I'm trying to raise around 1,000 dollars for my new site but I can't spare any from my job because of the economy... you know the gas prices, everythings going up, etc. Anyone got ideas on how I can raise this money in shortest amount of time?
Right now, I'm in the same boat as you- expect I need 2.5 times more than you I'm trying to look for a bunch of small investors, but it doesn't look too bright so far. I'm hoping I can find some though. Otherwise, I'm going to start selling everything I have, and doing work over on the services forum at DP. That's about it. Otherwise- check out prosper or your local bank. Thanks Mike
I would really caution against getting a loan for launchign a website project, since there is such a high failure rate...
I'm guessing you either need the money to outsource the sites development or you need it for marketing. In both instances you can find ways to cut costs if the money is too much for you. You can save a lot by learning to build the site yourself. It might take longer before you have a site but you'll get more satisfaction out of a site you built yourself. If you feel that there's just no way you can learn the skills needed to build your site, then there's plenty of open source scripts you can use to turn your idea into a website. Research the various content management scripts out there. They all have plenty of plugins and modules you can add to give the functions you need for your site. As far as marketing goes, look around this forum there's plenty of ideas for free to low cost ways to promote your site. Don't get wrapped around the idea that you need X amount of money for your site. If you don't have the money improvise and figure out creative ways to do more with less. Remember, you can always add to your site later on as more funds become available.
Some tips : Start a blog and then network with those members who will actually have a vested interest in your site. Have them track your progress. There is a site that allows you to know which members have chipped in and donated. I can't post the actual site because of the rules but it is a donation site. You need to have people believe that somehow that site can enhance the community or that it is the next google. Create Press Releases as well and send investors company news.
Well I develop PHP/MySQL/xHTML/CSS myself and can do a lot of free marketing but I need to pay for windows developer to create a software that is important to my project. Don't really have time to learn another language so I will try what the previous poster said.