A Website to get an Iraqi family out. Any suggestions? Woudl you participate?

Hello everybody,

I am an 18 years old Iraqi boy. Ive left Iraq a year ago because of being attacked by terrorists after coming back from an exchange program to the US that lasted 10 months. The reason they attacked me is being an ''American agent.'' Anyway, the family of a girl I had met in the US, a Spaniard, helped me leave the country and come to Spain, where I now am.

I now am trying to start a website to help my family get out of Iraq. My family members got attacked many times by terrorists, with the last attack getting my brother shot. He barely escaped and is now hiding in the North with my other brother. I am sick of having such a life and dreaming of changing that and finally having a normal life.

The website I am starting will ask for people's support. I have been learning about things for months and invested all I have to make this a reality. I want to give something of value for those who help me. This way, I will be offering to list your website on my site. I am hoping and working hard to make the site reach the maximum number of people, so this can provide little value to you. I am hoping to get the help of mainly webmasters and business owners. You will get your website featured, and will also get a webhosting plan for a year. How? Affiliate programs. I am planning on having website owners donate in the form of using my link to purchase a webhosting plan. The affiliate commission is the 'donation' I get, and you will also get a link (probably an image and a profile) of your website on my site. I will ask ordinary people to help me by supporting the website owners who help me by buying something from them if they want. Also, I will probably offer another webhosting plan for webmasters who help me, so the total are 2 webhosting plans and a link on the site.

Do you think people would help me? I will provide proofs that what I am seeing is real. Do you think webmasters would think this offers them enough value? Would you participate?

Again, what you would get:

1- Two webhosting plans. And;
2- A link and a profile on the site.

Please let me know how can I reach webmasters and what could help me with marketing this.

Thank you very much.

 

Yeh, they would. theres a thread like this on namepros.

 

Sohan thanks for the reply. Can you please tell me what do you mean in there is a thread like this on namepros? I think namepros is another forum, but what do you mean in a thread like this?

Thank you very much for your time.

 

Someone should jump on this. This is one of those silly little ideas that will end up plastered all over the big news channels in no time. Like million dollar homepage was.

 

I will provide a review of your site with a link. It is the least i could do.

 

Naples what do you mean in someone should jump on this? What is silly about it?

 

Thank you very much, Id really appreciate it.

What else do you think I can offer to add value for those who would help?

 

I know you're looking at your options and wondering how YOU will ever get enough visitors to make any progress on getting your family out of the country. I would suggest starting a website, could be as simple as a blog to share your experiences with the world and make known what you are trying to do and why. You might need very little or no help because if your story is true it will be talked about by many people. It is the type of story I would expect to see hundreds of blogs posting about once they find it and could definately make it to the mainstream media.

I'm sure you are already aware of this but the news people see is rarely the truth. The picture that has been painted by the media about Iraqi citizens varies by channel but usually takes one of two views. Either Iraqis hate America, hate the troops being there, and just want them to leave or they are thankful for the wonderful help the troops are giving them and everything is roses and freedom now. This has turned around a bit lately but not even close to the details you could offer.

In any case I'm sure you will get some support from the webmaster community but your best bet is normal readers looking for a heart moving story. The more details, pictures, and personal thoughts you can include the better.

Again, if your story is true and you don't plan to twist anything I would start a blog immediately and begin writing. I doubt you need help with this but if so just PM me.

Cheers, and I would love to read your stories.

 

i think you may have mis-understood what Naples meant when he said silly, i think hes actually giving you a compliment. Theres nothing silly about your website, far from it. Its the concept behing the idea of your website and the reasons why you want to make money, the milliondollarhomepage was a silly simple idea that worked brilliantly and yours could be the same. good luck with it.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I really, really appreciate it. I have been learning about websites and the internet for months now and have worked online, as a low-cost content writer, to make enough money to start a good site.

I am hoping to get the help of webmasters and business owners cause they are people I can offer some value back. I do not want to just recieve donations, it feels so much better giving something of some value for the help people offer me. My story is sad, but many Iraqis have similar stories now. I do not want to play on peoples feelings, many others in this world need serious help, so I wont just ask for donations. If I ever decide to accept donations from normal people, I will have to ask them to donate to organizations like Save The Children or Make Poverty History first, I am sure those organizations can find people who deserve it more than me.

I thought I wouldnt include a lot of personal information, but I now know that the only way people can be sure is doing so. I will be risking a lot, but hopefully, and I know it is dreamy, I will be able to collect enough money to get my family out and get them a place where we can finally live a normal life.

I will install a life chat system, from ChatStat.Com, to directly talk to visitors and answer their questions if they have any. I will be using it most of the time when Im not at school.

I really hope that webmasters will find it worth it to spend about $100 to help me out, get 2 webhosting plans, and a link on a site Im hoping to expose for the whole world for at least 3 days.

I know it is dreamy, but I thought it is worth it to try. It now is a time for me when I have to do this. I am sick of being attacked, having nothing, and depending on others to get the most basic of things.

Thanks for your time and help, I really appreciate it.

 

Thank you Tyzer for taking the time to reply to a post on my thread. I did not misunderstand Naples, I just did not understand him.

Thank you for wishing me good luck, I really need it. I really hope that this gets them out and finally provide us a normal life.

Thanks again. Take care and be safe.

 

Yea man, I didn't mean it in a bad way.

Here in America, certain sites have this thing the media latches onto and runs with. The last example was http://themilliondollarhomepage.com

It was just an idea a kid had, he wanted to become a millionaire in a few months. To the normal person, they didn't think anything of it. But when the media caught wind of the site, it became the headline on all the news channels. It's kind of hard to explain. Point is, your little idea could have that "thing" the media likes. I don't think it has enough of the "thing" to get the type of press milliondollarhomepage got, but it certainly does have some of the "thing"! lol

Good luck!
After it's all setup, you may want to shell out $100 or so and do a press release. That could be all the kick start you will need.

