What is a reasonable cost to launch a site?

[bflash98]

Jorge,

I challenge you to attempt to do what he is asking on a Dream Host account. What they do is "oversell" their resources! For example their basic plan offers 500 gigs of web hosting space. This means that if this were true every client that they host have an allotted 500 gig hard drive for themselves. Which by my figures means 500 gigs x 300,000 hosted domain = 1500000000 gigs of storage. Which honestly I don't think DreamHost has that type of storage over at their facilities. They do the same thing with bandwidth, they say you have 5 TB which is 5000 gigs by the way because they know the average user WONT use more than 5-10 gigs per month.

Now go to Dream Host and attempt to host those files and have 250 people at the same time try and download a 100 meg file. I can assure you that within an hour you will have "ACCOUNT SUSPENDED- BANDWIDTH/RESOURCE ABUSE CITED". I am not putting down Dream Host because lots of other hosts do that, I am just letting everyone know how the business works ;-)

Tom C.

Believe me if you try and host anywhere near this amount of data on dream host they will cancel your account. It has happend to me. They are not the only ones though many of the shared hosting sites with promises of large amounts of bandwidth will suspend your account or force you to upgrade once you start using large amounts of bandwidth. They usually say it is because you are using too much of the processing power on the server.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[aptohosting]

Tom what do you think of siteground.com hosting services? Have you heard of them? Also I own another website domain and hosting and i am looking for some one to build it, I have all the information. Currently I have someone building it for me in Ukraine for free(Although the language barrier is tough). He is with Altronica, and said he would built it strictly for referrals and references from me to other potential clients. He has been building it on a demo server and wants to transfer it to my server is the US. Is there an effective but safeguarded way to let him put my site up in my hosting account with out giving him all my information, password, etc?

Hi there,

I really haven't heard much about them. I can tell you 100% guaranteed that we will never shut down your account for "RESOURCE ABUSE". If you need a website built and you have all the information/content, my staff and I do premium web design and development. We just finished a pretty complex code intensive site (www.pleben.com), and also finished a forum/blog combo (www.findyourink.com). We can host your domain and you won't have to worry about giving out FTP passwords and sensitive information because we will be doing all the development on the actual server (no demos). If you want to get started shoot me an email at tom@aptohosting.com or chat live me (see signature).

Thanks,
Tom C.
www.aptohosting.com

 

[onmountain]

I agree with a lot of what everyone else has said here, but I feel I have a few things worthy to add too

First, I would highly recommend an open source CMS. CMS means Content Management System, and it is a great way to build a website without having to know much, if anything, about HTML webpages. What happens is this - you get a hosting service that handles the installation of CMS products. They usually have a control panel that has easy-to-install packages. Do some research on open source CMS and you will see they have "weird" names like Plone or Drupal. Don't get thrown off because of that. Open source programmers pick weird names on purpose - part of the fun of working for free on a free product... Anyway, if you go to the bookstore, many of the biggest CMS now have books you can purchase. I would suggest you buy a book, start reading, but also just start working with it. A good CMS is so user friendly, you can focus on building your site content, and the rest is done for you.

I personally recommend Plone. I have used it on huge government websites for years, plus on my own "make a million dollars" sites too (haven't made a million yet but still trying

In fact, I have a website called www.InSmallSteps.com that has free lessons on how to use Plone to build websites. Take a look. I also have info on good web hosting services, plus some book reviews.

The reasons I like Plone are many, but the main factors are:

• Plone can be set up quickly and gets you a site online in minutes
• Plone can run simple sites all the way up to huge websites. Go to plone.org and see there are sites (like the CIA and NASA) that use Plone
• Plone can be expanded in a zillion ways - add a blog, wiki, or custom programming - its open source so you or someone you hire can make it do anything
• It has a huge following, with a foundation and everything, so it is not going away

You can quickly make it look anyway you want too. That is something you can play with yourself or hire out.

The last thing to remember with Plone or most other open source CMS is that you can/should install it locally on your PC and develop your site before even getting a hosting service. One of my lessons will have you download and install Plone on your PC or MAC, where you can play with how it looks, create your site content, etc. When you are ready to launch to a web hosting company, you can just transfer a single database file and like magic, it is live. This portability is important, as many web hosting companies go bad quickly. ALWAYS have an exit strategy, so you have a full backup of everything and can switch to other hosting service in minutes. In fact, with Plone you can do all sorts of load balancing and special advanced things with it to handle huge loads, and also have redundancy.

