How would you use 100 dollars to start a business?

oh so planning for SAT?
Gud ,come back after that and we will decide about your PET site

 

TWo Words: Proxy Site

 

Here's one thing you could do . . .

Find a large forum on the Internet with a certain demographic. When I say large I mean large - for instance 1,000 users online at any one time. Now you may think Digitalpoint with it's current 1,000 active users online (as I type this) would be a good demographic and forum to target but it's not - it's too split-up in to sub-forums and compartmentalised to get a large enough exposure.

Also, make sure it's a demographic that is large enough to have dedicated magazines, blogs and news websites related to it.

Create a service that's paid or free for this demographic that's worth them talking about and telling others about. It has to be worthy of magazines, blogs and news websites talking about it too.

Contribute to the forum for a few weeks as a new member and rack up plenty of normal posts.

Craft a careful post in the most popular area of the forum about your service in a manner that doesn't suggest you are the owner - use a womans name if nessasary.

This should generate discussion, interest, *maybe* some sign-ups or subscriptions and will tell you if your idea is worth taking to the next level.

If that gets a good response . . .

Find press contacts for your demographic:

Press release e-mail addresses on news sites, editors of magazines or large blogs within your demographic.

(TO BE HONEST, MAKE SURE YOU CAN CONTACT PLENTY OF THESE IN ADVANCE. IF YOU COME UP WITH AN IDEA, MAKE SURE YOU CAN CREATE A LARGE ENOUGH LIST OF PRESS CONTACTS IN THAT DEMOGRAPHIC, ELSE SCRAP THE IDEA AND COME UP WITH ANOTHER)

Craft a press release (there are tips around on writing press releases) describing your service or website. Send it to all of the above and if it's worth talking about, you will get people writing about it. This could bring huge exposure, visitors, sign-ups . . .

I would use the $100 for domain/hosting and for any little things I couldn't do like a little bit of coding or graphic work. You would be able to get someone to write you a press release with the remaining funds if you're not that good a writer yourself.

It's all in coming up with an idea/service that's worth other people writing about, talking about, etc.. that eliminates a LOT of costs (like advertising).

And you can do all of that on $100 - just think of an idea that you're capabable of doing with your current skills that fits in to the criteria.

If you want my advice: Ignore SEO and PPC advertising etc - in my opinion it's all a distraction and short-term nonsense.

Pete

 

Blogs my friend BLOGS. You don't even need any money to start that. I am in your shoes and have made a profit from a few blogs that I made. Use blogspot if you want a free one of wordpress if you want a better one. Both work fine, wordpress is a little more SEO friendly. Then find a good nitch that is popular, and get content for that nitch. Build links and backlinks, and eventually sell reviews for websites and links to websites.

However I make a profit from various websites too, just blogs happen to be the cheapest.

 

Hi,
It depends on your time frame.

Have a look at this site and go through it. You don't need to use dropshipping if you don't want to, you can just sell your own expertise etc, but the whole point of the exercise is to find something you're interested in. This will help you do that.

Starting a Business

My other point would be, if you take your time and start a business that you're passionate about, by the time you have to fork over some money, you may have some more to spend. Be patient, don't look for a quick fix.

I'd also suggest that a lot of people get sucked into other's programs and systems etc. Don't do that. Only 1-2% of students ever make someone elses system work simply because every one is different. Build a business that suits your personality, time frame, needs etc and you'll grow faster and quicker than most in this wild wild west.

Dean

 

a good nitch? lol, I think you mean niche, but nice post.

 

Two words: too risky

Proxy sites demand large amount of bandwidth and system resources, being susceptible to abuse, and not all the hosting services allow you to run proxies.

However an option if you have your own server and some advertising/marketing plan in mind.

 

Have I been spelling that wrong my entire life... yes i mean niche. Thanks for being the first to tell me in 275 posts. lol.

 

I would say - Why limit yourself to 100 bucks? Surely if you are serious in starting a business you need to invest properly:

- Business Registration, fees & Tax
- Premises, staff & wages
- Trademarks & copyrights

- Web and offline presence....

If 100 is all you have, then my suggestion is you are not ready...or buy a 2nd hand book.

 

domain, hosting... a good product or package to sell, and adword compaign for instant clicks.

 

Here's what I'd do. Overestimating all costs just to be safe.

0 - WordPress
10 - domain name
60 - 6 month of hosting from a reliable provider
15 - paid directory submissions
0 - directory submissions
15 - backup

Create a blog that is something in your interest. Hopefully not another gaming blog or anything that has massive competition. Something that there aren't many resources sites about, but still is under your interest. Post for a while and you should make a name for yourself. Get AdSense or YPN (if in US) going to rake up a few more cash. Monetize your blog. Use the last 15 for hosting (possibly bandwidth) or as a little prize for your blog. Even 15 buck contests bring in quite a few people.

 

Do what you know.
Give users a reason to go to your site.
Content is king.

Heres what I would do:
Find a specific topic, one that is not covered much. Create a site using a cms, write articles and submit to article sites and digg. Make a forum for users to post about the topic, which will create content. Try to find a topic that you can have friends and colleagues go to get it started.

Price break down:
--------------------
CMS: FREE - I suggest drupal or joomla
Design: FREE! Youd be surprised how many good designs there are that are free. It depends on what CMS you use, but they both have a good selection of free templates.
Domain: $10 - Namecheap and Godaddy are good
Hosting: $40 - 6 mos. hosting with a decent provider
Directory Submission: $10 - There are some people on DP who offer good directory submission services
Articles: Free - If you have the time, write some quality articles and submit to major article sites with a link to your site in your signature
Forum Posting: $10 - to get the forums going, you can find people on DP who can post on your forums. Make sure you find people that know your topic
SEO: Free - Make sure your site is optimized so you can eventually get some traffic from search engines. There are many seo guids ands sites. Depending on what software you use, there are alot of mods that help out with SEO
Links: $20 - spend some money buying links on related topics. Make sure you are buying links on pages that people who may be interested in your site will go on.
Extra $10 - Extra money to spend on the site. Youll probably find a good way to spend this last $10 on promotion.

My $.02

Good luck with the site!

 

I'll register a domain & hosting, and work on it, There are alot of suggestion given to you above and they are almost right to some extent.

 

Use that money to invest in a business course (not necessarily college).

 

$100 bucks wont purchase much, so use an open source/free script to start a web site. There are scripts available for dating, property rentals etc. There should be installation instructions for you to setup the site your self without paying someone. If you run into problems, you can always get free advise on forums like this. Spend a lot of time reading on the particular industry and try to indentify a niche. Include revenue streams on your site like pay-per-click ads. Use you money for hosting only.

 

Pick a topic that you are genuinely interested in. Find some cheap hosting, install wordpress, post content on a regular basis. Experiment with ad placement and relevant affiliate offers. See what works, learn the basic tech stuff then reapply what you've learned.

 

Forex trading has become very popular in recent times as a way of making money on the side using extra funds. In fact, a few people have even been able to turn their Forex trading activities into a regular source of income. When you play on the Forex market, you are running a risk, but you are doing so because Forex trading offers you an opportunity to make a good profit.

 

Hey I totally agree with Kevin, As Forex trading is Big Business and with a small investment you can get good returns. Trading in forex market can be extremely profitable and super easy to get started in.

 

A good idea is a great place to start. I started jobs4teens nz as my first website because their was no other site like it (of course that didn't actually go very well) but it remains a good idea.

 

Join a MLM business or start website.