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View Full Version : Suggestions on what to do with a bunch of brain fart mid priority web sites



Russ in Vancouver
10-24-2012, 12:56 AM
Hi,

I have a bunch of half assed ideas for some websites, most of them are just a passion of mine like a dog equipment site I want to build up. I dont have the time to write content for them all. Would it be a good idea to just throw something up with my keywords of the now and future? Like a 3 page site like a splash, about and contact?

Lol, i tried this method a few years ago with a forum idea and it got killed by russian porn spammers lol

Freelancier
10-24-2012, 07:54 AM
Focus. Successful entrepreneurs focus on their best ideas and turn them into a fully-formed reality.

cobase
10-24-2012, 12:15 PM
Focus. Successful entrepreneurs focus on their best ideas and turn them into a fully-formed reality.

I'm going to second, third, and fourth this advice. Focus, focus, FOCUS!

Pick whatever idea you think is best for you and for the market, then develop that and tweak it along the way. You will have much better results with one well-formed product than with multiple half-formed products.

Russ in Vancouver
10-24-2012, 12:25 PM
Hi thanks for the advice. It makes total sense. However in my current situation I have 1 business on going since 2004 that I have just recommitted to after just finishing a f/t 7 month school program. I have to update two websites for this business, as well the course I just completed gave me a start into another business that is related to my primary business. These mid priority sites keep jumping at me saying "pay some attention to me!" whenever I get into dreamweaver and Photoshop. I feel if I can at least get something online then the site can be indexed into the engines, I can monitor traffic and see if the traffic warrants more attention/urgency to build up a full website to the market.

Does this plan seem a wastenof time or do you see any logic to it?

Harold Mansfield
10-24-2012, 01:18 PM
Hi,

I have a bunch of half assed ideas for some websites, most of them are just a passion of mine like a dog equipment site I want to build up. I dont have the time to write content for them all. Would it be a good idea to just throw something up with my keywords of the now and future? Like a 3 page site like a splash, about and contact?

Lol, i tried this method a few years ago with a forum idea and it got killed by russian porn spammers lol

I'm going to give the opposite advice. I used to do this all of the time. Whenever an idea popped into my head I'd think it over for a day or two, and if it still sounded good I'd register a domain and spend a weekend or a week putting up the site. Most flopped or I lost interest, but not all of them.

But what I learned from doing that was immeasurable. I taught myself more skills by wanting certain functions or designs for my own ideas. 2 were even mentioned in articles by industry blogs (which I now use as part of my resume). A couple of them made a few bucks (which paid a few bar tabs and grocery bills), until they ran their course. And a few are still nothing more than domains and splash pages that are still on my server as if I'll get back to them one day.

I keep at least 30-40 domains registered. Each represents an idea that I've had at one time and still think is a good idea, and like the URL for it. So I keep them.

I'm actually glad I do that every now and then. You have to have a few failures on the web to understand how to overcome the reasons why and have successes. You can read all of the blog posts and books in the world, but they can't teach you how to do it live.

Now when I get an idea, I ask better questions of it and myself to determine if it really is an idea with legs, or just something that I think would be cool. And if it can make any money now that I've actually used and tested out pretty much every monetization strategy in the book..and that's something that is overlooked all of the time. Everyone thinks they know how an idea will make money, but until you've actually used the different strategies and programs, you can't have any idea how easy or hard it will be to actually make a buck with them. And unless you are selling your own product, you need that real world experience with advertising, email marketing, affiliate marketing and so on. It's invaluable.

I personally think it's good to get those web site ideas off your chest and give it a go. So by the time you get around to the big ideas that take more resources than just your own, and probably more money, you are a little more prepared, know what to expect and can draw on what you've already learned to hit the ground running...not wasting time guessing.

