Where to start with a digital project????
Discussion
I’ll apologise for the long post now.
But I figured if I can’t find some sage advice or be told I’ve missed the boat and the world has moved on, here then I won’t find it anywhere. A few years ago I had a lot of time on my hands, and spent a lot of it musing idly about how I could make a hobby of mine pay for itself. This mushroomed into an idea that (at least in my head) could potentially become an app/website that generates significant interest from users.
Without giving too much detail my initial thoughts were to create my own blog, reviewing events, collating up to date details about them and slowly hope to drive traffic that way, then maybe monetise by adding adverts or affiliate links. Nothing serious.
But before I started anything I did some digging to see what was out there for the sector I’m looking at. What exists is either based on advertising and is rarely (if ever) updated, hard to search and very limited, or restricted to Facebook and reviews of events are generally of the standard of the average Facebook Karen rant, i.e. not especially informative or helpful. What I think could work would be a site/app that does the kind of thing trip advisor does, but rather than being for everything would be for one type of event (and maybe related businesses later). But would use a smaller number of reviewers to establish quality of information rather than simply lots of star ratings or angry rants that aren’t informative at all, at least that's how I envisioned it.
I suspect that the route to making money from the site/app would be scraping user data rather than a premium model, but that's something that is way down the line.
So now I’m here with a vague idea of the scale of the project in my head. Having read a few books on tech startups and related things it seems huge. My IT skills are basic, my writing skills are slightly above GCSE English, and I’ve got no idea where to start with developing something, presenting an idea to people or even how far I need to develop something before it becomes a thing that is worth investing anything beyond pocket money into.
Any advice, words of wisdom or criticisms are welcome.
But I figured if I can’t find some sage advice or be told I’ve missed the boat and the world has moved on, here then I won’t find it anywhere. A few years ago I had a lot of time on my hands, and spent a lot of it musing idly about how I could make a hobby of mine pay for itself. This mushroomed into an idea that (at least in my head) could potentially become an app/website that generates significant interest from users.
Without giving too much detail my initial thoughts were to create my own blog, reviewing events, collating up to date details about them and slowly hope to drive traffic that way, then maybe monetise by adding adverts or affiliate links. Nothing serious.
But before I started anything I did some digging to see what was out there for the sector I’m looking at. What exists is either based on advertising and is rarely (if ever) updated, hard to search and very limited, or restricted to Facebook and reviews of events are generally of the standard of the average Facebook Karen rant, i.e. not especially informative or helpful. What I think could work would be a site/app that does the kind of thing trip advisor does, but rather than being for everything would be for one type of event (and maybe related businesses later). But would use a smaller number of reviewers to establish quality of information rather than simply lots of star ratings or angry rants that aren’t informative at all, at least that's how I envisioned it.
I suspect that the route to making money from the site/app would be scraping user data rather than a premium model, but that's something that is way down the line.
So now I’m here with a vague idea of the scale of the project in my head. Having read a few books on tech startups and related things it seems huge. My IT skills are basic, my writing skills are slightly above GCSE English, and I’ve got no idea where to start with developing something, presenting an idea to people or even how far I need to develop something before it becomes a thing that is worth investing anything beyond pocket money into.
Any advice, words of wisdom or criticisms are welcome.
From a technical point of view, what you're describing is very simple. There is a Content Management System called Wordpress, which started out as a blogging tool, but has grown to be much more. Most hosting companies offer a one-click install and then you're up and running. Wordpress also offers countless plug-ins for specific functions. No doubt you can find one designed for event listings and the other ideas you have. You may have to compromise a little to find a plug-in, but what you lose in compromising functionality you will more than gain in ease of solution.
By far your biggest challenge will be generating enough engaging content and then driving traffic to the site. Then you need to think about monetisation, either ads, affiliate links, paid for listings, merch and so on.
If you've read The Lean Startup you'll have learn of MVP. Get a Wordpress site up and running, write a few reviews and then enhance the technology as and when you've proved there is a market for your idea. Don't get too hung up on having everything perfect from day one. You'll learn a vast amount just from the doing.
By far your biggest challenge will be generating enough engaging content and then driving traffic to the site. Then you need to think about monetisation, either ads, affiliate links, paid for listings, merch and so on.
If you've read The Lean Startup you'll have learn of MVP. Get a Wordpress site up and running, write a few reviews and then enhance the technology as and when you've proved there is a market for your idea. Don't get too hung up on having everything perfect from day one. You'll learn a vast amount just from the doing.
