A few years ago (when I was in my teens), I started a little site with a friend that I thought offered a unique take on the gaming industry, providing content that couldn’t be found anywhere else, at least at the quality we were outputting (if the response from our visitors were any indicator). Unfortunately, while the few people who found the site clearly loved the content, I had no idea how to make money off of it and eventually wound up putting the site aside in favor of a real career.
Well, while I’m making actual decent money now, I’m bored to tears doing what I do. I find it difficult to care about my work when I’m working for, what is practically, a faceless organization, with what amounts to little input over the company’s direction. In short, I forgot how much I loved working on my own site (with my friend), where every decision we made mattered.
Of course, then reality sets in, and that reality is that if the site/business isn’t making money, neither am I…which can sort of be a drag in this society. I have absolutely no business in background, nor I really know anyone that does. However, having worked in the industry for a few years now, I know what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to change–and that’s where I think my site could come into play.
So here’s what I’m wondering: If I were to (theoretically of course) try and get my site off the ground again, where do I start? The amount of effort that would be needed would far exceed what I alone am capable of doing–I’d need a staff of at least 3 or 4. And while I have a good amount of money set aside, it’s not enough to pay actual people–I would need capital…which I know nothing about.
Is it feasible for a 24-year old idiot like me to actually get an investor interested in an idea? How would I go about finding one? And what would I need to prepare/present? Or is this pie-in-the-sky idea just too far-fetched for me to even bother?
While I will defer to others who have experience with this, my thought is that you may find it easier to make a successful run of this if you start off small and work your way to something bigger, similar to how your first site started, rather than using your savings and lining up investors to start off with some large ambitious project out of the gate. If you have a staff that needs to be paid, the pressure for immediate success is much greater. If you start with a small site with low overhead, you have more time to find an audience for your site and tweak things if your original plan isn’t bringing in revenue as you’d hope. It seems to me like that is how most of the big successful sites started out.
Good luck to you!
Monetizing niche audiences has become significantly easier now. There’s an ad network for almost every specialty and the more focused your niche, the higher you can charge for ad rates. That being said, only very few people can ever hope to support themselves from selling content. What would be a better strategy is viewing this as an investment in a potentially new career. If you ever want to get into the gaming industry, being able to point to an influential blog can open many doors.
Compared to other businesses, a website has ridiculously low overhead costs, so if you think it’s a good idea, there’s virtually no reason not to give it a shot. Just accept the possibility of it not turning out how you want.
PS to the OP, it was looking up your username that led to me listening to the song Red Barchetta (previously, I had never heard any Rush songs.) It turned out that I actually liked it a lot, especially since I was really stoned and the part where there’s a sound of screeching tires right before the guitar solo starts really “came alive” for me. Now I’m a big fan of Rush, thanks to you. (This was about a year ago.)
What **Shalmanese **& **Argent Towers **said (except about Rush; I offer no opinion there).
A blog, then an advertising-augmented blog, then an advertising-supported blog, then a site selling whatever value-added ideas you have as promoted by your highly sucessful blog. That progression works & is affordable at each step of the way.
You’re about 10 years too late for any investor buying into one guy’s idea great idea for a website.
Well, that’s exactly it–I already work in the game industry Coming up on three years now, actually. And short of running my own site, I’m starting to burn out on what I’m doing.
Well, here’s the thing: My concept would make heavy use of video. It’s not really a format that would lend itself well to a blog, really.
Think so? That’d be disappointing. I got the idea from another site that launched somewhat recently that had the help of a VC–I don’t know the exact details though.
That’s awesome! I’m glad I could help…even if I wasn’t aware of it
There’s still funding out there to start up your own business, but these days you do need a pretty solid business model to have a good shot at it. Your local university’s business school should have a small business development office or something with a similar title, and talking to them is an excellent way to get started.
Coming up on three years now, actually. And short of running my own site, I’m starting to burn out on what I’m doing.