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Starting a website like Squidoo/Hubpages, need advice and opinion

by Tyler Durden
22 replies
Hi warriors,

Let's say I'm starting a website like Squidoo/Hubpages and I hope to have your advice and opinion.

1) Suppose I have a budget of $X,XXX. Do you think I should spend this money to get someone to code the whole platform or mod an existing one like Wordpress to fit into my vision or should I offer the money as rewards to encourage signups?

If I were to go with offering rewards which would you prefer? Give all the money to one winner, divide into three shares like 60, 30, 10% to the top three? Or divide into 10 chucks and reward the top three plus seven "best of the rest" consolation thingy.

But going the second route of offering rewards I'll have to rely on Wordpress and a few plugins.

Please advise or share which is your preferred one. Thanks very much in advance.

edit:
#advice #opinion #squidoo or hubpages #starting #website
  • Profile picture of the author NatesMarketing
    Probably - before offering rewards - you will need a website.

    So, before you go around handing out cash...make sure you have a working platform.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Tyler Durden View Post

    Let's say I'm starting a website like Squidoo/Hubpages and I hope to have your advice and opinion.
    Please excuse my commenting that it would be a very strange decision indeed to be trying to start up something like Squidoo, just as Squidoo (among others) is failing and going out of business, for such understandable and foreseeable reasons. For myself, it would be a kind of business model I'd want to avoid at all cost ...

    .
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    • Profile picture of the author Brent Stangel
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      For myself, it would be a kind of business model I'd want to avoid at all cost ...

      .
      You and me both.

      I suggest you go back to the drawing board.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyler Durden
    Thanks Alexa and Brent but I don't really see the connection here. I mean all kinds of websites and businesses are closing down each day.
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    • Profile picture of the author RobinInTexas
      Originally Posted by Tyler Durden View Post

      Thanks Alexa and Brent but I don't really see the connection here. I mean all kinds of websites and businesses are closing down each day.
      They are comparing your plan to someone who goes to a hospital and sees a doctor with a pager and says that pager looks like a great product with a future. Everybody needs one. I think I'll start building pagers.

      The Squidoo Hubpages business model has seen it's day and is as obsolete as the pager.
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      Robin



      ...Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just set there.
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    • Profile picture of the author RichardF
      Originally Posted by Tyler Durden View Post

      Thanks Alexa and Brent but I don't really see the connection here. I mean all kinds of websites and businesses are closing down each day.
      The thing is websites like Squidoo depend on traffic from search engines to thrive. Take that away, and what you have left is a collection of mostly very poor content that the web would be just as well off without. I mean, who would browse directly to Squidoo specifically to read articles? 99% of those who post there do it just to try to make money (...indirectly off visitors coming from search engines).
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Tyler Durden View Post

      Thanks Alexa and Brent but I don't really see the connection here. I mean all kinds of websites and businesses are closing down each day.
      They are. But businesses with the model you're thinking of seem to be particularly high-risk at the moment, and for foreseeable and readily understandable reasons. And you seem (in so far as anyone can tell what anyone else is thinking about from a couple of brief forum-posts! ) to be missing the point about why.

      Respectfully, I think it might help you to look at the slightly longer-term position accounting for why Squidoo has had all the problems it's had, to the extent that it could no longer survive, and how and why so many people (more or less) "saw it coming". (I guessed some of the details wrongly, myself, I freely admit: I actually thought HubPages would go out of business before Squidoo, but the detail doesn't matter - what matters, in your position, I'd think, is to understand the principle).

      The "bigger picture" explained in this post might perhaps be a starting-point for you: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post8109462


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  • Profile picture of the author extrememan
    I would work on you're project first. Get it the way you would like before thinking of cash rewards for members.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ferzy
    I think you should start with a reason why people would post high quality content on your platform instead of squidoo or hubpages.

    And don't think i will allow do-follow links or affiliate links as this is what lead to the downfall of squidoo / hubpages in the first place.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyler Durden
    Ok, this Squidoo/Hubpages thing is just a small part of it, the first step. This isn't something that I'll be depending on for my livelihood. I'm not sure how poorly they are doing but I thought Squidoo just sold to Hubpages for millions? If that's true I wish I have failures like these.

