Small user-generated websites

Friday, April 4, 2008, 10:52 AM
Thoughts by John

In the last two months I have had the opportunity to build two distinct user-generated websites for small groups. If you have ever tried to get a smaller group to generate content, you know from experience that getting wide participation is like pulling teeth. But, I did find one factor that makes a huge difference in creating participation.

Cost.

The one website is completely free. And the participation is practically nil. The other site is for an organization that charges yearly dues. Those folks participate. Maybe there is something to be said for having some skin in the game.

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Smaller websites are always a bit of a painful undertaking. Expectations tend to be bigger than the website can ever deliver. For some reason folks can't reconcile the bigness of the internet with the smallness of their ideas. If something only has a certain regional appeal, you're going to have a hard time making that idea infect users past that region's boundaries.

In my experience, the internet is a shockingly narrow place. People seem to miss that about the internet, because they look at the big stuff, like Google and Wikipedia and eBay.

But, the vast majority of websites have a narrow appeal. There are a variety of reasons. Sometimes its just a case of how many furries are also fans of Arthur C. Clarke? How many will form the subset that actually posts? How many of those will post anything of value?

But, when everyone has some cash in play, the matter changes. If human beings pay for something, they'll use it no matter how confusing, stupid and useless it might be. I promise you that. And in the worst scenario, you still got their money.

I posted a long time back an article about the question of whether free and cheap are over-rated. They are. People know it, and they tend to act accordingly. Yeah, I know there are studies reflecting the value of free in drawing flies with honey. But, that effect loses value the smaller the swarm of flies is.

In the end, make 'em get some skin in the game. They'll participate.

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Welcome!

Wonder where to start with your web design business?

This blog follows along with my efforts to build and grow a website design business, Pro Content and Design.

The goal of this blog is to fill in blanks that may be empty as you get your business rolling.

This blog, particularly the source code section, is not intended for beginners. If you are not comfortable with databases, Ajax, DOM objects and other advanced methods, I strongly suggest you go take a look over at W3 Schools before even reading -- let alone tinkering with -- any of the code here.

I hope this blog has some value to web designers as they attempt to get their businesses going.

Good luck, and happy reading.

Thank you,
John Crawford
Pro Content and Design