Be realistic about how much revenue you can generate through adverts and affiliate links. If you can generate millions of page views a month, you may start to make some pin money. If it's in the 10's of thousands of page views you'll be lucky to make enough to cover your hosting costs. Monetizing user data basically stopped being a viable revenue stream when GDPR came in, except for US-based tech giants that are basically big enough and lawyered-up enough to ignore the law
Thanks for the replies.
I've built a very basic site in wordpress once before so while time consuming I know I could create something with a few hours and a very small spend. Interesting about GDPR making data use a potential no go, I suspect there's a lot of reading to be done there before I get to the point of getting people to sign up to something.
DSL - I will get in touch at some point, it's a fairly small market in the grand scheme of things, but I could grow it from my initial focus. There's potentially some overlap with your ecommerce club too, not for me personally but certainly for users of the site I'd like to create.
I've built a very basic site in wordpress once before so while time consuming I know I could create something with a few hours and a very small spend. Interesting about GDPR making data use a potential no go, I suspect there's a lot of reading to be done there before I get to the point of getting people to sign up to something.
DSL - I will get in touch at some point, it's a fairly small market in the grand scheme of things, but I could grow it from my initial focus. There's potentially some overlap with your ecommerce club too, not for me personally but certainly for users of the site I'd like to create.
I did exactly this 10 years ago, I found a niche and focused on promoting events in that destination. It started as a hobby and in it's peak attracted 2 million unique visitors each summer.
Content is key - be the go-to source for the event information, keep it up to date and accurate at all times. Market it on social media channels and pay close attention to SEO so that your site ranks well for when people search your chosen events.
I used Wordpress to build this site - it worked better when it was simple, the more complexity / features etc you add the more focus you lose.
Easiest way to make money is as an affiliate for events you promote - you get a commission for each ticket you sell. You can also sell your own tickets on behalf of events but much more complex.
Feel free to PM if you'd like any specific advise.
Content is key - be the go-to source for the event information, keep it up to date and accurate at all times. Market it on social media channels and pay close attention to SEO so that your site ranks well for when people search your chosen events.
I used Wordpress to build this site - it worked better when it was simple, the more complexity / features etc you add the more focus you lose.
Easiest way to make money is as an affiliate for events you promote - you get a commission for each ticket you sell. You can also sell your own tickets on behalf of events but much more complex.
Feel free to PM if you'd like any specific advise.
Before creating a website or spending any money would be worth seeing if you can generate any level of interest or following on a free platform like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
The mistake most startups make - I know, I did it myself in my first startup - is to think that time preparing before hitting the market is well spent. It’s not, it’s procrastination and/or make work. You should aim to do the absolute minimum to get out there and determine if there’s interest, and if so, in what.
The mistake most startups make - I know, I did it myself in my first startup - is to think that time preparing before hitting the market is well spent. It’s not, it’s procrastination and/or make work. You should aim to do the absolute minimum to get out there and determine if there’s interest, and if so, in what.
And now we've tried to put the OP off, I'll mention that I did sell my community website for a tidy sum to a VC; I had built up a user base of 10's of 1,000s of known high net worth individuals and the new owner could invest in building paid-for services that I would never have had the time for.
I was steadily making between one and two grand a year from adverts and affiliate links, plus some paid sponsor ads. While that covered hosting costs, it didn't come anything near to paying for the time spent building the site, attracting a user community or supporting a user base.
Think about the exit that you want from the start, and keep asking whether what you are doing is working toward that exit or not
I was steadily making between one and two grand a year from adverts and affiliate links, plus some paid sponsor ads. While that covered hosting costs, it didn't come anything near to paying for the time spent building the site, attracting a user community or supporting a user base.
Think about the exit that you want from the start, and keep asking whether what you are doing is working toward that exit or not
Edited by mikef on Saturday 13th March 12:20
Thanks for the advice all.
A bout of covid and some stupid busy periods in work have slowed me down somewhat but I’m going to create some kind of landing page and bounce a couple of ideas of some very cynical people who I trust. Then I’ll have a look at social media/generating interest before spending any real money or too much time.
Those who offered advice via PM I may take that up once I have something that I can work from.
A bout of covid and some stupid busy periods in work have slowed me down somewhat but I’m going to create some kind of landing page and bounce a couple of ideas of some very cynical people who I trust. Then I’ll have a look at social media/generating interest before spending any real money or too much time.
Those who offered advice via PM I may take that up once I have something that I can work from.
Gassing Station | Business | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff