Is it worth opening up a webmaster ad/resource site?

[WaveManSW]

Hey everyone -

I was thinking of opening up a webmaster resource site (With links to feee message boards, mailing lists, headline servers, the like) and was wondering if it was even worth it with all the other similar sites out there.

Right now I run sites that pretty much have a specific target audience and there's one or two (at the most) sites that I compete with, so I'm able to get a large number of hits.

I'm afraid that buy opening up a webmaster site, I won't get the hits simply because of the hundreds of similar sites out there (I'm having a similar delimma with opening up a free offer site, there are tons of those two).

Any ideas you can offer me or thoughts on the subject? I'd be real interested to hear some feedback.

Thanks!

-Scott

[singloon]

well you can check out this forum's Let's Barter/Trading forum as there's a kinda of site/service site up forsale that maybe what you're after - which established traffic



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[cyburrr]

Could you use the high trafic sites to your advantage by adding links to your new site? If you can syphon (sp?) some of the traffic, you'd have something to build on. This, of course, depends on the subjects of your sites - if there's an overlap.

[Questy]

I was thinking of opening up a webmaster resource site (With links to feee message
boards, mailing lists, headline servers, the like) and was wondering if it was even worth it with all the other similar sites out there.

Hi Scott,

For years I've help folks start small businesses, even started a few of my own. What's really cool about websites is they are really not that different than small businesses.

There's hundreds, thousands, who knows how many, webmaster resources sites out there, so why should you start one, that is the question.

You're right, if you open just another free web stuff site, or web tools site, it will be hard to market. But you need to think about one thing, one specific thing, you'll do better. It has to be specific. Better quality, or faster service, may not be specific enough.

That's the key to any business, what will make you different. What can you bring to the site that other folks can't? Can you specialize in one particular type of free stuff better than anyone else? Do you have a passion for one particular aspect of webmastering, can you do it good? Can you bring a high level of enthusiasm and expertease to a very specific branch of webmastering?

Starting to see the picture???

Hope this helps.

[Doc]

great input Questy!

One other thing, if its GOOD you'll be head and shoulders above half of the sites out there. I've seen plenty of webmaster resource sites not worth the bandwidth wasted on them and I rarely return to those.

The ones that are useful, I bookmark and revisit. Like Questy said, pick one aspect and do well with it, and you'll find that MANY people will use you as their source for that aspect. I use dozens of sites to help me, and none of those are multi-aspect sites.

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[This message has been edited by Doc (edited 01-12-2001).]

[Czar]

As someone who launched both a webmaster resource site and a free stuff directory way back in 1996, I've been intimately involved with both groups for quite some time, and I can tell you that there's not much that hasn't been covered to some degree.

Having said that, I still agree with the above posters, in that you need to differentiate the content of your site from the majority of your competitors.

I would stress, though, that a greater emphasis should be placed on service and responsiveness in determining such differentiation. Many sites in either of these categories are outdated, outmoded or packed full of affiliate links, and not much else. If you are responsive to emails from your visitors, and offer them fresh, original content and opportunities to interact with one another, you should soon be ble to carve out a niche for yourself.

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Czar
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