Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#41

Post by ComputerGuru » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:13 PM UTC

points wrote: post #6

Don't believe the notion that making 100 websites that earn $1 a day is easier than making 1 website that makes $100 a day. It's not. Create value, make users want to stick around, iterate, grow.

However, making 50 sites that make 500 a day is a lot easier than making one site that makes 25000 a day. A lot easier.

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#42

Post by joshuacc » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:14 PM UTC

AlexC04 wrote: post #38

obneq wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

looks weird on opera. the enlarged preview for a game on mouseover gets too big for the grid, so that the entire next row is pushed back.

thanks :) I can't bear to even think about how it looks in IE. I'm honestly thinking of just putting an around the entire site.

You probably don't want to do this, since there is (anecdotally at least) a correlation between ad clicks and less sophisticated visitors. It may be a pain, but there's a good chance that IE users will be where you make the most money.

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#43

Post by poet » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:16 PM UTC

eru wrote: post #26

fletchowns wrote: post #19

Seems like the last the web needs is another half assed Flash games site.

You can't argue with profit.

Oh what a poor state the world would be in if everyone believed that. :)

Side note: I have no problem with the OP's website.

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#44

Post by zecg » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:25 PM UTC

AlexC04 wrote: post #27

i-like-water wrote: post #7

Congrats on the site and getting started on a project. How are you driving visitors to the site currently?

http://imgur.com/kw2av :D ummm. ycombinator I read another comment about reddit / stumble / digg / etc... So I'll have to go there next. For today, once I get tag-navigation done (it's looking pretty sweet already) then I guess a reddit submission. Since I regularly read reddit I'll feel a little more comfortable with the community there. Hopefully they'll be as supportive as HN is :) I really do feel nervous about m…

To make reddit work, you need to make sure of a few things. First, know the culture. Memes and talking points of the moment, what's generating buzz. Second, know the games you're submitting - what genres they belong to and what their strengths are compared to prominent titles. Third, don't use a dummy account, use your own if you have one... use an account that has a history and a voice. Just spamming submissions will not work.

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#45

Post by benologist » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:31 PM UTC

You might like to check out my distribution feed - loads of great games zipped up ready for distribution or embedding from a wide selection of the top devs and portals:

http://playtomic.com/games/catalog

You can pull it all in via script through the very customizable feed:

http://playtomic.com/games/feed

Portals are a lot of work though. You'll need a strategy - find keywords you want to target, optimize and build links towards them etc.

You can also license games through http://www.flashgamelicense.com/ which gets your branding in games and funnels traffic back to you.

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#46

Post by zecg » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:32 PM UTC

maukdaddy wrote: post #5

Obligatory clickable: http://fstr.net

I'd lose the atrocious bevel on logo, looks positively amateurish. What's wrong with plain old outlined font? Also, you need the bare minimum of added value: let users rate games. Put the ratings in a database. There, you just add some value.

Alternatively, a hand-picked selection of games is more value to me as a visitor, than if you had every flash game in the universe embedded on that page. No one has the time to play all those. Choosing which ones are worthy of wasting your time is the hardest part.

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#47

Post by benchmark » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:32 PM UTC

I've got a gaming website, like yours, but not as smart looking: http://www.funnygamesspot.com

What I suggest is getting a Facebook fanpage up, and corral all your friends. You could get a following for your site that will revisit it again and again.

Good luck, and nice work!

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#48

Post by justinchen » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:43 PM UTC

dholowiski wrote: post #22

OMG "it's made of people"! Yeah it's a mindblow when you realize this. But it's not made of people who spend 6 hours a night watching tv. There has never been a better time for creators, of all kind.

I wish that people would remember that "it's made by people" when they email customer support. Sometimes people can be so harsh.

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#49

Post by middlegeek » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:44 PM UTC

benchmark wrote: post #47

I've got a gaming website, like yours, but not as smart looking: http://www.funnygamesspot.com What I suggest is getting a Facebook fanpage up, and corral all your friends. You could get a following for your site that will revisit it again and again. Good luck, and nice work!

Nice! Are you making any money on your site?

Re: Ask HN: I made $1.01 yesterday. What next?

#50

Post by middlegeek » Thu, Oct 28, 2010, 7:51 PM UTC

Bravo and congrats! You have earned that first dollar. A dollar isn't always very significant in everyday life but that figurative dollar is for you. Good luck!