Making money off a website. 4 replies

So, this is just a what if question. A friend and I were thinking of starting a website as we have a few cool ideas that I don't think have been done before. Assuming a reasonable number of visitors, something an average website would receive, what sort of profits do you think can be made off of a good website? I'm not talking youtube, myspace, or google type of stuff here.

Also, in your estimations, what are the chances of a website succeeding these days? I mean there is just so much out there, I would imagine it's hard to build a successful website. One the one hand, what are the chances of a blog/news/reviews site succeeding, and on the other hand something that's a bit more unique succeeding.

I know it's a bit vague of a question, but I'm just curious what the chances of being successful with a website are. We both know some coding, though he is better than me, and I've had a little bit of experience running very small sites, gaming clans and that sort of thing.

Again, I know I'm being vague but I don't want to announce my idea, because I think it is actually very cool and unique, and I don't want someone to just stumble across the site and steal it, as unlikely as that is.

That's really a bit too vague to answer. You'd really have to tell you idea for anyone to be able to help you on this. But you're right, there is a shed load of competition out there, so unless you have something uber-good...

If its like how you say it is, unique, something no one else has done before, it could succeed. It just matter's how much work you put into it and how your going to get your name out there. So your main objectives would be to have a good user friendly website with usefull information, and getting your name out there. I think the odd's are good for a website to succeed but again just the effort put into it would matter greatly. If you do all those things fantastically I bet you'd be rollin in the dough.

Remember, in order to have a decent website in the first place, you'll need money. (I'm sure you have thought of this already). Expenses include Hosting plans, any software you plan to use, and advertising you plan to do.

After these expenses, assuming you can get a solid site established, a paypal donation can usually rake in a few bucks. Other options include google adsense or w/e it's called.

Another option could be offering members a special "deal" for paid memberships (similar to fileplanet, IGN, etc).

Yes, a vague question, but there is my 2 cents.

yeah good ideas