Registration to Monetisation In 24Hrs Pls

[WalkinDude]

Yes but you have to have that domain, in that niche, with a built website for £70, targeting to that guy in that town who has those skills and services to target their offerings to those 20 people - it's too narrow or random.

Perhaps the years of commercial business experience has made me blinkered and too close to the next idea that's outside my radar - or perhaps those years have taught me a thing or two about expectations and reaction.

I ran a web design business for 5 years before selling to a larger agency - you're £20 a year support figure is absolutely and wildly under-estimated.

I have to say I'm not really getting these threads. Your posts seem to suggest your new to this (?), you're asking for opinions on ideas and what people (who have been working on these typed of things for a while now) think based on their experiences....

....but you are quite dismissive of them, rather than taking them on board and making a decision.

What am I not getting here?

I don't accept the current status quo is good enough. There's nothing wrong with consumers taking £100 - £250 a time punts on our websites if we can offer something that appears worth that. Less than some people chuck away on a pair of shoes for one occasion. Going through these threads made me realise unless you own CheapCruises.co.uk and better, below that level there's an infinite supply of domains so if we wanna sell we better off adding some value to them.

ShropshirePlasterers.co.uk sold off the shelf for £250 and sold to a local Shropshire plasterer who's existing on word of mouth and local classified's is value for money in my view especially if it's set up to offer his/her real time availability bookings, and most current rates and a doddle to maintain, that's added value, and a more moral way to earn money than using such a site to link to BandQ for affiliate revenue. Economies of scale ensure it can be done at off the shelf pricing. The sheer amount of domains under our control ensure marketing to the general public could be overcome, what's merely lacking is the will of domaineers. I'd like to domain in a way that keeps local money in local pockets, and I think customers would really like this too? No?

I started this thread to see if there's a bit more that I can do with my domaineering career than set up to channel more local money up to google/facebook/moneysupermarket and all the other corporate giants that are killing local communities with their barely hidden pyramid financial structures, and so on. There is a way, it can be done, and if no one offers a way to do it in this thread won't make a blind bit of difference to me. Just one thread.

eBay will endure cos it already offers this, a sense the end user can actually share in the spoils. That to me is a huge selling angle.

 

[The Ferryman]

I agree you can't sell potatoes to potato farmers.

Oh, yes you can! Potato farmers must be among the biggest buyers of potatoes.

They need to buy tonnes of them every year to plant to grow their potatoes!

Regards
Bruce

 

[Blossom]

You seem to be in the tunnel of affiliate and other pro domaineering monetisation routes.

No, I just reached that conclusion because you said the following:

'I love Alien's web knockups', '...can't see why it should take someone with relevant experience more than 2 hours to knock up a mini site that offers some sort of basic functionality affiliate income potential.'

It wasn't until much later on in the discussion that you started talking about local cottage-style businesses (which, by the way, are often more than happy to trade on Facebook, eBay and local markets. The lack of control is often made up by the twin benefits of easily reaching a large, reasonably targeted audience and the familiarity with the platform).

As stated a website is the the most economical way to admin such local cottage businesses. Cheaper than endless ads in the local papers, more professional and versatile than facebook etc.

Again you're only seeing one side of the picture. There are pros and cons to both having your own website and being set up on a selling site or social media site.

And again, having your own website can be free. Why do you think it is that people don't set up their own website for free themselves? They clearly know it's a possibility.

No wonder everything so utterly pedestrian in in the domain market when this is the mindset.

I don't know why you're taking my opinion as the mindset of the domaining industry. Especially since, as I've mentioned before, I'm not a domainer.

There is a need out there, a need to channel local money way from the big corporations and KEEP IT LOCAL and this is the way to do it, and the UK domain industry should be providing the solutions, not have it's head stuffed firmly up Google and Facebook's backside imho.

I agree, but I'm still not seeing any ideas from you on how to achieve this. It's all very well to say that someone else should provide the solutions.

 

[WalkinDude]

Agree my posts are erratic but don't agree regarding free websites, what i'm talking about is the idea a person can spend coupla hundred quid on a web that does a job for them in the immediate, they won't need google cos it's all about word of mouth locally, and informing existing customers, at any point in the future they'd be able to scale up. Free webs look like utter turd most of the time, whereas Aliens webs look like investments to me, and that's the difference. The idea cannot be judged unless all it's pros are taken into consideration and yes some will opt to do nothing, some will opt for even cheaper options and some will opt to buy and off the shelf website if it's easily accessible to them. That's the nature of all markets.

I see no reason why the UK public should exist under the umbrella of facebook and google. A web for every individual skill set, and individual that can just sit there and cost pennies to maintain or be put into action and supplement said individuals income in a struggling economic environment. And problem is right now only the nerds are doing it, everyone should be.

 

[cc976a]

What's the difference between this and going to a web designer?

