Developing on the Cheap

I tried an experiment at the beginning of the year and appointed a couple of developers to build two sites using Drupal.

It's not been a great success to be honest, with missed deadlines, missed opportunities and a lot of misunderstandings along the way.

I've reached a conclusion and that is simply, that if you want something to work first time, look great and be a serious business, rather than just another web site, then you have to pay serious money in order to get it built.

So, one of my new sites is currently under discussion again and I expect it will cost several thousand Pounds to have it developed.

It's a change of approach for me, because like many people in the domain game, I have always done things by spending as little cash as possible. It's my own money after all.

That is ok when you're not trying to build something substantial.

My change in thinking came about after advising a friend who runs a very successful online venture. He was quoted several thousand Pounds to build a new web site, as the old one looks dated and is creaking at the seams.

He didn't want to spend a large amount of money, so I just asked him this question,

"If somebody was to come along and ask if you would swap a one-off £8000 investment in a new site for £150,000 per year, would you do it?"

Put like that, his decision was made far easier. He's found a solid, very experienced developer who can build his complex site for him and meet all of his development targets for that £8,000.

That looks like a bargain to me.

For some reason, I hadn't really considered that approach before.

So, today I decided to take my own advice and contacted a large scale, local web development company with a blue-chip client base and gave them the site specifications.

It's time to think bigger.

Affording it might be another matter, but time will tell.

One Man's Meat...

I was intrigued to read this blog today, http://bigeduh.com/domainnames/the-bigger-story-domainers-are-offered-and-walk-away-from-over-26m-in-bids-at-live-moniker-auction/, whic hwas written by Tasha Kidd, a domainer I know by association from a private domain board.

Tasha puts a different spin on the domain auction scene and suggests that domainers walked away from $26m worth of domains at this week's T.R.A.F.F.I.C show in Las Vegas.

The T.R.A.F.F.I.C shows have been around for a few years now and the auctions always attract attention.

Personally, I don't agree with Tasha's assumption that $26million worth of domains were left on the table and am amazed at the guide prices of certain names in that list - and not necessarily the high priced ones!

The only one that really stood out for me was affiliate.com at $550,000, an instant passive business in a box if ever there was one.

Thank You The Government

I love government legislation. It creates money making opportunities. Lots of them.

Last year I saw an opportunity to get a slice of a brand new market that, just like the asbestos legislation of 2002, could develop into a business that could be promoted online at virtually no cost.

Being a domainer, I purchased a few relevant names. Some of the better ones were already gone and the sellers weren't selling - certainly not a price I considered reasonable.

I then set out to write some unique content and started pushing that content out onto my various sites.

Sure enough, the target audience was, just as I suspected, already out there looking for their solutions to the latest piece of government meddling that would dramatically affect their market.

So rushed is the legislation that not one person in the entire country has yet qualified to carry out the implementation. Seriously, not one.

In fact, the training courses that are necessary to become qualified were only announced three weeks ago - and you really had to be looking for them in order to find them.

Already, my business partner and I have clients lined up for when our training is complete. Many have come from the Internet, as we sowed the seed just at the right time, when interest in the subject was high.

The approach I took in building the sites was to educate the clients on what they need to do in order to comply with the new legislation.

There was no sales page. There was no hype. Just solid, very useful and informative content designed to create trust and credibility with new and existing clients.

The new clients came searching for information. I don't know why they didn't do what I did and simply get it from the government!

After they'd read what I'd written, they made a phone call or filled in a contact form.

All along, we've kept them informed of progress by using an autoresponder. When there's news, we just send a broadcast email. It couldn't be any easier and of course, each email isa reminder that their problem can be solved. Somebody cares.

Internet marketing can be easy. It can also be lucrative - but the key is recognising the opportunities and taking action.

I'm not telling what the legislation is and I'm not pointing anyone to the sites. New industries soon have plenty of competition and I'm really not into giving away my income streams that easily.

All I will say, is that government legislation offers some wildly profitable opportunities, so keep your eyes on your own government's web sites for up and coming opportunities. You won't believe what you can uncover, it's like panning for gold - except you're more likely to strike it rich.

Spam - the downside of domains

I've noticed a steady increase in the Spam emails I receive lately. A lot of it comes from temporary hotmail address, but an increasing number are coming from my own domains!

Spammers (or at least the robots they use), use fake headers on their emails and make their Spam as though it's coming from a different email account than the one they are actually using.

They can use information mined from domain records to send Spam in your domain's name.

Whilst most web hosts know that headers are faked, mail delivery systems with automated rules (for example auto-repsonses), don't.

What that means is that hen a Spammer uses your domain name, you get a ton of "undeliverable email" messages bounced back to you.

I get an average of 400-500 Spam emails per hour through my various email accounts and these undeliverables can add thousands to that total, so it's no joke when your domain name is abused in this way.

Until today, I have been using a great program called Cloudmark (www.cloudmark.com) to control my Spam, but for some time now, it has not worked properly.

I use Outlook Express for my mail and since Spetember, Cloudmark has not been able to prevent Spam in cases where an Outlook Express mail rule moves any mail to a folder other than the inbox.

Friends tell me that this didn't happen with Outlook - until this week. Now they understand my frustration.

Reluctantly therefore, I went off in search of a similar product and found SpamFighter (www.spamfighter.com).

It's faster, more accurate and a lot easier to use than Cloudmark. My Spam problems are solved. At least for now.

I recommend it, so if you are suffering from ever-increasing Spam levels, go and grab the free 30 day trial. I used the trial edition for 5 minutes before buying. It was that good.