Monday, December 10, 2007
How to Come Up with Website Ideas 1
Want to start a website? Can't come up with any ideas? Believe it or not, getting an idea for a web site is the easiest part. Taking that idea, building a working site, and creating a user base is the hard part.
I was at a Holiday party recently (it's that time of year) and part of the compulsory activity is the greeting, you know: grip and grin, nice to meet you, oh you're a Cracker Barrel manager Me? I'm a web developer. A light began to gleam in his eyes.
"Really? A web developer? What kind of web site?"
I shrugged. "Pretty much any kind."
He sidled a little closer. "I have an idea for a web site," he said.
"Really?"
He nodded, lowering his voice. "How about I tell it to you, you can build it, and then we can split the money it makes."
I appeared thoughtful. "How about this," I finally said. "How about you build it and keep all the money."
"Why can't you be more tolerant," my wife said as the guy walked away in a huff.
True story, and it's happened more than once. Ideas are cheap, but if you haven't gotten past the hurdle of how to come up with them, here's one of the best ways to do it.
Start with a web site you already like BUT is missing one thing you wish it had. Now go build that site.
See? I told you it was easy.....
A few real-world examples:
The Digg founder was a SlashDot user, but didn't like the fact that only approved editors could submit links. So he built a site where ANYONE could submit links.
The guy who built PlentyOfFish had used various match-making web sites and had gotten tired of paying for a membership. So he build a dating site that was free.
CraigsList aggregated online services (mainly classifieds) that (at the time) usually charged a fee, and make them free.
Some folks liked the Wish List feature of various sites, but wanted a way to build wish lists from all sites. WishListr was born.
These are a few examples of sites that hit it big by taking an idea that was already firmly entrenched in the landscape and adding or changing one thing. No doubt there are countless websites out there that started by mimicking the functionality of another site with something simple added.
What are some of your favorite sites? What feature do you wish they had that they don't? Now... why aren't you building it?
I was at a Holiday party recently (it's that time of year) and part of the compulsory activity is the greeting, you know: grip and grin, nice to meet you, oh you're a Cracker Barrel manager Me? I'm a web developer. A light began to gleam in his eyes.
"Really? A web developer? What kind of web site?"
I shrugged. "Pretty much any kind."
He sidled a little closer. "I have an idea for a web site," he said.
"Really?"
He nodded, lowering his voice. "How about I tell it to you, you can build it, and then we can split the money it makes."
I appeared thoughtful. "How about this," I finally said. "How about you build it and keep all the money."
"Why can't you be more tolerant," my wife said as the guy walked away in a huff.
True story, and it's happened more than once. Ideas are cheap, but if you haven't gotten past the hurdle of how to come up with them, here's one of the best ways to do it.
Start with a web site you already like BUT is missing one thing you wish it had. Now go build that site.
See? I told you it was easy.....
A few real-world examples:
The Digg founder was a SlashDot user, but didn't like the fact that only approved editors could submit links. So he built a site where ANYONE could submit links.
The guy who built PlentyOfFish had used various match-making web sites and had gotten tired of paying for a membership. So he build a dating site that was free.
CraigsList aggregated online services (mainly classifieds) that (at the time) usually charged a fee, and make them free.
Some folks liked the Wish List feature of various sites, but wanted a way to build wish lists from all sites. WishListr was born.
These are a few examples of sites that hit it big by taking an idea that was already firmly entrenched in the landscape and adding or changing one thing. No doubt there are countless websites out there that started by mimicking the functionality of another site with something simple added.
What are some of your favorite sites? What feature do you wish they had that they don't? Now... why aren't you building it?
Labels: Inspiration
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