The worse thing that can happen is that you waste a little time. But you will learn something.

billbenson
10-24-2012, 01:50 PM
There are industries where people just put up a lot of sites and then maintain the ones that seem to be money makers. One factor in SEO is the age of a site. As cheap as domains and hosting are, why not put up a few three page sites and then come back to them when you can. Just make sure the content is very good on those three pages. I'd suggest making it a reference type of site at first. If you can get one or all getting a lot of quality traffic over time, add a shopping cart.

Russ in Vancouver
10-24-2012, 03:07 PM
:D

Thanks for the replies guys !!
I have about 90 domain names, maybe about 15 active sites that have been alive/dead for years but in limbo until fate brings me back to them again. Its nice to hear that others here have gone this route as well.

Lol, i just checked my spammed forum and it hads 36K members now and 22K topics hehe. I think I should delete the database.

Harold Mansfield
10-27-2012, 01:14 PM
:D

Thanks for the replies guys !!
I have about 90 domain names, maybe about 15 active sites that have been alive/dead for years but in limbo until fate brings me back to them again. Its nice to hear that others here have gone this route as well.

Lol, i just checked my spammed forum and it hads 36K members now and 22K topics hehe. I think I should delete the database.
Yep. You've probably been added to someone's "backlink" script. Forums are magnets.

Brian Altenhofel
10-27-2012, 07:17 PM
When I get an idea, I see if a reasonable .com is available for it. If not, I put it in the "marginally viable" folder in my brain. If it is, I register it for a few years whether or not I'm going to use it. A domain name is under $10/yr, so that means I eat one less time at Quiznos that year.

Then I don't focus on the idea. If it comes back later, its probably a good one.

However, I just had one recently that I checked to see if the domain was available. Found that it said it was taken, but I've already decided (through my own planning and discussions with peers, as well as fairly thorough market research) that this idea is worth a considerable investment so I went ahead and did a whois lookup to see if I could find out who I had to make an offer to. And I found out that the domain was registered to me.

It happens when you're an idea person and rack up so many domains that you end up forgetting about. Over the past few years, I've sold one of them that I decided that the idea had come and gone for me, but the buyer really wanted it.

billbenson
10-28-2012, 03:23 PM
I had a Sarah Palin site that I just let expire. If she was in the political game it could have been a good domain.

Harold Mansfield
11-03-2012, 05:30 PM
This thread prompted me to start thinking about my own graveyard of half baked or unfinished ideas. Just went through my server and deleted 23 websites and databases that were once a gleam in my eyes. It was like going down memory lane but it felt good to clean it up and move on.

Alex1
02-22-2013, 09:57 AM
1 good idea is better than 1000 half assed ideas is my thinking.

Harold Mansfield
02-22-2013, 10:04 AM
1 good idea is better than 1000 half assed ideas is my thinking.

True, but you need to go through a few half baked ideas before you can fine tune the good ones. I learned something on every failure that has helped with both current endeavors, and the advice I give to clients.

Very few people hit a home run the first time at bat. And many times a combination of failures are the ingredients to success...taking the good, or what worked from each one. If you're not getting your hands dirty and are just a thinker, you'll never pull off anything decent.

Alex1
02-22-2013, 10:37 AM
True, but you need to go through a few half baked ideas before you can fine tune the good ones. I learned something on every failure that has helped with both current endeavors, and the advice I give to clients.

Very few people hit a home run the first time at bat. And many times a combination of failures are the ingredients to success...taking the good, or what worked from each one. If you're not getting your hands dirty and are just a thinker, you'll never pull off anything decent.

Ofcourse, you have to act not just theorize on whats a good idea and whats not. But if you don't focus on one idea for a while how are you going to get something off the ground ?

Harold Mansfield
02-22-2013, 11:12 AM
Ofcourse, you have to act not just theorize on whats a good idea and whats not. But if you don't focus on one idea for a while how are you going to get something off the ground ?

No argument there. Like I said, you have to get your hands dirty. Once you get over that fear of failure and embrace the risk, it get's easier to throw your weight behind something to give it a fighting chance.