Internet....

[hockey97]

Hi I need some advice. I want to start a website. somthing like myspace. but more intense mainly for gamers.

I am looking around I am a programmer myself I know php and I am certified in html and also a computer technician.

I seek a cheap price for a dedicated line. How much would you think it would cost.

And how much bandwith.

[DPayne]

I know absolutely nothing about this stuff. However, as with any successful business, you'll need to write out a business plan. Include all aspects of the plan and most importantly, be honest and realistic with your abilities and projections.

Best of luck in your new venture!

[OneStepAhead]

I know absolutely nothing about this stuff. However, as with any successful business, you'll need to write out a business plan. Include all aspects of the plan and most importantly, be honest and realistic with your abilities and projections.

Best of luck in your new venture!

Agreed, seems like you're jumping the gun on this one. Have you done any research regarding your target market or anything of that matter?

[hockey97]

well I have talk to some of my friends about the stuff I will intergrade and they said they would switch in a heart beat alot of people hate myspace but go on it and use it becuse they don't know of any other website that let's you customize your layout. I also plan to make games for this website.
The main target for this is mainly gamers from teens and above.

I plan to use this to fund my other projects.

I have a gut feeling it may work. I am just going with it too see if it will work.

the most I will lose is 24 bucks that's mainly it just for the domain name for 2 years.

I have my own server and I already have it up and running just working on the website now.

can you explain what you mean by targetting my market?

[edwardhalim]

It means, have you done any research about your target audience. I think you said "teens and above gamers." So have you done any research regarding "teens and above gamers?"

-Ed

[BusinessAdviser]

It means, have you done any research about your target audience. I think you said "teens and above gamers." So have you done any research regarding "teens and above gamers?"

-Ed

And to specify a bit more, "targeting your audience" generally refers to the specific identification of and tailoring of your product to your intended group/groups of customers.

[hockey97]

well I am a gamer for a long time. I also was a teen. I also ask other people at college and also on myspace that are somewhat close to me. And I told them some of my plans and they were excited and said that if I really got that made they would switch from myspace.com to my site.

If that's what you may call research then yes I did. But if you mean looking at the stats on what teens like from some professional based on a study or they let a bunch of teens vote then no I didn't do the research in that way.

The main target of the website is mainly gamers. I plan to make free games that they can download, it will be an ap that would connect to my server to play with others while their will be more ads in the online game.

The most I could lose would be 24 bucks. and I would have 2 years to get it up and running.

my main questions was do you know any cheap internet dedicated lines. For bandwith. So if the traffice starts picking up I can then decide to switch the internet line smoothly.

[neemtree]

As the original poster has pointed out, this is a low cost/barrier entry into what has proved* to be lucrative space.

*building niche/hobby communities has really paid off.

Less emphasis on a business plan, more emphasis on your website's requirements. _What_ are you building?

Create a list of functionality you want (free registrations, free blogs, paid subscriptions, paid XYZ feature, etc.). Create a sitemap/information architecture. And create wireframes for key pages.

Then start thinking about _how_ to build it.

[zoobie]

I know absolutely nothing about this stuff. However, as with any successful business, you'll need to write out a business plan. Include all aspects of the plan and most importantly, be honest and realistic with your abilities and projections.

Best of luck in your new venture!

Yes. So you should finalize your plan and that's the time you hire a programmer. Good luck!

[GriZzly]

If you ever find yourself answering the question 'Have you carried out any market research?' with the answer 'Well my friends said...' that is when you know you have not actually carried out any research.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people actually believe that a small group of friends could ever be a representative sample of ANY market. Also remember that they are likely to be your friends because you share similar interests, therefore you are simply bouncing an idea off a mirror.

Scout some forums, hell grab a clipboard and go into your town centre and ASK, ask everyone...! Ask as many people as will tolerate you!

[BusinessAdviser]

If you ever find yourself answering the question 'Have you carried out any market research?' with the answer 'Well my friends said...' that is when you know you have not actually carried out any research.

It never ceases to amaze me how many people actually believe that a small group of friends could ever be a representative sample of ANY market. Also remember that they are likely to be your friends because you share similar interests, therefore you are simply bouncing an idea off a mirror.

Scout some forums, hell grab a clipboard and go into your town centre and ASK, ask everyone...! Ask as many people as will tolerate you!

Market Research

With effective market research, you can determine the need for your service, a product's likelihood to sell, target-market demographics, and desirable store locations. There are numerous ways to uncover this information -- from online research to focus groups to counting customers. To help you meet your target market's needs, we've put together a collection of our best market-research articles and resources.

Market Research, Writing a Business Plan Article - Inc. Article

[Woodcs82]

When your ready for a programmer please contact RTDesignGroup.com - Affordable Web Site Design, Start Living with Solutions.

We can HELP!

Colin S. Wood
Marketing Director
RTDesignGroup.com - Affordable Web Site Design, Start Living with Solutions.

[hockey97]

I am a programmer myself I know html php, javascript, and c++ and some python.

my main question was do you know any cheap way of getting a dedicated line?

if your not really technical a dedicated line is mainly a network line that goes from a isp provider to local exchanges to get to your house or business.

I have no commercial zone so I can't mainly just have a network line go from the isp directly to my house mainly.