Hope it works out for you. Start playing offline NOW and work out your ideas. After you have a site, getting it online is a snap.
Jamie

 

[yveskleinsky]

From what everyone has said here, it looks like a decent site should be able to get off the ground for under $3k. ...What about sites like hotels.com/travelocity/realtor.com? Any thoughts on the kind of money it took to design/code them? ...I think I mentioned earlier that I saw a story on The Big Idea, where the founders of theknot.com put in over $100k to get their site going (granted, I don't know what that number includes- I was just shocked that it could cost that much!)

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Jorge]

I think a really big site could be in the 30k range -made by a prof design studio-. Off course, that 30k could turn into 10k if outsourced abroad (here in Argentina we have pretty good web development studios) Check this one for example: www.451.com

Also, check this thread: http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/showthread.php?t=6823

I guess that the 100k includes advertising, staff and such, if not, I guess they must be developing some pretty cool technology!
If my memories are right, the guys at google started with 100k in funding...

Related to this, yesterday I found this site: www.spyfu.com
I don't know if the data is for real, but seems like it is. It can help you get an idea about online advertising costs.

Cheers!

 

[rzach41]

Bump on Yves old thread!

just curious as to how your site came out and your experiences with managing it thus far.

-Ryan

 

[yveskleinsky]

Wow...well...I've come a long way. Like MJ said, the learning curve is steep. So much has happened over the past two years. As of today I have put the site down--I've not given up on it or the concept, I have just run out of steam and need to regroup. The site is now at a place where it is functional and has traffic, but it can be so much more.

Lessons learned:

1. Keep your concept simple. If your neighbor or mom can't figure it out it's too complicated.

2. Start with the barebones. Don't focus on the logo, or the colors, or advanced features or anything anything outside of bare minimum functionality. KISS.

3. Learn SEO/SEM. At a minimum understand google analytics, adwords, content writing, back linking, keyword mapping, friendly urls, what the search engines can and cannot read and why. ...When I started this site, I knew none of this. I read a few books on SEO and decided that I needed to know more. I called the only three places in town and offered to work for free if they taught me what they knew. One place called me back and I ended up doing an apprenticeship with her for several months. We really hit it off, and now I have a life-long friend as well as a life-long sounding board.

4. Learn the tech stuff. You will need to learn your way around cpanel, an FTP and html--there really isn't much getting around it (and it's really fun once you learn it!)

5. Learn to ask first develop second. Before you sink a dime into an idea, GO OUT AND ASK about 10 different people in the industry you are wanting to break into for their input. Ask them what problems they have and LISTEN AND APPLY what they say.

6. The job of an entrepreneur is that of an interpreter. Take out your own thoughts and ideas of how a solution should look and feel and keep running your thoughts and ideas past your target market. Basically, create something then ask, "Is this what you had in mind? ...How about now? Why or why not?" Then implement the feedback.

7. Sometimes a "hole in the market" is there for a reason. Sometimes a market doesn't want a solution. Just because you see an opportunity doesn't mean it is really there. ASK, ASK, ASK your target market and they will tell you.

8. Development wise everything will cost 3 times as much and take 5 times longer that you are told.

9. Most developers don't think, they code. When you ask for x,y,z you will get x,y,z --even if x,y,z will (unbeknownst to you) jack up your site . Find a developer that you can communicate with. --Start with the end in mind. Tell them, "I am trying to achieve this result. Here's how I think it needs to be done, what are the ramifications to doing it this way? Is there a better way?" ...Get everything in writing. Including what happens if they run past their deadline. Perhaps set something where there is a penalty of 3% per day that you'll deduct if they go over. (Andres and Lighthouse have both been wonderful in helping guide me--thanks guys.)

10. Spend time learning everyday. Most everyday I spend about 3-5 hours learning or reading. I have found that I absorb knowledge in waves. A concept that was Greek to me 6 weeks ago suddenly makes sense--just keep pressing forward.

11. Make every dime fight it's way out of your pocket. It's easy to blow $$$ on a new business. Keep asking yourself, do I need to spend money on this right now? Or, is this the highest and best use of my money right now?

12. Make it as easy as possible for the customer at every turn. Customers don't want to list on your site even though it's free? List for them. ...In addition, ask for their feedback. Ask them what you can do to make it easier/better for them next time--then do just that.

13. Realize that a business plan is just a starting point and not a roadmap that is set in stone. As you develop your site/business, you will come across situations, concepts, people and ideas that you never thought of before. You may need to add in some (or take out some) features.

