Its Show Business - by Brad on 15:26 08 Aug 2002
Nothing terribly profound in this statement but it really has stayed with me. I don't think any analogy is as good for describing what being a webmaster is about.
Bob Massa, over at SearchKing, said it a few months ago: "Running a website is show business."
I think that is right. It is really more akin to putting out a TV show than it is running a newspaper or even publishing a book.
To make a website sucessful you have to look at your market niche, the audience demographic, the look and feel are the sets, and last you have the content which is both the script and the acting combined.
And you still have to market it, promote it, or else nobody will come. So instead of posters, commercials and guest appearences on Rosie or The View, we have search engines and banners and text ads and sigs etc.
The topper is that you probably want people to come back which means you need to update the show, add to it so that people will want to come back regularly.
I think if people start thinking about building, promoting and maintaining a website as a television show or even as running a circus they will be a lot more successful. This may mean that you have to try more than one website, each one pitched slightly differently to see what people like. Sometimes you have to revise a site, and then revise again and if there still seems to be no demand scrap it and find something else.
The thing is I can't tell you what is the measure of success. Only you can know that. It might be different for each person. Some people might be thrilled with 20 people a day visiting and a couple of them signing a guestbook with a kind word or two. Others won't be satisfied with hundreds of visitors a day and making lots of money. To each his own.
That is what is so cool about the web, if people don't like what one site is serving they can go somewhere else -- or create their own. How cool is that?
But that is a double edged sword to be sure, it also means people will leave your site just as quickly if they don't find what they want. It's not like early television, the amount of stations, networks and channels are infinite on the web.
Nobody really knows what works yet, and I think the formula will always be changing.
Does this make any sense?
Nothing terribly profound in this statement but it really has stayed with me. I don't think any analogy is as good for describing what being a webmaster is about.
Bob Massa, over at SearchKing, said it a few months ago: "Running a website is show business."
I think that is right. It is really more akin to putting out a TV show than it is running a newspaper or even publishing a book.
To make a website sucessful you have to look at your market niche, the audience demographic, the look and feel are the sets, and last you have the content which is both the script and the acting combined.
And you still have to market it, promote it, or else nobody will come. So instead of posters, commercials and guest appearences on Rosie or The View, we have search engines and banners and text ads and sigs etc.
The topper is that you probably want people to come back which means you need to update the show, add to it so that people will want to come back regularly.
I think if people start thinking about building, promoting and maintaining a website as a television show or even as running a circus they will be a lot more successful. This may mean that you have to try more than one website, each one pitched slightly differently to see what people like. Sometimes you have to revise a site, and then revise again and if there still seems to be no demand scrap it and find something else.
The thing is I can't tell you what is the measure of success. Only you can know that. It might be different for each person. Some people might be thrilled with 20 people a day visiting and a couple of them signing a guestbook with a kind word or two. Others won't be satisfied with hundreds of visitors a day and making lots of money. To each his own.
That is what is so cool about the web, if people don't like what one site is serving they can go somewhere else -- or create their own. How cool is that?
But that is a double edged sword to be sure, it also means people will leave your site just as quickly if they don't find what they want. It's not like early television, the amount of stations, networks and channels are infinite on the web.Nobody really knows what works yet, and I think the formula will always be changing.
Does this make any sense?
Its Show Business - by CorellianRogue on 01:26 15 Aug 2002
It makes total sense.
I really like your take on what "success" is. To some, it's watching the counter climb higher; to others, it's how much money you make.
To me, success is measured by my own satisfaction in what I'm doing, and by the interaction with online community members. I believe with a little help and a lot of passion, anyone can create a worthwhile site.
And as part of that passion, or the knowledge that you believe in what you're doing, you want to update your site, make it grow, add meaning to it, and it will show. You will care about what you're doing.
It's like the show business anology. Did you ever see a live performance, where an actor smiles or laughs or cries so genuinely that you believe the illusion? It's because the actor or actress has invested something personal it the acting, and the line between full fiction and reality have blended, touching you on some level beyond theater seats and lighting and props.
Everyone has a potential special niche, because we all have different perspectives on the world, and what it meaningful or pleasurable. Myself, I feel the need to take a handful of threads (links) and weave them into a portal or a ring. It's very linear, like my non-multitasking brain, and it makes total sense to me, even if what I'm doing is hyper-niched and not very useful to anyone else.
'Nuff said (to quote Stan Lee)
It makes total sense.
I really like your take on what "success" is. To some, it's watching the counter climb higher; to others, it's how much money you make.
To me, success is measured by my own satisfaction in what I'm doing, and by the interaction with online community members. I believe with a little help and a lot of passion, anyone can create a worthwhile site.
And as part of that passion, or the knowledge that you believe in what you're doing, you want to update your site, make it grow, add meaning to it, and it will show. You will care about what you're doing.
It's like the show business anology. Did you ever see a live performance, where an actor smiles or laughs or cries so genuinely that you believe the illusion? It's because the actor or actress has invested something personal it the acting, and the line between full fiction and reality have blended, touching you on some level beyond theater seats and lighting and props.
Everyone has a potential special niche, because we all have different perspectives on the world, and what it meaningful or pleasurable. Myself, I feel the need to take a handful of threads (links) and weave them into a portal or a ring. It's very linear, like my non-multitasking brain, and it makes total sense to me, even if what I'm doing is hyper-niched and not very useful to anyone else.
'Nuff said (to quote Stan Lee)
Its Show Business - by Brad on 06:19 15 Aug 2002
Hyper-niched is good. The most interesting sites on the web are the niched, content sites and the hubs that serve them. True commecial sites are fine if I'm looking to buy something but only then.
Sites that are done for the love of it tend to be far better than commercial ventures.
And you can tell when the dust is thick on a site.
CR I like the idea of highways on the internet. That is why rings and portals are so neat. I thought The Rail was very neat when I first saw it.
Hyper-niched is good. The most interesting sites on the web are the niched, content sites and the hubs that serve them. True commecial sites are fine if I'm looking to buy something but only then.
Sites that are done for the love of it tend to be far better than commercial ventures.
And you can tell when the dust is thick on a site.
CR I like the idea of highways on the internet. That is why rings and portals are so neat. I thought The Rail was very neat when I first saw it.