[Netffiliate]

First, I want to say hello to everyone!

I'm starting an online business, well have been for over a year now and figured I'd throw out my experiences so far to see what you guys think.

I'm a web application/web site developer and SQL Server DBA going on 6 years now. I did a good number of web sites on the side for extra money thinking I could start that as a business which ended up being more work than it was worth. After doing several web sites for others who went on to make millions (and I made a few tens of thousands, before taxes) I got frustrated and decided to take a piece of custom software I had written for a client and turn it into a business.

The software was a simple affiliate tracking system which kept track of which web sites sent customers to the clients web site and if the customer bough something, it tracked how much commission was owed to the referring site.

There are quite a few sites out there offering affiliate marketing services but after researching over 50 personally, I can tell you that most of them are crap. Even some of the more expensive ones have over complicated features, bad interfaces or are just too expensive for most online businesses.

I figured all I have to do is make mine better in every way I can and charge a more reasonable fee for it and that would be that. Offer a better service at a better price, should be a no brainer right?

So for the last year and a half I've personally written over 70,000 lines of code, designed 6 different user interfaces before I found one that worked and researched other affiliate marketing systems for countless hours to see what the pros and cons of my competition was.

I hired a logo design firm to do a logo for my service and despite their attractive web site and samples, their work was crap (I won't say the name here but PM me if you want to know) so right there I was out sever hundred dollars. I ended up doing the logo myself and it turned out much better but time and money were lost.

I then hired a web design firm to do the promotional site for me. I know, I'm a developer and graphics artist but I just didn't have the time to do everything. I figured a couple thousand for a good looking layout was worth it if it freed me to do other things. Well, despite a lot of research, I got screwed. These guys tried to take some $70.00 web site template from TemplateMonster.com (which didn't even look good) and pass it off as original work, for two thousand dollars! I told them our deal was for an original layout and they insisted it was even after I told them I had seen it on a template site. They wouldn't budge so I ended up loosing my 50% deposit.

After having similar problems with marketing consultants and interface designers (for the software) I ended up doing everything myself.

So now I'm about to launch the beta test of my service in the next month and I'm wondering if I'll be able to do everything on my own. I'm good at business management and I've got the technical side down but sales and marketing are not my strong points.

I've looked into partnering with someone with good sales/marketing skills but it appears that no one wants to even consider it unless you are established and making money.

I've had little success lining up testers and potential customers and don't have the money for a large marketing campaign. So I'm wondering how I should proceed.

I tried creating a partnership with a fairly large provider of e-commerce solutions but after showing a lot of interest and talking with me over several months, they stopped getting back to me without explanation.

I get overwhelmed by just how much there is to do to start a business like this all by yourself. Several people have told me to just keep on by myself since taking on a partner can end up being more trouble than it's worth but I still think that having someone who can take the sales/marketing work off my shoulders would be worth it in the long run, or no?

Anyhow, just wanted to share my story and get any feedback you guys might have.

All the best!

[teana]

hey net,

sorry to hear about what has happened to you. i'd be interested in your product since i am looking around for affiliate networking, but can't afford the high costs of places like linkshare, befree and the others.

when it comes to doing business you should always get references or work done, especially websites. but lesson learned.

when it comes to partnerships, it all depends on how you feel about it and what you think. i have partners in my tea company, namely my brother and cousin, who take care off all the nitty gritty stuff, while i do most of the visionary type things. i had qualms about getting partners but after weighing all the pros and cons, it seemed like the right thing to do. most people will its bad, but thats b/c they didnt set up their partnership well. a good partnership isnt just with someone you trust, but someone you get along with and where all of you sign partnership contracts that stipulate how much each person gets, how much they put in, what happens to the company if one leaves, dies, or decides to sell, etc. also, since its your company, and you are bringing someone onboard, you should still make sure that things are getting done properly. keep a good eye on the books, that way you cna make sure that monies arent being misused. businessweek.com has some good info in their small biz section. you should create the partnership agreements regardless if its your parents, friends or whatever. those things are key down the line.

so all in all, it all depends on what you want to accomplish. one man can only take a company so far, but once you get the right people onboard, theres no stopping you. ideally if you have enough cash you can just hire someone or a marketing firm to do things for you, but that is pretty costly. i am sure if you look around you'll be able to find someone, even if its part time. take a look at craigslist.org or even your local SCORE.org chapter. they have tons of info and i am sure they will be able to tell you how to proceed and even give you some great advice.

all in all, if you have a great product, it usually speaks for itself, and of course customer service always gives you that extra oomph.

good luck. and tell us what your site is so we can check it out.

teana

[Netffiliate]

Hey teana,

If you're interested in possibly testing out my service, just let me know and we can discuss it further. I'd offer my service free of charge during the testing phase and I'd help set your site up to use it for free as well.

Speaking as a web developer and graphics artist for over 6 years, I'd like to say you have a great web site, very clean and easy to use.

I feel the same way. I know several people that have been burnt by partnerships and have seen first hand how they can go sour. But I do feel that finding the right partner can allow you to accomplish much more than just hiring someone to do various tasks.

As you have read, I've had little success with hiring independent consultants to do various tasks for me. But I did learn a lot from that. I was in too much of a rush to get my business launched and now I've learnt to take things at a steady pace.

I have used SCORE and have gotten some good advice from a marketing exec with decades of experience. It's a great resource, too bad I can't afford to hire the guy full time : )

I agree with you that if you have a good product and service it should speak for itself, the hard part is getting people to stop long enough to listen but I'm working on that.

As soon as my promotional site is up I'll post it. It would have been up already if not for my bad luck with hiring a design firm to do it. I'm going to do it myself so it wont be up for another couple of weeks.

[expisp]

bad deal, sorry you got burned, but it seems you have your priorities straight. You are bustin through this project.

I am a freelance Affiliate manager for several companies, although they do have tracking solutions currently, I would be happy to offer my services trying, testing, or giving you feedback. Just let me know...

MSN IM expinternetsolutions@hotmail.com

or email me at... ian@expisp.net

Ian