14. Don't stick with a plan just for the sake of sticking with a plan. Stay flexible and adaptable. Your site/business should be a response to your customers wants and needs--if those wants and needs change (or were never there to begin with) and you don't, you are dead in the water.

15. Until you figure out what you market wants and the way they want it, stay small, stay lean and stay flexible. If you have $100s of $1000s of dollars into a project you can't easily adapt your course to what the market wants.

16. Wait until a concept is proven before you really sink money into it. Your market can tell you that they love an idea, that they would buy an idea, etc.--but unless they are coming to your site and using your services they lied. As soon as you see demand, then put money into the idea.

17. There are as many benefits to being small as there are to being big. Know what you have in your corner and use it to your fullest potential.

18. Grow relationships. When you find people in your target market who are willing to help, grow your relationship with them. Remember their name and some facts about them. See what you can do to help them out. A nice letter and a plate of oatmeal raisin cookies go a long way. Seriously.


19. Develop thick skin. Not everyone is going to like you or your idea. That's okay. Just prepare yourself for how you are going to handle rejection.

20. Keep with it. The important thing isn't the timeframe in which your site is developed (although sooner is always better ), the important thing is that you stick with it long enough to get it off the ground.

21. Celebrate small victories. In charting new waters, it's easy to get overwhelmed, depressed and frustrated. Take time to enjoy the process. Everytime you catch yourself figuring something out or making headway, stop and have a mini 3 minute party.

22. Take time for reflection/analysis. What went right, what went wrong--and why? What did you learn? What can you apply next time?

23. Focus on doing things right enough. Your site will be a work in progress for awhile. Don't focus on getting everything running smoothly or getting things 100% right. Odds are the site will continue to evolve, and the more systems you have in place the harder it will be to react and adapt. ...Wait until the big picture is hammered out to fill in with the details. ...There is a great series of articles written by 37 signals on this.

24. Find people who know more than you and treat them like gold. See if you can pick their brains and if you can offer to help them in some way. This forum is such an amazing place, full of some amazing people. Find the ones who know more than you and reach out to them. Be respectful and appreciative of their time, and offer to return the favor if you can.

...If I don't say it often enough, thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way over the past couple of years. I have learned so much and am so grateful that you guys are here to listen and give advice.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[rzach41]

Awesome response Yves, Rep +++

You have definitely learned many valuable lessons from this experience that you can apply to your next website venture! :fastlane:

I have a question though. Did you outsource the development of your site or did you create it yourself.

In #3 and #4 you mentioned learning all the tech/seo stuff. Were you responsible for managing the daily activities that occurred within the website, or was that responsibility delegated to somebody else.

Personally, I am outsourcing everything to a developer. I am going to stick to what I am good at and let somebody else be good at what they're good at. Even with that said, is the business owner always responsible for managing the behind the scenes activities associated with the website? Lets call it website maintenance if you will.

Thanks,

Ryan

 

[yveskleinsky]

I have a question though. Did you outsource the development of your site or did you create it yourself.

In #3 and #4 you mentioned learning all the tech/seo stuff. Were you responsible for managing the daily activities that occurred within the website, or was that responsibility delegated to somebody else.

Personally, I am outsourcing everything to a developer. I am going to stick to what I am good at and let somebody else be good at what they're good at. Even with that said, is the business owner always responsible for managing the behind the scenes activities associated with the website? Lets call it website maintenance if you will.

Ryan,
We outsourced the development to others. Wildambitions knows a lot more than I do as far as code and the back end of a site, so she handled most of it. ...We had code breaking all the time. Personally, I think the code part is worth learning. I am even kicking around the idea of taking a few classes on php just so I can better understand how it all works. (I know there are free tutorials, but I have a hell of a time learning like that.) As far as what the business owner is responsible for--you will be responsible for web maintenance on your site unless you are paying someone else to handle it for you. ...Kinda depends on your agreement with your developer.

The big reason I sucked it up and started learning code and SEO/SEM is because you are helpless if you don't know it. If (when) something breaks on your site you are at the mercy of someone else's schedule. Not to mention if you have no idea how long or complex a project might be it's really easy to get put over a barrel.

 

[LightHouse]

I think one of the biggest things you need to know when building a website these days as well is you need to know how to network, i wouldn't be where i am today without networking with other webmasters.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[michael]

http://www.thefastlanetomillions.co...essful-web-sites-requirements-definition.html


Andres has a great article on communicating with the developer to get the results you desire