New idea to make money ... according to the current issue if Business 2.0 -- very easy money. Buy and sell existing websites ... not just a domain-name play, but spot the potential of an existing site, rehab it and increase traffic, and resell it. At onsitepoint.com., for $10 people can list sites for sale or aution them off. Demand has soared. In April, they added 400 new sites, growing 25% per month. All sorts of sites are available ... blogs too. The key is to understand what you are buying ... check their Google ranking, and Alexa.com etc. Check revenue stats and scan message boards for their credibility with users ... and build a plan. BUILD NEW VALUE into the site ... Example ... 411hype.com sold last August for $1,000, and resold after a refurb and accompanying customer increase, to $13,500 ... not a bad profit margin.... excluding the new ad revenues from Adbrite, Yahoo, and CasaleMedia ... revenue of apx. $1000 a month. This exmple was completed in 6 months, by a high school senior. How much is your site worth?
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Growth Stocks
Huge surprises to me in he top 100 list of 2005 growth companies ... bottom line, best bets in bio-med and pharma stocks, not just Net biz. Starting with Celgene (think thalidomide) at 144% growth, then RedHat Linux ... at 104%, and Apple (thanks to iPod), and SanDisk, and ValueClick (online ads), but then the bio firms kick in ...Palomar, LifeCell, Gilead (flu drugs), Clinical Data, Kyphon (surgical products for my spinal osteoporosis), and many more ... eBay fell from 14th to 92nd), and Digital River was a MINUS 29% growth.... all according to Business 2.0
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Geo-caching for Outdoor Fun
I've discovered (OK, tripped over) a really enjoyable ... uh hobby, sport, past-time, part techno, part environmental, part exercose. They call it ... "geo-caching." As in geography, and nested stuff. The concept, I explained to my 6 year old grandson, is to find hidden treasures, using a satellite GPS unit, or a geek's walk in the woods. Of course, levels of difficulty make it more interesting. There doesn't seem to be a huge after-market of commercialism attached to this ... and it works for all ages ... and is global. It appeals to my gecko side, So ... off to my first cache .... a mile from the house in the woods. Cool ... found it INSIDE a tree stump, sealed in an ammo box, including a traveling "bug" with dogtags for proof of identity via a registration website ... the next guy who finds this can remove the dogtag and diary and re-plant it in a cache somewhere in Washington or Arizona, whatever. I also left a toy in the box. So, what's my GPS? A VERY cool Magellan Explorist XL, with big bright screen, streets software and 3D, good battery life and handheld or car portability. Anxious to take it on a trip.... especially to Europe. Another plus ... unlimited (??) smartcard memory for maps ....Only downside is the limit on map area file size (65Mb) ... so it requires transferring one state or area at a time from computer (disk) to the GPS via the smart card. No big deal ... don't need the entire country anyway. Has improved my map reading -- never to be lost again. Hmmm, I can't rcall ever being lost.