An Experiment of a Webmaster

This is another article in my series on starting a web based business. The first article was all about finding a cheap web host with php and mysql. The second told you where to get cheap domain names and set them up quickly. This article is going to take a step back from really being a tutorial and get you into the mindset that you need to be in, mainly thinking about how to turn your idea into a web business, or how to come up with an idea.

Back in the late 90s all you had to do was slap www in front of something and it would become an instant success. Businesses were being started left and right with no real thought on how to make cash. The website owners didn’t really care, because they were building a business people were investing millions in. The investors probably cared, but the desire to be on the leading edge of the next big wave was pretty compelling. Unfortunately we all know how this turned out.

I don’t know anything about economics, but the gist of it is basicly that everyone woke up. You can’t keep piping millions into businesses that have no intention of breaking even ever. People realised banner ads were easy to ignore and advertisers stopped paying an arm and a leg for them. The few businesses that where near breaking even were either an extension of brick and mortar, or they were depending on their high ad revenues. Long story short, everyone realises they may actually have to wear a suit to work again and all jump ship.

I don’t want to say that the net hasn’t recovered from that, because that makes it sound way too negative. The net never should have been up there in the first place and the bubble bursting was how everything was set right again. Its now 2006 and people are just starting to become comfortable with doing business on the web without being supported by a physical store or physical advertisers.

I started with this depressing tale for a reason. Too many people I’ve come across these last few years still have the dotcom attitude. Yes, working for yourself you get all the money and get to walk around in your mink fuzzy bear slippers all day (Yes, I have them. I’d wear bunny slippers if I had them too, because I can). You do actually have to provide a service though.

The greatest things about the internet are the ability for your web site to do the work for you, and its regional flexibility. Whether you choose a service business where you provide content for subscription or ad revenue, or you have a product you inted to sell. Your audience is going to be global, and your web scripts will take care of serving them.

Its quite often easier to sell a product if you have one. In that case its no different from mail order or telephone received sales. An ebay business is a perfect example. eBay is an easy entrance into sales of physical goods. They match you with a buyer, help you haggle on the price and provide tools to collect your money and ship the items. I think you can get it automated enough to print labels that you just slap on and mail out. This is an excellent choice for those who enjoy flea markets and garage sales.

The other broad category is a service business. All of those blogs, forums, dating sites, hosting sites, and really any site that provides information go into this slot. Money from this group usually comes in the form of subscriptions or ad revenue. Subscriptions are harder to get, but definately the way to go. If you provide a solid service I would highly recommend this.

The non-subscription route on an information site is normally through advertising revenue. The most popular options are from the big names, as well as a few others. Google and Yahoo both have ad programs that can read the web page you’re on and serve ads based on the content. They are pretty good at relevancy too. You’re paid based on how often ads are viewed and clicked here.

If you have no idea what you’re going to do yet, but you really want to get online and start developing a web site for the hang of it, then start a blog. There are 2 major types of blogs for the everyday person. Blogger.com, which will upload your files to your website so you really don’t need to do any work, or wordpress.org. Wordpress needs to be installed on a web host by you, but its very worth it in my opinion. You have more control available to you as you learn to use it.

Either way, check out my first article in this series about getting a cheap web host with mysql and php. which is what you’ll need to run either type. You can’t set them up on free web hosts very well, but even if you could you’d have no credibility. With a blog you can get a domain name, and use your own name or something unique to you. After that, just talk about what you know and people with like ideas may start to check back ocassionally. If you provide real content, such as this fine article, people may come back often. Maybe they’d even tell their friends. Its pretty common to see real names in domain names for blogs, it helps you connect with that person and know that they’re the expert in widgets you’re looking for.

I l’ll leave you to brainstorm now, I know you’re starting to get into the web business mindset