.tv How many people here are working to secure funding for your DOT TV site

[localexperts]

What level are seeking? $10K $50K $100K $250K $500K $1M.

What funding level is necessary to build a professional looking, effective DOT TV site that attracts both users and advertisers?

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

What is your time frame?

How many visitors, repeat visitors do you need to reach critical mass such that advertisers are interested in investing resources to advertise on your site?

How much of the money will go to marketing, development, or labor costs to run/operate the site?

You need more than a professional looking DOT TV to attract people in my experience. The competition isn't what it was even just two years ago. The stakes are higher and more people are competing for fewer opportunities. You can do things guerrilla style and grow slowly but you must be cognizant of your competitors.

I think people should ask themselves what can they offer that is unique, that no other competitors are offering, OR how can they deliver a better experience online...

Just some random thoughts to add to your thread. Love the way you are getting people more involved. :twothumbswayup:

 

[MrRhee]

What level are seeking? $10K $50K $100K $250K $500K $1M.

What funding level is necessary to build a professional looking, effective DOT TV site that attracts both users and advertisers?

IMHO, regarding our own personal needs: at early stage, as little as $5K-$15K needed to prove concept, build following and battle-testing. As of now, we are self-funded, but seeking mid-high 7-figure funding for one of our flagship projects.

Making the site PRO-looking is not always crucial... only if your business model requires it. We focused on custom software platform, scalability, security, etc... the look and feel is important, but not critical to our success for this project.

(btw, lots of good questions/threads)

 

[RPK]

I believe the biggest expense in launching a successful .tv site is in creating unique and watchable content. Creating a cool site is not as hard when the screen should take up most of the site.

 

[RogueWriter]

AntiqueMall dot tv cost less than 2K for what is there right now, I figure maybe 2K more to add in some video, and perhaps 4-5k in advertising to get the word out via some related magazines. What will help will be the affiliate program I am installing, which will pay webmasters a 25% commission for every membership subscription sold. Pay for performance reduces the up front cost of growing, and I intend to take advantage of that.

 

[discovernow]

Right now, all my funding has been from profits off my domain names so I have not look for funding on things. However, it may be something I would consider down the line. I do know that there are some sites that spent $2,000 in development and are doing well and than there are some sites that spent $100,000+ in development and are doing nothing.

For example, take a look at PalmSprings.com which makes about $500,000 a year profit according to the Castillo brothers. I bet the development cost on that was under $5,000. Looks like just a portal.

Thanks, Jim

 

[localexperts]

Well I know sites that took $30 million dollars and didn't generate $500K in revenue during their run.

 

[GoneWalkabout]

there are some sites that spent $2,000 in development and are doing well and than there are some sites that spent $100,000+ in development and are doing nothing

That could explain my past nine months in a nutshell!

The big site - still way off - and very costly - financially and emotionally.

A small fun site, costing easily less than $2500 to put together, taking really big interest.

Strange thing is, although I won't ignore the smaller site's success, I'll still stick with concentrating on the bigger site.

Development is not easy - and there really is no magic bullet other than that of hard work and perseverance. It is also easy to get distracted when things are either going too well or too difficult. The fact I am on Namepros right now means one of those two is happening.

The questions I now ask myself are these...

Would I have been better building many smaller sites at $2500 each rather than pumping a much larger sum into the bigger site?

Would the small fun site ever have existed, had we not put the effort into building the larger site?


As for the bigger question posed at the start of this thread. I would suggest that if you can - always attempt to get partners and/or funding for any development project. Our project has been self funded and I imagine that had I had financial partners they would have asked pertinent questions earlier on about what was working and what was not.

That said, the fact we have a project that has been advanced as much as ours has, means that when it works (or should I say 'if') the rewards will be much greater.

 

[localexperts]

I believe the biggest expense in launching a successful .tv site is in creating unique and watchable content. Creating a cool site is not as hard when the screen should take up most of the site.

I disagree somewhat.

For many sites, the biggest expense is marketing the site.

Now for some sites, content is the biggest piece because they don't pay for advertising and a marketing staff - but I believe that is consequence of poor execution rather than a sound business strategy.

 

[TheWatcher]

For example, take a look at PalmSprings.com which makes about $500,000 a year profit according to the Castillo brothers. I bet the development cost on that was under $5,000. Looks like just a portal.
Thanks, Jim

They have sales people to push their website. The overhead is not disclose out of the $500K revenue.

 

[localexperts]

Would I have been better building many smaller sites at $2500 each rather than pumping a much larger sum into the bigger site?

I will discuss the spoke and wheel strategy for a minute. So I got into domaining because I ran a very generic DOT COM that had horrible - and I do mean horrible SEO. Most of our traffic was generated via marketing and I was sick of having to pay for most of my users.

So when I left Respond, I went on a spending spree of great domain names.

Each of these domain names, such as BanquetFacilities or Event Catering, is a mini-site that is essentially five pages designed to secure top 5 placement on Googs/Yahoo for certain keywords. These sites are designed to attact users looking for a specific service by presenting a site that is only about the information they seek.

The mini-sites form the rim of wheel.

In the middle is two large sites. These sites take alot of time to develop. These sites are designed to be comprehensive and cause the user to want to come back over and over.

A mini site like BanquetFacilities, makes between $20K and $40K a month depending on seasonality. It cost nothing to build but my time. For a outside programmer, the site would cost $1K-$3K

The large sites would require 2-3 programmers to build and would cost $100K-$500K to build.

