Curly hair and appilionairiesCurly hair and appilionairies
How does a small, niche Web site like NaturallyCurly.com become profitable?
The niche in which NaturallyCurly.com operates was so narrow that it simply didn't have any competitors yet. This allowed them to create a community around the maintenance of curly hair. Their site got recognition and google pop ups due to the fact that there was nobody around that did the same as them. Their popularity quickly lead to an advertisement deal with Procter & Gamble which allowed the website to start making money. Augment this with other advertisement deals and their site was growing into a profitable operation pretty fast. This allowed them to expand and launch even more websites each with their own revenue stream.
The important part here for a community feedback website is that you need to operate in a market where there are no or barely any competitors. This allows you to either take up full market share (make sure your services and content are of high quality to maintain marketshare) or improve on what your competition does. Because if you're both fighting with the same weapons (no revenue stream) then the most popular one will eventually prevail and gain a revenue stream. The key word here is advertisement or rather allowing other companies to advertise on your website. This was the first step into their multimillion dollar website that eventually expanded into a webshop. Find something that nobody else does or does well and you will be rewarded for the effort you put into it.
How has cloud computing and social media reduced costs?
Thanks to cloud computing it is no longer necessary for start-up companies to build IT infrastructures or buying servers or buildings for their website. They can simply do it from home on their own computer by using free social media tools to market their e-commerce. There is no need to buy specialised software packages, databasesn, phone systems or e-mail systems for small companies. You can simply use Google Docs, Skype, Gmail and other open source materials to cover your basic needs. It isn't even necessary to buy server space anymore you can simply rent computing time at a fraction of this investment. All these free or cheap alternatives have lead to an increase in e-commerces because the start-up costs are simply much lower than they used to be. There is no longer a need for a big investment, it can all be done by using free tools available on the internet.
How is the app economy changing the economics of software production and e-commerce?
The app economy has made place for a new type of millionaire. Namely the appillionaires a small group of app creators who succeed in making very profitable applications. And they didn't make it big because of working together with several people using incredibly expensive hardware for hours on end. No they did it by themselves only using an iMac and months of their life. There is no longer a need for expensive equipment to make internet services such as apps. The only thing you do need is your own computer coupled with time and your own personal drive to achieve something great. To create something and release it into the world. However that isn't all, it's not just the hardware costs that go down, but also the services that are only a fraction of their original price. This allows people to find cheap solutions for public relations to market intelligence issues. Something that used to need an entire team to set up and control can now be done by a single person as long as he knows what services to find at the right price. If you do that then you won't need big capital or big teams to create something truly amazing.
And apps are just another way of creating new content for a minor financial investment, but a big personal investment.
The niche in which NaturallyCurly.com operates was so narrow that it simply didn't have any competitors yet. This allowed them to create a community around the maintenance of curly hair. Their site got recognition and google pop ups due to the fact that there was nobody around that did the same as them. Their popularity quickly lead to an advertisement deal with Procter & Gamble which allowed the website to start making money. Augment this with other advertisement deals and their site was growing into a profitable operation pretty fast. This allowed them to expand and launch even more websites each with their own revenue stream.
The important part here for a community feedback website is that you need to operate in a market where there are no or barely any competitors. This allows you to either take up full market share (make sure your services and content are of high quality to maintain marketshare) or improve on what your competition does. Because if you're both fighting with the same weapons (no revenue stream) then the most popular one will eventually prevail and gain a revenue stream. The key word here is advertisement or rather allowing other companies to advertise on your website. This was the first step into their multimillion dollar website that eventually expanded into a webshop. Find something that nobody else does or does well and you will be rewarded for the effort you put into it.
How has cloud computing and social media reduced costs?
Thanks to cloud computing it is no longer necessary for start-up companies to build IT infrastructures or buying servers or buildings for their website. They can simply do it from home on their own computer by using free social media tools to market their e-commerce. There is no need to buy specialised software packages, databasesn, phone systems or e-mail systems for small companies. You can simply use Google Docs, Skype, Gmail and other open source materials to cover your basic needs. It isn't even necessary to buy server space anymore you can simply rent computing time at a fraction of this investment. All these free or cheap alternatives have lead to an increase in e-commerces because the start-up costs are simply much lower than they used to be. There is no longer a need for a big investment, it can all be done by using free tools available on the internet.
How is the app economy changing the economics of software production and e-commerce?
The app economy has made place for a new type of millionaire. Namely the appillionaires a small group of app creators who succeed in making very profitable applications. And they didn't make it big because of working together with several people using incredibly expensive hardware for hours on end. No they did it by themselves only using an iMac and months of their life. There is no longer a need for expensive equipment to make internet services such as apps. The only thing you do need is your own computer coupled with time and your own personal drive to achieve something great. To create something and release it into the world. However that isn't all, it's not just the hardware costs that go down, but also the services that are only a fraction of their original price. This allows people to find cheap solutions for public relations to market intelligence issues. Something that used to need an entire team to set up and control can now be done by a single person as long as he knows what services to find at the right price. If you do that then you won't need big capital or big teams to create something truly amazing.
And apps are just another way of creating new content for a minor financial investment, but a big personal investment.