|
| Website is not a virtual real estate |
| Thursday, July 12, 2007 |
Website is not real estate. This concept is totally wrong.
Try to think about it. What's the average price of the property in your country 20 years ago? Could you use the same amount to buy the same thing now?
We know it's impossible, why? Inflation.
The price of property may fluctuate due to deflation, inflation, government policy, supply and demand. However, the price will keep to grow in long term basis. It's inflation.
I have no idea how inflation can add value to a website. Indeed, the entrance level of web publishing will become lower and lower due to the popularity of IT.
Only the site content which can bring traffic and revenue, these factors can add value to your website regardless of inflation.
10 years ago....how much did you pay for a domain? maybe hundreds bucks for one. How about now? US$9 or less, you can make a deal.
How come website is real estate, it doesn't make any sense.Labels: understand the whole picture |
posted by Kelvin Hui @ 11:16 AM  |
|
|
|
| Long term investment |
|
Web publishing is a long term investment.
So what is a good website according to business purpose?
1. Traffic Growth
We know website cannot survive without traffic. Traffic growth means the popularity of your website increase. Adding new features and contents are essential for the growth. Look at Google and Yahoo, these companies keep to add new features.
Consistent traffic growth at one domain is always better than using multiple domains. Investing in multiple domains to maximize the revenue, it makes sense. However, you cannot manage too many domains (hundreds to thousands). It is because this strategy cannot add value to the "domain" - the "brand".
Don't overlook the branding effect. For long term success, the brand can help you to do a lot of things.
2. Revenue Growth
Without revenue, it is no point to invest in web publishing business. Maximize the revenue growth by employing different advertising models. Consistent growth of revenue, it means your site value keeps to increase.
3. Repeatable Management Model
It's tough to manage many websites. You need teammates. If the site relies on a lot of professional knowledge, it's very difficult to handover the project. Like blogging, it's difficult to ask the other guy to do it for you.
4. Reinvesting
You make $100 from your site but spend all bucks. You have no reserve to re-invest on your website. It means....your site cannot grow fast.
Keep some reserves for the growth of the site.Labels: understand the whole picture |
| posted by Kelvin Hui @ 10:59 AM |
|
|
|
| Can You become the next giant? |
| Tuesday, July 10, 2007 |
 How to Walk?
Are you going to build another "Google", "YouTube", "Wikipedia" or "MySpace"? If yes, then congradulation!
Please read the content below carefully......
The Elements for Building a Giant
1. Unique Idea Unique. It means not many similar things happen on the earth. Maybe it is the first or second one. To brainstorm an unique idea, somehow it cannot be controlled by us. 
Indeed, it quite depends on:
a. How do we think about the world?
b. What is the living and working environment?
c. Our life experience
Based on these 3 factors, different people make different conclusion, even if on the same subject.
2. Guts
Idea is always an idea. If we don't take action, the idea is meaningless. However, there are not many people having guts to take action. They cannot handle "failure". "why the other people succeed but not mine?". All successes are based on failures. Coin has 2 sides. Many people just look at one side but miss the other side. It's common problem of human beings, but it's normal. Having guts to take action is not easy. Taking too much risks is fatal to your life. So it is good to have guts to take 'a small risk". Guts - all founders of the internet giants have "GUTS".
3. Work Hard to Prove the Concept
The giants speak less, but take a lot of actions. They prove the concepts that work in the market, not for themselves.
4. Venture Capital
Money..Money and Money. Money is the blood of business. Without money, you cannot startup properly.
How much am I required to build the site like Google? Many millions at least. How about Youtube or Myspace...maybe much more.
A website is not just a website. Do you know how much the companies pay for the marketing and advertising during startup?
That's why venture capital is here. They support the potential venture projects.
5. Luck
Do you have luck?
You have idea, guts, working hard and venture capital. Without luck, you cannot really achieve what you want.
There are many projects supported by venture capital companies, but how many of them succeed.....frankly, only 20% of them.
Youtube has luck. In Asia, youtube becomes hot due to some people sharing the controversial videos. The local presses feature the video on the newspaper, TV program and radio. They feature the "videos", not "youtube". It helps the users to form a new behaviour.
They go to Youtube to watch the videos themselves.
It's luck. You never know where your luck comes. However, all of us know luck only comes to the people who have well-preparation.
