Which comes first...the product or the web site?

A lot of people have the cart before the horse. They have a product they want to sell and they are looking for people to buy it. Do you know how easy it is if you start with the people who want to buy something first...and then offer them a product they WANT?

Just because you don't have a product doesn't mean you shouldn't start a web site. Pick a targeted niche market first...build a site...build Traffic...and then you can either find a product they already want or you can sell advertising space. I would pick a web site with traffic any day over a person with a hot product. "Hot" products are everywhere. Web sites which already have traffic in a specific market are GUARANTEED winners when the right product is introduced to them.

You could also design a web site giving everything away absolutely FREE with one purpose in mind...build a large community of people who continually visit over and over again. Many people have found this to be true and are creating sites which give away free information, link to all kinds of resources in a certain area, have free downloads, or have software you can use on their site for free.

Look at what Freedback.com did. (You can look at their site at http://www.freedback.com ). This site gave away free forms for people to use on their site. Many web hosts don't allow CGI to run on their site, and freedback filled a need for all of these people being hosted.

Through their service, people could have forms for free on their site to collect information from their visitors. Over time, Freedback has given away over 50,000 of these types of forms and is receiving over 300,000 hits a day on their response page.

All you have to do is target a niche market with a specific subject. We often try to make things so complicated and I want to cut through all of the junk and give you the simple truth of just how simple it is to make money on the web. Here it is in one short sentence:

To get you started on this road...here are 10 businesses you could start in this area:

Be like freedback.com. Find a CGI program everyone needs or wants and start giving it to them. I know of sites now which are giving away Free Classified Sites or Free-For-All Links sites so that they can keep their advertising banner on them. Freedback came up with an original idea. Can you? Go to http://www.cgi-resources.com/ and look at all the programs there and see what you can come up with.

I know what you may be thinking on this one...there are hundreds of banner exchanges out there. And you know what, you would be right. The internet does not need just another banner exchange, but it does need target banner exchanges for specific areas. You could target all internet marketing sites or all kids sites. Then you give them a 2:1 ratio or higher on banner advertising. Then your banner exchange has the other 50% of the ads to use for yourself or to sell for advertising (banner exchanges are based on this principle).

You could create a download site for some type of targeted market. It could be for CGI programs, business software, game demos, etc. The major key in this area like many of the others is that you have to develop a unique selling point for your site. Why should they visit your site over the others? It could be that you review each program or that you have a better organization...or that you only include the best. It could also be that you include the most of something. Become unique in this area and watch the traffic soar (another caution though...watch to make sure your web host doesn't charge extra for too much transfer daily or monthly - A download site eats up MB).

You could do an entire site devoted to codes, tips, and tricks with games. Most of the work would be done for you once you let everyone know you were collecting together all of the codes and tricks for different games. Send out press releases and get listed in magazines and your traffic would fly off the roof. The income for this site would come from game companies advertising on your site. The message board would also become extremely popular and would need separate sections for all of the different games.

Create a Site that lists all of the business software...downloads of demos could be offered along with reviews and a New Product of the month newsletter. Businesses are always seeking that new program to take them to the next level or to do something easier. Plus, you could also do a message board that specifically helps with certain programs such as FrontPage, etc.

You could create a list of resources for ANYTHING. Find a listing of all of the top sites in certain areas full of useful information. The plan for this type of site is to become the starting point for people searching for Collies, Internet Marketing, Copywriting, Dolls, etc. You could also turn it into a specific targeted search engine for your niche market. You only list __________. This is an idea that would also combine well with any of the other ideas in this course as an additional profit stream.

Decide on an award in a targeted niche market: Maybe "5 star fitness" site given to top fitness sites or "Elite Internet Sites" for internet marketing, or whatever is your specific interest. Design a really well done graphic for your logo. Set up a submission database for people to send in submissions. Then, go off searching for sites who deserve your award. Once you have given away your award and have enough sites linking to you...you can also begin to send out press releases and start getting known in that area. The key to this program is to pick a very interesting title for your award and correctly move in the right market.

Become a watchdog of the industry...any industry. Do reports on automobiles or money making programs. Review personal care items or exercise equipment. Become a consumer expert in any area protecting and enlightening the consumers in your expertise. The key is to get enough good quality information and reviews to make your site interesting. Then, your revenues will come through advertising or other incomes you may add as you go along.

You would think that this area would be impossible to get into with all of the news giants out there. Well, it would be...if you were trying to cover everything. You, as a small business, would want to cover one area of interest and collect all of the news that has to do with that area. Think about it. The Drudge report went after gossip online and build message boards and chat rooms around it...becoming one of the top sites on the internet and producing a TV show for the owner.

Exotic destinations...cruises for the millionaires...etc. This is a fun one. You could stay reviewing travel destinations, hotels, restaurants, etc. Find one of the packages where you can become a travel agent and sell tickets (with the actual travel agency handling the actual bookings and money) for different destinations. Actually take the tours and review them. Combine this one with the Watchdog idea above and warn people about deceptive travel agencies and places. Have fun doing your business.

Read 101 Business Ideas Click Below on Each Page Business Ideas 1 - 10 Business Ideas 11 - 20 Business Ideas 21 - 30 Business Ideas 31 - 40 Business Ideas 41 - 50 Business Ideas 51 - 60 Business Ideas 61 - 70 Business Ideas 71 - 80 Business Ideas 81 - 90 Business Ideas 90 - 101 Business Idea 101