Need advice on buying this internet domain name.

[liberalhistorian]

I've been thinking of starting a singles group and web site with a particular slant, and during my research I discovered a site with about thirty names of failed, registration-already-paid domain names having to do with singles, single parents, dating, etc., etc. Most of them were way too expensive for me, but there were a couple whose names I liked that were within my price range. Their sites were undeveloped.

So, my question is, since I actually know very little about this sort of thing right now, should I buy it and find a web developer to help me develop and market it? I know almost nothing about web development, so I couldn't do it myself, unfortunately. I have the creativity, flexibility and ideas for development, but I don't know how to actually program it.

Or should I just not bother with it, since I'd have to pay someone to develop it anyway and help with technical issues?

[Kamika]

1. dont bother..

Tons and tons of dating services out there..without multi million marketing yours would just get lost.. maybe try a yahoo group first

[liberalhistorian]

4. That's kind of what I was thinking,

too, except that I do have some unique ideas. But they may very well get lost in the internet shuffle.

[Cronus Protagonist]

5. Best advice here

Ideas are ten a penny. Don't even try. It's not worth the effort. There are millions of people online and every one of them thinks they've thought of a good idea. Out of these, maybe, maybe 0.0005% (in other words, a tiny tiny percentage) try to make a web site. All but one or two of these will fail completely and lose all the money they put into it, whether it's $150 or $10,000,000.00. The survivors will struggle with traffic and sales problems and probably never gain any kind of decent profitability.

As for a dating site, some market research would be in order. Match.com spends millions on advertising and their multi-million dollar web system is severly limited, with people cancelling left right and center. [e-mail] sold out to match.com because it's not profitable. Yahoo! personals is full of old data and people who are not contactable and is dying a slow death.

Take it from a 20 year professional in the programming and web biz - save yourself the bother and forget about it. Unbless you have tangible items for sale, your site will not become profitable in the predictable future, and even then, it would be a long and difficult struggle.

Talking about tangible items for sale, you can still buy cool buttons, stickers and magnets from one of my sites... :)

"Lick Bush" Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[liberalhistorian]

6. That's kind of what I was thinking also.

If I had money to spare, it'd be a different story, but I don't, so whatever I would spend would probably be wasted and I'd never be able to get it back.

[Kamika]

8. right

now that we've crushed that dream lets find some more

[liberalhistorian]

10. LOL!

I'm not sure I want to share any more dreams right now!

[JailForBush]

2. First, learn more about domain names.

Let's assume this name you like so much is netsingles. Let's further assume that it comes with the .com extension - www.netsingles.com.

Are you aware of the other extensions, particularly .org, .net and .us? If netsingles.com is taken, you might be able to get netsingles.org. Domain names are generally pretty cheap; I own over a dozen, at $12 each (renewable every year or two for about the same price).

You probably don't want a site that's "already developed," because every website is unique. If you found a site that has an appearance you really like, I suppose you could use it, simply replacing the text with your text.

Now, if an already developed website is getting a lot of traffic, then that's a different story. But you're probably going to have to pay for that traffic, and that traffic won't necessarily be interested in whatever topic you're promoting - big waste of money.

So, if you know nothing about web design, you're going to have to hire someone. I've been studying web design for over a year now, so I know a little bit about the business. I'm not really sure what the average rates are, but I THINK most professional web designers probably charge about $25 an hour.

I would further guess that most pros could probably give you a good basic site - say 5-10 pages for $200-$300.

You can probably get a site much cheaper, but it might be designed by an amateur using Microsoft FrontPage. There are also outfits like GeoCities that can give you cheap webhosting and help you build sites - but there's usually strings attached; for example, you probably aren't going to get your own domain name.

There are also many online resources to learn more about web design, webhosting and related issues.

I'd plan on spending at least $100 on up to have someone make a website for you and perhaps $10 a month to get your site hosted. (Get a Linux server - the standard - not Microsoft!)

If you have further questions, feel free to send me a private message.

[liberalhistorian]

3. Thanks, I knew I could

count on DUers with a lot more knowledge than I have!

[private_ryan]

7. eHarmony is doing great

despite the competition. There's always room for something different, and if you can do it better why not try it. Unless you try, you will never know...My 2 cents.

[liberalhistorian]

9. That is, indeed, a very valid

point, but as a struggling single mom, I really don't know if I could afford to lose the gamble right now, as creative as I believe my ideas are. And I've been single my entire adult life, never married, at least not yet, (I'll be 39 this Saturday), so I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm talking about.

[private_ryan]

11. listen

not saying do it, however if AOL needs 1000 new signups a day, you might happy with 2-3 (a day) paying $10 or so a month. Just an idea...start with tips on dating, review other dating services and put referral links to begin with. They will pay handsomly for every person that signs up there. Start like this first. It will cost you $10 or less a month for hosting, a domain name (anywhere from $15 to ...) and your time.

[liberalhistorian]

12. Now, those are some good

ideas, thanks!

[private_ryan]

13. no problem

I have to try it, and don't give up. Don't expect an avalanche of checks in a few months, it takes time. Sometimes it just doesn't work, that's life ;) as I'm sure you know.

[msanger]

14. from my experience,

If you aren't in it for the love, it probably won't be worth it. I have started a number of sites, two of which are in my sig line. Even though I'm not making any money from them, they are worth it to me, cause I love what they are trying to do --- dump bush!

To answer the question you actually asked, I'd talk to web developers first, to find out what the requirements are for what you are thinking. It is one thing to host a BLOG, another to host something like DU, and a whole other level of complexity (and cost) to do something like a dating service.

Might you be able to share/utlize your ideas with an existing site, or through articles, a book, or some other forum??

Just some thoughts. Good luck.

[liberalhistorian]

15. That's another good idea!

And I certainly do NOT expect to earn much, if any, money from a site, it would be done as a "labor of love", so to speak. I'm very involved in my church's singles and single parent ministries and groups, and I know how much fresh ideas are needed in that respect.