What would you do?
You want your own sites, you want to make money and you want to test your SEO abilities while still earning a living.
Relying on adsense? Bit dodgy? Affiliates? Bit competitive to get the high earning stuff? Would you do a combination, add some Amazon and ebay in there? Look at Adbrite and Chitika?
Exactly what I am doing now, but without the staff or customers. I'd be minted and stress free.
This isn't hypothetical for me... two months ago, I decided to forget SEO the way I remember it, and make a move into apps. I looked hard at iphone apps first then settled for building a FB app, and I went 'all in', and have worked 30 days straight in banging out what I believe to be a killer app and coming up with a 'first mover' empire building strategy to ensure it's success. For me, even though things will I guess be based in SEO, it's really a commitment to swinging things in the social space.
It's also a deviation from me 'owning' everything... I'm now looking at owning just a piece of everything and outsourcing and partnering more in order to keep me working at a high level on the big picture, instead of bouncing back and forth from CEO to grunt. I'm also looking to flip this company right after I take the uncertainty out of the equation, or take on a serious round of funding. But if you know me, then you know I have 2 speeds, 'off' or 'on', and right now I'm 100% on fire and on the war path, which is where I like to be.
It seems every 5 years or so, just when I think I painted my self in a corner, and I see no options, it occurs to me I need to pull my head out of my ass and look at things again hard and remind myself that I make my own own options, not just take what's given, and if I don't want to be like everyone else, then I shouldn't be doing what they are doing.
Apps.
apps:)
Doug
i second apps now i own an iphone
a down loadable program (even at 3am) what appeals to the masses rather than run of mill SEO tools like what every one else does
mixed affiliate on the side as bread and butter earnings what can lead to a good income to fund your lifestyle while the above gain momentum
Starting out now would be helped by a really good idea that's sacalable and easy to monetise... not so simple.
One thing I would say is that "owning" your advertiser relationships is vital, but it's a lot of work.
Depends on how much of a budget you start with, if it was enough I'd do a deal with someone I spoke to in the past and build a site about Edinburgh (where I live) on the .com of the city name.
If I was starting with hardly anything I'd look at things that I really enjoy doing and see if there's a gap in any monetisable part of it. Apps are certainly on the list, something stupid or useful.
I'd also be tempted to build a UK specific search engine off the back of a search API - but that's high risk.
Was thinking about this after I posted. What I would do differently is that I would do a lot less.
When we started out the marketplace was pretty young, so we took on pretty much anything web related that would pay. That means that we're stuck servicing a lot of legacy business now that isn't as profitable: It makes money, but it costs more to make it. Starting now I would do one thing bloody well and drop everything else. I do occassionally threaten to hit the reset button and do just that anyway.
heh. Always straight to the money with you lot :)
So do you then market your apps yourself or stick them on itunes or marketplace and see what happens?
If you were starting out now...you'd do apps??
Good luck joining the 1 billion other companies doing them!
The time to be getting into any trend surely is right at the beginning. When you start hearing fogeyish Radio 4 discussions about apps (which was being discusssed over a year ago), you know you're going to be up against the big boys. I'm not saying there still isn't money to be made in apps - clearly there is - but not for someone starting out with little funds or experience. You wouldn't stand a chance at this point in time given how mature the market already is.
If I had more cash and know-how and was starting out now I'd be getting into online sports betting in places like India, Malaysia, Thailand. It's inevitable gambling is going to become legal in those countries in the very near future and there is an insane amount of money to be made if you get in early. Not much point in Canada, the States as the big players are already too well positioned.
Cheers,
Ed
I would learn to play mandolin earlier than I did.
I would learn to program 'properly' and not just hack stuff about.
I would create 30 sock-puppet online identities and start massive arguments on religious and political forums about REALLY minor issues.
I would stalk Peter dressed as a dead Jimmy Hendrix and peep in through his window when he is drunk.
I would strike oil.
... that'd do it.
>>>>>I would learn to program 'properly' and not just hack stuff about.
ditto
>>I would create 30 sock-puppet online identities and start massive arguments on religious and political forums about REALLY minor issues.
Ahh, the old start and argument in an empty room gig.
>> I would stalk Peter dressed as a dead Jimmy Hendrix and peep in through his window when he is drunk.
You'd do anything to see me in my underpants - pervert!
