I am a man of many ideas. I used to come up with about 3-4 new websites a day that would be interesting to develop. Get me online talking to Mike, Colin and Matthew and we can come up with 2-3 good websites ourselves on top of the 3 I already came up with when I wokeup. I don’t mean just websites that are there just for the hell of it, but these are ideas with potential. Of course all of our ideas always seem like they have potential. So many great ideas get tossed around the 9rules forums it’s not even funny anymore. I figure we might as well setup a mini-angel fund just so we can see these projects get off the ground.
Everybody Got They Cups, But They Ain’t Chipped In*
*The grammar isn’t bad, that’s big Snoop Dogg telling it like it is.
If you own a site and you wish to partner up with us (or anyone else for that matter) you have to bring something to the table. It is really admirable to want to partner with the 9rules Network for example, but to do so I have to ask what would you bring to the Network? How would you help make the experience better for its users? I get answers to these questions, but they are never good. It all comes down to the person basically saying, “I know the Network gets a lot of traffic, so let’s partner up so I can get more traffic to my site.” That just doesn’t cut it.
Actions Speak
You have a wonderful idea, but it doesn’t work out in the end. The reason usually comes down to the effort you put into it. I have made the mistake of joining so many ventures with people that I have spread my resources thin. If I can’t depend on others to take action then usually these ventures go no where.
Our team has created some successful sites. They are not successful in the Nick Denton network sense of the word, but for me they are successful because I understand where we started and where we are looking to go. They are successful because I can see the amount of work I have put into them. You want a successful blog, put some work into it. It never fails.
Business is the same way. Put a lot of work into it and you are on the road to success. Of course I am assuming that the business plan and ideas are solid because without those foundations you have no path to walk on.
Time Is The Killer
If you wish to start something, better tighten up on those time management skills because you will need every second you can get. I have been in many discussions with people who wish to start a business, but the only thing holding them back is time. Usually the only thing required to start a business, besides money, is time so it’s time for some sacrifices to be made.
The Deciding Factor
It’s a shame how easy it is to start a website or blog. It gives people the idea that after only a few hours of work they can begin making money. Besides using shady tactics this is nearly impossible. I can’t tell you how much effort it takes to make a million dollars, but I can tell you getting that first $10 takes time, effort and a great strategy. People who understand that are the type of people we enjoy partnering with.
Finally I will leave with some tips when looking to start a business, site, blog or partnership:
- If you really want to partner with anyone and you believe you have a great idea it is much more impressive to see you put some work into that idea before it comes our way. This lets us know you are passionate and willing to put some elbow grease into making your idea a success.
- Ask others if your idea is really good. Better yet, ask a woman because they seem to be more honest about these things. If they can’t understand the point of your model maybe there isn’t one. I got that one from Guy Kawaski’s The Art Of The Start, a must read.
- Very few times will a partnership be a 50/50 deal. One party usually puts in more work or has more resources to offer than the other party son don’t be surprised if things aren’t split down the middle.
- Ideas are cheap. Execution is expensive.
- Once you have your idea stick with it. Patience is key because you might have other ideas that you try to venture off on, but this only takes away time from your current idea. This is a problem we have internally due to the talent and ideas we have. It’s a bit easier now though since we have almost everything we want with the Network. A good example is the person who decides it would be great to start their own blog network yet they have taken the time to make the first site successful. Without a successful Whitespace there never would have been a successful CSS Vault, Forever Geek, Business Logs, 9rules and hopefully Fine Fools Community (“successful” is a relative term).
Originally posted on September 28, 2005 @ 2:02 am