Starting a web-based business

[exentrick]

Hello All,

I'm looking into starting a web-based business. I've got the concept pretty well worked out, but I'm not sure about some of the technical logistics. I want this to look and feel professional, so I'm not quite sure of the best way of going about this. I guess my major questions are:

1) Lets make an assumption that lots and lots of people want to come to my wonderful site. Should I have my own server setup in my office to handle traffic, so I could have direct control over it, or should I offload that responsibility elsewhere? I have literally no idea about how to host or set up a website, so any advice here or links to guides would be useful.

2) The other area I'm clueless in is getting ads (which would initially be the only source of revenue). Basically, how do I get relevant ads on my website. Are there firms out there to assist with this or should I just cold call the marketing depts of a few places i think would be interested (These would be small-medium sized business... I'm not talking about calling IBM or anything).

3) Lastly, assuming I get this all set up. Could anyone give me some rough estimates of revenue this might generate. I know its going to be highly variable based on the amount of traffic generated, etc., but some ballpark figures for different amounts of traffic with what sort of traffic levels might be realistic, would be very helpful.

Thank you in advance for your help and if there is any other information that would be useful for answering my questions, let me know.

X

 

[ubernoobie]

You could buy a cheap quad core with 4gb+ ram and a high efficency psu with a unlimited bandwith network provider with 5mbp/s upload + for good results on most traffic under 5k

 

[exentrick]

Thanks for the reply, ubernoobie.

Firstly, I assume you mean 5000 visits. Over what time frame would that be? per day? Secondly, is that considered a lot? or if not, and I wanted to make sure I had room to grow, would it still be a good idea to build my own computer to host the site. Would I need a network card to handle additional load?

And of course, it all comes down to money. Does anyone have any idea what sort of revenue that might generate (ballpark figures are fine).

Thanks again,

X

 

[exentrick]

I wanted to give this thread a quick bump, but also ask if there are any resources out there that might be useful to read. I did some google searches, but nothing helpful turned up.

Thanks,

X

 

[w3bmaster]

Start with a hosting account for exemple at Hostgator

When you will get higher traffic get a VPS or Dedicated server
No use to have undesired large expenses from the beginer

Own server is not ad advice better one in a data center

 

[pipes990]

Keep it simple to begin with. Build your site and have someone elso host it. Your not going to get many companies to advertise on your site until you prove it is popular. I have no idea what your business is so I am not saying it will fail, but 9 out of 10 web based businesses fail. For that reason, keep it as cheap as possible to begin with. You can make a professional looking site, have someone else host it and see what you are generating for revenue and traffic.

 

[Godiwa]

relying on ads as the main income = a big fail

people should come to your site for the CONTENT not the ads

I run a couple of small sites and they pay for their own hosting now from the ads, but thats about it, I don't expect them to make me rich, but as long as they pay for themselves, then I am happy. So if you don't have the content and/or time and will to make it, then you will fail.