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Wayz To

Below is a blog post I wrote back in 2006. I recently found this and a few other old posts that I had written on an old blog platform I was using back then. I thought it was interesting to read some of my old ideas so I decided to repost them here. Over the next few days, I’ll be adding some more of these old posts and hope you find it as interesting as I did.

Originally posted Feb 13, 2006:

Ever have an idea that you thought “This is such a great idea, I’m sure no one has thought of this before”. Then come to find out that thousands of people are already doing it?

Well, I have those ideas several times a week, and typically I research the idea for about an hour and realize that it’s either too complicated for most people to benefit from it, or there are literally thousands of websites that already have the same idea.

This past week I had one of these ideas, and started researching it to find out if it could be viable. The idea was a website that would allow visitors to post their ideas on “Ways to” do whatever they know something about.

Needless to say, before I got too far, I found several websites with the same concept. My idea was still somewhat unique, because it was open to anyone who had knowledge on a specific topic.

Each member would have their own WayzTo.com website where they could post their ideas and knowledge on their specific topic of interest.

Each member would also have a wayzto.com email account.

The idea took a back seat after I started comparing it to blog communities, where every user has their own web page in which they can post their thoughts, ideas, and ways to do almost anything.

So, although the name was great, the idea needs much refinement. Maybe some day the idea will resurface and come to fruition. If not, no big deal. Or maybe someone will read this message and make the idea a reality.

Coming Soon… Syllable Words; Homelessness; Podcasting

Posted in Ideas. Tagged with .

By Andrew Hall
February 3, 2011

12 comments

Thinking of Starting a Blog?

A while back a friend of mine emailed me and asked what I would charge for a simple blogging style website. I replied back with the following email.

Typically when someone is shopping a website for a friend, I assume there is a tight budget. I don’t really do personal websites anymore unless that person is willing to spend $3000 to $5000 just to get started. Then they have to accept the fact that just having a website is not going to do much, unless you are actively promoting it, with money or time. Most people are looking at their shoes at this point.

I realize that guys like you (he’s a very talented artist) are able to do a lot of things on their own, and I encourage people who don’t have a budget to do exactly that. Many people try, most fail. With that in mind…

This might be something you can achieve using a WordPress solution assuming he’s on a limited budget. Our system (AMI-CMS Pro) is much more customizable and offers more features for end users, but WordPress is a free platform, and you can buy some pretty nice templates for pretty cheap.

If he has a decent size budget I’d be glad to give him a proposal, but I need a lot more info on what his goals are for the website.

If he decides to go with a WordPress solution and needs someone to help him setup the site we can do that. Something like that would cost between $500 to $1000, plus he would need to get his own domain name and hosting account.

Hope this helps, but please let me know if you have any more questions.

Strangely, my friend never replied to this email so I’m not sure of the outcome of that exchange, but I’m posting it here to illustrate a couple of things.

1. If you’re looking for a blogging website on-the-cheap, do some research and find the solution that best suites your needs.
2. Learn all you can about setting up a blog by researching online tutorials.
3. Don’t expect your blog, or website for that matter, to become an overnight success. Just because you’re excited about your idea, doesn’t mean others will be.
4. Become a self-taught expert on the subject you want to blog about and post new content often.

Yes, I realize that last one wasn’t in the email, but 4 is a good round number and the principle is absolutely true.

Most important of all, is to have fun with your blog. Readers will appreciate it even more if they sense you are passionate about your subject matter, and your website will be more successful as a result.

Posted in Writing. Tagged with .

By Andrew Hall
January 19, 2011

6 comments

Where to Get Ideas for Writing

Man it’s not true that you can just start banging away on your keyboard and ideas will eventually pop into your head to write about. Sometimes there’s no choice but to just smack your head on the desk in defeat, open World of Warcraft and start killin Ally’s.

Today I grilled some steaks wearing shorts and tank top, it was 65 and sunny. Learned a new Spanish word (motivado) which is pretty close to the English word motivated. Funny how learning that word in Spanish doesn’t really help me get motivated to work.

As you can see, I’m just writing blather at the moment because nothing meaningful is coming to mind, and I really need to come up with something to write on my blog and newsletter. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve written anything worth reading, and I want to keep my readers interested.

With that in mind, there is always a few places I like to go to get ideas for new content. Old emails is one of my favorites. I am constantly bombarded with questions, some related to what I do, others not so much, but I always prepare a well thought out response to every question I’m asked via email.

This can sometimes lead to an excellent jumping off point from where I can start an interesting article.

Quickly digressing back to my opening statement for a moment, that is absolutely false what I wrote. It was a thought that was gobbing up space in my brain so I spewed it out onto this page to get things going, and as a result I came up with not one, but two compelling articles. Yes banging away on the keyboard and pitching out junk leads to great content. Sometimes it happens fast, other times it takes a while, but it always works.

Back to my main point, finding ideas for writing good content, or content that people will read, whether it’s good or not :D . Old emails are usually my first, but not my only source for ideas. I also maintain several online profiles at some interesting online communities, or message boards if you prefer, where I’m actively seeking out questions, in need of answering, on topics that I know well. This is a great source of ideas for articles as well as a very effective form of online marketing.

So out of frustration of having nothing to write I managed to scribble down a couple of ideas that might help some of the readers of this blog. After all, ultimately my goal is to help others, through educating and / or entertaining them with interesting information.

Please feel free to leave questions / comments below. Your interaction is much appreciated.

Posted in Writing. Tagged with .

By Andrew Hall
January 18, 2011

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