 

Naples, thanks a lot! I just did not understand what you meant, I did not think you said it in a bad way.

TheMillionDollarHomepage sounds amazing, and I definitely don't have that 'thing.' I just hope webmasters and business owners will help me for a hosting plan and some advertisement. They would basically be getting a hosting plan, but still help someone enormously and get some advertisement.

I will let you know when the site is done. Thanks for your wishing me luck and your suggestion, I will definitely consider it. Please let me know what else you think I can offer on the site if you think about any.

 

I wouldn't be so sure your idea doesn't have the "thing".
The American media is attracted to just such ideas as yours. They love little ideas/sites like yours. Specially if there is not much news at the time, they look for things to fill up their time slots with. I think you should definitely wait till after the mid-term elections though. You won't get any type of coverage during our elections. I'm sure someone from DP can guide you in the right direction. I think with the correct marketing and sales pitch, you could have a big winner. Not only for helping the family get out, but make some extra cash along the way too.

Or it could be a total flop, there's no telling. Make no mistake about it, your idea has legs, just depends on how well and fast they can run.

 

Maybe I am a party pooper, but wouldn't your family want to stay and make Iraq a better country? I know my brother is in Iraq doing that for your family now... Just my opinion.

 

A couple of things.

First of all your type of story is that in which people might WANT to donate to. It doesn't matter what you tell them about not wanting donations for free they will try to find a way to get it to you.

Second, as noble as it is to want to offer a service to raise money there is nothing wrong with asking for donations from those that read your stories. Consider yourself a journalist and donations are just people paying you for a) teaching them something new, or b) entertaining them for a few minutes of their lives. If you look around and many of the bigger blogs they opt for donation buttons rather than ads on their sites. Some of them stay open 100% by donations from people that enjoy checking their website. This keeps it free to those who won't pay and doesn't require ads on the site.

Just something to think about.

Cheers.

 

Hello tschrock,

I, and most Iraqis, do really appreciate what your brother and people like him are doing. However, with all due respect, you have no idea how it feels to get attacked many times, to get relatives killed for nothing, to have your brother shot, to not have electricty, to not have water, to not have the most basic of things, to have to leave your country at 17 for being attacked, to have never experienced a normal life, and to have to rely on a host family at 18 to survive. Your brother did at least make the choice to be there, we did not. My father is leading the city council and he wouldnt leave, even if we get enough money and be able to. The reason we get attacked more than anybody else? We are for freedom and have supported the ending of the regime and my two brothers helped the troops as translators. They got attacked many times, and a few months ago my older brother got shot, he escaped what seemed to be a sure death. He applied for a visa to get out because of the many attacks he got. He didnt get it, simply because he is an Iraqi. The troops that he helped didnt do anything. I understand that, as they would have to issue visas to thousands of damaged Iraqis this way, but I do not understand how did they not help him at the time when he needed them most, and I do not understand how they accept that he hides in North with no job despite the services and help he offered.

What I am doing is a dreamy try. I am dreaming of generating enough money to get my family out. Weve never had a normal life and I would really like to feel secure, be with my family, and be able to pay for myself. Never experienced that before. When in Iraq, always attacked for being 'American agents,' and before for not being members of Al-Baath party. Here in Spain, I have nothing because my family dont have money now and I cant work here. I can only get a student visa, and the only way I could get money to do this website is working online.

I really think you have a great point. If good Iraqis leave, who would build this destroyed country? They leave because they have to. They all get attacked, and get no protection. The result? If they stay, they get killed, and no difference is made. So leaving is a better choice. Also, life is precious, and though I realise that leaving is not the most noble thing to do, I really do not want my family members to be killed. After seeing my father leading the city council to fight against those sick minded people & still recieve no protection, after seeing my brothers working three years with the troops & still get no place and protection when they get attacked, and after going to the US for 10 months in a program that intented to inform Americans about who we normal Iraqis really are, getting attacked by terrorists for being an 'American agent' when going back home, and having to leave my country and family to live with a host family in a country I didnt know anything about, having to lose school years in the process, I believe that my family has done its part and its time that we get a normal life.

My father, I am pretty sure, will probably never agree to leave, despite all whats happening. However, all the members of my family got attacked many times and unlike my dad, we do dream of a better life and a better place. He is wonderful, and is ready to spend the rest of his life bettering things for others. I certainly cant be like him. I dont want to suffer more. Consider this: My mom is 55 years old, shes never been to any place, had to quit her job as a teacher because of Saddam, have seen her relatives killed in Mass Graves by Saddam, her husband being jailed, her sons getting shot, and me having to leave at a young age for no reason other than thinking as a human being. There are worse stories than mine, much worse and many of them, but having seen what life in other places is like, I can comofortably say that this is suffering. I really think she deserves to spend the rest of her life in a place where you have to worry less about the basics.

Thank you very much for your post and time. Best regards to your brother. I hope he gets back safe. Thank him on my behalf.

 

Again, thank you very much for your time and suggestions. I really appreciate it.

The thing is: I need to get this in the least possible period of time. I would also feel much better offering something that at least has the value of the donation. I, for now, am hoping that business owners and webmasters consider this cause it does offer them something of value. I will ask for donations only if this fails and I have absolutely no other way to get helped.

Thank you very much for your time and help.

 

Hi again everybody,

Where do you think should I advertise to get the attention of webmasters when the website launches? I am looking for good places that do not cost a lot. Any suggestions?

 

I'll help. let me know.