Review my Business Overview (PLEASE!)

[rogercbryan]

I’m going to post this one more time in a little different manner to see if I can get the feedback I’m looking for.

What is the basis for my idea?
traffic + content + links = profitability(sort of the simplified version)

I’m looking for opinions from SEO professionals or from people who own and operate successful websites/blogs.

A little back ground. Each of these projects independently were started based on people I met on YE. Originally all were supposed to be stand alone businesses. What I’ve found while working on these projects is that I think they’ll work better as one venture then they ever will as stand alone projects.

Time spent: 10 weeks
Money spent: $7000 USD
To be spent still:
$3000 USD development (finishing the new article site)
$10,000 USD marketing
- This includes paying people to post on forums
- PPC
- PTC
* I think we have a great gorilla marketing strategy developed. All I’m worried about is the product as the best marketing plan in the world fails if no one wants your product.

Project 1: Traffic (100% owner)
This project didn’t cost all that much but it has proven to be tricky (from a profit standpoint). The site is Bux Sense which I have been talking about for over a week now on YE. I purchased this site from a YE user and then spent a few $s having the script changed to do some special features. My current script allows advertisers to pay to have real traffic directed towards their site. We do not claim to be able to drive business. I’m very straight forward about the fact that we only drive generic traffic.

Project 2: Content & Delivery (50% owner)
I signed an agreement with a YE user who had a company that paid writers to develop articles for its customers. Each article is approximately 350 words and can be custom written for the purchaser and automatically delivered to a blog or a website with our RSS segment feeds. This gives our customers a way to keep real daily updating contact on their sites. The articles are published through a Wordpress blogging feature so that we can take advantage of their Search Engine Optimization tools.

I had to pay a couple of developers to get this feed feature to work correctly. In the end I’m very pleased with the ease of use. The actual article site will re-launch in the next few weeks. I’ll put a post on YE when its ready.

Project 3: Links (100% owner)
I’ve started buying every PR3 or higher directory or article site I can get my hands on. As I link each of them together and I drive generic traffic towards them I hope to be able to continually increase their page rankings. As that happens I will then be able to sell or exchange links with other similar sites. I’m hoping for the spider web effect. At some point I should have enough Page Ranking value to charge for this service.

Overview:
As I said I started each of these ideas as independent ideas. What I’m thinking now is that when you put all these pieces together:

traffic + content + links = profitability

Does the formula look accurate? If I can get each element to work and then sell a bundle package like this:

25,000 generic visits to your site each month
Daily content updates based on your industry automatically delivered to your site
High Page Ranking Back Links to your site

* In total you would get 25,000 visitors to your site, 30 new posts to your blog, and at least (10) PR3+ back links each month for about $395-$695 per month. Would you be willing to pay for that?

Would you as a site owner buy this service? What would you pay? What types of other services would you like? What types of packages?

Is there value here?

[Jerimiah]

Hey there Roger,

I own several sites that could benefit from the idea you present there, however, there are some things that may need work from a perception standpoint.

Revenue - Expenses = Profitability

That's the simplicity of business, which I'm sure you're aware of. So you reside in the realm of, "will this service deliver more revenue than expenses?" I think, and this is just my opinion, that you're going to have trouble actually documenting a tangible ROI for your clients, thus having an extremely high attrition rate (say in the 3-6 month range). All that to say, if you can figure out a way to make that traffic + content + link = some dollar amount or percentage, then you're going to fly with this!

Also, they can and should be done separately at first. they are each their own niche, and once they all have client bases, you can cross pollinate, if you will, via email marketing and such. Once they are all profitable businesses, there's no reason not to merge them into the SEO 2.0 engine for business.

Ok, so to actually answer your questions

Would you as a site owner buy this service?
No your proof link shows random screenshots and I closed the site within moments after seeing them.

What would you pay?
Ideally, I would put about 10% of my profit back into web based marketing initiatives. Your service would consume about half of that, depending on how successful it was.

What types of other services would you like?
Press Release creation, AdWord campaign management, AdSense management to name a few.

What types of packages?
I would go with a la carte methods of earning business, if you wind up merging these opportunities. If you decide to go with packages, give 2-3 options and still provide an a la carte option for those that feel oppressed by packages :P

Is there value here?
Value is relative, so to some, I think there is great value, even for your stated price range.

I sure hope that helps man. Cheers!

[rogercbryan]

Finally! Thank you Joshua! That was a real evaluation- exactly what I was looking for.

A few responses:
Press Releases: We will be doing those. We have found six prominent sites to post press releases too and we will own another 5-15. So we should be able to do Press Releases to 10-20 sites for customers who purchase unique articles.

AdWord & AdSense: Once I get everything else working or at least into the testing phase I had thought about partnering with a small SEO Company, someone who has experience in the areas where I lack experience. This would give me more tools and services to sell.

Al a Carte Services: We have developed a menu with three categories each with three services. You can pick and choose from that menu. We are trying to keep it simple enough as to not confuse potential customers, but at the same time we want to give a full variety of services.

Would you as a site owner buy this service?
No your proof link shows random screenshots and I closed the site within moments after seeing them.

The sites listed are still in testing so their operability is questionable. Were you looking at the buxsense site? What screen shots are you talking about? We just implemented a new section that will show proof of payment to our surfers. I think the docs on there are still test docs and not real proof.

Revenue - Expenses = Profitability

Yes, this is the relative business term when applied to business planning. I guess I should have written mine differently.

New Version: Do you think a company offering the following would have products that people would buy:

Generic Traffic (25,000 visitors a month)
Daily Updated web content (30 or so per month)
PR3+ Back Links (10+ per month)

Without having my exact start-up and operating expenses posted do you believe a company offering these services could become profitable? I understand this is a very generic question. Hmmm… would you as a business professional invest your own time and money into creating this type of venture? There maybe that is a better way to put it.

Joshua, thank you again for you great feedback!

[Jerimiah]

Anytime Roger!

In regard to the screenshots, yes it was the one's on the proof page of the buxsense.com site - it's the only one I'm aware of (though i may have missed the other links).

I think you hit the nail on the head - maybe you can do a spreadsheet (ot table or w/e) that shows how long it would take for a typical client to develop the presence that you can put out in 1 month. That should drive things home - at least for small business owners.

I've conducted and attended many SEO/Web 2.0 seminars and trainings, and the one thing I see missing is this, the people to actually do the work...

I suspect if your target market is the small to medium businesses you're going to have a great deal of fun and will make plenty of money helping others. Cheers!

PS: if/when you get to the point of starting a partnership with an SEO company, look me up I'm shooting you a LinkedIn request now.

[rogercbryan]

That'll work

Once all the pieces are together I'm going to start a test run with my primary company as well as one of my consulting companies. What I'll do is keep track of their Traffic, Link Rankings, Alexa Rankings, PR, and Search Engine Rankings. Can anyone else think of what I should keep track of?

The more I can show people how my service works the more they will understand it... lol.. I hope!

[Jerimiah]

Track revenue for sure - $$ is the biggest metric for small businesses

And with all the media at your disposal these days (video/audio/graphics/flash etc..), getting a potential client to understand what you do isn't all that hard! Keep us posted!