Found at: http://publish.ez.no/article/articleprint/14
|
Starting up - Community Building Part 1
|
It is said that Internet time is much faster than normal time, perhaps much like dog or cat years. So, since its inception, back in the early nineties, it should have matured by those standards.
Perhaps not, as I write this (October 23, 2000) we can read about staff cuts in several on-line magazines, much due to reduced advertising from the on-line retail stores. Those stores who don't earn any money, as you might know.
In this climate you wish to start up your own web site. In my view this is the best climate to start in, you will face the hard times from the start, and thus you will build your site on realistic expectations.
Well, I won't go into the financing and administration; hire a business manager. Instead I will focus on how you nurture your site, from its inception to its success.
Idea
Like it or not, you'll need an idea. This is the only part where you need to be really creative yourself, so you better make something out of it. After this phase you can always hire writers, editors, designers, pr people and all the staff you can afford.
The best idea come from your own experiences and needs. It is harder to find it that way, but it beats following the crowd, especially when it gets crowded.
How do you identify an idea? Usually it hits you in the face, "Wow, why hasn't anyone thought of that?"
You have do check out the idea, has someone tried this before? If you are lucky someone has done relatively well by this idea. If you're a bit unlucky many have gone broke doing this, and if you're very unlucky no one has tried this out.
You're Lucky
Why should you consider yourself lucky if someone has thought of this idea and done somewhat well? Well, it proves that someone can do well in the field, it proves that your idea is sound, and you have someone to measure up to.
This will make it easier for you to sell your idea to others, it will make it easier for you to analyze the competition and thus finding your niche or your distinguishing features.
You're a Bit Unlucky
Well, it is better to be a small player in a large market, than a large player in a non-existent market. That some people have gone broke doesn't mean that you have to do. You just have to distinguish yourself. It does mean that you have to do a lot of work to be one of the players, perhaps more than you want to invest?
Further more, the field might be to crowded and not very financially sound. Have you considered the possibility that you have a bad idea?
You're Very Unlucky
After all the fancy talk in the beginning about not following the crowd I'm telling you that getting a very good idea isn't that great?
Well, the problem is that the money has wizened, "dot-coms" are going broke all around the place. Therefore investors are wary of investing money into risky projects.
You have to check out your idea, has someone tried this before? Check out the web, do some searches. If there is someone out there doing the same as you propose to do, analyze them.
Why didn't you know about them? Perhaps they haven't understood PR, or you might not be part of the mainstream of that field or perhaps they just haven't a clue.
Are they successful? This measures the probability of your success.
Go back to "You're Lucky"
If you find no-one else with the same idea, you're either uninformed, have a bad idea or you're a genius.
We started this bit with searching for the idea, finding others doing this, I've tried to help you out if you're uninformed.
A bad idea crops up ever so often, it's only your gut feeling which will help you identify yours. Try knocking the idea around with some people you trust, just to see which track you're on.
A brilliant idea like yours will need nurturing. You might have to create the market for your idea, you might have to try very hard to sell it to others, you might have to take second, third and fourth mortgage on your house, and perhaps you'll earn money on your idea.
I never said it was a money maker, just that it was brilliant.
Where We Started
Well, you have your idea, you have your investors, in the next installment of this series I will go through some planning for your new site
It is still possible to turn around.
Read the next part of this series.