Doing something more with my life
October 31, 2006
I write here mostly about investing and making money on the internet. I do have a goal of doing this full-time by early 2007 and spending a majority of my time trying to see more of the world.
The good thing about an internet business is that you can work anywhere in the world and you can basically work whenever you want. In theory I should have more free time, as many of my websites can run on auto-pilot and others only need a small amount of time every other day to update.
I have been thinking lately of something I could do that would be able to help other people while I travelled. I have no idea yet exactly what this would be, but I am sure it would be easier to think of something once I get out of a corporate environment.
I was reading about John Wood’s literacy project the other day and felt inspired. Unfortunately, I won’t be getting a $2 million dollar payout, but will have some money coming in from my websites.
15K Challenge
October 30, 2006
I have been following the 15K Challenge from when it just started a month ago. It seems like he just missed his target of 15K, although he came pretty close.
I like that he chose a non-Internet marketing niche: craft. If you really want to make some quick easy money, you could do it pretty easily I believe by selling a book on how to make money. Although, I really don’t believe it is a good way to build a long term business.
Today he has an interesting article on how a friend of his is building an online business. The niche is non-Internet marketing related. His doesn’t say exactly what the niche is, but I think it is craft/hobby related.
Craft/hobby niches are probably under-developed as most people getting into this business concentrate on making money/computer/gadget types of sites. My mum and sisters are both into scrap booking, something I would never think of starting to create a site on. I would like to help them set up a site, if they were willing to work on the content.
I have tried these types of partnerships before with little success. It can be difficult to persuade people, that there is money in this. Also, starting a site from scratch can take a couple of years before you really start to get established. Anyway, I still think it is something worth pursuing.
Adding dynamic info to your site with APIs
October 27, 2006
SEO Rockstars mentioned a great link in their show the other week:
http://www.programmableweb.com/apilist
People familiar with programming will find it useful. People with no programming experience, but with a bit of technical nouse could come up with an idea and easily outsource it to a freelancing site like rent-a-coder.
The wisdom of people
October 27, 2006
I have been thinking quite a bit about this article that appeared in the Washington Post (after reading it first in the Japan Times): The Top Pickers vs. the Pack.
While generations have looked to pundits for guidance, it has often taken a long time for their expertise to be recognized, and many have remained in obscurity. Now the Internet promises new ways to discover those who might otherwise get overlooked. And it can do so with breathtaking speed.
I think that this is just further evidence of how the internet is turning traditional ways of thinking and doing business on its head. I immediately went out and book, ‘The Wisdom of Crowds’.
Technorati Tags: The Wisdom of Crowds
Some great tips here for beginners
October 22, 2006
I have no idea how many newbies are reading this blog, but if you are considering starting a blog/website you couldn’t go wrong reading these website tips.
It is amazing but I am using most of his tips except for CrazyEgg and SiteMeter. They are probably something worth looking into.
No free time
October 22, 2006
My mum is visiting me now here in Tokyo. We went to Hiroshima and Kyoto and now back to Tokyo. It is fantastic having her here and spending time together, but it is difficult to find anytime to do anything else, like writing this blog.
Since I live by myself, in a foreign country, I never have to worry about family events except for an occasional telephone call. Sure I miss my family, but the distance factor I am sure does enable me to spend so much time on my internet business. I think if I had kids, there would be just no way to do what I am currently doing.
For now I think I am just happy being an uncle.
First mobi domain sales
October 20, 2006
It has only been months since the mobi extension has become available that there has been some fairly decent sales recorded.
According to Dnjournal FreeRingtones.mobi was sold for $9,100, MyBank.mobi for $7,110, Call.mobi for $8,200 and Mortgages.mobi for $10,500.
I think it shows that domainers are treating mobie extensions like any other. Mobile sites have been pretty big business in Japan the past few years and other countries are just starting to catch up.
Hybrid PDA/phone/entertainment devices are becoming increasingly popular, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that mobi has fantastic potential. I am presuming that search engines will rank sites higher that have been designed for viewing on a mobile device. Since mobi sites have to comply with certain rules, it is one way to ensure that a .mobi site has been created specifically for a mobile device.
Taking a break in Japan
October 17, 2006
I have some family currently visiting Japan and taking a small break. I have escaped for a moment to use the hotel’s computer with free internet access.
I am in Hiroshima now and going to Kyoto tomorrow.
Big Goals
October 14, 2006
Every since I read about PlentyOfFish last year, I have had similar aspirations. I am not saying that I will reach the levels of income he has reached, but more along the lines of creating a website that rivals bigger websites/companies run by hundreds of people.
Techcrunch reports on a travel website RealTravel. Last year they received $1 million in funding.
The blogging platform performs like any other blog (RSS included) except you catagorize by location and type (if it’s a review or not) before you write up the entry. You can’t drop drop images directly in a post, but instead associate some photos with it via an image gallery. You can print these photos out later using Qoop. Readers can comment on posts or leave questions in RealTravel’s location specific forums.
RealTravel has accomplished all of this in just one year, and with only $1 million in angel funding. They are a poster-child for the way to run a lean web service, and I suspect a bigger round of financing, or acquisition, will come in the near future.
With only $1 million? I would be happy with a thousand dollars! I am not saying my own travel site has the same level of sophistication, but as I said I do have big goals. How much could it cost to get a travel planner script developed on rentacoder?
I think my site will get more interesting as I get out on the road with my laptop.
Travel web site update
October 12, 2006
I have added a couple of new features to the travel website I am working on.
One is a nice little component that can show where people viewing the site are from and if they register, the location can link to their profile. It uses Google maps. You can see it here. You can see me in Tokyo.
My hope is that people travelling and fine themselves in the same place, they can chat or meet up.
I have also installed the multi-user version of Wordpress. This is one area that Joomla is weak with. Most of the multi-user bloging components just don’t look or feel good.
I am sure there are a few people that would pay for a solid working Joomla/multi-user component.
A couple of people have started adding pictures to the gallery which is starting to give it a nice look.