So yes, I believe many smaller sites feeding 1 or 2 very large sites is a powerful, powerful, powerful business model.

If you notice, I have most of the smaller sites up because it is akin to a Wordpress install to launch a new site. The larger sites is what I'm working on.

They have sales people to push their website. The overhead is not disclose out of the $500K revenue.

Our sales cost is $0. We make zero outbound cold call sales. All sales are self service or people who call into customer service wanting to purchase an ad.

Advantages of lead generation.

 

[TheWatcher]

Now for some sites, content is the biggest piece because they don't pay for advertising and a marketing staff - but I believe that is consequence of poor execution rather than a sound business strategy.

In my humble opinion Fresh content, marketing and sales people are the moving force of a successful business.

Regards,
Em

 

[localexperts]

I would agree with that.

The problem is that many companies get weighed down in technology being the biggest cost.

An experienced technology lead is gold.

True story. So Respond.com and netgenshopper.com were competitors. They had the same site. Respond.com had 35 programmers in Palo Alto, CA with most of them making more than $100K. netgen had 5 very senior programmers all making slighly less than $100K doing the same thing. I called the netgen team, the dream team. Five of the best programmers - myself being one of them - who I had worked with between 1991 and 1999.

Which technology staff survived when the companies merged. Which CTO survived.

This is a textbook example of where 1 to 2 poor technology decisions took a cost structure which should have been around $600K and made is $5M a year.

FOR THE SAME FUNCTIONALITY

 

[TheWatcher]

Our sales cost is $0. We make zero outbound cold call sales. All sales are self service or people who call into customer service wanting to purchase an ad.

Advantages of lead generation.

George,
Maybe you can introduce me to this approach, how can it be done?

Thanks,
Em

 

[localexperts]

George,
Maybe you can introduce me to this approach, how can it be done?

Thanks,
Em

Sure you live right in the middle of the Lead Gen triangle. Leads.com is off 66 in Manassas. Respond is across the street from Fair Oaks mall and LocalExperts.com is in Chantilly in the Aviion Office Complex.

Northern Virginia is the hub of horizontal lead generation.

You know my email address, send me an email. I meet with folks all the time at the Ruby Tuesday in South Riding or Foster's Grille in Chantilly.

 

[RPK]

Sure you live right in the middle of the Lead Gen triangle. Leads.com is off 66 in Manassas. Respond is across the street from Fair Oaks mall and LocalExperts.com is in Chantilly in the Aviion Office Complex.

Northern Virginia is the hub of horizontal lead generation.

You know my email address, send me an email. I meet with folks all the time at the Ruby Tuesday in South Riding or Foster's Grille in Chantilly.

You are very generous George! Love to see this type of real world help going on in this forum.

 

[localexperts]

And BTW wlmdi - who was BD director at Respond can back up my story

Bill wasn't it crazy when we met with the Respond folks. Here was the meeting. Each Respond person would introduce themselves and describe their job. Then the netgen people spoke and most said, "I do your job, your job, and your job".

It was pretty funny.

 

[freedom30]

...and most said, "I do your job, your job, and your job".

It was pretty funny.

...and that is what is commonly referred to as multi-tasking! :bingo:

 

[TheWatcher]

Sure you live right in the middle of the Lead Gen triangle. Leads.com is off 66 in Manassas. Respond is across the street from Fair Oaks mall and LocalExperts.com is in Chantilly in the Aviion Office Complex.

Northern Virginia is the hub of horizontal lead generation.

You know my email address, send me an email. I meet with folks all the time at the Ruby Tuesday in South Riding or Foster's Grille in Chantilly.

Thank you George. I will keep in touch.

Regards,
Emil

 

[GoneWalkabout]

Can I just add that one thing that has worked in our favour is that the people who actually get paid a salary in the little company we operate get paid what they 'need' to actually live on, rather than what they would get in the employment market. In practical terms this means they earn at least half what they would get elsewhere.

The reason they accepted this deal was that they wanted a part of the action - and they were prepared to take a modest salary today, for a much bigger amount tomorrow.

The added advantages to this are numerous, but the most obvious is that they have a vested interest in making the project work AND everyone else knows they are part of the team for all the right reasons. The rest of the team take no salary whatsoever, including myself.

We are all in the same boat so need to make it sail properly.



Nice to see everyone being so constructive!

 

[*AllThings.tv*]

Well I know sites that took $30 million dollars and didn't generate $500K in revenue during their run.

Its funny you mention this. We just concluded negotiations with a company that squandered $300,000 in investor capital, the CEO invested 70K in credit card debt, and the company made 4k/month (at its peak last year) and the CEO didn't even take a salary.

The CEO seemed to think the company was worth a million. Its hilarious because the CEO clearly isn't the one who should be running the company. The CEO's new strategy is to sell the company's email list.

A very sad situation to say the least.

 

[omelet]

how's going?

 

[TheWatcher]

I don't know if you notice the date, it is year 2009 a lot change already.

 

[robert widener]

I believe the biggest expense in launching a successful .tv site is in creating unique and watchable content. Creating a cool site is not as hard when the screen should take up most of the site.

ditto , creating unique , interesting watchable content should be a dot (.) tv domainers first priority . though i'm not sure that it would be a sites biggest expense .

 

[lock]

You can build a site for nothing. How much bandwidth do you plan to use and the functionality of the site is where you will spend.