 "Photo: MCT Campus")
"Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day; teach that person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks." -Anonymous. Are you confident that you could create the next Google, Facebook or YouTube that could be worth billions? Kevin Flynn may be able to answer yes to this question. After graduating from San Diego State in 2005, Flynn, with his new finance degree, started www.VuMe.com, a Web site that has been called the next YouTube killer by CNBC and The Wall Street Journal and has raised more than $500,000. Although a high-priced acquisition may have changed the lives of Flynn and other www.VuMe.com founders dramatically, the simple reality is that most of us do not have enough technical knowledge, business acumen or persistence to turn an idea into an Internet company worth billions. Flynn's advice to young Internet entrepreneurs is simple: find a uniquely different niche, start with something simple and grow your site through passionate users. E-Commerce sites E-Commerce sites are the most common and well-recognized Internet Web sites. Revenue is generated from the sale of products through online shopping carts or third party providers such as PayPal. E-Commerce sites can be expensive to build and difficult to maintain. Before investing money in building an E-Commerce Web site, consider using other sources already available, such as eBay or Craigslist. These sites can serve as a testing ground for your products. Regardless of the product you choose to sell, be cognizant that product businesses entail high levels of time and attention. Also, learn the concept of bootstrapping, in which you reinvest earned revenue rather than make large initial investments. Content or informational sites A content site offers people specific information. Revenue is earned through advertisements that are placed on the sites by other companies. While it may be difficult and time consuming to create the next Wikipedia, focus on building a site that caters to one specific need. One site, www.MakeUseOf.com, simply lists other useful Web sites of which people should be aware. Consider focusing on areas that may currently be overlooked, such as the top poodle groomers, or sites that provide detailed knowledge such as how to make tamales. Getting advertisers to pay may be the simplest part. Through programs such as Google's AdSense, all you have to do is submit your Web site and answer a series of questions and it will then place the ads and cut you a check based on the number of hits. It costs $7.99 to register a domain name through a site such as www.GoDaddy.com, and you can find designers to build a basic Web site for less than $250 by searching sites such as www.craigslist.com or www.DesignQuote.com (just be patient and selective in who you choose). Alternatively, you could easily build your own Web site through open source software companies such as www.joomla.com. If you are looking for immediate gratification, check out www.SitePoint.com, which has a variety of established and fledging Web sites for sale, some as little as $50.
A niche blog Almost everyone reading this article has read a blog and many of us have even contributed. Now, it is time to consider starting one. While it may be difficult and time consuming to build a relevant blog that people will flock to for years, starting a niche blog can be very lucrative if the timing is right. A good example of this is the Web site www.RuinRomo.com, which was started by Matthew Sorenson of San Diego. After Tony Romo, a Dallas Cowboys quarterback, had a bad game when Jessica Simpson attended, he built a site encouraging fans to bring Simpson-heads to the upcoming game. He gained national media attention overnight, in addition to earning a nice paycheck from all of the advertising and memorabilia. You can immediately capitalize on content by building a blog around a current search topic and then writing a summary of the issue, with links to other pages. Imagine starting one of the following blogs: "BrittneyIsBald.com," "ProsecuteClemens.com," or "ObomasWifeSlips.com." Think big, but start small Focusing all of your, time, money and effort on building the next iconic Web site can be a very risky decision. Taking immediate action and working on Internet sites that are easy to build, cheap to start and efficient to manage can be an enjoyable way to generate a small income. More importantly, by committing yourself to learning simple yet misunderstood facets of the Internet, you can position yourself as a technologically savvy graduate to employers. It could also be the breakthrough you need, giving you the confidence and experience to focus on larger and more profitable ventures. Just Google: "Kevin Flynn + banana," and learn for yourself how Kevin Flynn got his break making a national name for himself overnight with something he created at 2:40 a.m. as a freshman at SDSU.
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