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View Full Version : Back to doing it for fun and money?



Todd W
11-04-2005, 01:18 AM
Over the past couple years I have been picking out sites to make the most money, following the trends etc, and have come to realize that the sites of mine that are lasting the most are those that interest me the most.

I truthfuly believe that a site that includes content or is based on something that interets you will outlast a site you make to simply 'make money'. Now some people might say well isn't that why you make a site tomake money? Well yes it is if you do it for a living but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the topic as well!

Just thought I`d share that after the years of making money online the things that stick around most and become most well known for me are those sites which I enjoy the topic as well.

Anyway just thought I`d share :)

Emancipator
11-04-2005, 07:21 AM
Todd I am no expert, not even close but I 100% completely agree with you. Following trends is all fine and good, but setting trends and doing things because they interest you and not because "everyone else says it works". is by far the way to go.

Chris
11-04-2005, 08:00 AM
You tend to know more on topics that interest you as well.

r2d2
11-04-2005, 09:02 AM
Also you are more likley to spend time working on it because you like it. You will like the subject, so enjoy writing about it, and creating a useful site.

Cutter
11-04-2005, 11:09 AM
There are a lot of positives to this.

-You already know what you are talking about, so content is easy to write (as Chris said)

-Because you know more you sound more interesting -- readers come back to your site and tell friends

-Because you know more you sound more authoritative -- other webmasters link to you, often with out you asking them

-And ultimately, updates feel like recreation rather than work

I've talked to people about what I do, and they ask how can I start? I always say, start with something you like. That first site might be in a super-competative field where you will never get decent rankings, but at bare minimum you'll make a few dollars and have fun learning the ins and outs of website publishing along the way.

Edit: I'm turning this into a blog post :D

Mike Hunt
11-04-2005, 12:53 PM
This is generally true, but I've also had pretty successful sites where I just set up AWS and added some Wikipedia articles. I've also spent loads of time making sites I thought were cool and about stuff I was interested in, only to have the search engine gods ignore them.

Emancipator
11-04-2005, 09:00 PM
chris and cutter pointed out the obvious reason of why i feel the way i do.

Todd W
11-05-2005, 01:24 AM
This is generally true, but I've also had pretty successful sites where I just set up AWS and added some Wikipedia articles. I've also spent loads of time making sites I thought were cool and about stuff I was interested in, only to have the search engine gods ignore them.

Didn't mean to make it sound like you can't make money from sites that are of no interest but that in the long run those that interest you will outlast those that don't. You think your AWS site will be here in 5 years making money... most likely not.

As far as search engine gods ignoring them... there's no secrets to get you in just hard work, and if you think the 'gods' don't want you in... thats your 02.

AndyH
11-05-2005, 01:51 AM
I enjoy what I do. Probably the reason why I havn't stopped doing it.

Something that is fun and challenges you will always be something you do good at.

Hylo
11-07-2005, 05:15 AM
This is generally true, but I've also had pretty successful sites where I just set up AWS and added some Wikipedia articles. I've also spent loads of time making sites I thought were cool and about stuff I was interested in, only to have the search engine gods ignore them.

As far as articles from Wikipedia are concerned, what are the copyright rules with them with regards copying them verbatim? I've read the terms on Wikipedia and still can't make head nor tail of them.

Also, how does Google and the other SEs view Wikipedia articles just copied verbatim? Obviously it's duplicate content and if joined to an AWS site is it not a disaster waiting to happen search engine wise for duplicate content flags?

Cutter
11-07-2005, 07:30 PM
You mean this? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Copyrights

"If you want to use Wikipedia materials in your own books/articles/web sites or other publications, you can do so, but you have to follow the GFDL. If you are simply duplicating the Wikipedia article, you must follow section two of the GFDL on verbatim copying, as discussed at Wikipedia:Verbatim copying.

If you create a derivative version by changing or adding content, this entails the following:

* your materials in turn have to be licensed under GFDL,
* you must acknowledge the authorship of the article (section 4B), and
* you must provide access to the "transparent copy" of the material (section 4J). (The "transparent copy" of a Wikipedia article is any of a number of formats available from us, including the wiki text, the html web pages, xml feed, etc.)

You may be able to partially fulfill the latter two obligations by providing a conspicuous direct link back to the Wikipedia article hosted on this website. You also need to provide access to a transparent copy of the new text. However, please note that the Wikimedia Foundation makes no guarantee to retain authorship information and a transparent copy of articles. Therefore, you are encouraged to provide this authorship information and a transparent copy with your derived works."

Hylo
11-08-2005, 12:49 AM
So you can include it but have to acknowledge your source even if you have rewritten the information they provide. Thanks Cutter.

I'm guessing my duplicate content question is self answering as obviously it's duplicate as it would be just copied straight from Wikipedia. How harshly would a whole site be penalised though if some of the content was lifted from Wikipedia and some was original? I've searched these forums and those at Sitepoint and haven't really found a definitive answer yet.

Cutter
11-08-2005, 09:02 AM
I'm not sure anyone has a definitive answer to that. Somes sites have done very well copying wiki's content, like answers.com. Lots of SE spammers use them too. The best way for you to find out is to test it yourself.

ozgression
11-08-2005, 04:22 PM
Yeah, some get away with it, some don't.