Hello, I am going to start a proxy site. I will probably get a couple of very powerful servers and throw in a few grands into advertising and directory submission. After a few months when I have enough visitors, I'll throw in ads. Is that the right way to go? Any tips? I have the money and enthusiasm.
Just out of curiosity why are you choosing to start a proxy site? It seems that not a lot of people have had great success with them. Of course there are some but if I had money to invest I would put it in a more profitable web business.
procies get blocked from many places quite quick. Don't go dumping a lot of cash into it, and might as well toss the ads on from the start.
Social network... Not really into that. Blogs.. Not my thing either. I have a wonderful coder and a designer and money. What to do?
You sound like you're over thinking all of this just for a proxy. Spend a couple of grand on a proxy? That's really messed up considering proxies get banned fast at schools, and that kills the need for one. My best advice for you: find something else to build.
If you believe in your idea do it. Forget what others say. If you believe do it. No matter what project you start you still have to work on it. And believe me, there are topics much much harder to achieve than proxy websites. The Internet has social network giants for example. Can you compete with them? It's up to you and proxies can be just as good as other websites if you do the job well. Even if proxies get banned they don't get banned all over the Internet. And proxies aren't used only by school students. That's just a part of the traffic. There are proxies on the Web which are 2-3 years old and still going well. The most important part: do not give up. Most proxy owners give up after a few months or so. Stick with the durable ones. Good luck.