the most sincere form of flattery by breaking up my content the same way they do.
I also plan to make more efficient use of the navigation side bar, and to use the home page to make the case for the site's uniquness, added value, and 'wiifm'.If you look at the site now, and visit again in a few days, you will see what I mean.
Flipping Web Sites
A few days ago, I read a fascinating article in the New York Times, about people who are flipping web sites for a living. They find poorly designed or poorly marketed sites, buy, update, and resell them for a small profit. Not long ago I read a similar article, about guys who find under-performing web sites, and upgrade them for a share of the site's profits. The article uses the house metaphor - buying, renovating and selling fixer-uppers for a profit. But I think such activities are more in line with the business specialty of 'turnaround artists'. And I think this is one trend that will stay with us for a while, providing an opportunity to people who can design, market or otherwise make web sites more visible and profitable. Here is why:1. The US and EU economies are in a slowdown. Business income is suffering, and site proprietors will be looking to get out or improve performance. 2. With unemployment rising and incomes dropping, hobbyists will also have less money to spend on sites and follow the same path. 3. Web businesses with shrinking cash flow are more willing to engage in profit sharing, instead of simple contracting or hiring to get the job done. 4. Technical people will have more time for such ventures, because slowing economy means lower employment, fewer working hours, less work during working hours and greater urgency to find source of additional income.
So if you have the skills, maybe this is the time to start hitting the virtual pavement for such opportunities.
Making Money from a Personal Web Site
Having decided I want my personal web site make money, the question I face is how to best monetize my site. Admittedly, when it comes to making money from a business in general, and from the web in particular, I am a total amateur. I have made plenty of money for my past employers, but, unfortunately, that required a completely different set of skill and qualifications. So, naturaly, I am a little lost.The most obvious form of making money is direct selling - offering something for sale on the personal/hobby web site. For example, a site about beer making can offer brews, yeast, hops or equipment; A site focused on quilting, can offer quilts or tools; A yoga site can offer leotards or yoga tapes/DVDs. Obviously, this requires a sales mechanism (shopping cart and payment gateway), but many such tools are available that are technically easy to integrate into a web site, and with minimal starting requirements. Since my site (www.words2u.net) is related to GPS and to Costa Rica, I could try and sell GPS devices, GPS maps, travel books, Costa Rican coffee, t-shirts, local arts and crafts, and so on, to my visitors. Direct selling can be profitable, but does have its drawbacks. Selling is not my favorite pastime. It involves dealing with customers and vendors, with merchandise returns, with managing inventory and shipping orders - the typical headaches of regular business. Unless I dedicated my life to both the site and the selling, I won't get far - sales will be slow, and vendors' attention depends on sales volume. There is definitely a potential in selling goods from the site, but that does not mean I want to spend my spare time in sales, nor do I want to invest in inventory, sales promotion and site marketing, at least not for now. Personally speaking, I find sites similar to mine, that sell stuff on the side, both tacky and unprofessional. Not only do I not buy from these 'hacks', I don't trust their content either, since they have an ax to grind. I prefer storefronts with product information to a personal site selling goods - at least the storefront is honest about its purpose and practices. So, no direct product sales on my site.A similar alternative is to sell services. A site about yoga can provide members-only exercise routines, or sell personal yoga training. The services can also come from a third party, such as someone else's online exercise program. Selling services does not require an inventory, and if the service (say a beer making class, a quilting workshop, or a yoga retreat) is offered by the site owner, most of the proceeds will be profit. However, there is still the need to deal with customers, the worry about quality, organization and frequency of service. And earning money from services is a bona-fide, full time business. Returning to my personal site as an example, I could offer to guide tours of Costa Rica's central valley, to all the trails or locations listed on my site. I could promote Costa Rica vacation packages, hotel rooms, real estate and similar services. Enlightenment Workshop in the Rain Forest, anyone? How about cosmetic surgery to the sound of tropical birds and howler monkeys? Would you like your dental work done near banana plantations and coffee farms?. You get the drift. Needless to say, I don't sell services for the same reason I won't sell products. I also forgo links to sites that pay referral commissions per view or click.The easiest monetization option I found is ad placements - text and banner ads from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and others, and links to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and similar sites. On my site I have Google text ads, and I will add links to Amazon when I get around to it. I have yet to figure out how I can benefit from Google search box, and if/when I do, I will place it somewhere, if my software allows it...
The effort and commitment are minimal, and neither sales volume nor site traffic are an issue. Content is, though, as most vendors set limits on site content. My site is family oriented, so this is not a problem, and with some searching there is an outlet for every niche, kink and interest. The downside of my choice is that the payoff is small, and without substantial traffic, revenues are a pittance. I guess that is the price of laziness, but it fits perfectly with my venue.
Pura Vida, Y'all!
