Do you see any future success in this website?

[SWBWDOTCOM]

i own (no spaces in the domains) s h o u l d we be w o r r i e d . c o m and t e e n s e c r e t s . o r g

The website idea was from a group of bright college students. The developed website offers a product to worried parents of teenagers. Parents can chat with a college student who's majoring in psychology who has recent been through everything in high school life. The parents can ask him any questions they have about teenagers today. Parents can explain details about there kid and take an online quiz. Based on the information the student will let the parent know if their teenager is doing any drugs or if the parents should be worried. Parents have no idea what teens are doing today. Do you think this website can make profit with $9.99 fee per parent?

Marketing ideas?
Im also hiring partners to help get the word out there about this site. There has been some customers and profit but I feel if marketed properly it could be much bigger.

 

[JamesDavid]

here would be my hang up...

I don't think anyone majoring in psychology can legally give advise like that without a license from the state they practice in.

maybe just approach it as "anonymous insight from college kids" or "anonymous insight for your child's peers". That would work better..

Also i think if you are going to do this be sure to catalog everything and have an open forum/knowledgebase people can search through...

I think the idea is solid as long as you provide insight, because ultimately most parents want insight not advise.

 

[SWBWDOTCOM]

Do you see future profit in this idea?

 

[cache]

people have good ideas every day, only very small percentage of the ideas can turn into a big one.

 

[SWBWDOTCOM]

Im not saying i expect it to be huge. But do you see potential?

 

[smalltime]

I see no problem with having these students work on the project. It will most likely be beneficial to both the user and the student. I do warn you against marketing yourself as a quasi "therapist, psychologist" organization unless you are licensed.

I have a fair amount of insight into these types of organizations and they are very regulated. I would have a detailed TOS with as much transparency as your comfortable with. Research the laws surrounding your planned business model closely, because in most cases you need to have a licensed MA Therapist on staff as a supervisor before you can utilize students or interns.

I somewhat like the idea and I wish you the best of luck.

 

[SWBWDOTCOM]

We will not market as a "therapist". Just as Students offering insight on what teens are doing today. How can we generate revenue? How should we advertise?

 

[jackqs]

i guess second one can work well for dating,

 

[NetOctave]

Im not saying i expect it to be huge. But do you see potential?

I think you should start at a smaller scale and test the water. It will be better than asking others who would only give you their gut feelings. Before twitter started, very less people saw a potential to the concept...

Develop the website and spread the message locally. Maybe around a school or college. If you get some interest from the public, then proceed further. Don't spend much on advertisement in the initial stage.

Advertisements targeting teens are many, at the same time, competition is also high. You will get advertisements related to Social networks, gadgets, fashion etc. At the very least you could go ahead with adsense.

 

[MeanerDomainer]

people have good ideas every day, only very small percentage of the ideas can turn into a big one.

Yep, ideas, including good and even great ideas, are a dime a dozen.
The difference is in the implementation. And in marketing. Mostly in marketing.

 

[johname]

$9.99 fee per parent?

Its the asking for money thats going to be your biggest problem.

Kids are doing what there parents did when they were kids, they are just bringing alone iphones with them and texting about it.

 

[SWBWDOTCOM]

The website is already developed. How should we spread the word locally? There's no point spreading it around the school, we are targeting parents not teenagers. I feel like once the word gets out it many parents will come. I was thinking putting business cards at a salon, and other places mothers go around town. Where else.... your thoughts?

 

[DU]

College Grads are 8 years removed from Becoming a Teenager.
That's 1/3 of their life.

To put that in perspective.
That's the difference between Foursquare.com and Xanga.com.
Forget Facebook... MySpace didn't exist.

I fail to see how any parent would benefit from this. It would make more sense if parents talked to other parents and talked to their kids. That's the only advice I think you can give based on a one-sided questionnaire

The service you provide is potentially damaging. If you say "we think your kid is doing drugs" it will be with less information than the parents already possess. Using this information against their children; however, will breech parent to child trust in a significant way.

I would stay away unless this is marketed purely as a parents opportunity to discuss issues the PARENT has. That is.. lack of trust when it comes to their child... and lack of communication with their child.

If parents are worried about their kids - their kids should see a QUALIFIED counselor; however, the parents need to go as well. If there is an issue - ALL sides need to work on it.

Why not wait until your qualified ?

You're better off asking your Professors what THEY think of the idea. Especially as don't hide your Alma Maters name... I'm not sure THEY would approve of that.

 

[fm1234]

I'll expand a little on what DU said above: The sort of parent who will take action on their kids based on $10 advice from a college student who is only getting feedback from the parent is a terrible parent. It is amazing to me that students who are serious about psychology would volunteer to work for this service, given that aside from potential legal issues from the operation itself, there is a huge ethical void in counseling parents about kids with whom the students have never had any interaction.

Complicating that premise, if you rig it so that the students do have some interaction with counselors, there is a Schrödinger's Cat sort of problem created by the facts that 1) the teens know they are being evaluated and 2) the online interface precludes any inflection, is useless against collusion and other tricks by the teen, etc.

Real short answer to the original question: no. The idea has less than zero potential. It has so many holes in it that you'll never cap the flow of money on legal expenses alone, not at $10 a pop.


Frank