I am trying to start a website somthing like myspace but mainly targets gamers teen or above.

I have a linux server already up.

just asking if you know really cheap ways to get a dedicated line and any way to get domains for free I really hate paying for a domain which is 1kb.

I have a domain name server but don't have a backbone connection to internet and also I know ICANN runs the domains mainly I hope you guy's know that.

when you buy a domain those service providers register your domain with ICANN and ICANN broadcasts it to the internet.
So mainly with my domain name server I can't do anything but only make domains for my home computers that's it.

I mainly want to find a way where I can bypass ICANN becuse I mainly think its a wrong thing their doing making use pay for a domain that takes up 1kb.
and they charge a arm in a leg.

also forgot to tell you that a dedicated line is a line that is alway's open for you.

when your not using a dedicated line that mainly means you tap in as needed.
so if you bought 1.7gig bandwith and you one day don't have the computer on and not using that internet. Then the 1.7gig bandwith can be used by other customers that are with that isp.

I mainly need a dedicated line that can hold alot of traffic. I mainly am looking around one company wanted to charge me 15,000 to bring a line from chicargo to where I am at.

so I want to do somthing really cheap to just start off and then adjust my line when my site gets more and more popular.

[hockey97]

I am looking for commercial internet service.

well I seek a good deal on a good bandwith sized dedicated line.

What do you guy's have right now for you online businesses??

[Matt.Dean]

Hi,

I just wanted to clear up some misconceptions here about how the Internet and networking in general work as well as offer my own opinion.

my main question was do you know any cheap way of getting a dedicated line?

What are your bandwidth requirements? Getting a dedicated business-level Internet connection will often run you quite a lot of money. A local provider in my area, Artria Networks (formerly SCBN Telecommunications) has fiber optics running throughout Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada and when I inquired, install costs are $5,000+ and monthly costs are about $70 per megabit... to equal my cable modem's "speed" (6mbits), you'd be looking at $420 per month minimum.

Perhaps a better option for you to look at would be server co-location or discount dedicated servers. I've used ServerBeach and have always been impressed. You can get 100mb connections for anywhere like $75 to $200+ a month, depending on the server hardware you need. Check out the ServerBeach website for details.

just asking if you know really cheap ways to get a dedicated line and any way to get domains for free I really hate paying for a domain which is 1kb.

I don't think you'll get any domains for free - someone, somewhere has to pay for them.

I have a domain name server but don't have a backbone connection to internet and also I know ICANN runs the domains mainly I hope you guy's know that.

You don't need a "backbone" connection to the Internet. In fact, I don't even know what you're talking about there. ICANN simply administers all Top Level Domains (TLDs) such as .com, .net, et al. They contract out operations of the TLDs to companies. For example, I believe VeriSign has the contract for .com and .net.

when you buy a domain those service providers register your domain with ICANN and ICANN broadcasts it to the internet.
So mainly with my domain name server I can't do anything but only make domains for my home computers that's it.

ICANN doesn't broadcast anything. ICANN simply operates the DNS root servers, serving the DNS records for the . zone (yes, just a dot).

I mainly want to find a way where I can bypass ICANN becuse I mainly think its a wrong thing their doing making use pay for a domain that takes up 1kb.
and they charge a arm in a leg.

I really don't understand this bit... You can't bypass ICANN if you want people to visit your site. The only way you can "bypass" ICANN (even though it's not really bypassing, is to have your site accessible by an IP address only, but it would probably suck to have to tell your visitors to "visit our website at 1.2.3.4" instead of "visit our website at coolnamehere.com".

Further, domains aren't as expensive as they used to be. Many registrars are out there and some are even in the $10 and under per year range. For example, you have Misk.com who sells most domains for $10/year.

As well, domain names are not just something that "takes up 1kb", the registries (VeriSign, et al) have to run DNS servers that manage the zone files for these domains to redirect inquiries to the appropriate DNS servers specified by the domain owner. Running such a critical infrastrucutre as that, with severe consequences for downtime - imagine if every .com domain in the world stopped resolving, doesn't come cheap. There's significant hardware, software, maintenance and connectivity costs involved.

also forgot to tell you that a dedicated line is a line that is alway's open for you.

when your not using a dedicated line that mainly means you tap in as needed.
so if you bought 1.7gig bandwith and you one day don't have the computer on and not using that internet. Then the 1.7gig bandwith can be used by other customers that are with that isp.

Depends on how the ISP is accepting subscribers. That's really only true if they oversubscribe (have more subscribers than their upstream bandwidth supports)

I mainly need a dedicated line that can hold alot of traffic. I mainly am looking around one company wanted to charge me 15,000 to bring a line from chicargo to where I am at.

Can you define or quantify how much "[a lot] of traffic" is? Do you have the CPE equipment that can handle a high-level line? I'm talking like Cisco enterprise-level gear. There's a lot of extremely high-level technical stuff in setting up stuff like that, such as BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) to announce IP address routes, network design, security, etc. and should not be taken lightly.

so I want to do somthing really cheap to just start off and then adjust my line when my site gets more and more popular.

To start, I'd recommend either co-location or going with a dedicated server hosting provider like ServerBeach. Not only will you save quite a bit of cash, you don't have to worry about the networking and uplink.

I hope this helps you.