I would spend more time building properties/projects with longevity. Too much of what I've done over the years has been for short term gains. Also, I've done SEO for other people for 12+ years. I'd take some of that pay-per-hour time and put it into my own projects.
I would have done much more that what I did, and like LM, focused on sites with long term return and stability.
I would have pushed much, much harder with things that worked and dumped things that didn't work quicker. Pretty basic.
A few years ago I had some really good success with some PPC stuff and I was content with just a little success and probably could have pushed it much harder and been able to make some serious money. But I was happy with what was happening and didn't really feel like working. So I just let it sit and crank away rather than working my ass off and adding a couple zeros to the checks.
On the 'Pushing Harder' front - I had some things that I pushed harder and broke as a result, and other things that I wish I had pushed harder - i wish I had the foresight to know which was which before I acted.
I would push so hard it hurt.
I missed some great money by cautios.
Regrets.
There is still lots of opportunities......
Edo...apps are interesting as to where they are going
But lets not forget most people still do not get seo and the corporates are big fat blubber machines...loads of opportunities, just spend time picking your wars.
Doug
Quote from: dougs on February 18, 2011, 11:37:20 PM
There is still lots of opportunities......
Totally agree, Doug. Feels like we're on the second internet land rush right now. Most of the best stuff gone, but still a few rich pickings out there.
Quote
Edo...apps are interesting as to where they are going
Be interested to hear where you think they're going... ;D
Ed
The world is moving into 3 closed walls
google/android world - android apps or seo
facebook world - which means apps
apple - which again means apps
Quote from: dougs on February 20, 2011, 10:25:56 PM
The world is moving into 3 closed walls
google/android world - android apps or seo
facebook world - which means apps
apple - which again means apps
Hmmm. Where do Amazon, ebay, Yahoo, AOL, The Times, the BBC, Twitter, Bing, Expedia etc fit into these three closed walls? Surely all top brands try and keep you within their closed wall; those 3 are just the biggest on the Net right now.
Ed
related:
SEO is no longer a viable marketing strategy for startups
http://cdixon.org/2011/03/05/seo-is-no-longer-a-viable-marketing-strategy-for-startups/
I roughly agree with the author. There was a time you could base a startup on seo performance alone.
QuoteAs a result, web users have a worse experience and startups are incentivized to clutter their pages with ads and use aggressive tactics to increase their SEO when they should just be focused on creating great user experiences.
Sorry, I don't subscribe to a general view that " they should just be focused on creating great user experiences". Providing a great service for no income is not a business model that works very often. If its a part of a plan that they'll build the business by providing great content and then monetise it later, then fine, but on that basis he shouldn't be getting snitty about Trip-Advisor doing just that.
I agree with the basic premise that SEO is harder nowadays, but there are definately startups that succeed using SEO as the majority of their initial marketing strategy (and I would never advise that someone doesn't do anything but seo, why would you not do a combination of marketing, it nearly always works better). I agree that SEO is no longer the 'cheap' option. That doesn't mean its not viable, it just means that hopefully the new *ahem* businesses which launch may actually have considered their bisiness plan rather than be out of the box get rich quick schemes.
But I'm an evil black hat link building type of seo, you know, the kind who actually understands how the bloody algo works. What would I know?
Heh, well as linkbait that article should work well, even if the anchor text is tw*t (twit, of course)
Quote from: Gurtie on March 07, 2011, 09:12:50 AMSorry, I don't subscribe to a general view that " they should just be focused on creating great user experiences"
Only idiots say "just create great user experiences and money will follow," which is suspiciously similiar to the stupidest and oldest saw in the career advice industry: "do what you love and the money will follow".
But I don't find it unreasonable to say that because Google is so bad at determining quality, and using all sorts of proxy signals (links, age) creates a bias against a site that is better, but newer (and hasn't yet acquired enough links to outrank its crappy predecessor).
The only thing that I disagree with is the idea that startups are too ethical to engage in aggressive link building. I would say that it's fear and lack of skill that holds them back, not scruples (why do people think someone morally owes it to Google to observe their rules. It's not like it's a republic, where I had a say in creating those rules).
Edo
Those companies are all integrating thier apps/data into the other platforms. Read anything Mark Zuchberg writes and he talks about building FB as platform
Doug