Since we cannot assume luck is always with us, we need to start from small (betting small, taking small risk) with guts, and accumulate the success step by step.
Maybe we cannot achieve the success similar to the giants like Google and Youtube. We can still earn a good living from web publishing.Labels: understand the whole picture |
| posted by Kelvin Hui @ 12:23 PM |
|
|
|
| Understand The Whole Picture |
|
*****************************************************  Is it too good to be true?
It is the most common question when the people see the "big fat cheque" made by the web publishers.
"How can I imagine that I could make money by building such website?"
This is my mom's response under my expectation. Indeed, many people overlook the power of information technology.
Before the internet age, people were still looking for information by other ways like newspaper, TV programs, mouths, radio..
Until now, people can almost access everything by internet.
The process is the same. People love to access information. The difference is...the speed is much faster today.
 I want to know how?
The check is too attractive. Nobody can forget it.
Do you really know the story behind the check? Every penny, it has its own story....I bet you want to know the story behind the penny made by the website, right?
If you are a normal person, you will go to either "Google" or "Yahoo" even "MSN Live" to look for any information or "SECRETS" about making money by a website.
In the search engines, you can find information "A", "B"...."X", and somehow you come to this website "ambatch.com" accidentically. You have no idea whether this site can answer your question, but anyway, it is no lose to check one more site :-)
Do you have a website?
It's a very stupid question. If you ask this question to the group below "18", mostly 70% of them have a site from Xanga, Blogger, Live Space and My Space..etc. Their sites are like a platform of entertainment - a channel to communicate with their friends.
Why do they build a website?
Why do the young people love to build a website? Most answer it - "For Fun". It's difficult to find the answer like "I want to make money from the website". Making money is not the primary force to drive them to build a funny website.
But I want to make money from a website...
Then the next question is: Do you have a website?
If you didn't know the business potential of a website, most likely you would not build a site. At least, you may think you have another way to make money like investing in another business, stock investment, real estate.
No matter you decide to build a site, I would like to pass you a concept.
Any website which cannot faciliate the "human interaction" or "communication", it is never a good website.
Do you remember the purpose of internet?
Yes...for communication - remove the barrier of communication, enhance the information flow between human beings.
We still remember that, the side product of internet...."email" came first, and then "web page".
Email is for communication for sure. Then how about webpage?
At the "Old Stone Age", Webpage was used to display the information that we could not do it by using email...e.g. 10,000 words with images, audio...
At that moment, webpage could faciliate 'one-way' communication (Email is 2-way). If you wanted to contact the webmasters, you would find his email on the webpage and send him a message.
Today (the Modern Age), thanks for the great technology, a webpage can provide 2-way and even multi-way communication. You can see internet users prefer to stay at the "blog", "community sites", and definitely we cannot forget the powerful internet tools e.g. search engines, file sharing.
Therefore, if you are going to build a website, what is the purpose of it?
Please forget the programming work. It's not your job. You are a philosopher to think about the game plan. You need to think how to play this game properly, and how you can build a lot of connections from your website. It's the source of money.
To become a successful web publisher, programming skill is the least important. You know, up to these 7 years, I cannot do any programming work no matter html, php, VB...etc. It's not an execuse for you not to build a site based on this reason.
The Driving Force
I've been in this business for 7 years (since Year 2000). All my business models and strategies are driven by only 1 purpose - "For Fun". I treat my business like a "game" and that's why, I never feel I am busy or face high pressure.
Since it's a game - you play it, not "work" on it. If you have children, you can ask....what are you doing now....I bet they will not answer this.."I'm working on Playstation 3..". It doesn't make any sense.
The "whole picture" is bigger and longer than this article. You can find more blog posts on this website at the tag:
1. Understand The Whole Picture
2. Or you can move to the next topic of "The Path to Excellence" - You First StepLabels: path to excellence, understand the whole picture |
| posted by Kelvin Hui @ 11:08 AM |
|
|
|
|
| About Kelvin Hui |
|
Name: Kelvin Hui
About Me: I.T. Skinhead
See my complete profile
Name: Apisith Chawla
About Me: Owner of the online
silver jewelry store, &
friend of Kelvin Hui
|
| Previous Post |
|
| Archives |
|
|
| Networks |
|
|
| Powered by |
  |
|
