Is the Information Super Highway Paved With Gold ?

The Information The Information Super-HighwaySuper-Highway

Is it paved with gold…?Is it paved with gold…?Roger GreenhalghRoger Greenhalgh

National Rural K ENational Rural K E

Is it paved with gold…?Is it paved with gold…?Roger GreenhalghRoger Greenhalgh

National Rural K ENational Rural K E November 2009

(Humble beginnings in 1976)

You’d like your first website business to run like a well

oiled machine…

In reality, your first website will be a bit like your first car. A good workhorse…yet something to learn on…

You can get started with something pretty humble…

You can get started with something pretty humble…

You may choose to start with somethingmass-produced and boringly reliable…

You may get a techie friend to hew something custom, from the wood…

Something designed to be changed or updated on the go…

…or something that looks great…

…despite the build quality.

In time, you’ll find some features just don’t scale…

…and nailing on new upgrades and features isn’t always easy…

and eventually, you’ll start again…

But that’s OK… • The beauty of

the technology mostly isn’t important.

• The business ideais important.

You may have a fantastic product• You can use the web

to make it visible across the globe

You may have some specialist knowledge or skill

• You can use the web to share it with peopleworldwide

Maybe the internet lets you connect new things in new ways…

Maybe the internet lets you connect new things in new ways…

Suggestion 1

• Be effective…

(it just has to work… )

It just HAS to work:

• The Ebay no-frills approach…

February 23rd 2000

And it still does…

exactly what it

said on the tin…

November 17th 2009

Simple ideas…

• Craig Newmark’s no-frills approach…

February 28th 2000

Simple ideas…

are

timeless…

November 17th 2009

(They just get bigger…)November 17th 2009

East

Midlands…

As of 2009, Craigslist operates with a staff of 28 peopleIts sole source of revenue is paid job ads in select cities – $75 per ad for the San Francisco Bay Area; $25 per ad for New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Seattle, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Portland, Oregon – and paid broker apartment listings in New York City ($10 per ad).

What’s it worth?annual revenue estimates:

$10 million in 2004, $20 million in 2005, $25 million in 2006 $150 million in 2007

Wikipedia

Traffic?The site serves over twenty billion page views per month, to over fifty million unique monthly visitors in the United States alone.

• 30th place overall among web sites worldwide• 8th place overall among web sites in the USA

Suggestion 2

• Be first…

(if you want to be newsworthy)

Alex Tew just got there FIRST:• The million-dollar homepage…

The website of Alex Tew, a 21-year-old entrepreneur, who hoped to pay his way through university by selling 1 million pixels of internet ad space for $1 ...

Suggestion 3

• Be findable…

(if you want to be found…)

477,000 pages are One Click away:• How do you become obvious on search engines…?

This listing costs nothing… …except some thought and effort

Suggestion 4

• Be everywhere…

yet

• Be local…

(how wide is your niche…?)

On your doorstep, and just One Click away:

• A global service …?

• A local service …?

Grindr. It’s a guy thing.

Whether he’s Mr. Right or Mr. Tonight, your man is hanging out on Grindr, a killer location-based social networking tool for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Grindr. It’s a guy thing.

Whether he’s Mr. Right or Mr. Tonight, your man is hanging out on Grindr, a killer location-based social networking tool for the iPhone or iPod Touch.

Suggestion 5

• Be different…

(if it’s all part of getting noticed…?)

Joel Veitch and the Spong Monkeys:

• An internet‘meme’…?

www.rathergood.com

meme: catchphrase or concept that spreads quickly from person to person via the Internet

…brilliant, fun, and so out of the ordinary that they made you sit up and take notice.

And “SubWay” rolls did do...

Suggestion 6

• Be wise…

(even wisdom has a price…)

You only need to ask:Knowhow has£££ value…

“AskJennie”The ultimate on-line enquiry point for municipal waste management matters....

You only need to tell:Knowhow has£££ value…

Suggestion 7

• Be fun…

(it sort of helps if you enjoy it…)

My seven rules ?• Being effective… it just has to work…

Craig’s list… Ebay…

• Being first… 1,000,000 pixel page

• Being found… on Google

• Being everywhere and local… “Grindr”

• Being different… rathergood.com

• Being wise… using the wisdom of crowds… Wikipedia / AskJennie…

• Being fun…. ([insert <your website> here!])