91–100 of 127 posts
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Give my new store a try - http://laughingcomputer.com
Offtopic I know, but this comment is exactly the type where seeing points on comments would be really useful. As it stands, I won't click this link because I have no idea if it's worth it, or worse some kind of scam.
Define "hard." It is an eminently achievable goal to build a business which makes $1,000 a month. That isn't a "get into the NFL then win the Superbowl" goal, that is a "get into college" goal on the relative-risk-of-total-failure continuum. The process of doing it is fairly well understood and focused application of effort towards it makes it quite likely that you will succeed. It does require a bit of a mindset cha…
Except that web development is more akin to microwaving Eggo waffles.
One might say graphic design is easy because you are simply drawing colored shapes, yet many of us suck at this easy job.
I have an eBook for sale for $39.00 that will show you how in ten easy steps, it includes: 1) how to market yourself and use the power of social networking to do the marketing for you 2) how to unlock the power of referrals 3) how you can grow from making $1000 a month, to over $10,000 a month in three more months of work. "I never thought I could own my own business, but it is just so easy" - happy customer
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Many of these projects can be kept on "life-support" and still bring in a healthy profit if set up correctly. How do you know this? I'm genuinely curious; is this reasonable speculation (but still speculation) or do you have some concrete evidence of this working for people? What I've read lately about porn sites suggests that the days of easy money are gone, modulo a few outliers.
What I've read lately about porn sites suggests that the days of easy money are gone What has disappeared are the "gallery sites" that were easy to make - often by hand - or using basic CMS's like wordpress. Most of the people who say it is over are the "old skool" industry folks who hate the Tube sites because they represent a level of technical expertise that they cannot match (but most HN'ers can) What is happenin…
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How would one get more quality traffic with this specific challenge: It's a health site where I talk about getting myself well when doctors claim it cannot be done. The first thing to define is "quality traffic". Let's say the health condition is a painful nose wart. If only 14 people in the U.S. have this condition you're never going to get significant traffic. If the condition is indeed widespread you have to ask h…
Thank you! I will briefly note that my best audience has proven to be people interested in alternative health stuff rather than people with my diagnosis per se.
There are two problems. The first, good traffic quality, can't be changed. The second, your site not being optimized for search engines can, but without the traffic there isn't much point.
It took me several seconds to find out that the topic of your site seems to be cystic fibrosis. You actually have a decent store of content about your topic, but right now it's practically invisible to search engines (for example, you refer to it as "CF", and you're not implementing good page title tags, or effective headers, urls, etc.). As I said, that can be fixed. The bigger problem is that Google's keyword tool for "cystic fibrosis" (exact match phrasing) shows not many are searching for what you're offering.
The general term "cystic fibrosis" has decent numbers, but that can include everything from people checking what it is to students doing reports on it. You are interested in people looking for treatment for it, and those numbers are very, very low. Perhaps people don't think to look for a treatment for it. Whatever the case, you would need to be near the #1 result for the keyword "cystic fibrosis treatment", beating out sites like mayoclinic.com and nlm.nih.gov, and you still wouldn't have more than a few thousand clicks per month. Maybe that's enough for you, but I'd pick a more popular traffic topic.
Also, please note I have a typo in my recommendation above to learn more about effective SEO. You need to type into Google "seo site:news.ycombinator.com" with no space after "site:" to see only results from HN.
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Without even getting into the ethics of selling health advice before the experiments are complete, consider the probability that it's just a terrible idea to try to monetize your personal health site, no matter how you do it. The point of your health regimen is to get yourself well. The point of your health site should be to help you get yourself well -- by motivating you to stick to your plan, by helping you keep re…
I'm guessing you didn't look at the site. A) I am well on my way to being well. Although I continue to learn, the site does not exist to get me well. It exists because I made some off-the-cuff remark on an email list where I was held in high esteem, got attacked for it, was politely asked to "prove" what I had said and I said "give me a day or two to get back to you so I can put together the information". The respons…
Examples: - Get rich selling stuff on ebay! (internet treasure chest) - Save your marriage! (google "save your marriage ebook") - Penis enlargement! (...) - How one mom found a cheap way to whiten her kids teeth! (in ads everywhere, usually leads to a site where you pay for an ebook).
Also, people will pirate it if it's any good.
Define "hard." It is an eminently achievable goal to build a business which makes $1,000 a month. That isn't a "get into the NFL then win the Superbowl" goal, that is a "get into college" goal on the relative-risk-of-total-failure continuum. The process of doing it is fairly well understood and focused application of effort towards it makes it quite likely that you will succeed. It does require a bit of a mindset cha…
A few years ago I was part of a small company, and one day we had a meeting to discuss our future (and yes, porn was one of the things we discussed, though we ended up not pursuing it). The question we asked was, "What was the goal of the company?" If the answer was "To make money", then was writing code the proper way to do it? Each of us, being coders, had come to think so.
I sometimes think that having a skill or a passion for some hands-on activity is a detriment because it leads you think you can and should be doing that as the path to success. The whole "do what you love and the money will follow" nonsense.
OTOH, if you believe you have no tangible skill, but think you can recognize or anticipate a market, then you don't bother trying to implement the solution yourself; you go hire people. (Of course pulling that off is a skill in itself, but it's a different sort from the "make things with your hands" realm where coding lives.)
From a business point of view it may make more sense to take a high-paying but soul-sucking Rails contract job and use the money to pay other developers to implement you MVP.
(BTW, the book The E-Myth covers some of this.)
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Thank you! I will briefly note that my best audience has proven to be people interested in alternative health stuff rather than people with my diagnosis per se.
I actually just looked into your site healthgazelle.com. I'm afraid I would recommend pursuing another avenue to reach $2,000-3000 per month. One area you seem to be good at is writing. I'd pick another area you're an expert in or passionate about which is far more popular, then build up a blog audience writing about it. There are two problems. The first, good traffic quality, can't be changed. The second, your site…
One area you seem to be good at is writing. I'd pick another area you're an expert in or passionate about which is far more popular, then build up a blog audience writing about it.
:-)
That's kind of the long term goal. Only I am thinking webcomic. Time will tell.
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Except that web development is more akin to microwaving Eggo waffles.
From what I've seen, it's very easy to do poorly, but not so easy to do well. One might say graphic design is easy because you are simply drawing colored shapes, yet many of us suck at this easy job.
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I'm guessing you didn't look at the site. A) I am well on my way to being well. Although I continue to learn, the site does not exist to get me well. It exists because I made some off-the-cuff remark on an email list where I was held in high esteem, got attacked for it, was politely asked to "prove" what I had said and I said "give me a day or two to get back to you so I can put together the information". The respons…
You are 100% incorrect about C-3. I don't take sites that want you to pay for information seriously. Information and knowledge should be free. Charging for information makes you "them" instead of "us" and totally leads people to not trust you. Examples: - Get rich selling stuff on ebay! (internet treasure chest) - Save your marriage! (google "save your marriage ebook") - Penis enlargement! (...) - How one mom found a…
I completely agree. And the site is free for use. Still, how does one monetize an informational site? If I know something of value that was hard-won knowledge, how do I share that without feeling like I am cutting my own throat for the benefit of others?
(Please note that I have said elsewhere in this discussion that I don't expect this site to be where the money is. But problem solving for this site is intended to be a learning experience for me.)
Also, people will pirate it if it's any good.
In this case: Yay!