    This project is just a base for me to choose the right people to go on to the next thing where I have ideas which will generate life time recurring revenues. The thing is this cannot be achieved by me alone. I'll need hundreds of people if not thousands. Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author pietjeplukt
    if you want to build a serious online business, the first thing to do is start with hosting your own website, there is not a single good reason for starting a business based on some other platform, they can stop or change things anything they want.... and if they do, your business is badly damaged or totally gone and you would have done all the hard work for nothing...

    you can however use such web 2.0 sites on the side, to extend or strengthen your business, and for SEO purposes like building a link wheel, that's the only thing to use web 2.0 sites for
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    • Profile picture of the author Tyler Durden
      Originally Posted by pietjeplukt View Post

      if you want to build a serious online business, the first thing to do is start with hosting your own website, there is not a single good reason for starting a business based on some other platform, they can stop or change things anything they want.... and if they do, your business is badly damaged or totally gone and you would have done all the hard work for nothing...

      you can however use such web 2.0 sites on the side, to extend or strengthen your business, and for SEO purposes like building a link wheel, that's the only thing to use web 2.0 sites for
      I think you misunderstood me. I'm not gonna be using Wordpress.com lol.
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  • Profile picture of the author experting facebook
    Hello friend, if you have some money, why not spend it and create a new website (domain & hosting) instead of wasting it in a Squidoo/Hubpages ?

    Try to hire a designer and a programer to that for you , do some SEO & link building, it's a little long but it will make you money in the futur
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyler Durden
    ^ Did you even read? ^
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    • Profile picture of the author mikeink
      Here is the simple solution for you.

      Go back to the drawing board again.
      See a person that knows how to do this for you.

      Then figure everything out again on paper.
      You will have it in black and white.

      The way you are trying to explain it here, you might just as well light a
      match to your money and burn it.

      Make sure you use an actual amount that you what to spend.
      Signature

      Well let me see. OH yea need to start work on my ???????? again.
      Been working for slave wages to long.

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    • Profile picture of the author Gh0zt
      Originally Posted by Tyler Durden View Post

      ^ Did you even read? ^
      No doubt he didn't - this dude has stole my profile pretty much word for word! So if that is how good he is at being original, I'd hate to think about what he is like being real with you.

      To answer your question - much to the dislike of other warrior's - I'm going to recommend that you go for it!

      There is only one way to establish true knowledge - that is to test it for yourself!

      Imagine if all of the inventors we owe all the modern luxurys we have would have quit just because of other people's say so....

      My advice: trust yourself to the fullest. If you have a vision then persue it. If you fail then you learn from your failure - if you succeed though that's a different story!

      I'm pretty certain nobody expected "Facebook" to be dominant back in the days of MySpace and Bebo!

      My other advice: listen to everybody's advice but ultimately think for yourself and go with that which is best.

      I hope I answered your question,
      Peace,
      Gh0zt.
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      • Profile picture of the author Tim3
        Originally Posted by Gh0zt View Post

        No doubt he didn't - this dude has stole my profile pretty much word for word!
        The similarity is uncanny - He must have been reading some threads on article spinning! some folks are shameless with their content curation


        Location: SE England, UK.
        Loves: Writing and Designing.
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        Loves: Facebook, Automation!.
        Hates: Greens (Trust it !!).
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        I forsee this Active Warrior becoming inactive soon
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  • Profile picture of the author Alessandro Zamboni
    Now that Squidoo is going definitely out from business (after it was sold to HubPages), you can try to build something similar, that offers award after taking some actions, like posting new contents, reading other people contentes, liking it, commenting, or creating tasks on demand. This for me could work, but you have to put a lot of work on a site like this... it's not wordpress, you need a script, capable people helping you, and so on.

    Make a good plan, think about everything (I said everything!) and never forget to think about backups, keeping the platform clean, managing people requests with a good customer supports. These things count.

    See you soon,
    Alessandro
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    • Profile picture of the author Tyler Durden
      Originally Posted by Alessandro Zamboni View Post

      Now that Squidoo is going definitely out from business (after it was sold to HubPages), you can try to build something similar, that offers award after taking some actions, like posting new contents, reading other people contentes, liking it, commenting, or creating tasks on demand. This for me could work, but you have to put a lot of work on a site like this... it's not wordpress, you need a script, capable people helping you, and so on.

      Make a good plan, think about everything (I said everything!) and never forget to think about backups, keeping the platform clean, managing people requests with a good customer supports. These things count.

      See you soon,
      Alessandro
      Thanks very much for your input. Had thought about rewarding for various actions like commenting etc but really have to come out with a system that will minimize people gaming the system which to be honest is bound to happen.
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  • Profile picture of the author travlinguy
    There are at least 1000 free blogging platforms like Squidoo and Hubpages out there. Why you'd want to add another is beyond me. But if you're really set on doing that I'd suggest you do a search and then contact some of the established ones that are floundering. I'd bet you could pick up some fairly well established properties for a lot less than you'd pay to set one up.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tyler Durden
    I don't know man, by that reasoning since there are 1000's of people selling $7 ebooks already why do it too?

    And since there are billions of websites already why build more?
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnZ
    Well, you can use WordPress for most types of websites. With proper research, you'll find a theme that suits your needs. This option is less expensive and convenient. Not to mention that you can find plugins for just about anything.
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