“It’s your man from UNILAG, The Akokite. Heh! Hail, Akokites! Consider Internet Cake a set of lessons on building a relevant website. There are over a million websites online. How do you ensure that when joining this highly competitive market, you keep your head above water?
How do you make sure that your site stands out among the millions? Well, sit up, put on your reading glasses, take out your popcorn, we’re about to go on a voyage to find the relevant website that you want and the website that your visitors need and want. It’s going to be fun working all the way… Akokite Ladies and Akokite Gentlemen, drumrolls please, introducing ‘Internet Cake’…
INTERNET CAKE I
GETTING A RELEVANT WEBSITE
Welcome, Akokites, to ‘Internet Cake I’. Want to take your chunk out of the “Internet cake”, so to speak. Want to own your own website and make some money out of it? Well, normally, you should start with providing a service and then, thinking of how to make money through it. But, no harm done - Money can be a great motivator to think big and in an innovative way.
In order to own a website that sells, you will need to know what sells. What need is there on the Internet that you can fill? Is it the hunger for information, free downloads, free internet browsing, social networking?
Identify the hunger that you can fill and your first steps towards wealth have been taken. Anyone who’s making his/her money is doing so because they identified a need that they could satisfy, a problem that they could solve, entertainment that they could provide. Any website that earns revenue does so because it draws traffic and it draws traffic because it has something to offer that traffic. You feel me?
1. Play to your strengths: what online services can you offer? Is it entertainment, infotainment, social networking? Never do something you don’t believe in or know (this is law on the Internet).
2. Check out the market and find out if there is demand for your skills/services – Are there other sites that offer the services you want to offer? If you will be the pioneer, then make sure you ask questions. Quiz your friends, neighbours, classmates. Find out if they want/need such services.
3. Examine existing websites: odds are that websites that offer the services you want to offer exist. In order to compete with these existing sites for their traffic, you must come out with uniqueness, better ideas, improved services.
4. Write out the proposed services of your site: write down the services you intend to offer. You must give what others are giving that the people want. You must identify flaws with the services of existing websites and solve them (better ideas).
5. Now, you have the first stage. Hear this, the internet is huge. There are millions of websites. If you want a social networking site, there is Facebook. This alone is enough to leave with you just 5 members of your network. Specialization works when there are power stations on ground.
This is getting too long already. Check ‘Internet Cake II’
This came in time. I'm planning a social website!
ReplyDeleteI will take your advice about specialization. with facebook out there, taking on the whole world will be tough! Nigeria, however, will be bette and give me the chance to have an appeal.
Waiting for Internet Cake II!