It's not meant in a sarcastic tone, you may have hit upon something, but why would they come to you and spend a 'couple of hundred' for a pre-existing website (when 1&1 tout these for free with hosting - I know how crap they are, but the punters don't) when they can go to a web designer for near same price and put their tupenny worth - and trust me, from experience, even one man bands want to add their tupenny worth.

Also where is the traffic coming from (geo local listings on G are quite dominated by Google Local - it's what brought about the sinking of sales for them on here 2 years ago)?

Am I right in thinking your model is to build lots of sites targeted are certain geo service / products (at say £70 a pop) and sell them to end users at 'a couple of hundred pounds) as ready to go sites?

So for every two you have built you'd have to sell one to take a £60 profit (sell 1 in 3 and your at a loss, and not even including other costs). Not bad maths but selling 50% of these, when most end users have a site, is going to cost either time / money to market these to each user.

These are the reasons i'm personally saying the idea may struggle but again happy to hear how this can be overcome

 

[WalkinDude]

The idea is they'd come to me/us cos we got the best domains, judging by what's routinely put up out there, far better ones than they can think up themselves, plus site, plus SEO.

Domaineers selling domains to other domaineers for 15quid when could be sold with value added to end users for 150quid [if set up costs can be kept below £70] is good business for domaineer and end user especially given number of people trying to downsize their portfolios.

 

[djbw]

End users rarely care about domains, especially UK ones from what I read!

I've done a few sites for end users though I'd hardly call it web design. It's more "wordpress assistance" but it helps them learn enough to manage it themselves and feel like they've been part of the process. I generally get them to buy the domain and sometimes the hosting and then just set stuff up for them. They provide the content and I keep a login in case they need more help. I do a bit of on-page SEO and they promote it through social media. Pretty low maintenance but it works well for both parties.

 

[Jamie101]

End users rarely care about domains, especially UK ones from what I read!

I've done a few sites for end users though I'd hardly call it web design. It's more "wordpress assistance" but it helps them learn enough to manage it themselves and feel like they've been part of the process. I generally get them to buy the domain and sometimes the hosting and then just set stuff up for them. They provide the content and I keep a login in case they need more help. I do a bit of on-page SEO and they promote it through social media. Pretty low maintenance but it works well for both parties.

Agree with you that most people that want a website don't really care about the quality of a domain, they just want a basic website! (I'm talking about plumbers and so on, not large businesses)

I've always thought about asking local businesses about setting up a site for them - using Wordpress just like you do. Not sure whether it would be worth my time though.

 

[djbw]

I've always thought about asking local businesses about setting up a site for them - using Wordpress just like you do. Not sure whether it would be worth my time though.

I get mine coming in from word-of-mouth and I tell them how I work so I'm not inundated with support requests. It works pretty well for me but I've not done loads. It all adds to the income though!

 

[Jamie101]

I get mine coming in from word-of-mouth and I tell them how I work so I'm not inundated with support requests. It works pretty well for me but I've not done loads. It all adds to the income though!

Sounds good. I've unlimited hosting too which I could put to use by doing something like this, could even charge a small amount per year for it. Making very little with my sites since I sold the one that was among decent money, so I might think about doing this.

 

[dashu1]

This is one of those ideas that sounds good in theory, but isn't quite as easy in practice.

What you want to do instead of building a website on some random domain and hoping there's a buyer for it, is to get yourself your latest "on your doorstep" type magazine that's full of small local businesses PAYING to advertise.

Then isolate the ones who don't have a website.

Then ring them up with your offer.

Then give up in desperation when you realise they aren't interested.

Most local tradespeople don't see themselves as web based or being in need of a website, they just don't get it.

In theory it should be a great idea, in practice it's very difficult.

 

[WalkinDude]

How many people saw themselves as social networkers before the idea was perfected for them? Or Auctioneers before eBay made it a doddle?

Same ol' British arguement, not possible, can't be done, yadiyadi ya. If an idea is good in 'theory', then the next issue is the failure to deliver it correctly in practice. May take some time, but i'll get there. In any case your comment is actually appreciated, won't be easy, will have to be rather more clever than attempts so far [thinking of Ning etc, there].

 

[fresh79]

How many people saw themselves as social networkers before the idea was perfected for them? Or Auctioneers before eBay made it a doddle?

Same ol' British arguement, not possible, can't be done, yadiyadi ya. If an idea is good in 'theory', then the next issue is the failure to deliver it correctly in practice. May take some time, but i'll get there. In any case your comment is actually appreciated, won't be easy, will have to be rather more clever than attempts so far [thinking of Ning etc, there].

Why don't you try it and prove Acorn wrong.
Here is a top level FTR - see if you can market it for £70 + to a trade.
Quantify how much time you spend on emails, phone calls, developing the site etc. = cost
(in fact this should be quite easy as the .co.uk is taken, this is a no brainer)
electricianwetherby.com


A Tip - if your going to do this, then £70 is way too cheap.
Good luck

 

[WalkinDude]

All the thinking I see here so far is vertical i.e push forward harder with current ideas on it. I now think the thinking has to be lateral first, then may go vertical. Very lateral in fact. Solid domain, plus web, p'ss easy admin, £150 is good value for money. First thing a yank would say is he wants that figure down to $49 which is how I aim to think.

