Crazy business idea I had

Discussion in 'General Business' started by DaveMc, Jul 29, 2008.

  1. #1
    I've been thinking about this idea for a while but brushed it off as crazy. Imagine a website where unique articles are given away for free to anyone! All you'd have to do is register perhaps, and then look through a constantly-updated library of unique content available and pick ones to download (perhaps with monthy download limits, etc...) that would then be immediately removed from the library for download.

    So I got the calculator out and thought about the costs:

    $5 per 400/500 word unique article from (admitedly cheap) writers: 2000 unique articles per month = $10,000.

    Sell 15 links on the site - $500 per month (expensive but it would be an excellent niche for advertising SEO/webmaster stuff) = $7500.
    AdSense or similar/affiliate product sales = $2500 per month (approx $83 a day - entirely possible).

    Expenses per month: $10,000
    Income per month: $10,000

    And you've broken even while providing what would surely be an incredibly popular service and site! What do you think?
     
    DaveMc, Jul 29, 2008 IP
  2. DCharles

    DCharles Peon

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    #2
    What would be the point in just breaking even?
     
    DCharles, Jul 29, 2008 IP
  3. DaveMc

    DaveMc Peon

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    #3
    I assume that someone who's a bit better at this than me could make it generate a lot more money somehow. And the site would be worth a lot anyway, even just the domain name.
     
    DaveMc, Jul 29, 2008 IP
  4. Essociate

    Essociate Peon

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    #4
    also, how long will you need to carry the load before all your ad spots catch up to the cost of articles. find a way to crowdsource the articles more economically?
     
    Essociate, Jul 29, 2008 IP
  5. IntellectToday

    IntellectToday Banned

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    #5
    This is a very interesting idea.

    As I'm looking at it, I see a lot of potential. Of course, the information would need to be tweaked a bit so that it turns a profit and minimizes risk.

    I'm going to send the original poster a PM regarding this idea.
     
    IntellectToday, Jul 29, 2008 IP
  6. mentos

    mentos Prominent Member

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    #6
    I'm afraid that the cheap pay writer can't deliver quality article
    Nows day people looking for quality article
     
    mentos, Jul 29, 2008 IP
  7. TonyMarkx

    TonyMarkx Peon

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    #7
    Hi there,

    If You are even thinking about outlaying those types of figures, I would go no further without getting some true bearings and direction from some simple research and planning.

    1. Get a proper plan

    2. Grab a pen & pad, sit down for an hour, spend twenty minutes brainstorming every way possible to make money from the project. Spend 20 minutes fine tuning the best ideas to make money not only initially, but going forwards as well. Spend ten minutes writing a short hand plan with goals.

    3. Find ways to secure the goals and stick to it stringently.

    4. Always keep on referring back to the plan, adjust, change and rewrite as the ever changing landscape of the online world obviously does not sit still.

    5. If You believe that it will be very popular, you simply MUST grow a subscriber base from the venture. This alone if treated with the respect that valuable subscribers not only deserve but expect, should give a good return every month.

    In 5 minutes I have already got a direction and plan just from what You Posted, without going any deeper.

    All my success has come from implementing two things

    1. Focus

    2. Plan

    I hope this helps somewhat.

    Cheers
     
    TonyMarkx, Jul 29, 2008 IP
    Pammer and DaveMc like this.
  8. medicalhumor

    medicalhumor Peon

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    #8
    good luck getting advertisers to cough up $500 on a brand new site.

    seems like a lot of work to break even, but I don't even think you would break even with this plan.
     
    medicalhumor, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  9. dlm

    dlm Peon

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    #9
    Except those numbers are totally unrealistic. If sticking a bunch of articles on a site was that easy, everyone would be doing it profitably...
     
    dlm, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  10. kiteguy123

    kiteguy123 Guest

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    #10
    I disagree. Although paying more usually gets you quality, there are some brilliant writers out there who are willing to accept the low rates, purely so they can get business. If you look in the Content Creation section there are a few people offering to write articles for less than $0.01 per word, and feedback for them is that they're quality articles.

    As good as this idea is, you'd have to spend a fair amount of money getting it started and persuading people to upload the articles. The other main problem you face is that people will want to have relevant articles, so unless you have a lot, and I mean LOADS, of articles, you are unlikely to cover some of the more specific articles that some people would want.
     
    kiteguy123, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  11. luhasr

    luhasr Peon

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    #11
    To make proper plan....definitely you break even............
     
    luhasr, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  12. dpole

    dpole Peon

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    #12
    It's a decent idea you need to work on making a profit out of it though.
     
    dpole, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  13. fadetoblack22

    fadetoblack22 Well-Known Member

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    #13
    Have you thought about the fact that as soon as the article is downloaded and used on another site, then its not unique anymore...
     
    fadetoblack22, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  14. pedigreechump6

    pedigreechump6 Active Member

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    #14
    To encourage user generated content why not allow webmasters looking for links to submit articles to the library with a link in the text (much like any other article directory).

    Then have sites owners looking for free content come along and "bid" to have that content on their site. The site owners state where on the site it will go and traffic/PR stats etc.

    The author can then choose where they want their article to be published - they might choose relevancy, traffic or PR but it's entirely up to them.

    The article is then removed from the library. Finding a way to stop content being taken from the library without consent it tricky but you could do it by just allowing signups by invite only or by simply having article snippets rather than the whole thing being shown. So only the chosen site owner gets the full article.

    Revenue is could be generated because after acquiring emails from all parties involved you could market products they might be interested in from clickbank, joint ventures etc.. plus the link selling you mentioned.

    Just an idea...
     
    pedigreechump6, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  15. Seqqa

    Seqqa Well-Known Member

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    #15
    Ask for a donation too, make it an exchange were people exchange their old content for new content.
     
    Seqqa, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  16. latoya

    latoya Active Member

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    #16
    You might have a hard time getting advertisers to pay $500 for a link in the beginning. Once you build up PR and traffic, it will probably be easier.

    You could sell more than 15 links on the site and stagger your pricing structure based on the level - 1st level is most expensive, followed by 2nd level and so on. For example, put 20 links on the homepage, sell for $50 each. Then you could add more links to 2nd and 3rd levels. As the site gets more traffic and popularity, you can increase the price of ads.

    Here's an idea for another revenue stream. Add two levels of articles - free and premium. Sell the premium for $20+ depending on what you paid for them.

    You need to consider how you will allow people to preview the articles without stealing them (e.g. right-clicking, using view source, retyping).
     
    latoya, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  17. Vaibhav

    Vaibhav Peon

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    #17
    I'll tell you a way in which the whole cost of $10,000 can be brought down to zero.

    Imagine if a content writer itself were to start this website and sit all day just writing stupid articles on all random niches that he feels like..

    Do this for a at least a few months until the webiste reaches PR6 or 7 and then sell links for even $700 possibly if the website manages to get a large number of uniques per day..

    Use keywords like "free article writing" and im sure the uniques per day would be a massive figure..n yea buy an old domain to host this webiste on, don't purchase a new domain..

    Apart from adsense n link sales, start off banner ads and affiliates..

    Theres huge money in this idea but just so that your initial cost is zero, you need to be a content writer yourself!

    Cheers!
     
    Vaibhav, Jul 30, 2008 IP
  18. Steve Peters

    Steve Peters Peon

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    #18
    If you are creative I think that there is an awful lot that you can do with this concept.
     
    Steve Peters, Jul 30, 2008 IP