Konnichiwa dopers,
I have a dream. A crazy dream. A stupid dream. After teaching English in Japan for a few years now, I’ve discovered that I love acting the fool as much as I do teaching, of which my assistant teaching job consists about equally of both. Really though, it’s a gig that I’m loving the crap out of, and I could see myself going into this teaching gig for good. But, before I settle on that, I feel like I could devote a few years to what will probably amount to nothing more than fond (or not), memories. It would use largely the same skill set that I’ve been developing whilst being an ALT: teaching, clowning, improv, being comfortable in front of a buncha sleepy and cranky people, etc. “Spit it out, Auto!”, I hear you saying. Right then. Well, I’d like to try my hand at being a gaijin talent, ala Patrick Harlan. Stupid, right?
Well, it’s my dream, so be nice. Anyway, I’ll need a few years more practice in a whole lotta things before I even attempt it. In the meantime, I thought of a website I wanted to start. It would not be a blog all about how awesome I am and how you totally should support my dream, and also money. No, it would not be that, although it would have a blog component.
Simply put, the site would be called Japan-a-Day. Every day, once a day, I would post one picture of Japan. Below this I would write a very small spiel of interesting information. In the beginning, I would use my own pictures, but hopefully could soon start accepting contributions and judge them. If I was getting pics from netizens, I think I would post the winner pic prominently, but could easily start posting more pics in a ‘Now see the rest!’ fashion for those who aren’t satisfied with just one pic. Heck, I could even have the occasional theme contest, like Halloween in Japan or Godzilla-Related Turbulence.
Although the only non-negotiable component is the daily picture, I think it might also be useful to also write a blog article once daily, and post a link once daily. In summary, the site would be what it says in the name more or less, a bite-sized website with bang for your buck, something that people interested in Japan can check daily and enjoy briefly, like reading Cracked or the funny papers.
If the site took off, I could also see adding forums, a video judging component, and who knows what else. But it’s easy to dream big. Now I’m like a dung beetle in a land of really small banana peels. If I slip up, I’m just going to end up with a load of shit.
…But yeah, besides being fun, I think this website would be a useful addition to the Japanesque webosphere, and it would be a nice springboard for my future ambitions. Again though, getting ahead of myself. All that talk about my dream was mainly just to give context. What I really need from y’all awesome dopers is help planning and launching this puppy.
At the moment, I don’t have the foggiest about website wizardry. I am decent with computers, so I’m not too worried about techy stuff (although I have plenty of questions regarding that too). I’m more worried about the big picture: whether or not this website sounds interesting, whether it’s a good idea at all, whether I know where my towel is, etc etc. So, before I belabor my keyboard anymore, I’ll end with a few questions.
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Did what I write make any sense?
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If so, do you think this website would appeal to people? (Not necessarily you, but a significant set of somebodies.)
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How does one go about starting their own website? (I might practice a bit on a blog website, but this site would not be a blog at all really.)
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Once the website gets started, how do I attract views, and how do I get feedback?
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Regarding the pictures, what kind of server set-up and associated software would I need to purchase/learn in order to achieve the daily upload thing I talked about?
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I’m in over my head, aren’t I?
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Yup. (Just felt better to end on 7 sorry).
That’s about it. If you’ve read this far, you already have my eternal thanks. Please be even a step kinder and respond :). Yoroshiku onegai shimasu (Please do me kindly).