 

[dashu1]

How many people saw themselves as social networkers before the idea was perfected for them? Or Auctioneers before eBay made it a doddle?

Same ol' British arguement, not possible, can't be done, yadiyadi ya. If an idea is good in 'theory', then the next issue is the failure to deliver it correctly in practice. May take some time, but i'll get there. In any case your comment is actually appreciated, won't be easy, will have to be rather more clever than attempts so far [thinking of Ning etc, there].

It's not just a negative comment, I have actually tried it, focusing on local tradesmen and small businesses because:

1) Many don't have websites, but they do pay for advertising - so they are happy to spend money to promote themselves;
2) You can easily get them to page 1 of Google if you're ranking them for local searches, in google places if nothing else, meaning you can offer them a big fat juicy carrot;
3) You can bang up a nice Wordpress or other site meaning it's basically template driven (little if any design time), and they get a CMS so they can update their site themselves;

I had this idea a couple of years ago and have tried it a few times since. I've tried selling it to them numerous ways, making sure the Google statement "97% of people search online first for local goods and services" etc are hammered home.

But they don't get it.

I've just had one as an example, for a proper website design, that won't spend £800 on a semi-bespoke site with SEO to rank them for a local service, because in their eyes the utter crap they've made themselves using weebly (that isn't ranking even) offers better value.

Even though it isn't getting 1 hit per week - they'd rather have that than something that will rank and will get them business - because in their eyes a website is a website - why pay £800 for one when they have one already?

It's not the same 'ol British argument on here you need to be mindful of, it's the same 'ol British argument you're going to get from the people you're trying to sell your sites to that you need to overcome.

Have a go and see, it's all well and good people bandying their beliefs around on a forum, go and try it and let us know how you get on.

 

[WalkinDude]

Believe every word you say, but i'll refer you to Mr Dyson's 5000 prototypes before he got it right. Simply hasn't been done right yet, and given the rewards for whoever does get it right, the journey will go on. Right now, others are trying it, sooner or later someone is going to find the missing piece of that Jigsaw, evidenced by the serious volume sales in America of localised web domains and small business domains. One of the top domaineers across the Atlantic registered 14,000 such domains in TWO DAYS, and the dude has made $80million in this game, so we know better than he does? Wish i could find the article, but even he said he's not completely sure what sales will be like, but his instincts told him it's the new frontier.

And pls no responses to imply i'm expecting that level of business pls.

 

[WalkinDude]

Oh and sales are far more likely to be generated by capturing peoples imagination than reasoning with them with data and logic, the latter is just backup info. Marketing is everything, the yanks seem to know this.

 

[dashu1]

You sell with benefits.

These people want business.

The benefit of a website is that all of their potential customers search online, ergo, if they're online they get business.

It isn't logic and data, it's basic selling. They have a need, the website will fill that need.

They still don't want it.

My personal belief is that this idea is about 5 years ahead of the curve in the UK, until small business owners "get" the benefits the internet can offer them, they aren't going to buy it.

But again, instead of droning on about Dyson and someone else, and telling us what you THINK, you go and TRY IT and see how you get on.

Maybe you'll end up richer than Dyson - but not at £70 per website.

 

[Sussexite]

A different model to setting up a new site and trying to flip it for £200 is....

There are many small businesses out there who have already paid £xxx, or £x,xxx for their website but are getting almost no traffic because they don't know how to do SEO and can't afford to buy it in eg PR0 / 1 sites. This is a great target market. You can't sell them another site easily, but they were once excited by the idea of the internet.

So..

• Set your own site up properly on your niche domain.
• Get some traffic and rank well.
• Send the traffic to a potential buyer or advertiser (especially one with bad SEO) as a free trial for a month.
• Send them, say, 100 visitors in that month.
• Ask them if they want to continue getting that traffic @ 30p a go (or whatever)
• If Yes, then you have £30 a month, £360 a year etc and growing and with more advertisers to add. Oh....and Later, when they love your traffic, ask them if they want all the traffic from the site @ 6-7 x the value of the advertising per annum.
• If No, remove them, replace them with another prospect.

It's easier to sell the value of traffic than it is to sell a low traffic domain into this market.

 

[WalkinDude]

No i'm not buying all of this at all sorry, same ol' rehash of existing ideas which are more or less proven not to work on this, i'm talking about a new idea, some mental innovation and said delivery of it. I don't what it is yet but it's coming. Anyone who says that's hot air is welcome to offer such redundant comments.

One thing is i'm tired of seeing UK innovators invent stuff [the internet itself, then social networking], then Yanks coming over and showing us how to deliver it to the masses good and proper, and cleaning up and utterly dominating. Happens time and time again and the cycle must be broken.