There are cheaper versions for sub $50 now and words from under $20, just goes to show what sort of profit joel made.
I was nice to people. Put up this site where the words are FREE to get! If a word is not there, or you want a personalized word, it is $5.00. http://www.submithere.net Have to admit, in a few days, a heck of a lot of visitors and lots of words going fast.
First to the market always demands higher prices. Joel would have got a lot of publicity from this, and as such his words might actually carry weight. They were over priced in the traditional way though, but you should always price stuff at whatever people will pay.
The very fact that it was successful for yourself, doesn't mean it will be successful for others. I am not knocking it, as I came across it quite some time ago and thought... if only I had the traffic, then I could launch a product and have a strong foundation for its success. I am saying that due to your already notable reputation, for you at least in my eyes, it would have been a success. For other people, it will require hard work and their marketing and promoting skills to make it viable. Yes, it is similar in essence to the milliondollar script in its simplicity - but therein lies its ingenuity... brings me to the point I was going to make on the thread... It is simple ideas and simple concepts that are released/marketed at the right time and the right way that will gain success. The more novel an idea, the more ingenious the marketing, the greater the chance of success for the developer. However, something can quickly come along and duplicate a system and when that happens - its main unique selling point has a lot of competition and it will come down to the person using the script to put in some hard work to make it profitable for them. It all boils down to the old saying - success breeds success. A developer may have a great idea, and a great product - but with no reputation or consistent traffic, success itself will be much more limited and in those cases, can quickly get lost in the success side of it if their product is duplicated and replicated throughout the internet by anyone who has a much more consistent audience.
Very thru as the script that powers this kind of site is so simple that it's value is only the name that promotes it. Maybe that Joel would promote a idea of us if it has value and split the profit?
It doesn't have to be Joel, but anyone with a big reputation can prove to be an asset as well, especially if it is a good idea and will further enhance their reputation as well as financially reward them in some way.
I am always open to new joint ventures. If you have a proposal, submit it via my form at www.askjoelcomm.com Joel
These type of viral sites are alive and kicking. www.awesomemillion.com is the latest I've seen, and it's doing pretty well.
If it's good advertising, I don't mind it one bit. Would you spend money on a TV commercial, if it was a great deal that you can afford?
There are pro & cons on that 500words idea.. Hope some one here can create a good idea than 500words and give benefits for SEO?
Wordsites and SEO... It seems the links do help your ranking: Do a search on google for "500words" You should see cfsmedia.co.uk somewhere on the first page. The site (cfsmedia) has nothing to do with 500words. Its only relation to the topic is the tag '500words' on 500wordsite.com. Shows you how a keyworded text link can help, even if it has nothing to do with your site.
Word sites wouldn't help your rankings any more than a link from a half decent directory. Even the targeted nice sites would help less than a link from a site in the same niche as you.
novelty value really as semanticly the words on the page do not connect. I would not link TO one of these sites from my own site as they might well be treated as a link farm in the future. Or at the very least a paid FFA (if there can be such a thing)
OWG means that as the words on the page are from different niche's then it has no SEO value as the page has no 'topic' it's novelty value only.