Any marketers here who have created something truly unique where the product is the website itself?

All it takes is an interesting idea, really. Most of the people on here don't rely on these types of websites because there isn't a lot of money in them unless they blow up to the point where you could sell it for huge profits, even if it's not making a dime (I remember Twitter wasn't/isn't making money even after the blow up).

I'm sorry for kind of eluding from the point of your thread, but I wish I had something to show you. Most of my "unique" projects are in such early development that there's really not much to show. Maybe we can get someone in here who something interesting going on.

From my knowledge, they don't advertise the way IM's do... They use viral methods but on bigger scales.... Television news, Newspaper/magazine articles.. things like that.

I know Myspace spammed the hell out of everyone..

I think the key is to find a niche with really low competition that has lots of people looking to learn more about the niche, meet others in the niche, and just hang out.

I recently started a website in a niche that I should have done years ago. Actually, now that I think about it my very first site at 13 was about this niche, but that site was for fun . . .

However, I just started building this site this week and it is already showing up on the first page of google for more than one keyword. The niche is coon hounds, I have been coon hunting since a little kid so this is super easy for me to write about. I also realized that I already am a member at several coon hound forums and actually am known by many as I owed a very famous stud dog a few years back (offspring of that stud dog have sold in excess of $20,000).

So In short, if you are lucky to be in a hobby like this why not start something with it. Maybe you fly model airplanes or are a troop leader for a cub scout group. Maybe you ride bulls? Hunt Squirrels? Breed Rabbits? I think anything that isn't really mainstream can be easily turned into a "facebook for cake makers". Maybe you love the tv series 'Tru Blood' or "sopranos" or "simpsons".

I won't lie, I should have started with this niche and I would probably have it made, lol. But seriously, if you have a hobby look at sites you are already visiting and model them. For example, I will add a forum and a classified section to my site as well as breeder listings because that is a very popular things with the competiting sites and other similar sites in the niche.

The short side of this is that there are less affiliate programs so you have to be creative. For example, there are few direct affiliate programs for coon hunting lights, so I have to find vendors that sell them and work it that way (was surprised amazon actually had a coon hunting light on it, albeit a low end one).

So I don't know if I answered your question or not but hopefully I gave you some ideas on how you can do something like this.

Good Luck

Cheers Jordan, there should still be money in them, just that the road is a bit longer I would think. Twitter might not be making the money one would expect from the traffic but it is surely more saleable (and for a larger amount) than most people here could only dream of.

Being able to monetise the traffic is a crucial step and something I am interested in finding more about. Advertising is the obvious choice but traffic levels will have to be high to make it worthwhile. Coming up with the great idea is a lot harder than it seems too.

Gary, why do you separate them from the internet marketers you come across here all the time? There products are internet based and they need to be marketed. I am not just interested in the massive sites, my examples were just examples of unique ideas that have done really well.

Regardless, if they used viral methods than it is something that smaller marketers should also look at. Advertising on TV and in magazines is surely a good idea too if you have the product to back it up. There are a lot of niche specific magazines with huge subscriber lists - if these big sites think it is worthwhile than it might be something others might be able to look into.

Thanks Coby, those are ideas I do always look at implementing on my sites and also go (or I should say have headed down) the hobby approach.

I guess the membership and marketplace are the best ways to add something worthwhile and a reason to return for a more specific niche.

Your idea for creating a 'facebook for cake makers' is actually a good one...the idea in general. It is a good way of creating a community that might be a bit more accessible than a standard forum. Sharing recipes, pictures of the final product, videos etc can be adpated to pretty much any niche

Launching such a site I think becomes a problem when you don't have the initial influx in traffic to get a conversation started.

Organic and paid traffic to a squeeze page might be a good starting point - or a competition

I think you can start it off by getting the organic traffic. Make it a free membership but have an upgrade option (WF is a good example of this). With the super low competition niches once you start getting the organic traffic the members will recruit for you. A good example of this are PTC sites. I actually own one and I bought it with about 1700 members. I have not promoted the site at all and it now had over 2100 members in about a month and a half.

If you build "FaceCake" the passionate people will find it and spread the word. The hard part will be finding the content. For me, I have no clue about cake making so it would be hard for me and I would have to outsource it and wouldnt really be able to gauge the quality of the work. But with the coon hound site it is easy because I have done it for half my life and I've had success. Just a shame I waited till last week to build it in this niche.

Also, I think hobbyist are money spenders. So not only will they tell all their hobbyist friends about your site they will also buy things you recommend on your site because that what you do with hobbies, you spend money, lol.

I was thinking the FaceCake idea in general rather than making it ie creating a sharing community built specifically for the needs of a niche market rather than a more global style. It gets the site away from the traditional article based sites and makes the user create the unique content for you, just like a forum.

We have a couple up our sleeve. One is ready to launch (almost) and another has still to be developed.

What we did was think of sites that offline businesses could use to the advantage of their business. They'd get a good ROI so it's a no brainer really.

Sorry for being evasive on the specifics of the services they offer. I draw the line at commercial suicide

Cheers,

Neil

I should say that we decided to go down the route of a paid service from the get-go rather than trying to monetize a free site down the road - which is very hit and miss.

If someone's paying money and it's win-win all round, that's the ideal.

Business shouldn't be based on hope and finger-crossing.